Napa to Sonoma: Inspiration for Life

Bit of a dramatic title, but once I explain to you all the goings on from this past weekend, you'll understand why it really was so inspirational.

Team Challenge South Texas, A.K.A. The Austinites, set off for Napa via San Francisco bright and early Friday morning. I'd never been to San Francisco before and I hadn't slept a wink since 1.30 AM so wouldn't ya know it, I scheduled my nap for our drive over the Golden Gate bridge, dang it! Not as bad as the time I napped while flying over Kilimanjaro, but still.

Friday and Saturday were travel and rest days, apart from an easy two mile team run on Saturday morning and a gruelling amount of bicep curls that consisted of lifting wine glass to lips, swallow, repeat. Tough work, but we managed it! Four of us set off to visit Healdburg on Saturday morning, a really pretty local town, just 10 minutes from the town we were staying in, Windsor.

You know when you visit Napa Valley.. what's your first stop gonna be.. a winery perhaps? Not in our case! A dog accessory store!

appropriate for our crowd!

America certainly love pooches more than any other country and Mr Esteban is no exception.. although we still had to give him a hard time for brooding over what to get his little fella :)

In case you were getting worried about where our priorities lay, our second stop. at 10.30 AM, was a tasting room, hurrah! The trick to pre-race drinking.. start early! Don't judge me, I'm going home in two days and have to prepare some little bit.The weather was fab, there was a cute farmer's market to wander and we had ourselves a mighty fine day of rest and relaxation.

On Saturday evening, Team Challenge hosted a party for all of us across the country that had fundraised. This, for me, was the highlight of the weekend. We all arrived in buses to the event field and all our coaches and support teams were lined up as we got out, cheering us on as we walked through. Cue cheesy grin .

The atmosphere was amazing. We sat in our teams, stuffed our faces and then the speeches started. This is where the bigger picture of what I was working so hard for finally started to dawn on me. We were informed that there were 632 of us running for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation, making up at huge number of the ~4,000 total for the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon. Best fact of all.. together we raised a whopping $2.4 million!! Some serious buckaroos to fund research and provide hope for sufferers. New biomarkers for the condition have been identified with money raised by the charity, so this should speed up the current lengthy diagnosis process.

Next came two very moving speeches from a well known ex-American football player, Sam Madison and his wife. His wife, 40 years old, has both Crohn's and Colitis and was diagnosed 15 years ago. (FYI: Crohn's and Colitis are most easily differentiated by the areas of the intestines that they affect. For her, both areas are affected.) Her talk conveyed the mental and physical toughness of sufferers. To most of the world, she appeared normal and always looked great. In fact, many of her friends didn't event know about her condition until she decided to become part of Team Challenge.

It's embarrassing to tell someone you have to go poo all the time, so making excuses and hiding it becomes part of life. Extra toughness is required for coping with a flare-up that seemingly has no trigger. Sufferers can have the condition under control for years and all of a sudden, no drugs work and they are back to pooping 20-40 times a day (no exaggeration). I cannot imagine how hard that must be and the anxiety that it generates.

I was getting teary at this point.. as was many other people... and then to our surprise, our Austin Teammate Mickey G took to the stage. There was hardly a dry eye in the house after this. I knew his story but not the graphic details.. and boy was it graphic!!

Mikey, now 30, was 24 when he was diagnosed with cancer, Hodgkins's lymphoma. He had a very tough battle with it and eventually was given the all-clear. About a year later, he started to experience Crohn's symptoms and feared the worst, that his cancer was back. Tired of fighting, he vowed not to face cancer treatment again and put up with Crohn's for much too long before seeking treatment. He had to have an ileostomy (link) and now has a bag for waste.

What I loved most about his speech was that Mickey put all his humility aside and detailed the everyday life of a Crohn's sufferer going through a flare. He spend most of his days on the toilet, going 35-40 times a day. He had to bring his entire life into the bathroom with him; he took work calls, worked on his laptop and he even had to eat in there! Straddling the tank and using the cistern as a table, Mikey ate his cereal while on the toilet.

