Crohn's in the City

Breaking news: my finish time

2007-10-21T11:54:00.000-05:00

So here's the line on my race performance:

Place Leg 1 Leg 2 Stair Leg 3 Time
===== ======================== =======
126 33:52 37:10 4:56 25:24 1:36:26

126th place...not bad! (out of 903 total individual racers)

And if you take out the time for doing the obstacles (including the Soldier Field stair climb--again, not pretty), then I was holding a pretty dang good 7 minute 30 second mile.

Yay for me!

(And if you are confused about this blog entry because you are getting everything all at once, start with the post two below).

What about the par-tay?

2007-10-21T11:43:00.000-05:00

Not lost in the Urbanathlon yesterday was that we also had our annual GIRF Fall Fundraiser, as well. It was totally awesome! I have to admit that I was a little tired to be all that helpful, but hopefully the "Watch your step" sign that I made prevented any major catastrophes.

In any case, the night was a blast with great food (Harry Caray's fried calamari + Cheri's chocolate chip cookies + Carol's cookies = Markus' heaven), good music, our patented "fabulous" silent auction, and a lot of great folks (Becky Rubin, holla!). I'm sure it was a rousing success, but I definitely need to single out Howard, Jenn, Sabrina, Cheri and Todd, Halley, and Rob and Jeanine for taking the lead in organizing the event, and all the other awesome folks who did so much to make it a success (Karen, Ben, Scott and anyone else who I am forgetting, but you know who you are).

You guys are awesome and our Associate's Board would not be what it is without you. And also, thanks for tolerating my truancy. :)

Holla!

I did it!

2007-10-21T10:49:00.000-05:00

Hiya!

Sorry I haven't blogged about my race training in the past few weeks...I have been really busy at work, and to be honest, it wasn't all that interesting. I'll give the brief recap now: I ran less, and I ate more carbs. It's all about the taper, folks! And fortunately I am better at tapering myself than Coach Kent was at tapering me when I swam in college (note: to those who don't know what I'm talking about, tapering is the process of reducing your effort to build up your energy for a particular race, but not lose your conditioning. If you rest too long, you are out of shape, if you don't rest enough, you're too tired to perform well).

To be honest, I don't know for sure whether I hit my taper right, but I know that I ran 12.2 miles + 6 obstacles and I didn't feel like passing out at any time, so that's a plus. Additionally, I had no idea how long it would take me, but gave myself a (perhaps generous) goal of finishing within 2 hours. I could run 15 miles holding 8 minutes per mile, so I figured 12 miles at 8 minutes would be 1 hr 36 minutes + an extra 24 minutes to do the extra obstacles, the 0.2 miles, and compensate for the fact that I'd be more tired from switching between slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle fibers. Sorry to bust out the medical jargon again, but basically going from endurance running to a strength activity that requires short bursts of energy is kinda hard on the body. I'll leave you in suspense to see whether I finished under two hours....

Anyhoo...the day was perfect for a race. It was in the 50's, sunny, no wind...I couldn't have asked for better conditions (apparently I am lucky with the weather for the races I choose). Thank goodness I didn't have to run in the heat that the Chicago Marathoners had! Yikes! But let's bring it back to the Urbanathlon. The race itself was so awesome...up and down the lakefront path spanning from North Beach down to Soldier Field. The obstacles were crazy fun, and I was able to handle them a little better than I had expected (since, ya know, I didn't exactly set up a marine hurdle station or a rope climb wall while I was training). The only surprises: 1) crawling on all fours through a culver really hurts the knees! It's also not fun to have your face right up the rear of the person in front of you. Yuck. 2) The marine hurdles (below) are tall. I knew that I had to hoist myself over these hurdles, but I thought that they would be at chest level. Turns out they were taller than me! It required more strength than I thought I would need, but no worries--got through them in no time.

3) I thought Soldier Field and those steps would be hard, but it was worse than I ever could have imagined. The only saving grace was that everyone else was just as dead tired, so I didn't feel as bad about myself.

A special note has to go to my performance on the rope climbing wall. As dedicated blog readers know, I had fits of anxiety thinking of how I would perform on this obstacle. I had not been on a rope since 6th grade when I was ridiculed by my gym teacher, so I had some residual anxiety. Could I handle it now? I am proud to say (and proud of myself) that I TOTALLY rocked the rope wall. It was the very last thing before the finish line, and typically towards the end of a race or workout I pick up the pace and cruise home. But I was reluctant to do this at the Urbanathlon because of the damned wall--I wanted to have energy to get over it. Anyhow, as I approached the end, I had to hurdle over the taxis (fun, by the way, and you can see me just having done that, below)...

...and then I ran to the wall, and there were these marines there yelling at us. The one closest to me yelled "just get your elbow over the top of the wall!" and in that split second I kinda thought to myself "what the heck" and took his advice. So I grabbed the rope with one hand, launched myself from the ground and got my other arm over the top...and then pulled myself over (see the end of this maneuver below). Ha!

So I guess in principle it doesn't answer the question if I can handle a true rope climb, but as far as scaling the wall, no problemo. From the end of the wall to the finish line it was like 50 feet, but I sprinted it (I thought I saw someone get over the wall behind me, and at that point I wasn't going to let him beat me. Not that I'm competitive or anything).

