Wednesday, July 1, 2009

A Bump in the Road ...


Let me state off the top that is is not an attempt to solicit funds but it is a response to the inquiries of many of my family and friends as to an update on my Disney Half-Marathon Journey.

After running 7 miles during my 8th week of training for the Disney Half-Marathon I felt so exhausted that I just wanted to cry. And after 3 days my body still was not recovering from the run so I made a doctor's appointment.
Test results showed that I was suffering from anemia again and those that know me know what that particular battle entails - I won't put that out here on the net because it is a battle I intend to win and I will not give my enemy (anemia) any glory or place in my life. Friends who know how to pray and want the details can call me and get the 411.

My doctor (who is a marathoner - how cool is that?) also said that I needed to see a podiatrist and a cardiologist in addition to my hematologist to address the other physical issues that came up. The great thing about it was none of these physicians said, "Doreen you should not be doing this, you need to stop." Instead everyone came back with a plan to address the physical issues and get me to the finish line. One thing that I had to do was to stop running. But everyone said "But keep walking for now until we can get you back running." To the athletes out there, that might not be a big thing but you need to understand.
Most of my adult life I have been a "big girl" who you might see in the kitchen whipping up gourmet meals but you would not see her in the gym or on a track or in a park. And now, these health professionals were treating me as an athlete with injuries related to her training and like all other athletes we were just going to deal with them and move forward.

Three and a half years ago doctors were telling me if you don't change you will die. You can't climb stairs and you can't run. So in the midst of the disappointment comes the realization that my body may not completely reflect this yet but I have changed (and continued to maintain a 100 lb. weight loss) and I can be proud of myself and own this and see that yes, I have made the choice to live and not die and my body is still going through the process of change along with my mind. Both need time to adjust. But I thank God that I am still here.

My challenge now however that the commitment of the APLA Disney Half-Marathon is two-fold. You have to be able to keep a 16 minute mile pace and you have to raise $2000.00.
And even though the race is not until September 6 you have to have (through pledges and donations) the money raised by July 10. On July 27, if the funds are not raised, you have to guarantee your commitment to raise them by your credit card. And for my family with both David and I racing this would be a substantial commitment for our household. As a fundraiser I know how to raise money and I also have faith in our world and know that if you commit to a God-given vision then provision will follow. But physically, I am using all of my current energy just to keep moving and continuing to train. I literally have to nap every afternoon right now to get through the day.

I had a "Come to Jesus" meeting with my husband last Friday where he was quite frank with me about the financial needs of our household and we both decided that we could put our time, resources and energy to completing this marathon or we could put them to fully meeting our fundraising commitment but we could not do both successfully. And while my plan is to add other forms of exercise such as yoga and pilates to keep my body healthy and agile, I have a commitment to run a half-marathon that I will not back down off of.

There are other Half-marathons being run in southern California before the end of the year without the fundraising constraints of the Disney marathon. David and I will complete a half-marathon before the end of 2009. I am not stopping my training and we have decided to move forward. As the very wise Dr. Charles Phillips once told me, "Every delay is not a denial"

So keep us in your prayers. I will keep you posted as we do our due diligence with the APLA Disney Marathon team. And before I sign off I just want to say a big thank you to my marathon running coach for the Disney Half-Marathon, Biff Campos. First of all, when I discussed my exercise background with him, he never flinched and said, "If you stick with me and stick with the plan you can absolutely do this thing". So I thank him for believing in me before I could believe in myself. And now I also know I can absolutely do this thing. And a big shout out to Linda L. Francisco for her fundraising training and sharing her heart, expertise and her commitment to her runners.

Thanks for taking the time to read about my journey. Thank you to all who have already given me their money or time or prayers as I've gone on this journey - I will honor your sacrifice and I will keep in touch as I complete this commitment.