Exciting Events are Happening!

Very exciting things are happening.  I not only had a personal best run (6.56miles) but I ran the whole time (well 2 tiny slow downs to blow my nose- yes, that is still an issue).  I  can't believe it! I mean, I started "running" almost 2 years ago, I was stuck at three pathetic, painful, slow miles for 2 years.  And now, I'm knocking out 6 miles just 5 weeks into training.  Are you kidding me?!  Holy Moley!  My running partner and I actually sprinted to the "finish line" aka the brick wall by Fleet Feet. SPRINTED! We weren't crawling, we were sprinting and if felt great!

People keep asking why am I doing this crazy thing?  I wish there was a simple answer but there isn't. I am doing this to make myself happy again. I'm doing this to help other people, some people I know and some I don't know and you know what, it doesn't matter.  Whether or not you know someone with Crohn's/Colitis it still impacts you. I'm doing this because its a huge goal, something I never thought I could do.  Hell, I couldn't even run 1 mile in high school- I rode the bikes on "mile day" in gym class. I am doing this to meet new and amazing people throughout the Milwaukee.  Like most major life changes, there is not a simple answer.  Its like when people ask why I turned Vegetarian... am I supposed to have a simple answer for major life change?!  When something in life is uncomfortable or doesn't feel right, you should do something about it.  I teach that every day at work... Some of you may be envisioning my infamous "treatment dance" demo :)

Since I gave props to Rodiez, I have to give a shout out to Fleet Feet in Brookfield!  Not only is it a super cool store, Brittany totally helped me out with my foot pain.  She fit me with some inserts which felt kinda weird at first.  But I did my first little run in them and no pain so far!  And Fleet Feet are donating 20% to CCFA, how could I not purchase something?

This weekend I picked up some reflectors (pink of course!) so I am visible on the road since its dark at like 3:00pm... stupid autumn.  The coolest part: its like those "slap bracelets" from the 80's... remember those things that were banned in schools?  AWESOME!!!!

I also purchased a hand held water bottle at sports authority.  Even though I am selling fundraiser water bottles for CCFA they aren't practical for a long run.

Some people are still interested (despite my incessant hounding for donation or attending events, you all rock!!) in other events around the area, so I figured this may be the best place to list other fund-raising events for CCFA in the Milwaukee area.  I hope people read this but who knows? and who cares?  I'm just putting the info out there and hoping for some good karma in return. So here we go:

Murf’s Custard – Thursday, September 23^rd, Laura is having a fundraiser.  Tell your friends to go to Murf’s Custard (124^th and Burleigh) and when they order, tell the staff they are there for the fundraiser.  All they have to do is eat!

Moe’s Southwest Grill – September 24^th, Pewaukee, this is a fundraiser for Veronica and Tina.  There is a printout attached that you need to bring to the store, but all you have to do is eat.  Moe’s is delicious too! (Post a comment on the blog if you want the printout)


Bowling for Bucks – September 26^th Lindsey, Lisa, and Nicole will be having a bowling event at the Root River Center (7220 W Rawson Ave, Franklin).  Registration begins at 11:30 am.  Please RSVP on Blog Comments

Culvers event – October 1^st, 575 Layton Ave from 4-7 pm.  Jean and Ken Ewert are having this event.  Again, all you have to do is eat!

Rocky Rococo’s Fundraiser – October 6^th, 4849 S Howell, from 5-8 pm.  Jean and Ken Ewert are hosting this fundraiser.  Come, eat yummy food.  Help the CCFA!

Mongolian Grill – October 6^th at BD Mongolian Grill by Bay Shore Town Center.  See attached flier 

Running and Drinking for Crohn’s – October 8^th at Whiskey Bar (788 North Jackson Street) 8-11 pm.  Nadia’s awesome fundraiser.  Come and have some fun.  Small cover charge (includes a drink)

Lucille’s Rockin Piano’s – 1110 N. Old World Third Street, MKE Laura Bolger is having a fundraiser here.  This will be fun!  Starting at 5pm until 8 pm,   10% of drink revenue goes toward CCFA and Laura’s party gets wristbands for free entry! Lucille's Rockin Piano  RSVP on Blog Comments

Bucks Game – October 30^th, flier attached.  There are Discounted tickets AND a portion goes toward Team Challenge.  There are three different ticket levels and it will be FUN! (See previous blog for the order form!)