At this point I still don't know what my official time or placing was, but I think I finished somewhere around 1 hour 30 minutes to 1 hour 40 minutes. I didn't check my watch when I finished because they had these people at the finish line who were all hysterical about getting your champion-chip (timing device) off you as soon as you finished so that they didn't get stolen. I'll post my official result when they put the race finishes on line.

A big special wet kiss has to go to Eileen for being my awesome cheerleader yesterday: not only did she help get me downtown yesterday morning, but she also had her bike and saw me at almost every stop on the course! All the pictures are from her. What a woman!

And finally, a HUGE thank you to everyone who supported me and GIRF in this event. Your generous contributions were greatly appreciated, but your kind notes and words of encouragement that you provided me as I prepared for my race were absolutely invaluable. Nothing keeps you from slacking off like knowing that there are people counting on you and rooting for you, and I truly appreciated that. In sum, I raised just shy of $2500 for GIRF this year. Even more than for the marathon! Thank you so much for making the event a success.

Since the blog has now served its purpose, there will probably only be a few more posts as I tie up loose ends, give you my results, etc. Thanks again for checking up on me and joining me on this awesome journey!

Much love,

Markus

What Am I Doing Here?

2007-10-05T15:51:00.000-05:00

If you are a new visitor to the site, check out the links to the right to see what it is I am trying to accomplish here.

Your interest and support is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Ummm....awkward

2007-10-01T11:26:00.000-05:00

I had an awkward moment before I left for vacation a couple of weeks ago.

I went to pick something up from Dr. Rubin in his clinic. At the clinic registration area, there is currently a huge poster of me with a little explanation of what I'm doing with this Urbanathlon. The idea is to try and drum up more interest, but I'm not sure if it's working. (But maybe new blog discoverers can comment on this? Is the picture of me making you interested in what I'm doing or in GIRF?)

Anyhow, I'm standing there out front waiting for Linda, Dr. Rubin's awesome nurse (holla!) to come out and meet me, when this guy walks by, looks at me, stops, looks at the sign, looks back at me, and then says "Is that you?" I must have turned bright red, but then I replied, "yes." Anyhow, this particular individual (he runs GI drug trials) was super kind, thanking me for raising money for GIRF, blah blah blah, but I couldn't help feeling mortified that I was standing next to a life-size (OK, I'm exaggerating a little bit) image of me and that someone actually noticed. But at least the person was nice to me! So I guess that part made me feel good.

The whole experience made me kinda glad that I'm not famous, though. I can only imagine walking downtown and having someone point to a billboard with you on it and saying "Is that you?". And then asking for an autograph. But maybe if you're a celebrity you are more comfortable with having your face plastered everywhere.

No, thank you. Even one strategically placed picture for a good cause induces excess embarrassment for me (but only when I'm standing next to it).

Anything for a good cause!

Long Time No Blog

2007-09-29T08:42:00.000-05:00

So Oregon was really fun, and Portland was a cool city. I tried to keep my training going, but dialed down the intensity for the week (it's vacation, people). Eileen and I had an awesome time. I'd say that my running highlight for the week was taking a long run in Portland...we ran from downtown up a fairly large hill to the campus of Oregon Health Science University. We got kind of lost but then ended up running in this protected woodland area right beside OHSU. So having a single run comprised of city streets and complete wilderness was awesome.

Since then the training has been going well; I ran a 15-er the day we got back from Oregon and this morning I ran a 12 miler, with 2 breaks at one of the parks along the lakefront path to do some chinups on the monkey bars. I'm a little nervous about how the athletic obstacles will affect my running, because it is hard to get into a rhythm again. I figure I'll just pace myself and do my best.

3 weeks to go! Keep sending me good vibes.

Consumer Report

2007-09-14T11:44:00.000-05:00

So, I ordered a Flat-D.

I think this might be too much information, but then again, so is this entire website.

Anyhow, I'm happy to report that for anyone who is interested, the product is (as Borat might say), a great success! It really deodorizes as promised.

The irony of the situation is that I have been considerably less gassy (almost next to nothing) since the product arrived, so I don't really much reason to use it. Hey, that's good news, too.

If you have days when you are a little stinky (like I do), I would highly recommend this product (even despite its sketchy website ).

Now my wife loves me again.

;)

Woo-hoo!

2007-09-14T11:38:00.000-05:00

I finally reached my max training mileage yesterday morning: 15 miles.

I am going beyond the distance for the Urbanathlon (approx. 12-13 miles) because 1) I don't know how winded the obstacle courses are going to make me, and 2) I only trained up to 22 miles for the Marathon 26 years ago under the assumption that "the adrenaline of the day would carry me through the last 4.2 miles." What a load of hooey.

I was excited because the weather was perfect for running, and I finished the whole 15 in 2 hours! So holding 8 minute miles made me happy (especially because when I was in 6th grade I couldn't even run 1 mile in 8 minutes...so I'm healing old psychological wounds). The cool thing about running this time of year is that while running North (I ran to the Shedd Aquarium from Hyde Park), it was all dark, and as I made my way back home, the sun started to rise. So it was like I was running in two different locations since the trail looks completely different with and without sunlight. On mornings like yesterday, it makes me think that I should go out for fun runs like that even if I'm not training for something.

But I know that without the goal/motivation, it ain't gonna happen.

Best part of yesterday: no resistance from the GI tract. Yay for my body!

I am going on vacation with Eileen to Oregon for a week, so this will likely be my last post for a while (maybe I'll get one in on vay-kay).

