I’m going to run a marathon!

I know it’s crazy – in fact – just thinking of completing 26.2 miles makes me nervous. But somehow I come up with these ideas, set my mind on it, and I just have to do it. When I first started, it was just going to be one 5k, which rolled into another and another and eventually into countless 5ks, some 10ks, relays, and even three half-marathons, like the one my husband Eric and I ran in Providence, Rhode Island.

Over the next few months, I will be writing about my experiences with training, running and my health as I share my journey from training to the finish line of the New York City Marathon on November 2, 2014. A few things that I want you all to know up front are: I am not a fast runner – in fact, I walk a lot – but I want to be better and I even want to beat my husband in a race one day. Second, I am busy just like all of you so training is going to be a challenge and third, I have Cystic Fibrosis (CF).

That third fact used to be really difficult for me to talk about – I didn’t even tell my best friend for the first 5 years we knew each other. For those that don’t know, CF is a chronic genetic disease that creates thick-sticky mucus in the lungs and other organs due to a gene defect. This leads to frequent lung infections, hospitalizations, and some patients even need to have lung transplants. The average survival age for CF patients today is close to 38. And the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation says “There is clear scientific and clinical evidence that regular exercise provides multiple benefits for those with CF.”

Even now, having CF still isn’t something that I can say that I’m completely okay with talking about but I am 33 years old and I am healthy. My doctor once told me that I should talk about it because I need to pass my experiences on to younger patients and their families so they know that CF is not all about bad news. So all the sad statistics aside, I am going to finish a marathon and while I am training to do that, I am going to help raise money for Team Boomer’s fight for a cure to Cystic Fibrosis.

I need some help from you all too! Along the way, please help support my fundraising efforts by visiting Eric’s and my Team Boomer page (every little bit helps). There are so many CF patients waiting for the treatments currently in trials to come to market. If you can help support us, you will be supporting these new treatments and hopefully some day a cure for all CF patients. Also, leave me a reply with your thoughts and hopefully some encouragement because I’m going to need it on my journey to 26.2 miles.