And so it begins.
A few months ago I was diagnosed with Ankloysing Spondylitis, which is described as ’a painful, inflammatory disease of unknown origin that causes the sacroiliac joints and spinal vertebrae to fuse(ankylose) together’. I am 23 and that has scared the crap out of me to be honest. I have an older sister and an older brother who I have watch struggle with the same disease. Both of them are my heroes. I have watched my sister fight through new diagnosis after new diagnosis since she was just in high school. Now in her late twenties and married to the love of her life I am inspired everyday that she manages to maintain her smile and good outlook on life. My brother, also recently diagnosed with ankloysing spondylitis shown me great determination in not letting such a diagnosis dictate your life. Heaven forbid any of my them find this blog, I will have to deny my admittance that they are my heroes!! :o) They say that maintaining good physical health and exercising frequently is immensely important for the managing of this disease. In high school I was a major athlete. I played lacrosse, hockey, I tried soccer for a year, and I was a swimmer for a few years. My real passion though was for hockey and lacrosse. When I got to college I continued to play lacrosse until a sever injury to my ankle my freshman year took me out of sports till my senior year. It was a pretty devastating injury, more mentally devastating I believe than physically devastating. Now I am out of college and I am a bit larger than I would like to be, putting it nicely. After getting my diagnosis I was a bit in shock, I knew I needed to make a change but I just did not know how to.
In December of 2010 I teamed up with one of my college girlfriends and came up with a plan. It was no more complicated than us deciding we were going to work together to live healthier lifestyles. My girlfriend lives about an hour away from me, so we decided to do a long distance plan. There wasn't much to the plan other than we both wanted to lose some weight. We decided on a goal and on how we would reward ourselves. We both wanted to lose 25 pounds by March 2011.
I lost 30 pounds and I have not felt this good in a long time. But now it has become much more than just ‘I want to lose 25 pounds.’ I am enjoying the lifestyle changes I have made, the new foods I have started to tried and have fallen in love with the new workouts I have been experimenting with. I joined a gym, I find it easier to hold my self accountable that way. I have watched my brother transform from an average mid twenties guy into an avid runner. He has ran several races and even marathons. His body has transformed from average to amazingly fit, and he feels good with the management of his anklyosing spondlitis. He has inspired me.
I only liked running in high school and college when there was a purpose, to beat someone else to a ball or to score a goal. The few times I have ran since I have found it almost therapeutic, either simply listening to my feet hit the ground and letting my mind wander, or listening to some music and letting my emotions release through my running.
So that’s it, the sweet and short version to how and why I am here now…creating this blog. This blog will be my way of documenting my journey. I hope to find some blogs to follow and people to encourage me, inspire me and to teach me!
A few months ago I was diagnosed with Ankloysing Spondylitis, which is described as ’a painful, inflammatory disease of unknown origin that causes the sacroiliac joints and spinal vertebrae to fuse(ankylose) together’. I am 23 and that has scared the crap out of me to be honest. I have an older sister and an older brother who I have watch struggle with the same disease. Both of them are my heroes. I have watched my sister fight through new diagnosis after new diagnosis since she was just in high school. Now in her late twenties and married to the love of her life I am inspired everyday that she manages to maintain her smile and good outlook on life. My brother, also recently diagnosed with ankloysing spondylitis shown me great determination in not letting such a diagnosis dictate your life. Heaven forbid any of my them find this blog, I will have to deny my admittance that they are my heroes!! :o) They say that maintaining good physical health and exercising frequently is immensely important for the managing of this disease. In high school I was a major athlete. I played lacrosse, hockey, I tried soccer for a year, and I was a swimmer for a few years. My real passion though was for hockey and lacrosse. When I got to college I continued to play lacrosse until a sever injury to my ankle my freshman year took me out of sports till my senior year. It was a pretty devastating injury, more mentally devastating I believe than physically devastating. Now I am out of college and I am a bit larger than I would like to be, putting it nicely. After getting my diagnosis I was a bit in shock, I knew I needed to make a change but I just did not know how to.
In December of 2010 I teamed up with one of my college girlfriends and came up with a plan. It was no more complicated than us deciding we were going to work together to live healthier lifestyles. My girlfriend lives about an hour away from me, so we decided to do a long distance plan. There wasn't much to the plan other than we both wanted to lose some weight. We decided on a goal and on how we would reward ourselves. We both wanted to lose 25 pounds by March 2011.
I lost 30 pounds and I have not felt this good in a long time. But now it has become much more than just ‘I want to lose 25 pounds.’ I am enjoying the lifestyle changes I have made, the new foods I have started to tried and have fallen in love with the new workouts I have been experimenting with. I joined a gym, I find it easier to hold my self accountable that way. I have watched my brother transform from an average mid twenties guy into an avid runner. He has ran several races and even marathons. His body has transformed from average to amazingly fit, and he feels good with the management of his anklyosing spondlitis. He has inspired me.
I only liked running in high school and college when there was a purpose, to beat someone else to a ball or to score a goal. The few times I have ran since I have found it almost therapeutic, either simply listening to my feet hit the ground and letting my mind wander, or listening to some music and letting my emotions release through my running.
So that’s it, the sweet and short version to how and why I am here now…creating this blog. This blog will be my way of documenting my journey. I hope to find some blogs to follow and people to encourage me, inspire me and to teach me!
I am looking forward to following your exciting journey into the world of running in Minnesota! Good luck to you and happy training! Maybe we will see each other at a few runs:)
ReplyDeleteI doubt I'll see you at runs (I'm in NH), but I wish you the very best. I only started running at age 41, to pursue better fitness mid-life. It's worked well & I went from "just giving running a try" to loving it in just 2 years! Not sure that I'll ever train for a marathon, but I set a new goal every year & so far, so good! This year's goal is a 10 mi. trail race (June 11 will be my first). Running makes me not only healthier but happier. So go for it! Why leave all the fun for your brother, right? HA!
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