Tried real hard not to look back at the previous incidents that had kept me from running in half marathons, but couldn't help myself. I really didn't think much about my auto accident in May, 2012, just unlucky that it happened 2 weeks before the Virginia Half-Marathon. Nothing I could have done. Couldn't help but look back at November, 2012. Crohn's got me that time. The difference is, that time, I felt I could have done things to prevent the flare up from happening. No way I was going to do anything to keep me from Vegas this time.
The race was on November 17th. Beginning November 1st, I climbed into a "Crohn's Bubble". I focused on tapering my runs, running 5 miles, twice the first week and once the week we left for Vegas. I kept my body and cardio strong with low weight, high rep workouts. I did 45 minute workouts the first week and 30 minutes the second week. As far as my diet is concerned, I should always be as focused as I was for those 17 days. If Crohn's was going to flare up, it was doing it on it's own, no help from me. Not going to list everything I ate because with Crohn's, you need to do what you know works for YOU. I definitely did what has worked for me. I stayed away from anything that I knew had irritated my Crohn's in the past. Typically, alcohol in moderation doesn't bother me. Didn't take any chances. My last drink was on October 31st. Love smoking cigars. Last cigar was on October 31st. A couple of days before the flight, I planned on trimming trees in my backyard. I brought my ladder, hedge trimmer and tree cutter into the yard. I looked at the top of the tree (about 20 feet high), looked at the ladder and then thought of Vegas. Brought everything back into the garage. Tree trimming was going to have to wait.
We left for Vegas, from NJ, on the 15th. I felt great that morning. Had a water bottle on the way to the airport and brought three with me on the plane (gotta keep hydrated). Felt great to see all of my Team Challenge-NJ teammates at the airport. I always get a major adrenaline rush when I see them. The flight was great, we landed early in Vegas. Our bags were waiting for us and the bus ride to the hotel was, maybe 10 minutes. After checking in, we all met at "I Love Burgers", a restaurant at Pallazzo. Other than being a little tired, I felt pretty good. While at the restaurant, I spoke with a couple of my teammates about heading over to the race expo after eating. The race expo was on our schedule the next day, but I figured, lets get that over with today. The two teammates that were going with me to the expo wanted to see a show that night and were first heading for the ticket line before heading to the expo. I went to my room waiting for their call. That's when it hit. When I fly, 9 times out of 10 I flare up during the first 24 hours of my trip. I have blogged about that in the past. The key to my weekend was what happened that night. I didn't push myself and go to the expo. Instead, I went to a Walgreen's that was next to our hotel and got some things I needed for the room. It was a beautiful night in Vegas.
Went back to my room and was asleep by 8 p.m. It was a tough night. Besides being in the bathroom 6 times before going to sleep, I was up 4 times during the night. So glad I drank all of that water earlier in the day.
The next days schedule was an 11 a.m. leave for the race expo, a 4:30 p.m. team 2 mile run and 7 p.m. pasta party. I woke up REALLY EARLY (2:30 a.m.) and could not go back to sleep. I had one of my meal replacement shakes around 5 a.m. and another at 10 a.m. No way I was eating any food while feeling the way I did. By the time we left for the expo, I was starting to feel a little better, but not great. I did get a rush of adrenaline when I picked up my race bib.
I didn't stay very long at the expo. I just wanted to get back to my room and relax. By the time I got back to my room, I was exhausted, but my stomach was getting better and better. I went down and picked up a sandwich and brought it back to the room. Got a second wind after I ate, so I took a walk over to Wynn and placed a Kentucky Derby Future Pools bet. Headed back to my hotel to get ready for our 4:30 p.m. 2 mile run. Holy shit, did I have adrenaline rushing during that run. I knew the mini-flare up was gone and I was actually running with my teammates, in Vegas. At the end of the run, I was wishing the half marathon was starting then, not in 24 hours.
The actual name of the party that night is the "Inspirational Pasta Party". Wow, is that name apropos, because it is truly inspirational. First, all of the runners get an amazing greeting as they enter the room. Here is what it looked and sounded like.
The party was hosted by Dennis Haskins, who played Mr. Belding from "Saved by the Bell". His personal physician has family members that suffer from Crohn's. He asked him, as a personal favor, to host the party. The top 10 fundraisers are announced and brought up on stage. Three of the top ten were from New Jersey, including the top two. The mom of CCFA's National Honoree spoke about her son and when I say there wasn't a dry eye in the house, I'm not kidding. The kid was diagnosed with Crohn's at a really early age, however, has been in remission for the past 11 months. He was on the stage with his mom and thanked all of us. A truly inspirational night.
