ACTIVE HEMOPHILIAC: January 2015

Monday, January 12, 2015

Saturday morning... Hair prep...

Disney Marathon!!! 26.2 MILES!!!

It was a chilly start to the race! It didn't last, though. I shed my sweatshirt after the 1st mile.

Passing by Space Mountain... Was open to runners to ride... Not something I want to do... Not a fan of roller coasters.

The castle was still lit up from Christmas!

Passed one of the Disney Golf Courses.

Amazing to run on Disney Speedway! I felt very fast here!

Made it to mile 10 with no troubles...

But shortly after we encountered some sketchy places with dangerous wildlife:

I was lucky this gator let me continue to run! Then I started to get Goofy...

Ok... Maybe I am always a little Goofy.

Expedition Everest was also open for runners.

I reached 13 miles!!! Still felt great at this point! Shortly after 14 miles, I struggled with some leg pains that didn't last, thankfully.

Had to get a photo of these 2 for Alex.

Entering the ESPN Wild World of Sports complex...

Ran around the baseball diamond... (I was actually running while taking this selfie)

As everyone runs by home plate, you can see them in the jumbo tron while they announce their names for the whole stadium to hear! Pretty amazing! Enough to bring tears of joy to my eyes!

Made it to mile 20 to see a couple frozen characters. Still feeling good at this point.

As I was Elastigirl for Halloween a couple years ago, had to stop for this pose:

With the knowledge that this hat will soon be taken down, we had to stop for a pic.

Made a quick stop in Germany of Epcot. Really starting to feel my legs in pain at this point. Was hard to keep moving, but I did!

SO CLOSE to the finish line... At this point there are lots of spectators in the park cheering on the runners... Hard to not have tears of joy here!

It is official: I am a MARATHONER! We ended up with a time of 6:37:52! No complaints here. My only goal was to complete this crazy distance (26.2 miles) without being picked up by the bus!

I could not have done this without the support of my amazing husband, Jeff! He stayed with me the entire time and talked me through all my struggles with fantastic encouragement! I am so lucky to have this man in my life!

Did a little icing after to play it safe with my knees.

After we finished, I really had troubles with walking, just because my legs were so worn out. I never had any "hemophilia related" issues! So, believe me, a female with 2% FVIII, when I say...

The better you take care of your body, the better your body will take care of you!

Today, I expected I would not be able to get out of bed from pain, but instead, I found myself walking almost normally! I am slow, but no limping, and no bleeding joints!

I put in a great amount of training hours with the appropriate amount of factor replacement, consulted many times with my hematologist, cross trained, had massages scheduled regularly, consulted with my physical therapists who understand hemophilia, and trained with a personal trainer who understands hemophilia. Having a team of professionals that work with you can help you overcome obstacles or achieve physical goals!

Thanks to all those who helped me achieve this incredible goal!!! I am so thankful to have all of you in my life!!!