This and That ....

I'm counting down the days until my next Remicade infusion, it's 2 weeks away. This flare up is trying to get the best of me but I won't let it. I can barely move my wrists without terrible cramping pain in them, in fact typing this post is proving to be a bit of a challenge. So it's a good think I have 13 months to prepare for this marathon because it's already proving to be an even bigger challenge then the last one. I'm hoping that after we get the dosages figured out for the Remicade I will be well on my way to preparing sooner rather than later. This is why having people as part of "Team Jordan" is so important, just in case I need everyone else to complete the marathon on my behalf. Now that being said I'm pretty sure I am going to have to be in pretty bad shape and ALOT of pain to not participate. But for now it's one day at a time. On that note I do have a couple more people that are considering joining the team, so that is awesome news. A friend in Ontario is even considering, so it doesn't matter where you live and which Province you are teamed up with, you can still be a part of "Team Jordan" for the big day!! I have been able to walk and pick my kids up for school so that's 2km there and back. I also mapped out the distance around our acreage and it's about a quarter of a km, so I plan to do alot of laps along the fence line. :-) I'm sure the neighbors will wonder what the new girl on the block is doing and think that I flipped my lid ... but that's okay !! :-) Here are a few pictures from the Arthritis forum I spoke at. I'm still waiting for the youtube video to come out so I can post that. I was trying to post a copy of the notes I wrote for the forum but I'm not sure how to attach them to a post...hmmm see if I can figure it out.

Me at the Podium during my presentation.

Another group photo of all the presenters

Me again!

What's been happening ....

Wow, I'm not even sure where to start. Hind sight I should have just kept blogging cause it's been a crazy 11 months since my marathon. So this could be a long entry. :-) I wish I could say it's been an easy last 11 months but it hasn't. My arthritis has be challenging to deal with. After my marathon I went for a followup appointment with my Rhumetologist and found out that I now have Osteoarthritis in my right hip as well and that my left hip is now considered severe. I've since had another injection in my hip to help with the pain but these days I constantly sound like a twig on a tree branch as my hip snaps each time I take a step or go from sitting to standing. Early in the year I experienced an episode of iritis, which is kinda like a flare up of arthritis of the eye. I had temporary vision loss for almost 2 months before they could get it under control. Since then my Rhumetologist and my opthamologist felt it would be helpful for me to change some of my meds. So I don't do the weekly Enbrel injections anymore, instead I have Remicade infusions every 6 weeks. I just started them this summer and with the transition of coming off the other meds, I've had to deal with some flareups. Most of the pain and swelling is in my hands and wrists and there are days I can barely move my arms away from my body. I kinda forgot what the pain was like since it's been a few years since I've experienced a flare up of the psoriatic arthritis. I did do a local half marathon in April, it was no personal best but it was still a great feeling to be able to finish. With flareups and transition of meds my exercise program has been modified which means my challenge with weight loss and even maintaining my weight has been just that ... a challenge. This is why it's important for me to have people join "Team Jordan" for the next leg of this journey because if I thought doing the first marathon in Athens was a challenge, this one is going to be even more of a challenge. I will need all the support I can get. :-) Last week it was an honor to be asked by the Arthritis Society to be a guest speaker at their Arthritis Forum and tell my story. I was nervous about getting up there in front of all those people but it was also a great feeling to be able to share my accomplishments. The support I received from family and friends that day was amazing and that is something I will always appreciate. Once the presentation is posted on youtube I will share the link on the blog. If you or someone you love suffers from Arthritis I recommend you visit the website, there is so much new information available via web seminars, open houses and the online community forum. There is a link on the left side of my blog. :-) I hope that everyone will continue to follow this next leg of my journey and support the "Joints in Motion" and "Team Jordan". There are links to the left that will get you to team members' fundraising pages. Every donation matters whether it be big or small, so please help support the Arthritis Soceity and the fight against Arthritis.