Party Time: Details

2007-09-10T14:56:00.000-05:00

Both the Urbanathlon and our Fall Event at Harry Caray's are little more than a month away.

And Marla and Allen are getting married the weekend after that!

But I digress.

If anyone is wondering what the night is like, it's tons of fun. It's all you can drink, and it's GOOD alcohol, not swill like at a college kegger, in case someone out there has reservations. The food is also a selling point (for me, anyway): tons of fried goodness, but also healthier options (broiled chicken and lean steak skewers, veggie platters with hummus, fruit salad, etc.) for more health-minded individuals. Since I will have run a half marathon and done some ridiculous obstacle course stuff that morning, you can direct me straight to the chicken wings and Carol's cookies.

Mmmmmm...Carol's cookies.

The silent auction always has good stuff too: restaurant gift certificates, trips to exotic locations, tickets to Chicago places (Sox games, Shedd Aquarium, etc.), spa treatment kinda stuff, and then many one-of-a-kind items (hockey sticks autographed by Blackhawks players, framed photographs or works of art, etc.).

So if any of this sounds good to you, come out and support us!

Or even better, if you want to help us get stuff for the auction, ask your favorite establishment/well-connected friends to lend a hand.
Email girf@earthlink.net and they can tell you how to help out the Associate's Board.

Ally's Law

2007-09-10T14:30:00.000-05:00

I'm glad that I'm doing something to help other people with Crohn's Disease, but other people are doing much bigger and better things than I am.

Ally Bain is a younger sufferer of Crohn's Disease who basically wasn't allowed to use the restroom at a store when she was having what I term a "bathroom emergency", and as a result she had a very public and very embarassing accident. I can't even imagine what that must have been like for a teenager, but I'm glad that Ally and her mom turned it into a positive for everyone else. After this happened, they contacted their state legislator and eventually managed to get a law passed in Illinois: the Restroom Access Act, or "Ally's Law." As a result, now anyone with a Crohn's-y/unfortunate GI condition (where needing to use the bathroom can occur quite suddenly) must be given access to a restroom when they request it. I've been fortunate that this hasn't ever happened to me, but I know that many other CD sufferers have to schedule their day around having a restroom nearby, etc, and I think that this law is huge.

If you want more information about the Act, you can read it in its entirety here.

Or if you want to know more about Ally and exactly what went down (they can tell you better than I can), go here. Apparently not all states have this law...but they should! Individuals are trying to organize movements across the country to get similar laws passed throughout the country.

Way to go, Ally!

(Y'all know what's coming....)

Holla!

1/2 marathon

2007-08-30T13:20:00.000-05:00

Give or take a few tenths of a mile, I have now run a half marathon in my training. It was actually 13 miles, and I held about 8 minutes per mile, so I was really happy about that. It almost didn't come to pass, though.

I originally was planning on running in the morning, and it had rained overnight so I was prepared for mildly damp conditions. However, when I made it to the lakefront (about a mile from our pad), it started raining. And then it started pouring. And five minutes later, I could have been running through a waterfall or a stream and it would have been of equal difficulty. At first I thought I would just power through--what's a little wetness when you're running 13 miles? But I quickly realized that was stupid when my socks started holding about 5 pounds of water a piece. And then I remembered the potential for blistering. And I turned around to go home, covering 4 miles in the process. (Look ma! No blisters!)

Later in the day it got super nice, so once the sun had gone down a bit (I have sensitive skin and a family history of skin cancer, so I try not to tempt fate), I gave my 13 miles another shot. It actually went really well (see initial comments above), but when I finished, my body told me it was not happy with me. Running 17 miles in one day for a body that had previously built up to 11 miles is kinda a big jump. And my digestive tract revolted in protest.

I had the runs for the rest of the day, and then into the next.
(Again, sorry for the images in this one, but at this point I imagine there isn't much that I haven't candidly spoken about when it comes to my gut).

I have never eaten so much Pepto-Bismol (or Bis-Mate, because we buy Jewel brand) in my life.

Anyhow, I was trying to figure out what the deal was: did I induce a flare? Was my condition secondary to running too hard and maybe getting a little dehydrated? I wasn't sure if my symptoms were from my Crohn's or because I was stupid.

But I took it easy for a couple of days, and that helped a bunch, and I feel good about where my training is currently at. This morning I ran 12 miles, and again it went very well. So far, so good with my body's response.

But I think I learned an important lesson (which incidentally, I have learned numerous times in the past and then have promptly disregarded): don't push yourself too hard or too fast.

Otherwise, your body will make you pay.

:)

Amazing, Scary, or Amazingly Scary?

2007-08-29T16:29:00.000-05:00

I visited this website today.

If you're wondering how I even knew about this website, there was a two sentence blurb about it in Details magazine this month (and I am a dedicated subscriber). I read it, thought that I would go take a look, and then promptly forgot about it. But then Eileen reminded me.

So here's the question: Is this the coolest thing ever, or what? I mean, for people like me that tend to have the occassional gas problem. I have to say, if it works then it is totally awesome, because it seems like noone would ever know that you had one of these suckers on.

