CF Awareness Month Blog #30 - Raising Awareness

At the bottom it says:
THEY KEEP YOU ALIVE

• I hope to be spreading awareness by sharing my story with you through this blog, and I hope that you'll share it with the people you know. It's been fun to share some more about my CF story through this month's blog posts.
• I'll be able to share something with you in July that should help spread more awareness... :-)
• I've created a Facebook page for my Great Strides team (Colleen's Friends & Family) where I update year-round. 
• Participating in Great Strides is a wonderful way to raise money and awareness of Cystic Fibrosis for anyone!
• Even just wearing my Great Strides, Out Run CF and/or Rock CF shirts out in public and to my 5Ks help raise awareness...especially when they're as cool as my new Rock CF shirt (get yours here!) ----->
• How do you help raise awareness of CF??

Turkey Trot 2012 & Out Run CF

This past Saturday, I ran my fourth 5k - the local Turkey Trot! I cannot believe that I have run four 5k races since June! I am so proud of myself for surpassing my goal of running one.
We had excellent weather for our Turkey Trot on Saturday morning. It was very sunny, no wind and probably about 45 degrees by the time the race started -- much better than I thought it was going to be when I first signed up for it. I finished 5th in my age division (18-24) with a time of 32:37 - that's my best time yet! Here are a few pictures from the event:

My kindergarten teacher friend, Natalie, and I.
This was her first 5k and she finished in under 30 minutes!

Gotta show my CF love & support with my
Out Run CF shirt! :)

I also won a turkey! There was a raffle
at the end of the race and I won a 14.4lb turkey!
Sweet!

I'm planning on this being my last run for the year. I'll try to pick back up again in the spring when it's warm enough to start running outside again because I've really enjoyed the past 5-6 months. My focus right now is maintaining my treatment compliance (259 days and counting!), gaining a little weight, and staying healthy this winter. I'm also going to focus on having more blog posts that don't have to do with running! :-)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Out Run CF - Gobble, Wobble!

A few times a year, the Rock CF Foundation and CysticLife hold an event called Out Run CF -- the next one is taking place on Thanksgiving.

In case you missed out last time, or need a refresher, here is how it works. Anyone and everyone is invited to participate: Fibros, Cysters, parents, spouses, friends, extended family, you name it! Participants will find a route near their house. Then on November 22nd, 2012, EVERYONE will lace up their sneakers and hit the pavement in their Out Run CF shirt (Each registrant will receive a t-shirt unique to this fall’s race from us in the mail).

No distance is too long, or too short. YOU pick YOUR mileage. 1 mile? 5K? 10K? 10 miles? Half Marathon? Marathon? It’s up to you! Nothing is too fast or too slow YOU pick YOUR speed. We just want to get the entire CF community out of their houses and into their running shoes on the same day, for the same cause.

Registrants can blog about their training, ask questions, and share tips on CysticLife.org. We want the entire site to be plastered with talk of exercise, running, and encouragement. On race day, we want people to post their times and their experiences. Let’s make this Virtual Race even BIGGER than the first one! Let’s make it the biggest race the community, and the world, has ever seen!!

So here again are the hard facts:

Who: Everyone
What: Outrun CF Virtual Race held by Rock CF Foundation and CysticLife
When: November 22, 2012 -- Thanksgiving Day
Where: Anywhere
Why: Because anyone can run—whether it’s for a minute or a marathon! Together we can Out Run CF.

The awesome shirt that goes with this Out Run CF event.
Each event they have a new shirt - which I've worn in all of my
5Ks so far...looks like I'll have a nice new one to support CF
during my local 5Ks! :)
(Photo courtesy of Out Run CF facebook page)

How : Register at http://www.active.com/running/detroit-mi/gobble-wobble--out-run-cf-virtual-race-2012

It's a great *and easy* way to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis. If you register by November 1st (Thursday), you'll receive the awesome shirt in time for race day! If you register after Thursday, you'll still get a shirt, but it's not guaranteed to be there by the 22nd. The shirt is also "A4 Adult Cooling Performance" shirts, so actual workout material! Sweet! Any questions, check out Out Run CF on Facebook or talk to me.