Pause for a second and imagine if this was your life.. your reality... your version of normality. Puts our problems in perspective, that's for sure.

My heart breaks for all the suffering this guy has gone through and.. ladies and gentlemen Mikey G ran his second half marathon with Team Challenge on Sunday! This was despite two rough nights in Napa on the john. I think his speech inspired others to be more honest (about whatever personal suffering they are going through), made people feel less alone in their suffering with Crohn's and Colitis and gave family and friends a little more insight into what their loved ones put up with.. because sure as hell, not everyone is as honest as our Mikey! What a guy. Doing everything he can to find a cure.

After that, we were early to bed, since we had a 3.45 wake up call and a 7AM race! Julia and I woke up to these our door.

Yummm-eee!!

Our coaches Megan and Paul and manager Meredith knew exactly how to motivate us gals at 4 in the morning.. imagining Mr Gosling at the finish line!

Then I got my tattoos on! Remember when I said I would dedicate miles to my top donors.. well it didn't turn out so well but here's my attempt!

The list: 1. Biddy (my momma), 2. Amanda Sue (Coffey), 3. Alessandra (Rossi), 4. Dominic Taylor, 5. Tricia (Sheehan), 6. Rajashree, 7. Eimear (Plow Plow), 8. Tab & Manboy (my brothers Fergal and Colm), 9. Mary Coffey (my aunt), 10. Popsicle (a.k.a Popalooch or my sister Steph), 11. Baba Aaron (my baby nephew Aaron), 12. Douggie Pooh (Mr Man Douggie Pooh), 13. Flinty (Dad), 13.1 Mikey Mac (me!)I'm revealing a lot of nicknames here, hope ye don't mind! at least I'm outing myself too.. Mikey Mac :)

We took some team photos

Love these guys. Coach Megan (beside me) went all-out 80's!

ready to roll.. I ditched my fetching pants shortly after this

All 4,000 of us set off at 7AM to run through beautiful countryside, surrounded by vineyards. Esteban and I had planned on running together, but after 3 miles, my right foot started hurting and I honestly thought I'd have to quit. I knew our endurance manager Meredith was waiting at mile 6.5 so I vowed to keep going until then at least.

not looking too happy :(

I had to take a few breaks and Esteban was nowhere to be seen by now and I started to get really negative and upset about not being able to race. I knew I could push through and run, but not race and give my very best. I tried not to beat myself up over it and kept reminding myself that I put as much work into fundraising as I did training and just because the race was falling apart didn't mean I shouldn't be proud of myself. I finished the race in 1:45:11, 8.01 min/mile.

I believe I can fly!!

I was upset and in pain (foot hurts bad now though) but my ego got over it and I enjoyed the rest of the day by the pool, sipping wine with my teammates. What a great bunch of people, many of them with Crohns/ Colitis.

So I think you'll agree it was indeed inspirational and I hope my blog over the past few months has served to educate people a little bit more on Crohn's and Colitis.. I certainly didn't know much before I started this! Maybe it will allow you to spot symptoms in yourself, your child, your future child and encourage poop talk at home! Luckily embarrassment about poop talk has never been a problem in the O'Connor household!

I hope you have been entertained in some capacity too... kisses for donations anyone?! How about dress like a dude for money? Most of all I want to thank all of you that donated.. it's hard to raise money for a cause you are not personally affected by. Clearly, plenty of you can empathise with a condition that doesn't personally affect you.

My fundraising page will remain active until August 21st so if want to donate do it here! Have you guys heard of Charity Miles? Well if you are a runner, walker, cyclist, install this app on your phone and select CCFA as your preferred charity and for every mile you run/walk 25 cents goes to charity, 10 cents for biking. pretty easy way to be charitable if you haven't much cash to spare!