The weird thing is, what's up with the website? It looks kinda janky for a real company, and the guy in the upper left hand corner looks straight out of The Onion. But I'm pretty sure that this company is real. The other thing I found disturbing was this quote (straight from the website):

"Activated charcoal cloth [used in the product] was originally developed by the British Chemical Defense Establishment as a highly efficient filter medium for protection against nerve gas and other highly toxic vapors that might be used in chemical warfare. This is the reason for its outstanding advantage as a decontaminating material in commercial air and water purification applications."

So...the thing I'm using to keep people from noticing my bad gas was originally designed to combat NERVE GAS AND TOXIC VAPORS? That is frightening. On the other hand, I guess I can be pretty sure it works if they use it in war situations.

Equally unsettling:

"Flat-D now makes the Thong-D, a standard product for women."

I'm not even gonna go there.

I know I probably sound dismissive of this whole thing, but I actually think it seems like a great product...somehow the marketing is just a tad bit ridiculous, though. Either way, Eileen really wants me to try it out (bless her heart). So if you are on the fence about getting the Flat-D, check back because I'll probably order a pack and give 'em a spin to see if they work as claimed. It will probably be helpful when I go back to medschool.

All in the name of education and consumer awareness!

Spiritual Healing Update

2007-08-24T22:57:00.000-05:00

Here is the link to the article that I talked about.

Nourishment for your mind

2007-08-24T14:36:00.000-05:00

I was forwarded this link from my friend Marla today.

Thanks, Mar!

Before I discuss it, a brief aside about Marla.

Marla is one of my BFFs from high school, and although we were supposed to attend Northwestern concurrently, she didn't disown me when I went to Kalamazoo instead. Good for me, because there are few truer friends that one could have than Marla. Although all my friends love me (I think) and know about my Crohn's, Marla is probably my friend who remembers it the most, and is most supportive of my various Crohn's/GIRF-related endeavors. I have convinced her to come to a lot of Crohn's-related events, and she always does, despite instances where she has been cornered by people who swear they know her from somewhere...

Anyway, Marla is getting married in October to Allen, who in addition to being our friend, is our insurance guy (If you are looking for an outstanding insurance agent in the greater Chicagoland area, drop me a line and I'll send you his digits). Also, Allen has Crohn's. Which is kinda fun for me because it is nice to have a friend that you can complain to about all your Crohn's-y things and they really understand, so I got lucky when Marla met Allen. And it needs to be pointed out that Marla has always been supportive of me (even pre-Allen), so if you think she's only nice to me because her fiance is saddled with the same disease, it's not true (though I'm sure it makes me even more sympathetic, if that's even possible). So basically what I'm saying is that I'm really glad that Marla and Allen found each other because they are an awesome couple, great friends, and Allen would be really hard-pressed to find someone who will take better care of him than Mar (except maybe Eileen, but she's mine). Holla!

OK, so now I'm mixing up what kind of post this is and I need to get back to the story. Basically, this group at Cornell found a link between the presence of a nasty strain of E.coli and Crohn's disease. I hadn't heard of this particular study before, but there have been many groups looking into associations between different bacterial species and Crohn's. The cool thing about the research going on now is that they can actually do something about it. There have been a lot of advances in genetic analysis, so it is possible to isolate gut bacteria and see what genes they might be expressing that can lead to an inflammatory response...and then it is possible to potentially target these genes so that the bacteria are not so pro-inflammatory. Also, comparing the bacterial composition of Crohn's people vs. healthy people can further give us an idea about what might be going on in the disease.

Did you know that you are mostly bacteria? Apparently we have more bacterial cells living on or in us than we do our own "human" cells. And because of this, the interaction between host (us) and symbiote (the bacteria--remember, they do good stuff for us in our guts, too, and that is why Dannon is trying to get you to buy their Activia yogurt that apparently is chock full o' bacterial goodness) can really influence our health. So researchers are trying to get at what signals are being transmitted between bacteria and human that might influence an individual's disease state...it's getting at a very central part of the environmental component of Crohn's (remember, Crohn's is thought to be due to environmental factors interacting with a genetic predisposition to induce disease). They are doing a lot of this kind of stuff at U of C now, also.

Always at the "Forefront of Medicine!"

PS I think eating yogurt is good for you, but any yogurt should do (just don't get ones sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. It's bad for you.)

Holla! (Vol. 3)

2007-08-22T18:19:00.000-05:00

In our continuing series, I will be honoring the people you can thank (or blame) for me and this blog...my parents.

When you have awesome parents like I do, it is difficult to really do justice to how they support me in both ways that are directly related to my disease, and ways that just make my life easier, which in turn makes dealing with my Crohn's less of a hassle. But I'm going to focus on the Crohn's-related stuff, because listing all the ways in which I appreciate them would take too long.

Basically, my parents were the ones who jumped to my rescue the minute I found out something was wrong with me. When I first found blood on the TP, it was my mom who I yelled to for help, and she put everything under control right away--she got me a GI appointment and my first colonscopy within a few minutes of my unsettling discovery. A few days later when I actually had to go in for the procedure, my mom was the one who coached me through my first bowel prep (among the most nauseating things in the world, and difficult for someone like me who basically eats constantly) and stayed in the hospital while I had plastic tubing inserted into my nether regions. That's more than enough, but then my mom let me stuff my face at P.F. Chang's afterwards to make me feel better (ask her sometime how much I ate).

Anyhow, my parents involvement in my care didn't stop there--when I returned to Germany they sent me my medication in the mail and generally checked up on me to make sure that I was doing okay. I can only imagine what it must be like for a parent to find out that their child has a chronic inflammatory disease like Crohn's, but I'm glad that my parents held it together because I might have gotten freaked out more than I did.