Continuing my Journey

It's official. I am continuing my journey and I have registered for to complete my second full marathon in Lausanne Switzerland in October 2012. I have so much to catch up on over the last year but I just wanted to share this exciting news. The best part of this continued journey is my sister has decided to join me and share in this exciting experience. Her support means the world to me and so the journey is "Team Jordan". I would love to have others as part of my own personal support team and I have a couple of other people on my radar that are considering it. :-) So if you'd like to be a part of this journey drop me a line. :-) My fundraising page will be up shortly so if you'd like to donate to "Joints in Motion" in support of the Arthritis Society, your support will be greatly appreciated. Again I look forward to sharing this journey with all my readers, supporters, friends and family. Cheers

Pictures !!!

Arriving in Greece !

Team "Alberta"
Guest speaker Jeff Galloway ... very helpful info he gave us !!
Bus Ride to Start line of Marathon at 6:00am !!

At the start line!

Waiting to start !
Lighting the torch to start the race !

Over 13,000 people in the marathon !!

Enroute !

Very happy to see the 21k half way mark !!

Yay !! Half way mark !!

KM 37 ... wow !!

View of the stadium and Finish line !

Crossing the finish line !!

Thank you Domitrice and Jo for staying with me to the finish line !

My team mate and roomie Heather !


Marathon Completed !!

6weeks since race day !!1

I can't believe it's been 6 weeks since the marathon. My feet still look like they were in a marathon ...lol !!! A few toenails missing but at least I can wear shoes again. I'm back at the gym and have decided that maybe I will do another marathon next year. I still have some weight to lose and I think having a goal of a marathon will help with the last half of the weight loss. My expectation for this one might be a bit higher this time, like finishing in under 8 hours ..lol !!!

Thank you to everyone that has followed and supported my journey. I thought once I did the marathon in Greece it would be the end of my journey but it seems like it is only the begining. Supporting the Arthritis society is very important to me as well as maintaining my own health and having goals to work towards, so what a better way to do that then for me to be a supporter for the Joints in Motion program and continue to be an inspiration to others that suffer with Arthritis. I encourage others to join me next year and together we can do a marathon !!! I want to have my own team within the Joints in Motion Team !!! :-) "Go Team Jordan" ...LOL !!!

Can't wait to hear who wants to join me !!!!

The Big Day !!!

Sorry I wasn't able to blog while I was in Greece, I couldn't figure out how to get the computer to type english on the blogsite ..lol !!! I arrived home on Saturday and I am really trying to get back to routine with the time difference. I think this part is harder than the marathon was ..lol


