![]() ![]() They’re important too, of course, but for me, I need to consider everything I might need just in case I need to go to the bathroom when there are no facilities in sight. I’m not talking about “normal” things like dressing for the weather or making sure you have enough water. Bring your own bathroom essentials.īeing prepared is non-negotiable. And while I think everyone needs to experiment to find out what works for their situation, these are some of the strategies I come back to that help me continue to lace up with Crohn’s. It’s definitely taken some trial and error to figure out what works for me. I might go again once I get home, but by lunchtime, I’m generally good for the day. It’s just guaranteed that I’m going to stop then because that’s when my stomach is most active. On a normal day, even when I’m feeling good and not experiencing a flare, I’ll generally poop two or three times before I leave the house, and I’ll usually make at least one bathroom stop on that run. Say, for example, I’m starting my morning with an eight-mile run. And this is even more true regarding running. Having gotten the diagnosis when I was seven, I don’t even know what it would be like to just wake up and leave the house, worry-free. Just being outside does wonders for my mental health.īut even when my Crohn’s is completely under control, it’s something I have to think about every single day. I’ve also identified my trigger foods (corn kernels, popcorn, and jicama, which is actually one of my favorite foods), and I prioritize getting enough sleep, which for me, is seven to eight hours each night. He understands how important running is for me, for both my physical and mental well-being, so we’ve worked together to figure out when I really need to back off and when it makes sense to keep running. I also have an amazing gastroenterologist, who’s actually a fellow marathoner. I hadn’t had a major flare in a few years, mainly because I found a medication that works for me. Marathon training can obviously fit that bill, but I wanted to give it another shot. ![]() Going off to college, studying abroad, getting a promotion, and moving all brought on symptoms. It’s hard to say whether marathon training contributed to those flare, but my doctor and I agree that they’ve historically happened at high-stress times. I was so excited to do it, but between injuries, a bout of the flu, and a Crohn’s flare that came on while I was training for it, my body clearly had other plans, and I made the difficult decision to bail on the race. It was actually the second time I was slated to run it: The first was in 2012-it would have been my second marathon. I got the itch to try again, and it wouldn’t leave me alone, so I signed up for the Eugene Marathon. Plus, I was feeling really good, Crohn’s-wise. Eugene was a gorgeous place to run, and I was already logging up to eight miles a day and doing a 10-miler most weekends. Last summer, when I spent time in Eugene working on the media operations team at the World Athletics Championships, I started thinking about marathons again. ![]() ![]() I launched my podcast, had my daughter in 2018, and two years later, our family moved from New Jersey back to my hometown, Hopkinton, New Hampshire. I kept running, but I rarely raced, and I started spending a lot of time doing Orangetheory Fitness classes, which combine running, rowing, and strength training. I didn’t even consider another marathon for the next few years. But a few days later I remember thinking, I don’t know if I’m cut out for this. ![]()
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