Since I've been on my own for the last number of years, my parents watch over me, but less directly. They call and email to make sure that I am still in good health, and when I am home my mom makes a CostCo run for me to make sure that I have enough peanut butter and cereal to eat, in the name of keeping meat on my bones. I think my parents freaked out when I lost a ton of weight a few years back, and they are happy to see me at a healthy weight again. Mostly, I am just grateful to know that my parents think of me, love me, and keep me in their prayers. Growing up it used to bug me that my mom referred to me as her "baby" (I'm the youngest of three kids). But now that I'm older I have a better appreciation for what sentiment really lays behind that name, and I'm just grateful that I am guaranteed to have two people (well, 3 now, with Eileen) who love me unconditionally and who will always be there for me, especially in case of emergency.

Here is a picture of my parents at their wedding:

And at mine:

I hope our marriage is as fruitful and long as theirs (and BTW, if I were a betting man (and in this case, I am) I'll bet it will be).

Mama and Papa, your guidance and support in so many ways has made my life easier and helped me to deal with this challenging part of my existence. You have made me what I am today, and I hope that what you see makes you proud. I value everything you have done for me, and I hope you know that I love you both very much.

Holla!

Spiritual Healing

2007-08-16T17:03:00.000-05:00

No, not the type of healing that Marvin Gaye sang about.

I read an article in Men's Health today (if it seems like I'm totally shilling for them, I'm not. I just have a subscription and in general I think their advice is pretty useful. Although when they quote studies it often makes me cringe because they dumb down--and sometimes misinterpret--the results. But I digress). It was about spiritual healing and how it can be used to help manage chronic conditions. Apparently the author had a really nasty case of Crohn's Disease where he had over 40 inches of his small bowel resected and had been taking over 16 pills a day (!). That's a lot. Anyhow, his disease kept on getting worse (probably because he admittedly did little to manage his condition; he ate and drank and did whatever he wanted), and he eventually got so disenchanged with western medicine he went to Brazil to see a spiritual healer. Apparently a month after he went, his condition abated considerably, and it has been helpful to him. This article made me think: can we use our minds and our faith to heal ourselves?

I think so. I'm not a huge alternative medicine advocate (especially since a lot of these herbs and stuff are completely unregulated and as my Pathology teacher Dr. Meredith has told us many a time, "Nature is not benign."), but I definitely think there is a place for it, particularly with things like meditation. I can't help but think that the increased pace and stress in our lives contributes to all these inflammatory conditions (we're ALWAYS on high alert), and so to calm these things in your body by using your mind seems plausible to me. But I think that this type of stuff has to be incorporated into a broader lifestyle change: less stress, taking better care of yourself by eating well and exercising regularly and making time to relax. I don't think it's a coincidence that I was diagnosed with Crohn's after working 16+ hours/day for months at a consulting firm in Germany. I had gained 10 pounds since graduating from college (I was pushing 190 lbs; by comparison I am now about 170), didn't have time to really exercise and I always felt bad. So being able to change my lifestyle and do something that I enjoy (yay for science nerd-dom) and take time to take care of myself has probably been key in maintaining my health despite my Crohn's.

Kinda proving my point, the author gave up alcohol, red meat and spicy foods after his faith healing session. So it's a combo of mind and body (and hopefully only a little bit of meds).

When they put the article on-line, I will make a link to it, otherwise just go to the store and grab the issue with Jamie Foxx on the cover (apparently, he's a "Mens Health Guy"). In the meantime, I'm all for exploring alternative therapies that can SUPPLEMENT whatever you are doing now to manage your disease. Talk to your doctor about it.

What do you think?

What's on your playlist?

2007-08-14T14:20:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I have discussions with people (or more frequently, myself) about what motivates me while I train. I'm not talking about the big things (helping others, being an example, etc.), I'm talking about the things that keep me going right at the moment, or more specifically what keeps me from being bored when I run or lift weights. Interestingly, it depends on what I am doing. When I lift, I need to have my iPod with me because I get bored in between sets otherwise. I don't wait too long, but just standing around is kinda lame, so at least listening to some tunes helps me enjoy the passing time. I've tried reading in between sets but it's counterproductive: I get interested in a magazine article and then suddenly I've been resting way too long and my workout takes forever.

In contrast, I can't run and listen to music. I don't know why...it's not that listening to something distracts me; I used to run and listen to NPR Podcasts (awesome, by the way), but for some reason I quit doing that, though I don't know what that reason is. I think I just got too lazy to download them. But I absolutely can't listen to music, and the reason is because it screws up my pace. When I get a song with a quick tempo it makes me pick up my pace subconsciously, which I guess is good, unless you are running 10 miles and you need to make sure that you have some energy coming home. Conversely, I just can't seem to pick it up once a slower song comes on. Also, a funny thing happens to me when I listen to music and run: the music "slows down." I have no idea what causes this; if it's the sweat getting onto my iPod and slowing its functioning, if sweat in my ears is impeding the transmission of sound waves, if maybe I'm just crazy, but I definitely perceive it, and it drives me nuts! Am I the only one for whom this happens? Hollaback!

Anyhow, I thought I would give you a peak at some things that are currently on my iPod workout playlist. Maybe you'll find something you like.