After the party, all of my NJ teammates and I gathered in the hallway outside of the room where the party took place. We went one by one, saying why we are running for Team Challenge and what it means to us. Most of the runners either have family members or friends that have Crohn's disease. Our team has it's own honoree, Alexis, who handed out bracelets she made for everyone (Team Challenge colors, of course).
When it was my turn to speak, it was pretty emotional for me to talk about my Crohn's past and how much it meant to me to do this. By the time I got back to the room, I was physically and emotionally wiped out and got a great night of sleep.
Sunday, race day, was finally here. The race started at 4:30 p.m. We had to meet in the lobby at 2 p.m. to board the buses taking us to the start. Other than that, nothing was on our schedule. I made sure to stay off my feet as much as possible all day. Around 10:30 a.m. I ordered room service, which was a pretty big, carb loaded breakfast of french toast, potatoes, bacon and fruit. Just hung in the room watching football until it was time to leave for the race.
Got to the starting area around 3 p.m. If I didn't realize how big this race was, seeing the amount of people there made it sink in.
That area in the picture above was outside of the starting stalls we were all assigned. The stalls are based on what time you think you might finish the race in. The faster runners start up front, the slowest in the back. Once you went into the stall, you could not come back into the area in the picture. The reason I mention this is, my last obstacle getting to the starting line was about to happen. The area outside of the starting stalls had a couple dozen port a pottys in it. We had no way of knowing whether the starting stalls had any. One last shot from Crohn's, doing its best keeping me from the starting line hit hard. A severe cramp (probably nerves) and an immediate need for a bathroom. Couple of dozen port a pottys, no problem, except for the fact that there were at least 100 people on line at every one of them. At that point, I was hanging with one of my Team Challenge teammates, who noticed a VIP area with its own port a pottys. Not sure if I would be able to get into that area, so I decided to sneak in. I went around the back area and squeezed between the backs of two port a pottys. There was barely enough room to get through. Once through, I saw one of them was unused. Thank you, God! Once that last obstacle was cleared, nothing was in my way.
Considering my past two attempts at running, I thought being in the starting stall would be very emotional for me. If the emotion was there, I had way too much adrenaline to feel it. I focused hard on trying to reel in that adrenaline and concentrate on keeping my pace to where it needed to be. A local girl sang the National Anthem, then they blasted "Life in the Fast Lane" through the speakers and off we went.
The only thing eventful during the first mile was that my headphones shorted out. I threw them off of the course. There was plenty of music and people watching the race yelling their support, but I was concerned because, besides the music, my "Runkeeper" App was my way of confirming my pace. Just had to trust my feel for it.
Got a little nervous around the 5 mile mark because my left calf was starting to cramp. Backed off my pace a bit and it worked, the cramp relieved. They had fluid tables every couple of miles. Every other one was water, the other gatorade. I did grab fluids at every table, which came back to haunt me around the 10 mile mark. Started to get nauseous at that point and I assumed it was from the sugar in the gatorade. By the time I got to the 11.5 mile mark, I seriously considered stopping. My exact thought was, "if there was a cement truck in the area that could please run me over, everything would be ok". I was so nauseous, I was cold and clammy and just felt horrible. At that point I started to try and focus on all of the things I went through in my life in dealing with this disease. I then thought about all of my teammates. Then, I thought about my daughter Jill, who deals with horrible digestive issues and is the toughest person I know. It was also at that point I saw my teams cheering group. Ashley, who runs the local chapter in NJ, caught my eye and screamed at me to "GO NEAL" ! That was it, I snapped out of it my funk and ran the last 2 miles faster than the 2 previous miles. As I approached the finish line, that's when the emotion started to really hit me. I crossed the finish line without ever stopping during the entire run. It was the most amazing feeling of self-accomplishment I've ever felt. I called my wife, Emily and then I called Jill. It then didn't take me long to get out of my "Crohn's Bubble". The first table I stopped at after the finish line was the beer and bagel table. Had a couple bites of the bagel and downed the beer. Talk about instantly being drunk...and it was a light beer. Made my way to the Team Challenge tent to get warm and have a sandwich. Most of my teammates were still out on the course, but there were a handful there to hang with and share details of our run with. Couldn't be any happier.
The race had started at 4:30 and my final time was 2:18.36. By the time I got back to my room, it was around 7:30. There was an after party scheduled from 9 p.m.-2 a.m. I stretched and took a shower with all intentions to go to the party. I got in bed for a minute to unwind and watch highlights on ESPN of the Giants game. Nine hours later, I woke up.
To say this experience was rewarding would be the understatement of all time. The CCFA and Team Challenge is so personal for me. I have lived with this disease for 45 years. Every day of those 45 years has been a fight, some days harder than others. I have cursed this disease many times over those years. When I crossed the finish line, I said "F-You Crohn's". This time, the meaning was very different. I had won !!
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