The Preston and Steve Show

If you can't make it to the event but still want to show your support, you can donate to my fundraising page RIGHT HERE! 

As promised, I was on the Preston and Steve Show this morning to talk about my event (and the Take Steps Bucks County Walk) to benefit CCFA! It was great to see the guys again after so long. It made me realize how much of a hermit I really had become while battle UC for so many years before finally evicting my evil colon. Here is the chat about the event, the disease, and my experience with it all:


If you are coming here for the first time since hearing this interview, I'll post the flyers again. The gray and yellow flyer is all the information about the event, but make sure to PRINT AND BRING THE WHITE FLYER TO SPEED RACEWAY! They need the white flyer so that proceeds will go directly to CCFA!!

I am 88% to my fundraising goal!
I have run a total of 93 miles so far in my training!
Check back soon for more updates-- we have a 9 mile training run this Saturday with Team Challenge, wish me luck!

Event Season!!!!

If you can't make it to the following events, you can still support CCFA and my Team Challenge efforts by donating HERE!!

CCFA is one of the BEST charities to donate to, with an A Grade from CharityWatch.org, 4 out of 4 stars from CharityNavigator.org.

Less than two weeks to my event, Karting for a Cure!! And less than ONE to CCFA's Take Steps Bucks County Walk!!

Tomorrow morning I will be talking about both of these events on Preston and Steve! I have also printed my flyers, ready to hand them out. AND, I have my first raffle gift basket all together with 3 more quickly on the way!!

A few more errands to run this week, but overall, I'm ready for these events! I need to get pumpkins for the younger kids to decorate, pick out some movies to play for them too, and pick up the last of my raffle items and donations! Two weeks are going to FLY!

There is still time to register for Take Steps HERE, OR sign up at the event!

For my event, Karting for a Cure, there is no registration required. BUT make sure to print out this WHITE flyer and bring it to Speed Raceway in Horsham for funds to go directly to CCFA!

And finally, here is the flyer with all the information on the event as far as food and raffles! I worked hard on this sucker, so marvel at it please! I am looking forward to seeing everyone, and of course, racing the go-karts. They are the funnest (is that even a word?) go-karts I have ever been on!

The Learning Curve

There are a few things I've learned so far. I'm not sure if any of it has to do with being a newbie to long distance running, or a newbie to a jpouch, or being so unconditioned for so long.

Here's my "Ya Learn Something New Every Run" list:

• Running in the cold rain really sucks, especially when you've prepared for different weather because the meteorologist was WRONG, again.
• DO NOT forget your contacts lenses for your long run. Running in glasses, on a hot morning sucks too. 
• Don't pass up a clean bathroom! This is definitely not just a running rule; it's a good life rule.
• Finding things to listen to on your long runs is really hard and time-consuming. And if you take a chance on a new podcast and it sucks, your run will too.
• It's really easy to roll your ankle if you're not paying attention.
• I'm more scared of the animals on the trail than the potential rapists.
• It's really hard to find the TIME to get all these miles in for training!!

Here are some pictures from a few recent runs:

Event Planning Like Crazy

In addition to physically training for this half marathon, I have also been hard at work planning and organizing an event to help me reach my fundraising goal of $3,900. I am almost there (88% there, as of writing this post!) and I hope this event will get me the rest of the way!


I've gotten quite a few raffle donations already, but I am following with a bunch more tomorrow too! Get ready small businesses of Bucks County... I'm coming for you!

It is called Kristin's Karting for a Cure and is on Friday, October 10th. The pass is good ALL DAY, but food and festivities are from 5:30pm to 9:30pm.

If you are interested in coming (I would ne delighted to see your lovely face!), make sure to print out the WHITE flier and bring it to the front desk to make sure that CCFA gets the proceeds donated directly to them!

As if training for a marathon and planning this event isn't enough to fill my time with, I am also helping CCFA plan and organize their annual Take Steps walk in Bucks County. I am having more of a difficult time accomplishing my goals for this event.

Print and bring THIS FLIER!!!!

Runnin' in the Rain

I've read article about how some days you'll do runs and it feels so good, like you could run forever. And then other days are so off, that you wonder why you do this to yourself.

I have experience both of these instances within three days of each other.

Saturday was a group training session with Team Challenge. I seem to keep missing the big group days. All the times I have been able to make the group sessions, they have been attended by about 5 people. I have even been the only participant sometimes with just mentors and coaches! Oh well, people have busy schedules too, just like me.

So anyway. It was a perfect, cool, cloudy morning to go for another 6 miles. VASTLY different from The Philly10k conditions just a week before. We break off into our different levels and mileage groups and start our runs. This is also the first time I encountered what was ominously called "The Hill" in Valley Forge. But with the perfect weather conditions, it felt great. Not The Hill, attempting to run up The Hill totally sucked. But the rest of the run was great. Until....

It started raining.

I started with just a few drops here and there, what I would call "spitting." Then once we tackled The Hill, it started misting a little. We turned around at our mile 3 marker, and as we were heading back towards the The Hill to run down it... It started pouring. Dripping into my eyes and mouth; I could feel it tickling my scalp and it made its way into my braid. When I could feel my socks starting to get wet, that's when I stated questioning how I was going to finish out this run.

Luckily, with Team Challenge, they plan water stops that one of the coaches mans, it's also right at a bathroom too :-); always gotta think about bathroom breaks! So we stop at the water stop, use the bathroom and the decide that the final 1.5 miles is just not worth it in this pouring rain. We hop in his car and head back, shivering from being cold and wet.

