This past weekend, we spent Saturday at a fun, fun, fun event. The first Chillin' and Grillin' for a Cure was held at Dean's house. It was a block-party type event, complete with kids' games, live music, a rib cook-off, lots of good food and drinks, tons of cool raffle baskets and more. 

The party was fun, but even better was seeing all of Dean's friends and family out there grilling, serving, selling tickets, organizing games, donating raffle items, buying tickets for raffle items...I could go on and on. It was amazing. 

 

Dean is waving hello to everyone :)

 

I am so proud to be a part of the awesome Eat.Pray.Dean fundraising team. What a special group of people coming together for a special little guy :) Can't wait for next year!

http://www.cff.org/LWC/CandyJohnson

It's been a couple weeks since I posted, so I guess I'll work backwards in recounting my recent runs.

Today should have been an easy run day. A step-back week--just 6 miles. However, some poor choices made it a very difficult one. Yesterday we spent the day at Dean's house for the Chillin' and Grillin' for a Cure fundraising event. So much fun. But lots of food and drinks and a late night lead to hitting snooze about 10 times this morning. I didn't step out the door until after 9 a.m. and it was already steaming hot out. In addition to getting a late start, I chose a very UN-shady route. A brutal combination. 

Last weekend was SO much better even though it was twice as long. 12 miles last Sunday--the weather broke for us just in the nick of time. The entire week, the daily highs were 100+. But a cool front came through Saturday night. Sunday morning was about 75 degrees and cloudy. Thank goodness!! I'm not sure we would have gotten 12 miles in if the heat wave had continued. It was the first opportunity that Sunni, Emily and I have had to run together. We ran on a path in Naperville that was new to Emily and I. A very nice 6 mile loop. Very little shade, but the sun stayed behind the clouds for most of the run. Awesome!

Even through the heat of the week, I managed to get all my runs in. Although I did end up at the Y on the treadmill on Friday. When it's already 80+ degrees at 5 a.m., it's just too hot to run outside.

The Sunday run two weeks ago was 10 miles. Busy schedules prevented any of us from running together. So it was 10 miles solo. I have to say that, although it was a little lonely, I enjoyed the solitude of just me and my music. And it was complete solitude. I did not see another person until I got into downtown Oswego--and I was only there for about 1.5 miles. I took the opportunity to greet fellow runners and struck up a quick conversation with one runner who I could tell was in the middle of a long run (he was sporting one of those camelback water packs). He was running 13 that morning and seemed envious that I only had 10 to do :)

So far things are progressing very well. My back is feeling great (I'm down to just one PT/chiro visit a week), shin splints are pretty much gone. And I'm excited about 14 miles this coming Sunday. Never gone that far! Praying that it isn't too hot!!

http://www.cff.org/LWC/CandyJohnson

It's officially summer in Chicagoland. I know this not only because the calendar says so, but also because the hot humid air has set in! I feel lucky that it stayed away as long as it did. But the past two Sunday long runs have been hot and HUMID! UGH!

Emily and I ran last week's 9 miles along the Fox River starting in downtown Aurora. 

I'd never run on that section of the Fox River Trail before. We saw lots of chipmunks and squirrels, a bunny, a pair of cardinals, and even a doe! We ran under I-88 and saw some neat houses along the river. Overall a very nice run. We were just a couple miles short of hitting Batavia before we turned around for the second 4.5. How crazy to think that I ran from Aurora almost all the way to Batavia. Soon enough it will be a reality. 

Today was an easy 6 around Yorkville. So fun to say that 6 miles is easy. Any 5K or 10K races this fall after the marathon are going to be a breeze!!!

http://www.cff.org/LWC/CandyJohnson

Eight miles this morning. Easy peasy :)  Well, not easy, but it was a good run!  Sunni and I headed out at 6 a.m. (UGH!) but it was still cool and it is always a good feeling to get a long run done early and have the whole day still ahead to enjoy.

I was really nervous about this run. After a bad long run last weekend and a bad run Friday, I was afraid of something hurting. But all was good!!

I had an interesting cyber encounter a couple of weeks ago. I got some very cool water bottles in the mail--as promised by this stranger, who has a CF connection.

I had been searching for a "dual" water bottle. Something I could put both water and Gatorade in. I'd never seen one, but I figured one MUST exist out there somewhere. I came across the SWIGZ dual hydration system. Exactly what I'd pictured in my head. Even found a couple reviews on a women's fitness magazine site. But when I clicked on the "order" button, it took me to an expired page. So I sent and email to the "contact us" address.

I little while later, I received a response. Unfortunately they were no longer selling the bottles. However, they had some extra stock and if I would send my address, he would be happy to send me one free of charge.

