Ups and Downs

So while I was running yesterday I started composing this post in my head. I was going to tell you about how awesome my running is going. How I'm getting faster and picking up extra miles is a piece of cake. I'm running over 20 miles a week and so far my body is taking it in stride. No pun intended.

On Christmas Eve a ran from my parents house in the country to the coffee shop downtown. It was only 6.5 miles but it was the prettiest day and it was one of those electrifying runs. Fortunately I was smart enough at the time to stop and appreciate how good things were going. I spent Christmas day in the car and the following Wednesday I was super tired, oddly so. So I decided to take it easy and take an extra rest day. Then yesterday the sun was shining and I kicked out 4 quick miles. Nothing spectacular but not a suffer-fest either. Then today, I woke up with a some sort of cold and feeling like I'd been hit by a freight train. AGHHHGHH!

So frustrating but that's the way it goes. Ups and downs. Good days and bad days happen to all of us. I guess if we didn't have the bad days the good ones wouldn't be quite so special.

I'm drinking tea, resting and trying to mend as fast as possible. At this exact moment in time I'm not stressing about the miles I'll miss tomorrow. I can't promise that I won't feel differently tomorrow, or heck, even five minutes from now.

So until I run again, please pass the chicken noodle soup.

Thank you so much to those who have already donated to my Run to End PKD page. See this post if you'd like to know more.

And so it begins...AGAIN!

OK for those of you that are new and want some context to why I run check out this post. I had such good intentions of running CIM this last December in Sacramento (as much fun as that apocalyptic rain looked). What I've come to learn is that I had drastically underestimated how much time I would spend not running in 2012, and instead getting settled into my new life in Sacramento/Rocklin after living in San Luis Obispo for 20 of my 30 years. I've moved 3 times in 18 months, and it turns out that it takes some time to get settled and adjust. Finally after almost a year in Sac I feel like I have a new normal. So the time has come to get the cause back on track.

I am once again Running for PKD or rather to end it. After a fantastically fun and successful 10k Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving I figured the time was right to really resume training. So I'm all signed up for Shamrock'n Half Marathon (a 13.1 mile race) on March 17th, 2013. I'm currently running around 20 miles a week with 13 weeks to go. Things look good and I finally feel my running form is returning.

I apologize in advance for the countless blog posts, tweets (follow me at @EKurze, or #ShamrockinWhiskey) and FaceBook updates regarding this half marathon and my fundraising efforts.

I invite you to donate to my Run to End PKD fundraising effort. Thank you in advance for your support.

 Roseville Turkey Trot 10K Crew

So how's it going you ask?

Umm, well it's kinda not. That's how it's going. I've only spent about one weekend at home a month since I moved to Sacramento in February. I've made several treks "back home" (not because it's where I live but it's the place that I referred to as home for 25 years, and that, it turns out is a hard habit to break) and work has already taken me to some really cool places. All the distractions of travel and a full plate at work and the fact that the early summer heat is melting me has added up to a whole lot of not running.

It may sound like I'm making a bunch of excuses. Well...I guess I am. But the first step is admitting you have a problem right? Well I admit it, I have a problem. But dear readers, I'm coming clean. I'm admitting my sins and promising to make them right.

So tomorrow is another day and I have renewed hope that it will be different.

Time to get this train back on track...

And so it begins again...

I started this blog in spring of ‘09 before embarking on a ridiculous relay that involved 2 vans carrying 12 people who ran 199 miles nonstop through the night, fog and rain (feel free to start at the oldest post to relive it blow by stinky blow). And now it seems appropriate to bring this back to the surface as I begin yet another running journey…my first full marathon, but more on that later.

This past December I was officially diagnosed with Polycycstic Kidney Disease (PKD). Although the news was devastating it did not come as a shock. The fact that I have this autosomal-dominate disease means I got it from a parent that has it, in this case, my mother. The best thing about this diagnosis is I’ve had had a first row seat to see exactly what it entails so I kind of know the drill, it’s also the worst thing too. I have no desire to face the physical, emotional and mental challenges my mother faced as a result of PKD, but unfortunately it’s not in my cards, I drew the short end of the genetic stick. So what does it mean for me? Well, that I may lose kidney function as the cysts replace once healthy kidney tissue until I need dialysis or a full kidney transplant to survive. You know what? That sucks. Yes, I know there are worse diseases out there and I should be thankful that I don’t have it worse. And you know what? I am thankful, but it still sucks.

When I first found out that I’ve likely got some serious physical issues on my horizon. I went through all sorts of stages of denial, depression and anger. But most of all I wanted to fight it. I wanted some sort of treatment or therapy that was going to change the outcome, but guess what? There isn’t any. Currently, PKD is untreatable and incurable. So what to do with all that energy I have to fight and conquer? Run. So that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to run the California International Marathon in December, and I’m going to run it in support of the PKD Foundation (www.pkdcure.org, @PKDFoundation). Why? Because I can right now, and because bringing awareness to this disease to help find a cure is the only way I can fight.