Life's a marathon!

Drawing by my beautiful cousin Megan Jensen. A Tlingit's lungs :)

It has been hard finding time to sit down and write about life with a one-and-a-half-year-old running around.

I have had so much fun watching little Leo grow up. I often find myself thinking about how truly lucky I am to have a child and how wonderful it is to be a mother. I never knew if having children would be in my future but Leo has blessed our lives tremendously.

As always, running was a big part of my summer! I submitted a video to an online contest through the Boomer Esiason Foundation that explained why I exercise and was shocked when I found out that I had won! There were many amazing and very inspiring videos that were submitted. Adam and I traveled to New York City to run in the 5th Annual Run to Breathe Race. It was at this same race 5 years ago that Adam proposed to me in 2011. In July we were able to go back to NYC and celebrate all the wonderful happenings in our lives over the past 5 years.

I post a lot about living life with Cystic Fibrosis and to some it may seem that this disease is not that bad. It is known as "the invisible disease" because people look healthy on the outside but on the inside a war is raging. Living with Cystic Fibrosis is not easy and never will be. I will never know if I will catch a bacterial infection that could be detrimental to my health and lung function. If a lung exacerbation flares up will my Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) numbers go back up? Or will this low number be my new normal? Imagine living with 70% or less of your normal lung capacity.

So many people are struggling and in pain every day, many people pass away, some are on the transplant list, some are in the hospital for months, hours of daily treatments, IV antibiotics, feeding tubes, or breathing with an oxygen tank. The pain and the looming word 'death' are the reality for someone living with Cystic Fibrosis.

Now that I have a child my reason for running has increased and provided me with more purpose and determination to be as healthy as I can be. I want to watch my son grow up. That is why training for difficult races and fundraising are so important to me. I am passionate about fundraising because it contributes to research so new drugs and therapies that benefit a person's life with CF can be found and maybe even a cure someday.

It's now October and the Lost Lake Run came and went and the Chicago Marathon (26.2 miles) is a memory in the past. I ran a PR in Lost Lake of 3:00:19 and I finished my first marathon in 4:52:51. The battle of training is grueling but  this painful process is providing me with life. My lungs are working like they have never worked before and they love the long airway clearance sessions. Running has never been easy for me  and doesn't come naturally. I have worked really hard to be able to run the distances that I am able to run. When I feel an infection coming on, I still try to run because I know it helps clear out the mucus and makes breathing a little easier.

Mile 19

I had no clue how the marathon would go for me. A few weeks before the marathon I caught a cold that wouldn't go away and it was starting to affect my lungs so I had to start an oral antibiotic.  Iliotibial (IT) band pain and junky lungs were effecting my training in a negative way. When I was at the starting line in Chicago I prayed that this marathon would go smoothly and that my goal of finishing would be acheived. I didn't feel nervous or anxious, I felt calm and had come to terms with whatever the outcome would be. I can now say that I have ran a full marathon!

I felt so lucky at the Chicago marathon because I was surrounded by my family and I had so many friends send me encouraging and positive messages. Many people graciously donated to my fundraisers, in my eyes every single penny counts.  My cousin, Rachel, even ran the last 10 miles of the race with me. It takes a team to help keep me alive and I can't express how much love and gratitude I have in my heart for my support team. The Boomer Esiason Foundation even had staff who cheered me on at different mile-markers and greeted me at the end. I am so grateful that there are organizations like the Boomer Esiason Foundation because they are fighting this battle by my side, supporting me and helping to bring the CF community closer to a cure.

I can't control my Cystic Fibrosis but I do have the choice to make decisions on how I want to perceive my life and health. Every treatment that I inhale, pill that I take, run and workout has an impact on my life.

There was a point in time where I didn't know what my future would hold. I didn't know that I would be diagnosed with cancer and beat it, I didn't know if I would go to college, get married or have a child. I look back and every journey and adventure in my life is a complete and utter miracle. I do not know how my future will end up but I will sure try my best to overcome all obstacles, dream big, set goals and shoot for stars.

This life is precious and I value every single second that I am living and breathing on this earth!