July 24th, 2009 by Kevin A. Barnes
I finished. That is the kindest thing that can be said about my actual run in the 2009 Napa to Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon. My goal was to finish the race in under three hours — in reality, my official time was 3:34:34.7. Don’t get me wrong ... it was a great weekend, a great experience and I feel fortunate to have been a part of it. Let me tell you why.
Final Weeks of Training
On July 5, I ran my longest training run of the year — 10.1 miles. Based on the 2 hours and 12 minutes it took to complete just over 10 miles, I was easily on course to finish the 13.1 mile half marathon in under 3 hours. I felt far better physically and was running significantly faster than during my training for San Antonio (my only other half marathon). So I set out for Napa and Sonoma psyched that I could run a great half marathon and finish with a “real” runner’s time.
The Napa Difference
As it turned out, the Napa to Sonoma course had many more hills than I (and numerous others) expected. Combine that terrain with temperatures that rose rapidly through the 80s after the starting gun and I quickly found myself fighting an unexpectedly tough battle.
Mile by Mile
I started off at a solid clip, managing to run most of the way up the initial (and steepest) hill on the course. For the first two miles, I kept pace with teammate Renee and the rest of the pack of runners around me. The peaceful scenery of the surrounding vineyards made for perfect surroundings. At the two mile mark teammate Karen passed us, at which point I took a short walk break and fell a couple of minutes behind Renee. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Crohn's Disease | Tags: CCFA, Crohn's Disease, fundraising, half marathon, Napa to Sonoma, Team Challenge, ulcerative colitis, wine country
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June 2nd, 2009 by Kevin A. Barnes
I’ve just heard that Bob Van Dillen, meteorologist on “Morning Express with Robin Meade” which airs weekdays on CNN’s HLN channel, will be running with us (Team Challenge) in the Napa-to-Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon on July 19. Van Dillen is running with the Georgia team and will serve as honorary Chairman for this Team Challenge event. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Crohn's Disease | Tags: Bob Van Dillen, CCFA, Crohn's Disease, half marathon, Napa, Napa to Sonoma, Richard Geswell, Sonoma, Team Challenge, ulcerative colitis, wine country
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November 22nd, 2008 by Kevin A. Barnes
I did it! I ran (and finished) the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in San Antonio last Sunday. And even more amazing, my time for the 13.1 miles was 3:28:49 (3 hours, 28 minutes, 48.7 seconds, including bathroom stops)! Thank you to everyone who helped me prepare for that major challenge, each one of you who donated in support of my goal, and all of you who provided emotional support, positive vibes and more. (And apologies for the delay – this post has been a week in the making.)
Crossing the finish line was literally one of the high points of my life thus far. Even five days later, it still amazes me that I was able to get my body and mind in shape to accomplish this ambitious goal. The photo to the right captures the emotions I experienced – despite the physical aches and pains – at the moment of crossing the finish line. (By the way, the runner to the right of me who is barely breaking a sweat is our team&nrsquo;s running coach Rick.)
Before the Race
Our Wisconsin team woke early and gathered in the hotel lobby at 6:00 am for some quick stretching exercises, then stepped out of the hotel and got in line for the bus ride to the Start. Thanks to some major planning snafus on the part of race organizer Élite Racing (and which have been covered elsewhere), our shuttle bus didn’t actually get us to the Start Line until 8:30 am, or about an hour after the race had started. Fortunately everyone’s time is calculated on the basis of a chip attached to their shoe, so we were able to start the race when we arrived without any real penalty.
Despite having trained for 16 weeks at distances up to 10 miles, I experienced the typical “first marathon jitters” in the moments leading up to the start. What had I been thinking?? After all, I’ve have two major surgeries in the prior year, one just 12 weeks ago. Standing there in the corrals before starting the race, I looked around at my Team Challenge teammates. Everyone was running or walking this half marathon for a reason. Like myself, several of them suffer from Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis*. Others have a daughter, father, relative or good friend fighting those diseases every single day. I realized we all were there, preparing to go 13.1 miles, for an incredibly good reason. And just like that, my jitters were gone and I realized I would finish – we all would finish – because we all had a reason and the drive to accomplish this.
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Categories: Crohn's Disease | Tags: CCFA, half marathon, Rock n Roll Marathon, San Antonio, Team Challenge
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August 5th, 2008 by Kevin A. Barnes
We’ve now entered Week Four of our Team Challenge training. Week Three wrapped up last Saturday with our third three-mile run through Milwaukee’s East Side and Lake Park. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Crohn's Disease | Tags: Crohn's Disease, half marathon, running, Team Challenge, ulcerative colitis
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July 25th, 2008 by Kevin A. Barnes
It’s official.
I’ve signed the paperwork and begun actual physical training to run in November’s San Antonio Half Marathon in as part of CCFA’s (Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America’s*) Team Challenge. Last Saturday was our first group training session and we ran three miles along the lakefront and through Milwaukee’s East Side. This is literally the longest distance I’ve ever run, and at the start I was doubtful I could even complete those three miles. I did walk for several stretches, but completed the session — a major personal accomplishment and a great way to start raising both awareness and research funds for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Crohn's Disease | Tags: CCFA, Crohn's Disease, half marathon, nonprofit, Team Challenge
Comments: 1 Comment »
