News To Share And It Sucks!

I have been MIA to Blogland for a few days longer than I would of liked. Unfortunately, my life has been crazy busy and it is difficult to keep up with everything. I have something to share regarding my running. Sadly, things are going to change and not to my liking. I have been wondering if I should share this news or to keep this part of my life private. I feel like I owe it to everyone to be honest because this is a running blog. This blog has been wonderful for me and I love each and everyone of my blogger friends. Blogging has been such a great resource for support and encouragement. All of you who have been faithfully reading my blog know all about my GI issues that I have been dealing with for the past few months. My GI issues actually started back in 2002 when I went back to college for the second time. I was one of those type A geeks who had to get straight A's. My stomach was very sensitive and I suffered from test anxiety. I was a nervous wreck and my GI system proved it! So here goes.........

I have been keeping up with my marathon training this week. I ran every single scheduled run until last night. Wednesday I went on a six miler and I ran it hard but not race pace. This six miler was full of rolling hills but it was nothing that I havn't done before. I came back from my run and I was hot and sweaty. I took a few minutes to cool off and went upstairs to take a shower. My day went on normal and I was feeling fine. This next part might gross people out and I am sorry but I am just keeping it real. I had to use the bathroom and I passed a blood clot! It scared the crap out of me! It scared me so much that I saw my life flash before my eyes! I went on with my evening attempting to act as normal as possible. I did not want to freak out in front of my family. I did not sleep well that evening and went to work yesterday a complete freaking mess! I spoke with one of the radiologists that I work with and told him everything. I was in tears and looked into his eyes searching for words of encouragement. Maybe I was looking for hope, I don't know. He looked at me calmly and said, "Julie, I think that you need to stop running. Your running is what is causing your GI issues and deep down you know it." Holy crap...not what I wanted to hear! He went on to tell me something that made me feel a little better. He told me that my GI problems did not sound like colon cancer. My radiologist is not a GI specialist but he is a smart man. I respect his opinions and appreciated his honesty. He then advised me to make an appointment to see a specialist as soon as possible. I called my insurance company to see if I could find a specialist who was in my network. They were kind and gave me the information that I needed. I looked at this number I had written down on my post-it and then looked at the clock. It was lunch time....I would wait until later. In the mean time I called a runner friend who had also dealt with GI issues in the past. She was able to answer a few of my questions and helped me settle down a little. After lunch I called the specialist and he personally answered the phone. I am sure that I sounded totally freaked out, even with my best efforts to stay calm. He asked me questions and for details about my history. I told him everything that he wanted to know. I asked him what the next step was. He said that I should schedule a colonoscopy for the future. Woo hoo! Not what I wanted to hear! He then told me that I needed to stop running. I said, "Are you being serious?" He said, "Yes, I am being serious." I said, "You don't understand! Running is such a passion for me...it is so much a part of who I am. I do not want to stop running, please don't make me stop." He went on to say, "If you do not stop running you should at the least cut way back. Your running is causing such a stress on your organs. You are not getting enough oxygen and you are getting the classic runner's diahrrea along with a blood clot." He told me that my intestine's blood vessels are rubbing against each other and making clots. My specialist basically said running a marathon could kill me. He advised me to forget that and stick to the shorter distances. I explained to him that I have two future half marathons on my running schedule. He paused and replied, "You must go so much slower than your normal pace and walk part of it." I agreed....I was so afraid that he would tell me to drop my half marathons too. I have a half marathon on Sunday and I am running it with my St. Cloud River Runners team. I also have the Napa to Sonoma half coming up in a few weeks. I registered for this one when it first opened up and I have been looking forward to it since last summer. I am going to finish these two final half marathons even if I have to walk in! After I have my colonoscopy there will be more information and he will review the results. If things get better with my taking it easy I will know that it is really the running that is causing my problems.

So there you have it.....I am not running my marathon that I had coming up in October. I have to cut way back in order to keep running! This news just sucks but I know that it is what is best for me and my health. I am taking the high road, as hard as it is:) My plan is to run in a few 5Ks this summer with my daughter and train with her for her cross country season. I promise all of you that I will behave myself and not push it! Oh, and by the way, I am purchasing a flipping bike....my doctor suggested it:) I am going to need the advice of all my Tri bloggy friends about what kind of bike to purchase!

So, I am going to jog/walk my half on Sunday and have a great race report for you all! I promise:) I am taking tons of pictures:) I will just be moving so much slower than usual.....but at least I will be moving!

Happy running, biking,swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!