Part two of two of the nail-biting series explaining why I'm running the marathon for two charities: Athletes to End Alzheimer's.
Soon after I started dating my now-husband, a devastatingly handsome gentleman named Pete, his mother, Carolyn, was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease at the age of 51. At the time, I didn't really know what that meant - I had only met his mother a few times and she seemed pretty healthy to me. Over the course of the next eight years, I witnessed her disease progress, slowly at first, but eventually at a much quicker pace. After using in-home care for a number of months, Pete's family made the difficult decision to move Carolyn into a nursing home in 2011.
Watching my boyfriend, then my fiance, then my husband interact with his mother as she slipped further away has been heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. I hate that he has essentially lost his mother at such a young age (for them both) and that I will never really have a relationship with my mother-in-law. But then we'll visit her and he'll make her laugh, or she'll lock eyes with me and I know she recognizes me as one of her People, and I see that he does still have a mother, and I do have a mother-in-law.
When it came time for me to choose a charity to run the marathon for, Athletes to End Alzheimer's was the obvious choice. I have often felt helpless, not knowing what to say to Pete or his family during the rough times, but running and raising money for research is a concrete way of doing something. There are advances in Alzheimer's research and treatments every day, and though they may not directly help my mother-in-law, I have faith that they will help many other families fight this disease.
To donate, please click here.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Why I Run... for Team Emslie's Fight
I've answered the general question of why I run, but I wanted to share a bit more about why I'm running the 2013 NYC Marathon for two very special charities. First up: Emslie's Fight.
I truly don't know where to start. Do I start by talking about my nearly-lifelong friend, or by talking about the horribly tragic thing that happened to her and her husband and how amazing and strong they are in how they've chosen to respond to it? A combination of the two might work: my nearly-lifelong friend is amazing and strong (and so is her husband).
In December 2011, Quentin and her husband Steve had a baby girl named Emslie who lost her fight with polycystic kidney disease just days after she was born. A lot of people might sink into complete and utter despair, but Q and Steve have chosen to pick up Emslie's fight where their daughter left off - they are unbelievably dedicated to raising awareness for the disease, throwing fundraisers and encouraging friends and family to run races under the Run for PKD banner. The way they have turned something so devastating into something so positive is truly inspiring.
And that's where I come in - after months of Steve bugging me on Facebook, I'm finally running a race for Team Emslie's Fight. I knew I'd get guaranteed entry into this year's marathon (I'd entered the lottery three years in a row and hadn't gotten in) but I was looking for a charity team to join as well. Despite Steve's pleading, I couldn't make the trip down to Savannah to run the Rock N Roll Half with the team, since that race is the week after the NYC Marathon. The PKD Foundation has an option for runners to raise money for the cause in any local race - there doesn't have to be an official team for that race in order for you to run for PKD. I signed up that way, pledging that I'd raise $500. I was just about to email Quentin to tell her when Steve informed me that the PKD Foundation's event manager had told him about me, and we finagled a way for my funds to count towards Emslie's Fight's team total. Even though I'm not running the same race, I'm still on the team, and I'm thrilled.
Quentin is without a doubt one of the strongest people I know (and Steve's not so bad himself), and the fact that something like this happened to her breaks my heart. But I am endlessly inspired by her resilience and I am proud to run in her little girl's honor.
Please click here for my Team Emslie's Fight donation page.
I truly don't know where to start. Do I start by talking about my nearly-lifelong friend, or by talking about the horribly tragic thing that happened to her and her husband and how amazing and strong they are in how they've chosen to respond to it? A combination of the two might work: my nearly-lifelong friend is amazing and strong (and so is her husband).
In December 2011, Quentin and her husband Steve had a baby girl named Emslie who lost her fight with polycystic kidney disease just days after she was born. A lot of people might sink into complete and utter despair, but Q and Steve have chosen to pick up Emslie's fight where their daughter left off - they are unbelievably dedicated to raising awareness for the disease, throwing fundraisers and encouraging friends and family to run races under the Run for PKD banner. The way they have turned something so devastating into something so positive is truly inspiring.
And that's where I come in - after months of Steve bugging me on Facebook, I'm finally running a race for Team Emslie's Fight. I knew I'd get guaranteed entry into this year's marathon (I'd entered the lottery three years in a row and hadn't gotten in) but I was looking for a charity team to join as well. Despite Steve's pleading, I couldn't make the trip down to Savannah to run the Rock N Roll Half with the team, since that race is the week after the NYC Marathon. The PKD Foundation has an option for runners to raise money for the cause in any local race - there doesn't have to be an official team for that race in order for you to run for PKD. I signed up that way, pledging that I'd raise $500. I was just about to email Quentin to tell her when Steve informed me that the PKD Foundation's event manager had told him about me, and we finagled a way for my funds to count towards Emslie's Fight's team total. Even though I'm not running the same race, I'm still on the team, and I'm thrilled.
Quentin is without a doubt one of the strongest people I know (and Steve's not so bad himself), and the fact that something like this happened to her breaks my heart. But I am endlessly inspired by her resilience and I am proud to run in her little girl's honor.
Please click here for my Team Emslie's Fight donation page.
Why I Run
The $64,000 question, huh? Why do I run?
The short answer is because I always have, whether I liked it or not.