I debated whether it was a good idea to send my address. So I followed some of the links that were in this guy's signature. Chip Yates is a Guinness World Record holder for the fastest electric motorcycle. He is also the founder and CEO of Flight of the Century, which has something to do with all-electric air crafts. Pretty cool! I figured it was safe to send my address.

As you may know, the signature in my email is information about my CFF fundraising. Turns out, this guy's sister-in-law had CF, so seeing that I was fundraising for CF, he told me a little about her. Courtney Allison Yates was his brother's wife. She had a double lung transplant and then finished her degree, got married, and had a baby before she passed away at just 28 years old.

My heart breaks thinking of that little boy or girl growing up without his or her mom. It's not fair.

This is why I am running. Why I was up before 5 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Because I want to do everything I can to not have any more families grieving over a loved one lost to CF. Because I want to help find a cure for everyone who is living with CF--especially my "little friend Dean" (as my great-aunt put it in her sweet note that accompanied her donation :) )

http://www.cff.org/LWC/CandyJohnson

18 weeks from today I will have completed the 2012 Chicago Marathon (hopefully!).

Is it bad that just a few weeks into training I was so excited to have an extra rest day this week and so glad that today's long run was just 6 miles? It is going to be a long summer!

Thank goodness today's run was just 6 miles. It was not a good run. I'm battling shin splints on my right leg. I got stretch and strength exercises to do from the trainer during last Thursday's physical therapy session. I'm hoping that will help!  I also had spent the day gardening, so I'm sure I was dehydrated and I know my back was tired from bending over. Lesson learned--early morning runs are best not only for the cool temps (although that wasn't an issue today) but because I haven't had a chance to wear myself out with any other activities.

Last Sunday's run was a lot of fun. 7 miles with a different running buddy! I'm not typically one to chat during a run. But Sunni is my college roommate and we ALWAYS have catching up to do. So we chatted the whole 7 miles and it was fun! It was incredibly hot so it was good to have the miles go by so quickly :)

And I also have some exciting news about my fundraising...I'm over halfway there!!!  Thank you does not even begin to express how grateful I am! The generosity of my friends and family makes my heart fill with pride and love and joy and amazement! The outpouring of support not only for Dean and the CF Foundation, but also for my marathon journey is awesome. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone!

http://www.cff.org/LWC/CandyJohnson

We spent most of this beautiful day at the Great Strides Walk for Cystic Fibrosis. This is our second year participating. Last year we were bundled into multiple layers and/or winter coats. It was cold, windy and rainy--but still an awesome day. This year was hot and sunny--and awesome again. Seeing all the people come together to raise money for this amazing cause and getting to be a part of it is (yes, I'm going to say it again) awesome.

And I met a fellow Team CF marathoner there which was cool! This will be his first marathon, too. It was nice to hear that he has the same conflicting emotions that I do...excited yet petrified :)  He has a granddaughter with CF. As he was walking away, his final comment was something along the lines of "We're going to find a cure." Amen!

Erin (Dean's mom) thanked me multiple times for being there today. But I am thankful to her for giving me a way to help. I can't do a lot for her other than be a good friend with an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on when she needs it. But I CAN help raise money to keep the research on finding a cure for CF going strong.

So thank you to all of you who have donated to me so far! Every penny makes a difference. Check out one of Erin's latest blogs about some recent exciting research advances that have been made: http://www.itsadifferentkindofperfect.blogspot.com/2012/05/baby-stepping-to-cure.html

http://www.cff.org/LWC/CandyJohnson

Two exciting things to report this week.

First of all, the training plan we've decided to use starts tomorrow! So it has officially begun! Excited and anxious about that--excited to get started and anxious about how my body is going to hold up :)

Second, I had my first re-evaluation with my chiropractor today. It's been 6 weeks of physical therapy and adjustments, 3 times a week. Whew! But I couldn't ask for a better experience so far. The staff is amazing. And several of them are fellow runners--one is even running the Chicago Marathon! So even though it's been a huge time commitment, I do enjoy my time there. And best of all, my re-evaluation shows HUGE progress. The strength in my leg that was being affected is back and flexibility has improved (I am NOT flexible at all, so after 6 weeks of stretching twice a day, I'm glad he could see an improvement even if I don't feel it!) The doctor was very happy and impressed with the results.

So now we move on to physical therapy and adjustments 2 times a week. And the BEST part--I only have to wear the lovely belt 4 hours a day for the next 2 weeks and then I am DONE with the belt!

Thank goodness for my wonderful mother-in-law who helps out with my kiddos. She has been a life saver throughout this process so far. I'm sure I wouldn't be reporting such a positive experience if I had to lug my kids in and try to keep them occupied while I did an hour of therapy three times a week.

So tomorrow I'll be out early for a nice 40 minute run. The first of MANY. Wish me luck!

http://www.cff.org/LWC/CandyJohnson