2012: A Year In Review

January: Tim was tested to see if he was a CF carrier and the test came back negative, yay! Also, Kalydeco was approved by the FDA for CFers with the G551D mutation(which I have)!!!
February: Lots of snow, a doctors appointment, and my first blog award.
March: I started running outside and planning for the 2nd annual DeKalb Great Strides. I unfortunately had to reset my compliance count after forgetting some albuterol over a weekend out of town. I was at 215 days!
April: DeKalb Great Strides event went very well and raised over $20,000! There was also lots more running/training for my first 5K.
May: I applied for teaching jobs like crazy, ran some more and registered for Brett's Run (5K).
June: I completed my first 5K! FINALLY got my first teaching job!! (This was a great month!)
July: We started planning for our move due to my new job, and I started bringing items into my new classroom.
August: The big move (about three hours south), the first day(s) of school, and motivated myself to keep running by signing up for another 5K.
September: I completed my second 5K (The Shoreline Classic) about a minute faster than my first, signed up for the Glo Run and Turkey Trot.
October: Tim and I celebrated our two year wedding anniversary, and I developed my first chest cold of the season.
November: I completed the St. Louis Glo Run, our local Turkey Trot --and if you're counting, those were my 3rd and 4th 5K's of the year -- and I won a turkey at the Turkey Trot! :)
December: I won Bears vs Packers tickets and attended my first Bears game! I developed another chest infection due to my lovely, germy class/job. Oh, and we all survived "the end of the world". :-)

Overall, I'd say this was a pretty excellent year for me! I was able to accomplish/achieve many of my goals this year. I'm still working on getting my lung function up into the 90s and gaining back the weight I've lost from my added stress this fall. But these are things that I'll continue to work on in the coming year. I'm currently at 301 days of 100% compliance with my treatments - I'd say that another great accomplishment. This year was spent on trying to make myself the healthiest I could be by exercising and staying on track with my treatments. I plan on continuing my exercise this spring, while I focus on weight gain this winter. Here's to a happy, healthy, productive 2013!

Shoreline Classic 2012

I ran my second 5K this morning!!! And I completed it about a minute faster than my first one, woo hoo! Originally, Tim and I planned to run it together and we both signed up. But this past week, we had been running together and Tim developed shin splints. He's not one to complain about pain unless it's really bad and he was miserable, so I felt terrible that he had to come take pictures of me when he was supposed to be out there with me. He made a smart choice though because we were afraid he wouldn't be able to walk if he tried to run today! I was still really happy that he was there to support me while I chugged along the more-hilly-than-I-thought course. :) I didn't have such a huge adrenaline rush this time around, but I was still able to run the entire course without stopping, walking or re-hydrating until I crossed the finish line.

When I was in high school, if someone would have told me that I would be excited about running 5Ks in my 20s, I would have called them crazy. Also, if someone told me then that I was going to be healthier in my 20s, I would have called them even crazier because I thought it was nearly impossible to gain any lung function back. Now here I am feeling healthier than I have in a very long time, kicking CF's butt because my compliance and exercise! It just feels good to finally be taking care of myself because I want to, not just because I have to. I still don't absolutely love running, but the feeling I get when I cross the finish line is SO worth it. It's going to be a challenge this winter to stay active because I'm not signed up for any gyms, but I'll have to start looking into alternative exercise until I can get back outside.

I'm debating about signing up for the local Turkey Trot in November. I know it'll probably be much colder than it was this morning (which was high 50s-low 60s) which might not be the best for my lungs. But even if I can't run the whole thing that time, at least I'd be getting out there and doing it! Well...I think I just resolved my issue -- getting out there and trying is better than making excuses and skipping it. Stay tuned in two months for my third 5K, the Turkey Trot on November 17th!