Finally, if you're my Facebook friend and you decide to Out Run CF on Thanksgiving, please tag me in your pictures! And if you live near by, maybe we can run together. :) I'd love to see how many of my friends are helping support the CF Foundation in a few weeks!! Thanks!!

Out Run CF Success!

Today, Tim and I participated in Out Run CF to raise awareness about Cystic Fibrosis. I haven't been exercising as much as I'd like to since being back at work, so we decided to just walk this morning. We walked 1.2 miles total, to the bank and stopped to get Tim some coffee on the way back. I felt so good on the walk because it was pretty cool outside (about 45 degrees), and it was nice and sunny, and I was breathing so well since I did my treatments right before we left. 

I'm hoping that next time for this event I can get some more friends/family to participate with me. But I know that I have several friends participating on their own today and I look forward to seeing their pictures. 

CRAZY!

Sometimes this is how I feel!

This is the word I have used over and over to describe the past few weeks! My schedule has changed probably at least ten times and when it finally feels like we're getting into a routine of things, something else comes up! I never realized how much goes into setting a routine for a child, a classroom, and especially for a whole school. For those of you who don't work in the education field and have children in school, please be understanding and patient with teachers, at least, through the first month because it's crazy the amount of work that they do!

The class I'm in is made up of 28 students so it gets kind of hectic. Luckily the classroom teacher has years of experience and so much patience, and there are four assistants in the classroom to help also. All help is needed sometimes, but I think we're making progress. I know that I would definitely be struggling with this class if I was their teacher - especially first year! (I'm going to wait until the end of this week to see if I can get a few more 'kinder quotes', and then I'll post what I've got so far.)

As far as my health goes, I'm finally getting over my cold that I talked about a few posts ago. I decided not to go on antibiotics because I've been keeping up with my treatments so well, I think that helped me get it out on my own. Oh, and speaking of treatments, I have to brag a little bit here. This past weekend, we went camping with Tim's whole family, (I forgot my camera!!!) which we do every year and is always so fun, and this year I am very proud to say that I did all of my treatments while we were there - I only missed one puff of Advair! I'm really hoping that if I keep up with everything that I can maintain the lung function I had at my doctor appointment a month ago - I'm hoping I didn't decline after this little chest cold.

One thing I have definitely been having trouble with recently is exercising. I brought this up in my post a couple weeks ago also, and someone made a comment about how much I move around at work which I never thought about. I am constantly up and down off of the floor with the kids, crouching down to help them at their seats, chasing after them when they try to leave the playground or classroom (yes, this has happened a couple times), playing with them in PE and just walking with them in the hall wherever they go. I'm thinking about getting a pedometer to see how many steps I'm taking during the day because I know I'm definitely getting a work out when I'm at work, too. I would still like to keep up jogging/walking/Zumba whenever I get my energy back, but I'm so exhausted when I get home the past couple weeks, that I do my treatments, eat dinner, then just lay around for the most part until it's time for bed. I really wanted to be able to jog a mile without stopping for Out Run CF next weekend, but I haven't been running in over a week, so I'll just try my best. If anyone has suggestions about how to get back into it, I'm all ears. I'm going to try to get Tim to go on walks with me a couple times a week again to at least get some extra movement in the evenings.

Out Run CF

Just want to send out a reminder to all of my readers about Out Run CF which is coming up in less than two weeks, on October 1st! It's not too late to register using the link below(although, you'll get your t-shirt after Oct 1st) and join in on the easiest 'race' for CF!  



The first Out Run CF Virtual Race was a huge success. Runners and walkers from all over the world came together with one thing in mind, to Out Run Cystic Fibrosis! This fall, on October 1, 2011, we plan to do it again. The Rock CF Foundation and CysticLife are joining forces, once again, to bring you another Out Run CF Virtual Race.