Basement Jaxx "Make Me Sweat." This song is apropos, I guess, but it's actually about dancing, not lifting weights (or anything else, for people with naughty minds). It's pretty techno-y and is very cool...even encouraging a multiculti approach to music--"Hip hop, soul, a little bit of crunk, a little bit of punk, a little bit of disco, drum and bass, a little bit of house, a little bit electro, all of that!"

Amy Winehouse, anything off her album "Back to Black." I think this woman is crazy, but I dig her beehive and her updated motown girl group sound. Plus she has a cool voice. If you like this album, you should check out Garbage's "Beautiful Garbage", which has a similar vibe but wasn't as appreciated

Jarvis Cocker, "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time." For anyone with a daughter or who might have one in the future, just play this song for her when she starts dating. Got a great beat, too. He was the lead singer of Pulp, for anyone who is familiar with the band.

Anything by Fergie (but mostly "Fergalicious" and "My Humps" which I know is actually Black Eyed Peas, but whatever). I know it's probably not cool to like her, but I can't help myself. Goes double for Gwen Stefani.

Gnarls Barkley, anything off their album "St. Elsewhere" but especially "Smiley Faces". If this song doesn't make you happy, nothing will.

What else should I be listening to to help me get ready for the Urbanathlon?

Overall Update

2007-08-12T16:41:00.001-05:00

I thought I would give an update on how everything is going with the training and the fundraising efforts.

First, the training: it's going really well. August is a tough month to train because it is so flippin' hot every day, and especially this past week it was exhausting just to live--can I get a witness that this heat is oppressive? Even when I trained at the air-conditioned gym I felt like I was sweating through my clothes in record time! So that is kinda rough--but I'm still on track. This morning I went for an 11-mile run and completed it with little problem. Except for the stupid gnats on the Lakefront Path; I swear they are the scourge of my existence. Fortunately none of them got in my eye today, although I had a bunch of dead ones smushed to my chest when I finished (I know, I know, so gross...but I must have been running pretty quickly, eh?). Anyhow, my goal is to make it up to 15 miles before the event, and seeing as how it is 2+ months away, I think I am in good shape. So that's encouraging. My strength training doesn't seem to be suffering any from all the running either...I have to be strong to make it over those marine hurdles and that darn wall!

As for the GIRF component of the Urbanathlon, I want to take this time to give a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has already donated...and there is a significant number of you. Your support is truly inspiring to me and I promise I won't let you down! If you haven't heard any sort of acknowledgement from me, fear not--your generosity has been noted by me and all the powers that be, and a proper 'thank you' will be coming, but probably once the Urbanathlon is over and I can fill you in on all the specifics. Anyhow, thus far my extremely generous benefactors have pledged over $1500 total--that is so much money!!! Thank you so much!

And, if you haven't donated yet but are thinking about it/on the fence/whatever, it's never too late--the Urbanathlon is still two months away, and GIRF is always grateful for pledges, irrespective of the time of year. But if you are inspired by the outpouring of support already, join in too! We'll love ya for it!

Taxi Hurdling

2007-08-07T16:24:00.001-05:00

So they have finally posted the stuff that we have to do in between running for the Urbanathlon.

Check it out here.

Are you back? Good. So I have to say, I was excited about doing this, but now I'm even more stoked. Taxi hurdling? Right on! I was a little dismayed to see the rope wall, because I'm not sure how great that is going to go, but I'm hoping it's low enough that I can just jump up and pull myself over. Ropes, walls and I don't mix very well.

I think my other favorite thing is the scaffolding maze. I know my balance is good enough to make it through no problem, but it will still probably take like an hour because I'll be too stupid to figure out which way to go.

Don't I look good doing the marine hurdles? I think I need to cut my sideburns, though.

If you take some time to wander through the rest of the site, you'll see that they are having a big, free festival afterwards in Grant Park--where they give away more free stuff! Here's the math, Markus style: Free entry + free stuff = awesome. Definitely gets my seal of approval.

Perhaps this will further coerce you into coming out and supporting me on October 20th? Just askin'.

My Neck! My Back! My Neck and My Back!

2007-08-04T15:36:00.001-05:00

Have you ever had really bad neck pain?

I never had...until Wednesday, when I started to get this weird crick in my neck. And then it got progressively worse over the next two days, despite application of IcyHot (watch out folks), a couple back rubs from Eileen and trying really hard to have good posture. It didn't do anything.

My response to this neck pain (which was concentrated at the base of my neck and radiated out to my right shoulder) was typically male: I complained to my wife and begged her to make me feel better (if you asked her, she would readily admit that she was sick of my whining, and I can't say I blame her), and then decided that I must keep on training and ran 10 miles Friday morning, despite the pain. You would think it wouldn't have been a big deal because I was running, not crawling 10 miles using my neck and chin, but it was. I was okay at first but by mile 8 I was pretty much in agony and had to walk/run the rest of the way home. So dispiriting! But I guess I know not to do that again. Anyhow, as I assessed my reaction to said pain, I have to admit that it is typical of every stereotype that I have heard women spout about men who are sick--they are helpless, crying babies. And also probably a little stupid. (Ladies: can I get a witness?)

