Running for a Cure ~ a 100 Mile Race, to help those with Lyme Disease!

I am going on the most epic journey in one month, March 8th-9th!!

"Your registration for the 2014 GY100 has been successfully recorded. Our participant page is updated manually, please allow 48-72 hours for this change to be reflected on the participant page on-line.
Thank you for signing up for the Graveyard 100

Brandon Wilson
Race Director
Graveyard 100"

This is a race that I have been talking about since last summer when I was shopping around to run a 100 miler. We were taking our annual vacation in the Outer banks (OBX), NC, and having dinner with my brother-n-law and his girlfriend and the subject of the OBX marathon came up. Somehow this conversation evolved to the revelation of a 100 Miler race in the OBX. I started recruiting the locals for my crew, like my bro-n-law, his friends and the most logical recruit, a bartender at the upscale restaurant where my hubby and I had a date night. I was on Cloud Nine, motivated and ready to make my 100 Miler dream come true.

But that all changed when the doctor's phone call came a few days later, as I was soaking up the sunshine and enjoying the roar of the crashing waves. She told me I had tested positive for Lyme Disease and based on the comparison of test results from 2010, my body was never healed from that Lyme Disease diagnosis. She shared her devastating news - I was battling chronic Lyme Disease. An illness that I will most likely struggle with my whole life.

Scratch that hope of running a 100 Miler. 

And as my Fall 2013 race season begin, I pushed myself to the very limits, relentlessly, over and over again, as I ran a half marathon in September and then, ran long distance races consecutively, for four weeks in October. I was thankful for a few weeks of rest between the Marine Corps Marathon and the JFK 50 Miler.

And then something amazing happened! I felt really good, almost too good, after finishing the JFK 50 and remember blurting out to my friend, who was pacing me, "we are already at Mile 49??!" I remember last year, when I ran the JFK 50, how those last 12 miles were torture and each mile seemed endless.

After my strong finish (with a 19 minute PR!), my body needed to recover but I became somewhat restless. I decided to sign up last minute for the Dopey Challenge, running for the charity, No Kid Hungry, with a month before the race! And again, I challenged myself with four consecutive races, a 5K, 10K, Half Marathon and a Full Marathon, a total of 48.6 miles. My body felt strong and it did not fail me. I played somewhat during the races, stopping for character photo's and a roller coaster ride but I was pushing myself with lack of sleep and multiple days of racing. And I got it done because I believed in myself!

The fleeting thought of running a 100 Mile race in 2014 began to surface again. I found a race in September that was in another state but easy to get there by car. The race is in PA and it is not until September. My friend, who I met while filming the "Running" episode on HBO VEEP, was running this one, as well as some runners I knew in my running group, Reston Runners, who I ran with at the JFK 50 Miler.

But it still didn't feel right and I hesitated registering. I wasn't sure if this was the right race for me. I kept thinking about that 100 Miler at the beach. The place where my heart and soul come alive.

Last week, the e-mail appeared. One of my running mentor's said she had taken her friend's transfer bib for the Graveyard 100 in the Outer banks and asked if I was running this one. She remembered me trying to recruit her to run it with me for 2014. This runner girl is also the same friend who I have told that I wanted to run my first 100 Miler with because she is an experienced 100 Miler runner and knows what it takes to get to the finish line. The Universe had aligned to make this happen for me and I decided to go for it!


I registered for the GY 100 with the mind frame that I will finish. I am running with chronic Lyme Disease so I will have to pace myself carefully and listen to my body. We will have 30 hours to finish the race. After completing the 100 Miler, I will be in Virginia Beach the following weekend, running the Shamrock marathon!


This 100 Mile race is bigger than me. I am running for all those individual's afflicted by Lyme Disease. I am running to give them hope and courage to begin moving again! This is the beginning towards a path of hope and healing.