Well that's all from me for now folks.. I leave for Ireland on Saturday, Mr Man in tow and I couldn't be more excited! Meeting my nephew for the first time, my brother is getting married, one of my best friends gettting married... and Mr Man meeting the family!! (not enough exclamation marks to convey my excitement!)

For those of you I promised earrings to I will be bringing them with me and it'll be a good excuse to meet up! The international and American peoples should have got them already and fingers crossed they arrived intact?! If not, let me know! For the guys I'm still working on the bbq rub I promised..a real-life Texan is helping me make his bbq rub recipe tomorrow evening.. and of course we'll have to test it out and get the grill going after.. yum yum, can't wait!

So for now my friends, chat to ye soon and hopefully you'll be seeing some of your faces on here with photos from the trip.

Long-time love,

Hazel x

P.S. if you think this post would serve to educate others or support them (or you know someone who sufferers from Crohn's and Colitis) please share and like this post. They might even be encouraged to sign up for Team Challenge! They are running in Vegas in December!

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Let's Talk About Poo

Now, hold on, before u click the x on this window, let me explain why I want to talk about poo and where it comes from (yep, where poo comes from). I’m gonna talk a little bit about something that’s directly related to my fundraising cause but affects us all.. poo problems! Bear with me, I know it sounds disgusting but please keep reading!

Since I signed up to run a half marathon for Crohn's and Colitis, I definitely feel it is my duty, in a way, to talk about the conditions and explain to people why it is a worthwhile cause. While part of this is make people aware that I am fundraising for a cause that is worth supporting, another side of it is to get people talking about bowel issues.

I want to increase awareness of bowel-related diseases, regardless of how small the community of people who read this. I work in health sciences research and it is part of my job to be aware of the latest research that's published. I never see Crohn’s-related research published. If it’s taboo to talk about problems down yonder in the poo pipes, then there just isn't awareness as to the scale of the problem  among a population of people, hence the lack of research. 1.4 million Americans suffer from Crohn’s and Colitis, it’s a huge problem and clearly worth researching. The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) is doing great things to change this, pumping $180 million into research thus far, all raised through fundraising.

Here's the other thing: It bothers me when people say they're having stomach problems, when really, they are referring to poo problems. I know I might be considered a little on the vulgar side (especially by American standards!) but your stomach is just one component of your gastrointestinal system, an organ in your abdomen, and why should we be so embarrassed about calling a spade a spade (Americans get that expression, yea)? Granted, I won’t cause a fist-fight over it if you don't tell me about your bowel movement while I’m eating, the time and place should be considered ;)

Going for a number 2 is just as natural as feeling hungry and eating. But here is my point to all of this…Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are progressive conditions with symptoms becoming more severe and less responsive to treatment over time. Nobody knows the cause OR the cure. If people talked more about their poo problems then maybe we would understand more about the disease progression and early symptoms. Maybe people would be more descriptive about what the ACTUAL problem is, instead of a doctor just fobbing them off and telling them to eat better. As with many diseases, early diagnosis and treatment is going to be vitally important for improving patient outcome.

Sooo, let’s start a facebook page about where we post pics of our dung every day will we??!! Who’s on board?! JUST KIDDING!!! But seriously, I hope what I said above made some bit of sense and you can all relate to the ability to have a good poo so please help out those who can’t!

My fundraising page: http://www.active.com/donate/napaSTXA13/atxHOConn1

Here's what I've been up to the past week, prepping for the half marathon:

Sunday: 4.6 miles in 37 mins in a lovely neighbourhood, not mine obviously! Not too shabby considering my foot was hurting a bit

nice spot for a run

Monday: 40 mins elliptical & abs

Tuesday: 'Step and Sculpt' class at the university (UT Austin) gym

Wednesday: 5 miles on treadmill, tempo run

Thursday: off

Friday: 'Vinyasa' yoga class at the UT gym

Saturday: 3 mile Team Challenge group run

Sunday: Capitol 10K in 47:31, oh yeaaa!