Anyhow, all the people I consulted about my neck problem said that it would just go away after about a week. But that was not happening for me because I don't think I could have gone another week with this pain, it was that bad. So I did something I never do--I took aspirin. I don't take aspirin for two reasons: 1) I don't like taking medicine at all, despite (or because of) the fact that I have to take anti-inflammatories every day for my Crohn's. 2) thinning your blood and potentially giving yourself ulcers (two side effects of aspirin) isn't the smartest thing to do when you are already bleeding enough down there. But I was desperate and went for it (note: I could have taken Tylenol, which doesn't have these side effects, but that would have only been a pain-reliever, not an anti-inflammatory, and I wanted to get both effects), and miraculously, my neck cleared by this morning. Isn't that crazy? Maybe it's the placebo effect, but I don't care. I have mild soreness when I turn my head to the left, but otherwise I'm right as rain.

So, the morals of this story are:
1) Don't take aspirin or related products if you have IBD
2) Take the time to rest if your body is actually telling you to
3) Be more sympathetic to your spouse's neck and back pain if they have any, because one day it's gonna get you, too.

I also think that everyone would benefit from better posture.

Oh, and this is the obligatory, periodic link to what I am doing on this site, for any newcomers. Welcome!

A Request

2007-08-01T21:18:00.000-05:00

I was appraising my blog and realized that nobody ever leaves me any comments/messages. Am I amusing? Irritating? Irreverent? Drop me a line and let me know what you are thinking! I'm one of those needy types looking for feedback. I'm also actively taking suggestions for what I should post about--do you want to know more about Crohn's, IBD, GIRF, med school, the Urbanathlon or anything else? Let me know and I'll try to address it.

You can always email me, too.

Thanks!

80% Oxygen

2007-08-01T20:58:00.000-05:00

Hiya!

I'm back from my MD/PhD Conference in Keystone, CO. It was a ton of fun, and very informative, too--always nice when you can share the research you have been doing and get some new ideas. Fortunately we had some free time to enjoy the surroundings as well.

My fellow MudPhud Kent and I made it out a little bit early to make sure that we would make it to the conference on time, and it's a good thing we took the precaution because everything was delayed on Thursday and Friday going east to west. Apparently, it's bad to fly in stormy weather. I know this has nothing to do with the purpose of this blog, but I just need to share how awful the morning that we flew out was. Here are the things that happened to me, in order: woke up to torrential rain, found front window leaking, went downstairs to leave and found basement flooding, tried to stop flooding by opening up drain, sliced finger open on metal drain cover, went to airport without precautionary tetanus shot (Eileen fixed me up in a jiff), boarded plane, stood on runway for 2.5 hours, gave up aisle seat to man so that he could sit next to his 5 year old son, got switched to middle seat with crying baby next to me instead. Could it possibly have been any worse?

Actually, no, it couldn't. So when we landed in Denver, I had a beer and realized that, in fact, I would not be training for the Urbanathon at any point that day. The rest of the day was actually lots of fun. And the story ends this way: I got a tetanus shot yesterday when we got back, and I'm not dead. Yay! (FYI: the symptoms of tetanus infection present themselves 5-15 days after initial infection. But my finger, despite its deep wound, never looked particularly infected to begin with, so Eileen assured me I would be OK).

So...in addition to engaging in some hardcore nerdness, I also found time to train while in Colorado. Can I just say that running at an altitude greater than a mile above sea level is really hard? I usually like to mix up my speed when I run, but I could just manage enough energy to plod along at a single pace at the Keystone Resort--especially because it was much more hilly than I am used to (also, see title of this post). But I definitely worked up a sweat! Needless to say, the huffing and puffing probably did me some good (running this morning felt pretty easy), and it was nice to have a change of scenery, too. Running along forests and over rivers is definitely a nice break from the regular (though scenic) Michigan Lakefront.

We also went on a hike to McCullough Gulch, somewhere outside Rocky Mountain National Park. Good times! It was advertised as an "intermediate" hike, but beyond a few stretches of steep elevation gain, it wasn't too bad. And it was cool--there was snow when we reached the top!

Unfortunately, the fitness center at the resort was under construction so I couldn't train for the in between stuff for the Urbanathlon. Hopefully my obstacle course scaling abilities haven't suffered too terribly for the lost time. Oh well.

Anyhoo, it's good to be back home and with my baby (don't get too excited, I'm talking about Eileen, not an actual child). It's hard to be away from your spouse for so long (plus Eileen had to work in the PICU the day after I got back. Bleh)! Don't people warn you about this stuff before you get married? Alas and alack, lessons to be learned...

And to Shnook: the Mile High Stadium is, in fact, NOT a mile high. Hehehe.

Duty Calls...

2007-07-25T21:35:00.000-05:00

I am going to the National MSTP conference in Keystone, CO until next Monday. So no blogging for a while. But training will continue, don't worry! I'm still going to rock the Urbanathlon (I think). Send me good vibes for a safe trip!

Holla! (Vol. 2)

2007-07-24T14:16:00.001-05:00

To continue the "Holla!" part of my website (where I talk about people who make my life with Crohn's easier), I am going to profile the one-and-only love of my life, my wife.

My wife, as regular readers of this blog know either first-hand or have intimated from previous posts, is named Eileen. Eileen and I met in medical school at the University of Chicago and completed our first two years of medical education together. After second year, Eileen went on to the clinic and finished up in 2006, when she became a doctor (or Suga Mama, M.D., to me. See picture above). She is currently in her second year as a Pediatrics resident at the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital, where she does an outstanding job taking care of sick kids, and comes home every night with a request to adopt a new baby. Having a child will happen someday, probably sooner than I think, but I would like to finish most of my medical education and have at least one degree before I am responsible for someone else.