I have partnered with the National Capital Lyme Disease Association to raise money for this organization. It is my hope that the money I raise by running this 100 Mile race, and subsequent races in 2014, will help find a cure to this devastating illness. I have set up a fundraising link on Crowdrise: Running to cure Lyme Disease fundraiser


Please support me in my 100 Mile Journey and help me "Take a bite out of Lyme, one race at a time" by making a donation to the National Capital Lyme Disease Association! It is SO appreciated!

I have created a Facebook page to create awareness about Lyme Disease, to provide encouragement to those battling this illness and to post my 2014 fundraising events/races. I hope you can join the conversation on Facebook: Taking a bite out of Lyme Disease


Please share this post, my Crowdrise link and my Facebook page! It would be so appreciated! Thank you for your support, positive vibes and cyber cheers!

Peace, Love and Happy Running!
Amy






 

Courage, Dreams and Pixie Dust

It is the eve before the alarm clocks awake the house at sunrise and the kids will hit the snooze button, over and over again. Meanwhile, the parents will shuffle downstairs to make their morning java and guzzle it down, while scrambling to make their kids lunches. Fueled by caffeine, the parents will become boot camp instructors and shout "Hurry Up" on to deaf ears.

In less than 8 hours, the kids will be back in school after a two week, looong break. The below freezing temps have made us hibernate and we are all beginning to lose our sanity. After noticing that we let two full days pass without getting out of our PJ's, the kids declared that "PJ's Rule" and if you aren't leaving the house, then why bother to change? Smart kids, my hubby and I have raised.

But as much as I have enjoyed my lazy days of waking up at a time when it didn't make sense to eat breakfast because it was so close to noon and wearing my favorite purple polka dot fleece PJ's, that should come with a warning label that if you wear them, you will not got anything done, I'm ready to get moving again!

I am sluggish, eating crap food, drank too many glasses of vino, and I'm in pain. The pain part is what scares me. I have fallen off the exercise wagon and I feel like I am dying. I am not exaggerating. When I wake up, I think I need to go the doctor's to get blood work to make sure the "C" word has not snuck inside my body but then I remember that I don't have "C" because I have "LD." And if you are brand new to my blog or being introduced to my world, "LD" does not stand for Learning Disability. I have chronic Lyme Disease.

I chose not to get the IV antibiotic treatment so I could exercise and continue running at least 3x a week. In the last couple of weeks, I've been lucky if I pushed myself out the door, while wearing my running shoes and not my fuzzy socks. And sometimes I surprise myself and actually get out there and run the distance when I expected I would fall to the ground after Mile 3.

After finishing the JFK 50 Miler in November, I felt incredible (and yes, I promise to write that race recap and the one from 2012 too)! So what did I do, I went and signed up to run a marathon for charity, No Kid Hungry through Dream Come True Vacations. I'm also running a 5K, a 10K and a Half marathon prior to the Marathon, in four consecutive days. I'm running the inaugural Dopey Challenge at the most magical place on Earth, Walt Disney World!

Here is my fundraising page if you would like to donate: 
http://join.nokidhungry.org/site/TR/Events/DD-IndieRaiser?px=2882634&pg=personal&fr_id=1220

Thank you for your support and for helping kids receive a healthy meal!

I am leaving on Wednesday and have a million things to do, like pack my suitcase, which is the one thing I absolutely hate doing because of all the decisions you have to make like deciding which FOUR race outfits I'm going to pack!! I confess to ordering four new running "costume" skirts that are being shipped to the hotel but do I wear tank tops? Arm sleeves? Short sleeves? My Swirlgear?

I'm going to need positive vibes and prayers sent my way. I'm going to have to be Fierce, Determined and Courageous to run 48.6 miles in 4 days. I will have a fabulously fun time but I need to start believing in myself that I can do this!!

I hate the fact that I have chronic "LD." And that I will struggle for the rest of my life to accomplish "the impossible." I am not giving up. I have hit a road block in my training but I will persevere. I always have and will continue to do so. However, I'm secretly hoping to run into Tinkerbell so that she can sprinkle some magic pixie dust on me!

 

"All of our Dreams can come true

if we have the courage to pursue them."

~ Walt Disney quote