In case you missed out last time, or need a refresher, here is how it works. Anyone and everyone is invited to participate: Fibros, Cysters, parents, spouses, friends, extended family, you name it! Participants will find a route near their house. Then on October 1, 2011, EVERYONE will lace up their sneakers and hit the pavement in their Out Run CF shirt (Each registrant will receive a t-shirt unique to this fall’s race from us in the mail).

No distance is too long, or too short. YOU pick YOUR mileage. 1 mile? 5K? 10K? 10 miles? Half Marathon? Marathon? It’s up to you! Nothing is too fast or too slow YOU pick YOUR speed. We just want to get the entire CF community out of their houses and into their running shoes on the same day, for the same cause.

Registrants can blog about their training, ask questions, and share tips on CysticLife.org. We want the entire site to be plastered with talk of exercise, running, and encouragement. On race day, we want people to post their times and their experiences. Let’s make this Virtual Race even BIGGER than the first one! Let’s make it the biggest race the community, and the world, has ever seen!!

So here again are the hard facts:

Who: Everyone
What: Outrun CF Virtual Race held by Rock CF Foundation and CysticLife
When: October 1, 2011
Where: Anywhere
Why: Because anyone can run—whether it’s for a minute or a marathon! Together we can Out Run CF.
How : Register at http://www.active.com/running/anytown-mi/out-run-cfvirtual-run-fall-edition-2011

Helpful sites to get you started:

CysticLife.org—Blog about your progress, ask questions about training to the community, post Airwaves with your daily run updates, connect with others to encourage them and be encouraged

Dailymile.com—Make and account and join the Rock CF/CysticLife group to track your miles and keep track of others!

Facebook.com—Join the Out Run CF group to see how many people are outrunning CF and connect with them! 

Out Run CF

Since joining CysticLife and getting myself more involved in the CF community, I've come across this new awesome opportunity for exercise and CF awareness! The best part, is that anyone can do it! I've just started exercising (mostly walking) and this is something I plan on participating in this year, hopefully running! I am inviting every single one of my readers to register, too!


The first Out Run CF Virtual Race was a huge success. Runners and walkers from all over the world came together with one thing in mind, to Out Run Cystic Fibrosis! This fall, on October 1, 2011, we plan to do it again. The Rock CF Foundation and CysticLife are joining forces, once again, to bring you another Out Run CF Virtual Race.

In case you missed out last time, or need a refresher, here is how it works. Anyone and everyone is invited to participate: Fibros, Cysters, parents, spouses, friends, extended family, you name it! Participants will find a route near their house. Then on October 1, 2011, EVERYONE will lace up their sneakers and hit the pavement in their Out Run CF shirt (Each registrant will receive a t-shirt unique to this fall’s race from us in the mail).

No distance is too long, or too short. YOU pick YOUR mileage. 1 mile? 5K? 10K? 10 miles? Half Marathon? Marathon? It’s up to you! Nothing is too fast or too slow YOU pick YOUR speed. We just want to get the entire CF community out of their houses and into their running shoes on the same day, for the same cause.

Registrants can blog about their training, ask questions, and share tips on CysticLife.org. We want the entire site to be plastered with talk of exercise, running, and encouragement. On race day, we want people to post their times and their experiences. Let’s make this Virtual Race even BIGGER than the first one! Let’s make it the biggest race the community, and the world, has ever seen!!

So here again are the hard facts:

Who: Everyone
What: Outrun CF Virtual Race held by Rock CF Foundation and CysticLife
When: October 1, 2011
Where: Anywhere
Why: Because anyone can run—whether it’s for a minute or a marathon! Together we can Out Run CF.
How : Register at http://www.active.com/running/anytown-mi/out-run-cfvirtual-run-fall-edition-2011

Helpful sites to get you started:

CysticLife.org—Blog about your progress, ask questions about training to the community, post Airwaves with your daily run updates, connect with others to encourage them and be encouraged

Dailymile.com—Make and account and join the Rock CF/CysticLife group to track your miles and keep track of others!

Facebook.com—Join the Out Run CF group to see how many people are outrunning CF and connect with them!