That's all for today.  I'll post updates to special events as they arise.

A little MoTiVaTiOn thanks to AC/DC

I'm goin' in - to Sin City

I'm gonna win- in Sin City 

Where the lights are bright 

Through the town tonight 

I'm goin' in to Sin City 

I'm gonna roll you baby.....

-Sin City AC/DC

Milwaukee Bucks and Crohn's and Colitis

The Bucks are playing the Charlotte Bobcats on October 30th at the Bradley Center.  Purchase tickets at a reduced price and $10 of your purchase will be donated to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation.

Three levels of pricing to choose from.

Plus, stick around after the game a shoot a free throw!!

Fun for the whole family!

Click here for reduced tickets for the Bucks game on October 30th @ 7:30

The first injury

On Friday I got in a great 4 mile run after work, after returning home I noticed my ankle/foot was sore.  I didn't think much of it.  I decided not to run the scheduled 2 miles on saturday to let my ankle rest.  Sunday it was still a little sore so I popped 2 Tyelnol and headed to TEAM practice.  As I warmed up on the 5 mile run it started to feel better.  I had a pretty good pace going and felt great.  At about mile 2.5 I felt the stiffness and soreness return.  I decide "mind over matter" and kept going.
Along the run, Coach Tim met up with me.  I asked a few questions about the ankle/foot problem. As it turns out, my little narrow feet might be the culprit.   I have freakishly narrow feet! And most shoes don't fit well, whether they are running shoes or work shoes, my heels slip out.  As a result of the slipping I lace my shoes really tight which may be the cause of added rolling of the ankle- fancy term -supination.
I decided I'll head over to Rodiez shoes again and have them check out my stride and supination.  If this is a problem only 5 miles in 13 miles won't happen unless I get this taken care of.

But the good news is how great I felt on the sunday team practice run. My Nike+ reports 5.56miles in 59 minutes. Average pace 10'38"! I love running on the lake front, its so pretty and relaxing!  Makes the run feel like its just a casual stroll along the lake.

The Secret Underworld... Dun dun dun.

Hello Again Crap.


Tonight was possibly the best night of Team Challenge activities... THE SHOE CLINIC.  Now before you start rolling your eyes and referencing my shoe garage sale comments from the previous post, be proud of me.  I walked away with my free "goodie bag" from Rodiez.  That's right I did not purchase a single pair of shoes tonight.  But before I give myself too many accolades it was solely out of cash-poorness.  I spent all my excess cash on fund-raising water bottles this week, which is totally worth it! But I have to hold off on purchasing shoes that will really protect my tootsies for a week or two. 

Ok, so the "SECRET UNDERWORLD"of running.  As I dive deeper and deeper into this subculture of freakishly skinny Marathon Men and Women I am learning more and more.  The shoe clinic tonight was actually very informative and I look forward to going back to Rodiez to learn more about what shoes are best for my freakishly narrow feet.  Not only are there tons of shoes out there, some of them are super weird.  I heard on TV and online about those shoes that are supposed to simulate running barefoot, you know the shoes with toes!!

So I investigated and played with the toe slots and was officially creeped out. remember those toe socks that were popular circa 1994?!?! Those were ungodly uncomfortable I cannot imagine the rubbery toe shoes could be much better.

On Sunday at the team run, I ran past a bare foot runner.  Literally, this man was running through the park's nature path with bare feet.  The week before we had to hop over a half dead mouse on the trail.  THE MOUSE WAS STILL TWITCHING!  Not to forget about the animal feces and mystery bodily fluids. But hey, whatever keeps you running... I guess.

