Win’s Story: Running with Ulcerative Colitis

I’m currently on vacation in Jamaica so I’ve lined up guest posts for you.

Check out the guest posts so far:
Alaina’s Story – My Path To Bliss
Matt tells us about barefoot running

Today’s post comes from my friend Win. I was excited that Win wanted to do a post because a) he wanted to write about running and you all know I’ve been pretty light on the running topics lately and b) it’s great to have a male perspective. Win doesn’t blog but was eager to share his story about his diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, how it’s impacting his running and lifestyle changes he’s made to deal with it.

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I played sports growing up and through high school–soccer, little league baseball, and little league basketball–but I was always the kid on the bench who occasionally got playing time and who scored a goal maybe once a season.  Needless to say, I never considered myself an athlete.  Instead, I focused on school because people told me that I was good at it (whatever that meant).  My head stayed in the books, and I never exercised in college or law school.  It didn’t appeal to me, and it bored me when I attempted it.  That all changed, however, when I needed a way to relieve stress while studying for the bar exam. Suddenly, I became a runner.

Not being able to run a single mile was tough at first, but I stuck with it for some odd reason. For motivation, I registered for eleven races during my bar exam summer–every distance from a 5k to a 10k and even a sprint triathlon the day after the exam. I ran a 10k at 4:30 a.m. both mornings of my bar exam.  Friends and family called my running an obsession–I called it a passion.  There was one downside, however.  I started dropping weight at an unhealthy rate.

Thunder Road Amica Insurance Half Marathon 2010
Charlotte, NC
December 11, 2010
(I’m almost at my worst, despite PR’ing that day)

Initially, I thought my sudden weight loss was due to my running and the fact that I “cleaned up” my eating to get lean and to get faster. I cut out red meat and pork, fried foods, refined carbs, etc.  I eventually became a vegetarian while still having fish occasionally. Further, I continued to build up my mileage in the early fall and ran two half marathons–the Dowd YMCA Half Marathon and the Thunder Road Half Marathon within a month of each other.  I continued to lose weight, no matter how much I ate, and it was starting to seriously affect my health and running.

The low point came on Christmas Eve of this past year when I spent the entire day in the emergency room after having extremely painful stomach cramps and other serious digestive problems for a few weeks.

The holidays were spent in the bathroom, and no one knew what was wrong with me.  A few weeks later, I had an upper endoscopy and a colonoscopy.  As the doctor put me under, I asked him if I was going to be able to run a half marathon that weekend.  The last thing I remember before being knocked out was him laughing.  A few weeks passed, and the tests revealed that I had ulcerative colitis (U.C.)

An inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis is a condition that causes the colon to swell and to have sores.  Like Chron’s disease, U.C. is idiopathic (no one knows what causes or triggers it), and it is incurable.  Further, U.C. was the reason for my sudden and continued weight loss–my body was not absorbing anything that I put into it.

The doctor told me to cut back my mileage significantly, and prescribed medicine that I will have to take for the rest of my life. The diagnosis was devastating to me.  Would my running passion be taken away from me just after I found it?  Will I ever get back into the running shape that I was in? Being my stubborn self, I started running again two days after my upper-endoscopy and colonoscopy.  It felt like I was starting from scratch.  Over the past few weeks, I had lost everything–my legs, my muscles, my lungs, and what little fat that I had left.  I kept my mileage low and slow, and I tried my best to keep thoughts of my running career ending out of my head.

St. Patty’s Run Green 8k
Raleigh, NC
March 5, 2011
(I’m enjoying a post-run beer and looking and feeling much better.)

After a few months on my medication, I was getting better, but I still suffered from digestive problems that did not allow me to heal as fast as I had wanted.  I decided to switch to an almost completely vegan diet in an attempt to further improve the healing process. I cut out all animal products (eggs, dairy, etc.) except fish on rare occasions, which, more than anything, was for convenience in social dining situations.

I’ve been on my medication for a little over four months now and have been almost completely vegan for about two months.  My health has significantly improved, and my running has never been better! I still have a long ways to go in terms of overall health and weight, but I’m currently running faster and longer than ever before.  I’ve shaved minutes–not just seconds–off of my PRs!

Foxfield Races (Horse steeplechase)
Charlottesville, VA
April 30, 2011
(I had an awesome time in Charlottesville while visiting my brother at
UVA.  I look noticeably healthier and happier!)

I’ve also discovered trail running, and I cannot begin to count the ways that it is better than its asphalt and concrete cousin!  I ran my first trail race this past weekend, a 15k, and I’m running the Blue Ridge Relay (208 miles along the Blue Ridge Parkway) in September, along with several other trail runs, 10ks, and half marathons in the meantime.  Oh, and I found out a few weeks ago that I got into the 2011 ING New York City Marathon in November!

After all of this, I’m not a runner with ulcerative colitis.  I’m still just a runner.

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I am impressed by Win’s dedication to healing his body and passion for running. I can’t imagine how Win felt as he dealt with an unknown illness and then hearing the diagnosis.  I think we’ve all experienced road blocks along the way with our running goals (although some maybe not as serious as Win’s). What types of things have you had to overcome to be the runner that you want to be?