Shameless Promotion

Over past three years while having this blog, I have shared a lot of things. Some of them funny and ridiculous. And some thoughtful and serious about my everyday life. And of course, I have honestly (and sometimes graphically) shared my struggles related to my Ulcerative Colitis. I have explained what happens to me when I have a UC flare, why I may get the flare, what happens when I am steroids to treat the flare, and how it affects my mental game too. When I am sick, it obviously affects me so much physically, but what some people don't realize is that when you get sick over and over again, its annoying because you can't live your life and therefore affects you a lot mentally too. When you are flaring, you can't do the things you love and sometimes, you can't even do the little everyday things you take for granted. To get sick, then better, then sick then better, over and over can be frustrating. You get knocked down and have to get back up over and over without fear of it happening again.

For a little background info, I was diagnosed with UC about nine and half years ago right after running my first marathon. The doctors suspect that all the physical stress on my body from training and the race itself finally triggered the disease. No one knows for sure though, so its just a theory since IBD runs in my family and I had a lot of stomach issues in college too that could have hinted at it. Anyway, after a year of trying different medications and dosages, I was finally living a normal life again and had the disease under control. That was until I started training for my second marathon. Well guess what? My body wasn't having any of that. And I started flaring as soon as my mileage increased. I had to defer that marathon entry because I was too sick to train again. Big bummer. (I had to do this again three years ago because of a huge flare.) This disease wasn't going to defeat me though and take away something I love. That's just not my nature. I am not a quitter by any means so when I get knocked down by this disease, I just have to get back up and living my life. Running is a huge part of my life and even though my psycho desire to continue running marathons and long distances may trigger flares from time to time, it also keeps me healthy and sane so it stays. I mean, running isn't what makes me sick each time. There is so much more to this disease that has yet to be discovered which is why the Crohns and Colitis foundation is always trying to advance their research and increase their funding.

So anyway, what's with all the rambling about my UC since I am healthy right now? Well, I entered a video contest called "UC Success Stories" which features people who live with UC successfully. I consider myself to be one of those people and I feel very lucky to be able to do so. To be able to have been so sick on and off the last nine years and to be able to lead the active life I lead (24-time half marathoner and 7-time marathoner) is a huge success in my book. Relative to some others who suffer from this disease, I am very healthy, and for that I am super lucky and grateful. And so, I made a video for the contest telling them about that. If you click on THIS LINK, go to my video (Rachel) and vote for me! Pretty please. Yes, this whole post is kind of shameless promotion for that but so what, its my blog and I'll do what I want! For every vote though, $1 is donated to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. Sooooo technically by voting, you are not only supporting me, you are being philanthropic. Win win sitch. Go do it. Thanks so much!!