Well it was an experience for sure. The day started at 4:45am. We boarded the buses and took the one hour drive to the start line in Marathon. Our race started at 9:20 am. Over 12,000 people lined up to start the marathon, we started in blocks, so the elite runners started right 9:00, I'm sure they were finished before I even hit the 10k mark..lol After listening to people that have run this course in previous years I decided to take their advice and not go hard and fast (well as fast as I go anyway..lol) off the start, so I maintained a good even pace through the first half. In the begining people were passing me both walking and running, so by the 10th km where the hills started there were probably only about 20 people behind me. Once we hit the hills, it was a great feeling,cause I passed a lot of people, because I was doing a slower pace at the begining and I was able to maintain going up the hills while others struggled and some actually were falling out of the race. Don't get me wrong, there were some BIG hills but I didn't do to bad. I enjoyed all the spectators handing out olive branches for good luck and the little kids yelling out "bravo bravo" They loved when you stopped to give them highfive. I really did enjoy the first half of the race. At the 21st km I needed to stop and have my feet retaped cause I could feel that they might be blistering through the tape that I had put on before the race. That was a mistake because they used crappy tape and taped them too tight. Another km up the road I had to stop again and readjust the tape. So at the almost 23km a car pulled up beside me and asks "do you speak English".. I said yes .. and they said " you are out of the race". My heart sank into my stomach and I asked why. They said it was because my half mark time was over the limited time that would get me to the finish under 8 hours. I asked by how much and I was off by 10 minutes. So we had a quick discussion with them telling me I had to leave the course and I said I need to finish. I knew I wasn't that far behind the last qualifiers so after the car pulled away, I started to run thinking I could make up the time ..lol I think back and it was pretty funny. (Just wondering why all my running friends didn't tell me I had to have a certain time at the half point...lol) Anyway, I felt great and new that I could continue, so I continued on the course "at my own risk". At this point the mental game started, I was "officially" out but wanted to finish. On the course by myself, being the very last person was harder then the physical walking of it. One of the coordinators from group were following the last person from our group on the course (which happened to be from about the 15thkm) and so they stopped and asked what was going on. I told them and told them I wanted to continue and so they continued with me km by km. The water stations were all being packed up as I got to them so I was taking water off the trucks and the streets were all being opened block by block behind me. I think that running the marathon is enough of a physcological game but knowing you are out of the race and out there by yourself, I really wanted to quit time and time again. But thanks to all the kind words and support from family, friends and even strangers on the course my heart wanted to finish. I wasn't able to walk on the road of the course, I had to walk on the on even sidewalks and up and down off the curbs so it wasn't even a nice smooth finish ..lol The other bonus to being "officially" of the race is you don't have to use the porta potties (which are really gross when you follow 10,000 other runners that have had runners diarrehea..lol) instead I found gas stations that felt sorry for me and let me use theirs..lol. So 45 minutes after the last person came in I walked into the pretty much empty stadium (but my teammates were there cheering me on and that was awesome) and crossed the finish line with the supervisor of the people that made sure I was safe on the course for the last 21km. The trainers that were with our team didn't even realize that I was the last one on the course, I guess that's what you get when they send trainers that you haven't trained with the entire time, they don't know who you are, so thankfully I was depending on them. Crossing and getting my medal was an awesome feeling. Listening to other people and the awesome feeling of running into a stadium full of spectators that they felt kinda makes me sad that I missed that part. But I am just glad that I stuck to the reason why I came here and that was to finish the marathon and I did that. So it didn't turn out the way I thought it would but it was an adventure and part of an entire journey that didn't go as I expected, but I look at it this way... I at least have something to work for next time I do a marthon... finishing "officially" ;-) The support from everyone is overwhelming and awesome !!!! And thank you to those that are donating to my website for finishing .. that is sooo awesome !!! Thank you !!!

I will post pictures.
.

Boarding the Plane !!

Wow, I can't believe after everything I've been through on this journey that in less then 24hours I will be boarding a plane destination .. Athens Greece !!! It's going to be a long couple of days getting there and hopefully my hip holds up with all the sitting on the plane. I have a flood of emotions to deal with today, the marathon, the flight, leaving my family ... and the list goes on and on !! I'm pretty much packed, and holy crap who knew that a 20lb pack could feel so heavy ...lol !! I was thinking to myself as I packed around the 20lb on my back and it felt heavy, that a year ago when I was packing over double that around how in the world did I do it !!
I will be arriving in Athens Thurs night around 6pm which will be about 9:00am your time.
Race day is Oct 31 (Greece time) so when you are settling into bed for the night around 11pm I will at the start line ready to walk a marathon. I seriously get butterflies and sick to my stomach when I think about it ..lol !!! I will go and do my best, do as much as I can. I am prepared to walk the full 8 hours and if that takes me across the finish line, I will be extremely happy !!! If I get the chance to get on to the blog before the race I will post my bib number and you may be able to view the results on the website I previously posted.
It's going to be an adventure and I can't wait to let everyone know how I do !!

I am truly blessed to have such an amazing support system through this entire journey and I couldn't have gotten this far without all of you. :-)

Donations can still be made to my fundraising page if you have family and friends that would like to donate. I have met my goal but I would like to continue fundraising for the Arthritis Society and raise awareness. I want to be the success story that people donate to !!! :-)

Well off to do some last minute things so stay tuned for the big day !!!! :-)

Thanks everyone !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!