Final Days before Team Challenge in San Antonio

The Team Challenge half marathon is one week from tomorrow.

Today was our final long training run and in the past week I’ve completed two runs between nine and ten miles in length. I feel comfortable with my training runs and am confident I’m ready to complete the full 13.1 miles in San Antonio. In a validation of Murphy’s Law, however, participating in this half marathon continues to be a real uphill battle right through these final days before the race.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I had surgery back on August 12th ... right in the middle of training. (Such is life with Crohn’s disease*.) Then on October 2nd, my mother passed away unexpectedly, and more important family matters took precedent over everything else. (My deepest “Thanks” to everyone who sent condolences and prayers.) And now this past week I’ve been battling the flu that’s making the rounds here in Milwaukee. So like most things in life, the path to San Antonio has been anything but smooth and predictable.

The most critical Team Challenge issue for me right now, however, is the fundraising component. As of this moment, I’ve raised just over half of the fundraising minimum of $3,500 required for every Team Challenge participant. If you’ve already donated, Thank You! If you haven’t donated yet, there is still time — please visit my participant page on the Team Challenge website. And if you have friends or family who also might be interested in our goal of eliminating Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, please share that link with them as well. Remember, you also can post your Team Challenge comments, feedback and support on the Share Your Thoughts page in this blog.

Thanks once again to each and every one of you who is helping make a difference for the 1.4 million Americans who suffer from Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

*The best source for information about Crohn’s disease is the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, also known as CCFA. CCFA is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization dedicated to finding the cure for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. CCFA provides accurate, current, disease-related information to the public, health care professionals, and patients and their families. The CCFA Information Resource Center can be reached at: 888.694.8872. The CCFA website is www.ccfa.org.