Photo Op!!

So tomorrow, a photographer from our local newspaper is coming to take pictures of me running for an article they are doing on my training for the half marathon! How cool is that? I'm pretty excited about the article, since I have been trying to get as many people to learn about SJS as possible over the past two years. A little nervous about it as well. I hope the article doesn't just bring light to the fact that the marathon is coming up soon in the Fox Cities, but also gives valuable information about Stevens Johnson Syndrome. My SJS family spends so much time and energy in their own communities to getting the word out there that I hope I don't let them down!

My friend, Eva Uhlin from Sweden, was on the Today Show a few months back and was interviewed by Matt Lauer. It was so great to get the story on the show! Eva did an amazing job, but I was so disappointed in Matt's coverage of her illness. He talked about how Eva's face fell off and focused so much attention on the gruesome details of the illness but very little effort was put into the signs, symptoms, causes, warning signs and absolutely no direction on how to find out more information on it! Ok, disappointed is an under statement! I was pissed!!!! Matt, you really screwed up on that one!! no pressure on Dan from the Post Crescent!! Lol!

Anyway, I got to do my long run amongst the rows of corn and miles of highway in the great state of Iowa on Sunday! It was cloudy, humid and threatening to rain for the entire route, but it held off. Actually, I would have welcomed a few sprinkles since it was so humid!! The air was very still on the way out, but on the return leg it picked up a little and helped to cool us off. My husband ran it with me. It was great to have him along since I was feeling pretty overwhelmed at the thought of this run. The week before, if you remember, I was plagued by a side stitch that wouldn't go away and the heat was nearly unbearable! It's been amazing to me just how much your mental strength plays a part in running long distances. It's usually when I have a "bad" run when my mind isn't in the game. And that was how I was feeling before we set out.

It took me until the turn around at mile 3.5 before I settled into the rhythm of my feet hitting the pavement and my breathing slowed. My legs never felt tired, however, and I was glad for that. It was a great boost in the self-esteem department and I just might be ready to tackle that 7 miler again on Sunday! We'll see how it goes tomorrow!