Additional new running mystery.  The importance of socks.  You are telling me there are socks that cost $10?! Again, once I learned/brainwashed about the importance of foot care for runners, and walkers, I get it.  But I still don't feel 100% comfortable buying a single pair of socks for $10.  This also coming from a girl with callused feet and toes... Must keep an open mind, right.

And finally the item for sale that I could not investigate out of fear...
My former co-work, Jake aka Jail Tech Jake, is an Iron Man.

He is probably the fittest person I know, verging on clinically insane.  But he informed me a year and half ago that some marathoners and Ironman runners go on themselves as opposed to stop mid race to use the port-o-potty.  This idea was shocking and alarming to me then and still disturbs me now.  I mean, I get it, you are super competitive, hell its IRONMAN, using the port-o-potty is probably not ideal for your personal best time.  But to go pee on yourself is just too much for me.  Which brings me to what, I believe, I saw hanging on the shelf.  It appeared to be a vinylish pair of briefs.  Now I could be wrong.  But, again, I was too fearful to explore the plastic underwear/diapers. Perhaps on my next visit.  Stay tuned.

For good measure
Donate to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation and maybe I'll pee on myself at the Rock N Roll  Half Marathon.  But I'm not making any promises!

"In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that."
-Fred Lebow, New York City Marathon co-founder

Welcome to Craps in Vegas

First of all let's establish an understanding. 1) I have repeatedly hated blogs in the past. 2) I accept this makes me a hypocrite! 3) My blog will be awesome! 4) I hope this helps maintain running motivation 5) My altruistic motivation is to

a) raise awareness of Crohn's and Colitis

b) possible additional donations to my fundraising goal of $2,500 (or more!)

c) provide some entertainment on this insane journey I have taken on-- ok, ok, so this one is not altruistic but nonetheless true.

Obviously the title of my blog "Craps in Vegas" is a play on the symptoms of Crohn's and Colitis. I'm not a big fan of poop jokes, however since beginning this endeavor poop seems to be a frequent topic of conversation.

This is unofficially week 3 of my training (I started prior to signing up with Team Challenge) and officially week 2 of Team Challenge training.  Everyday seems to provide a different challenge for me; if its not the 100% humidity, allergy attacks, or sore muscles from stretching I'd be feeling super confident in this whole 13.1 mile thing.  There are some days, like furlough Friday, I set out to get a good 4 miles in, felt confident and pumped out 5 miles in 57 minutes.  I felt like I could do this no problem, then Sunday came...  Midway through the team run my nose starts running.  I mean, thanks for the hustle boogers, but come on!! I had to stop halfway and get tissues.  And then i had to slow down to blow my nose, what felt like, every 5 minutes.  It/I was a mess. Now today I was a little sore from stretching (I will continue to argue my opinion stretching does not work for me) I decided to push through and do a quick 5k.  And it went great.  There was a strong breeze which help the humidity feel not as bad.  I wish there was a method to the madness, like a sign that says: "Laura, today is not the day to run... sit back, watch TV and eat bon bons instead"

Today I started my "virtual garage sale" on eBay. I figured since I don't actually have a physical garage, eBay is the next best thing.  First items up: shoes I will not wear or have not worn yet.  I have a slight shoe problem... I buy shoes I don't need.  Most of these items I posted for sale are shoes I simply will not wear because of work.  I remember buying them as a started my first "big girl" job... and then wore them once and realized... heels + inmate = creep factor! Ha ha! So there they all sat, collecting dust and looking lonely.  All the proceeds will go to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation through my Active Giving website.

Here is my garage sale links for eBay:

Ann Klein Black Leather "Krista"

Calvin Klein Brown Leather "Dolly"

Ann Taylor Loft Patent Leather

Ann Klein "Khan" in Gun Metal

Mossimo Patent Leather Peep Toe

Silver and Sparkly Sandals

And one more time for good measure:

Please Donate to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation

Great changes may not happen right away, but with effort even the difficult may become easy.
       - Bill Blackman