Eileen is Korean. There's really no point to me telling you this, except that I think it's cool that we are both children of immigrants. I never thought that when I grew up I would create a Swiss/Korean alliance, but I think it's awesome. My mom thinks it's awesome, too, because she thinks half-white, half-Asian babies are super cute (she has placed a request for a granddaughter from us). And most people thinks it's awesome because they think Eileen is awesome. To the right is a picture of us from our wedding.

Here are some of the things that make Eileen awesome to me:

1) She is a total babe. If she were a president, she'd be Baberaham Lincoln.
2) She's really smart. She's a doctor!
3) She likes a lot of the same things that I do: traveling, eating, cooking, running and watching movies, to a name a few.
4) She's really clean. She has a tendency to leave York Peppermint Patty wrappers on our couch, but other than that our place is super neat and orderly, and she keeps me in line so that I don't turn the place into a mess (Mom would be proud).

Oh, this is supposed to be a Crohn's related post? Almost forgot it's not just me telling the world why I love my wife. So yeah, it's totally sweet that I was lucky enough to marry someone with these qualities, but the list as a whole is admittedly a little superficial.

Do I love my wife for other, deeper reasons? You betcha.

1) Whenever I am sick, she takes care of me. I don't get sick very often, but Eileen is always there to comfort me, to think of ways to make me better and to pick up the slack when I am too tired to do anything.
2) She doesn't make me feel bad about my Crohn's. I know this is kinda like, duh, because what kind of a spouse makes their significant other feel bad about having a chronic disease? But I have some unfortunate consequences of my Crohn's, including bad gas from time to time, and Eileen never makes me feel bad about it. My family has experienced this unfortunate side effect when we are home to visit, and their response is "Whoa! Eileen is a saint for putting up with that!" And she is. Amen.
3) She encourages me to be active and live a normal life.
4) She participates in my GIRF things...she was my training partner for the marathon, comes to our Associate's Board party and Dr. Rubin's patient education seminars, and encourages me to support a wonderful organization.
5) Most importantly: No matter what, she always makes me feel loved.

OK, we're heading into personal, cheesy territory, so I'm going to cut this post short. But I'm still going to leave a parting message (either heart-warming or gross, depending on your level of cynicism and tolerance for public displays of affection):

Eileen, marrying you was the best thing that ever happened to me. You are the love of my life and the reason I can approach each day with optimism and contentment. Thank you for always standing by my side. I love you.

Holla!

Training: July 22, 2007

2007-07-22T09:19:00.001-05:00

Today I ran 10 miles. I was excited because I have now broken into the double digits in terms of mileage, and I also felt really good the entire run. I think it took me about 1 hour 20 minutes (I don't know for sure because I don't run with a watch--it makes me hysterical and the run a little less fun, although I will probably start using one every now and then, just to push myself), so holding 8 minute miles for a training run is good, for me anyway.

Toward the end of my run, however, I was put in a dark mood. At mile 8 all of a sudden I hear this "whoa, whoa" behind me. My subconscious brain said to me "There is a biker behind you and he is about to run you over"...so I took a quick step to the right and narrowly avoided being bike roadkill. It was a little less dramatic than it sounds, but I was annoyed because 1) I almost suffered bodily harm and 2) why can't people realize that they aren't the only ones on the path? This gentleman (I'll be kind) was biking and jabbering his mouth off to the buddy with whom he was riding and neglected to pay attention to a small detail--the path in front of him. And more specifically, me running on the path in front of him. I'd say he at least had the presence of mind to make some noise so I knew he was behind me, but clearly he was just freaked out and that was what I heard. Hey, if I'm in your way, I'm all for stepping aside--bikes are faster than legs and it's easier to take a step to the side than to navigate a bike around someone. But warning would be nice.

To expunge my dark mood (actually, I felt better once I got home and went to church, but I'm sort of getting myself worked up again thinking about it), I'm going to list some Lakefront Path etiquette that would be nice for people to mind:

1) Watch where you're going. The world doesn't actually revolve around you, so don't expect that everyone will magically move out of your way (FYI: I need to remind myself of this more than I care to admit, too).
2) Stay on the right side of the path. The reason elementary schools tell kids to walk on the right side of the hall is so that they get used to being on the right side (for driving, for instance) for the rest of their lives.
3) If you need to cross the path (for instance, to get from a parking lot to the beach), look both ways before stepping onto it! The path is probably more dangerous than most major roads.
3b) This goes double for your kids. Please watch them, keep them in line, and remind them that the path is not a place for them to play.
4) If you are going to go for a run, please leave your Starbucks coffee at home. You wouldn't believe how many people I see doing this. Drinking a diuretic while you are running--ok, these people are mostly just walking kinda on the faster side, but they have better running gear on than I do--is not a good idea. Though caffeine may reduce muscle soreness after strenuous exercise . But the key word is AFTER (and "may." The study is probably too small to be meaningful).
5) If someone waves at you, or says good morning, be polite and at least nod your head in acknowledgement. The world's not all bad, is it?

Oh, my righteous indignation! Hey, the world's not perfect and I realize that everyone has their days. And I can do better with #1-5 myself. But if everyone just put forth a little more effort...ya know?

OK. I feel way better now.