It's been 3 weeks since I hurt my left foot, and I didn't run at all for 2 weeks. :ast Sunday I tested it out, and while it hurt a bit to run on it, I could manage a decent pace on it. I had just a week to go to the 10K so I figured I could manage it! The treadmill was fine on Wednesday (I'm getting to the point of the details, promise), and I was pshyced for Sunday! In all honesty, I hardly slept Saturday night (the circling helicopter all night and the treat of a mass murderer on the loose didn't help either), with nerves and excitement! I ran with three great gals: Jackie, Stacey and my Team Challenge bud Aileen! 

Left to right: Jackie, me, Aileen and Stacey

There were 17,500 runner yesterday, what a buzz! All in all, my foot felt fine and I was really happy with my time! It wasn't easy, actually it was tough. I guess my fitness has dropped in the hiatus; I thought my head was going to explode it felt so hot! I couldn't believe I bumped into a running buddy at mile 5, when I was really needing it, he delivered me a high five and we vowed to maintain the pace! I did 7:39 min/mile and according to the website 20th in my age group, wohooooo! worth the pain! We were all delighted with our times so a great day out for all the gals!

I already had had a podiatrist appointment made for this morning. I thought about cancelling, but I went anyways.  And what do ya know.. I have a stress fracture...and I am now the proud owner of a very sexy bootie (note: bootie not booty) for at least 3 weeks! The best (worst) part is that the fracture isn't even where the pain is so I could have a second one, further up my foot, so for an MRI I go. I can still bike, and exercise, but no running... balls, balls, and more balls! At least this means I can try out every exercise class at the UT gym.. and I'll still go support our runners on a Saturday morning, find a way to make use of myself!

Please 'like' and 'share'my posts if you know of others who might like a read or who would like to support CCFA.

A huge thank you to Eimear Plower, Michelle Dennehy, Brigid O'Connor (mother hen of the O'Connor household) and Anne Golden for donating this week xx

Runners, any tips on maintaining cardiovascular fitness while injured?

Have a good week y'all!

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Half marathon for a great cause

Howdy Friends!

I have just signed up to run a half marathon in July, in aid of Chron's and colitis disease research with The Chron's and Colitis Foundation of America. Thankfully, I don't have any personal experience with either of these conditions but they really are horrible diseases of the intestines. There is bleeding and excessive trips to the bathroom involved .. some of our runners went through times where they had up to thirty no. 2's  a day! Imagine.. most of us experience that once of twice in our lives (and not THAT any trips) with a bout of food poisoning, but these people go through it constantly! I won't go in to any more details in case you're eating your cornflakes while you read this :)

The real scary part is that young children are being diagnosed now, and they have impaired growth because of it.. so that's why awareness and research is needed... pronto! If you're interested in any additional information on the condition check out the Chron's and Colitis Foundation of America website.

While I initially signed up  for the fitness challenge (on a whim, this past Wednesday), after meeting the other runners in the Austin branch I can't not do this.. we have one girl who has to poop into a bag...if she can run a half marathon and get out of bed at 6AM to train then I have no excuse!

I hope that this will inspire you to give whatever you can to such a great cause. My target is $4,500 - very daunting, so if anyone has any bright ideas for ways to fundraise then I'm all ears! As a little thank you, each of you that donates over $20 will get their choice of a pair of earrings or Texas Barbecue rub.. something for the ladies and also the lads...oh and both will be made by me!

Here is the link to my fundraising page: http://www.active.com/donate/napaSTXA13/atxHOConn1

I will be blogging updates of my training if you are interested (http://thecomfortzoneandbeyond.blogspot.com/). Training in Texas is going to involve a lot of pre-dawn runs since it gets so hot here in the Summer!

Thanks for reading y'all!
Hazel.

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