Running and I have not always been friends. I was an athlete in high school, but never as good an athlete as my big brother (it's okay: I got better grades). I ran for soccer practice in the fall, I ran track (if you can call it running - any activity you can do after going to Dairy Queen for a Blizzard can't really be qualified as running, right, Maribeth?) in the spring to stay in shape for soccer, and I was just generally an active person. But I didn't like running, probably because I wasn't all that good at it. I was never fast and it never came easy to me. And let's face it - it still doesn't!
Then came college, where I chose to do the least amount of activity possible accompanied by a diet that consisted of Keystone Light, white carbs, and the occasional leaf of lettuce with ranch dressing. Every now and again, I'd attempt three miles or so, but within a week I'd lose whatever running habit I'd acquired. And, surprise! I gained weight.
Once I got out into the real world, I decided I wanted to get back in shape but the salary earned by a freelance production assistant in New York City didn't really allow room in the budget for a gym membership. So I started doing walk-run intervals in my crazy-gorgeous neighborhood of Bay Ridge in Brooklyn. I'd bring along my iPod and run during the choruses of each song and walk the verses.
Then my friend Christy asked me if I wanted to run an 8K race in Central Park (8K = just under 5 miles). I had honestly never thought about running a race before. The NYC Marathon runs straight through my neighborhood, and each year I'd watch the runners go by and think about how cool it would be to be one of those people, but I never really considered all the distances between nothing and a full marathon. I hesitated but ultimately agreed to run the race with her.
I'd been doing my run-walks for about a year at that point, so the next morning, I went to the gym (I could afford a membership now! Plus it was right across the street from my apartment.) I decided I would try to run one mile straight without stopping, just to see if I could do it. I totally surprised myself - piece of cake! I continued increasing my distance and on race day, Christy and I crossed the finish line together.
(PS to Christy, I don't think I've ever given you enough credit for this. If you hadn't asked me to do that race, who knows if I would have ever figured out that racing and running were something I loved and wanted to continue to do. So, thank you from the bottom of my blistered feet - even though you're so fast now that we'll probably never cross another finish line together, unless it's a three-legged race!)
Over the course of the next four years, I would run 23 more races through New York Road Runners, including seven half-marathons. For a while, I got faster, but now I seem to be getting slower (or lazier?). Getting married and turning thirty within four months of each other might have had something to do with it. But I'm still having fun.
And I think that's my answer. Why do I run? I run because I wanted to lose my college weight, because I couldn't afford a gym membership, because my friend asked me to do a race with her. And somewhere along the way, it turned fun.
Now let's just see if I'm still saying it's fun after 26.2 miles.
--
If you'd like to donate to either of the charities I'm running for, click one or both of these links!
Athletes to End Alzheimer's
Emslie's Fight - read Emslie's story then click on my name in the team list
The short answer is because I always have, whether I liked it or not.
Running and I have not always been friends. I was an athlete in high school, but never as good an athlete as my big brother (it's okay: I got better grades). I ran for soccer practice in the fall, I ran track (if you can call it running - any activity you can do after going to Dairy Queen for a Blizzard can't really be qualified as running, right, Maribeth?) in the spring to stay in shape for soccer, and I was just generally an active person. But I didn't like running, probably because I wasn't all that good at it. I was never fast and it never came easy to me. And let's face it - it still doesn't!
Then came college, where I chose to do the least amount of activity possible accompanied by a diet that consisted of Keystone Light, white carbs, and the occasional leaf of lettuce with ranch dressing. Every now and again, I'd attempt three miles or so, but within a week I'd lose whatever running habit I'd acquired. And, surprise! I gained weight.
Once I got out into the real world, I decided I wanted to get back in shape but the salary earned by a freelance production assistant in New York City didn't really allow room in the budget for a gym membership. So I started doing walk-run intervals in my crazy-gorgeous neighborhood of Bay Ridge in Brooklyn. I'd bring along my iPod and run during the choruses of each song and walk the verses.
Then my friend Christy asked me if I wanted to run an 8K race in Central Park (8K = just under 5 miles). I had honestly never thought about running a race before. The NYC Marathon runs straight through my neighborhood, and each year I'd watch the runners go by and think about how cool it would be to be one of those people, but I never really considered all the distances between nothing and a full marathon. I hesitated but ultimately agreed to run the race with her.
I'd been doing my run-walks for about a year at that point, so the next morning, I went to the gym (I could afford a membership now! Plus it was right across the street from my apartment.) I decided I would try to run one mile straight without stopping, just to see if I could do it. I totally surprised myself - piece of cake! I continued increasing my distance and on race day, Christy and I crossed the finish line together.
(PS to Christy, I don't think I've ever given you enough credit for this. If you hadn't asked me to do that race, who knows if I would have ever figured out that racing and running were something I loved and wanted to continue to do. So, thank you from the bottom of my blistered feet - even though you're so fast now that we'll probably never cross another finish line together, unless it's a three-legged race!)
Over the course of the next four years, I would run 23 more races through New York Road Runners, including seven half-marathons. For a while, I got faster, but now I seem to be getting slower (or lazier?). Getting married and turning thirty within four months of each other might have had something to do with it. But I'm still having fun.
And I think that's my answer. Why do I run? I run because I wanted to lose my college weight, because I couldn't afford a gym membership, because my friend asked me to do a race with her. And somewhere along the way, it turned fun.
Now let's just see if I'm still saying it's fun after 26.2 miles.
--
If you'd like to donate to either of the charities I'm running for, click one or both of these links!
Athletes to End Alzheimer's
Emslie's Fight - read Emslie's story then click on my name in the team list
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