My sister also ran her first 10k, right about the same time I was running with Team Challenge, only 250 miles apart. We chatted about our runs afterwards, and she had the kind of morning I expected to have, before the heavens opened up and unleashed cold, liquid fury on us. She did a great job, finishing in 1 hour and 5 minutes, much faster than my 1 hour 32 minutes!

Then, yesterday (Monday), I was due to run 3 miles, and could only finish 2.25 because I was under a time constraint. I was sort of thankful I was, because I was just not feeling it. Couldn't get a great rhythm down at all, felt like I had to pee the entire time. I kept scoping out places along the trail I might be able to duck into to take a quick piss, but I ended up not needing to, despite bladder pain.

Total training: 66 miles
Fundraising: 88% to my goal

The Philly10k

This was definitely a cool race to be involved in. I plan on participating next year, and I will definitely take advantage of the festival aspect too, because I didn't go to the bib pick up party or hang around much after the race!

But holy moly was it HUMID. At 7:30 a.m., it was almost 80 degrees and like 80% humidity and my body felt every bit of that disgusting weather. I met up with my friend and boss from work before the race, took some pictures and then dispersed to our corrals. I was in D (the slowest corral hehe) and Erin was supposed to be in C, but she dropped back to D with me. After slowing inching forward as A, B and 2 Cs were sent on their way, we were off!

Erin pulled ahead and once I took my first walk break, I lost sight of her. With the heat and humidity, I was really sucking down the water, and around mile 2 I started feeling a little dizzy. I started getting super worried that I had gotten in over my head and was going to be carted off with an IV strapped to my arm.

If you are aware of what I went through over the winter, you'd realize how real that fear actually is. I got so dehydrated after my first surgery, that I would black out just taking a shower. I couldn't even stand long enough to brush my teeth without feeling like I was going to pass out. That's what happens when you have no colon, you get dehydrated VERY easily. That's what your large intestine (colon) does, it absorbs water into your body. Just looking back at to my physical state just 8 months ago gets me a little sad because I was so bad..... ANYWAY.

But I reached the first water station without passing out, and was able to take a toilet break too! I never pass up a toilet, so I had to wait for one to become available too. So no wonder, my mile 3 time was the worst of the bunch with my toilet and water break, because those tiny Dixie cups were not enough for this colon-less lady. I needed to refill my water bottle TO THE BRIM.

When I started off again, I am pretty sure I was the last one on the course.... I kept looking behind me all the way up Spring Garden (which was f-ing BRUTAL by the way, because we were running into the sun and there was next to no shade) and I didn't see a single runner bringing up the rear. But thank goodness, my dizziness subsided and I was able to truck it past a few people and catch up to some of the runners I recognized from miles 1 and 2.

By the time I was approaching mile 4 (and turned down 4th and out of the sun's death rays), I was really hitting my stride. Of course it was as I switched from listening to Preston and Steve's podcast to music and heading through Old City, so with the prettier scenery and the music I was able to pick up the pace. It also helped that the police officers were started to let patient (or frustrated) motorists sneak across the course because runners were so spread out so far. I always chuckled as I saw the cops hurriedly waving cars through, like "Hurry up! There's another runner coming and if you don't get through now, you're gonna get stopped!" They did a great job at timing that out, and I never had to stop for a car to pass by. Go Philly PD :-).

My left ankle started hurting randomly around mile 4.5, but then the theme song from the movie Up, came on and it made me think of my husband (we had an Up-themed wedding) and that made the ankle twinge go away, and made a little exhausted emotion well up.

Then I see the second water station ahead! I know I am getting close because my RunKeeper lady is telling me my mileage and people are yelling that I am so close. By the final right turn onto Tasker, I am one of the only people running left, everyone else is walking. And I hear a girl yell to the spectators, "We've got a runner!" so I guess they had a lot of walkers before me too. I've never run an event like this, and it was so cool to be high-fived and cheered on by so many strangers.

Then "Run and Tell That" from Hairspray came on and that took me across the finish line. I grabbed a water, a banana and my commemorative race map and heading to bag check. I wish I could have hung around for the festivities, but the beer line was just way too long and it was still SO. DAMN. HOT.

Now I get to run another 6 miles this weekend for a group training session, now at least I know I CAN do it!

Some Pain, But Pushing Through

It's been almost two weeks since I last updated! My, how time flies!!

So right after that long run I did with my sister in Boston, the very next day actually, I started have some pretty decent pain in my big surgery scar (the old stoma site.) It was a little sore, but then as my workday went on, it started getting more intense. It hurt to stand up from sitting in a chair and then getting in and out of my car hurt too.

So I took a day off from training and emailed my surgeon. The rest of the week, I would feel better one day, then run the next, then more pain the next day. It was like a roller coaster. I heard back from my surgeon and since there is no bulge (no hernia), he thinks I probably pulled some scar tissue.

But good news, all this week, almost zero pain!!

This weekend coming up is race number TWO: the Philly10k! I'm actually pretty nervous about this one!! While the most miles I have ever run was the Kelly Drive loop back in my college days, this will be the most miles I have ever run in an organized race. And I am still a far cry from the athletic state I was in back in college too.

Again, I am keeping my expectations low, and am just looking to finish the race- and hopefully not dead last.

The race itself seems really fun and cool. There will be so much to look at on the course, which is awesome! I always appreciate good scenery to take my mind off the arduous task for running miles on end.

I will update afterwards!