Josie's Story - what an honour for us - ENJOY!

Wow! My story and how I came to be a “real runner”. What an honour to be asked.

My journey with MS started on the first day of the Sydney Olympics. I had been vaguely unwell, very tired and quite shaky for some time but due to previous health issues I didn’t really think much of it, except to say that “I would give anything to have some time off and be able to watch the Olympics”, shouldn’t have been so literal, because, I really got my wish! That morning I went to get out of bed and fell on the floor. I had no feeling in the left side of my body, slurred speech and blurred vision. Off to hospital we went and over the next few days received a diagnosis of stroke. Luckily for me my doctor was on the ball and wasn’t fully convinced as not all my symptoms fit that diagnosis. I was transferred to another hospital and underwent more testing and the diagnosis of MS was given.  After this I spent a lovely month in hospital and a few months in rehabilitation learning speech, handwriting, walking and a few other skills I’d temporarily lost. I got back to being OK but was left with a pretty obvious gait problem which is quite common to people with MS. It’s kind of like your feet are on wrong or your legs are walking at different speeds, not quite sure how to describe it but it leads to quite a few nasty falls! My specialists told me that that was the best I could expect and that permanent damage had occurred.

Fortunately and surprisingly I already had two friends with MS. One was doing quite well, one not so good. Obviously I went to see the good one and started on a program with a naturopath. It was hard at first. There were so many things he wanted me to change, but I thought I should give it every chance and amazingly I improved in little ways. At the same time, I insisted on walking every day. I’ve always been a big believer in the importance of walking and exercise so even though I could only walk a matter of metres from my house to the corner and do a few short yoga poses, I persevered. I had always been active in sport, playing soccer, squash, touch footie and netball, so I really missed this and walking was a way for me to feel like I was doing something positive.

Over the next five years or so I improved at times but also suffered what they call “exacerbations” from time to time, so a bit of a see-saw pattern happened. We also discovered that heat can be quite dangerous in my case, as overheating causes muscles to get confused and often results in mishaps. It was a really steep learning curve.

In late 2005, as a result of a mishap caused by my MS, I badly injured my left leg. Over twelve months later I was still having great difficulty with mobility and specialists told me that there was nothing that could be done as the muscles were wasting away. The popular opinion was that I would need mobility aids within five years. This was a really big moment for me. I became really determined that they were going to be wrong. No matter what I was going to try everything I could and I wasn’t going down without a fight. My mother would tell you without batting an eyelid that I am a very stubborn person. These days I think that’s quite a compliment.

I increased my walking, did more hydrotherapy, more physiotherapy, more everything. My physiotherapist was brilliant. She got me hooked on Wii. That was my turning point. Finally something, that gave feedback on how I was standing and walking. It forced me to correct my stance and start using my left leg properly again. I had always thought I was, but the numbers don’t lie. I was placing over 80% of my weight on my right side and consequently my left leg was getting off easy and I was injuring my right leg. As I got stronger  I even started relearning how to ride a bike (not recommended for people with balance problems – like say – a person with MS) and tried to do a little bit of running, but I couldn’t get past about 200metres of running and couldn’t ride my bike more than about 1km. In September 2009, a friend asked me to go to the Come and Try in the Park. She pulled out after one week but I figured I had made the commitment so I attended the whole course. Colleen was one of the guest presenters. After I did her course one morning I went and talked to her and asked if I could try running. She was so positive towards me; she didn’t try to put me off as others had done in the past. She told me that she was running a new course the following march and that I was welcome to come along and we would just see how we went. That was it.

The course was great. I couldn’t believe it! Despite some setbacks along the way I was finally able to run, and I love it. I am now coming up on twelve months since starting and I really do consider myself to be a “real runner”. The support that the other girls and trainers give is just amazing. When I first started I said I just wanted to be able to run 3km. I also had a secret goal of riding 5km. I felt like I had won the lottery the day I ran my first 3km. Lois ran with me that day and encouraged me every step of the way. I’m sure she would have had no idea at the time just how much that meant to me.

Six months ago I decided to set the bar a bit higher. I decided that I would like to ride in this year’s MS Brissie to Bay Fundraising Event. I am going to do that at the end of June. I have to ride 10km which I haven’t done yet – but I will!! A couple of weeks ago I talked to Colleen about trying to complete a 10km run this year and again I got nothing but positive feedback. The Saturday after that I went in for my first morning run and completed a 7km course (with tremendous encouragement from Amanda), so I know that I can and will do it. If I ever doubt myself there are always so many inspiring women around me who are running – some are young, some are older, some have health problems – but all make a commitment and overcome their various obstacles and that is really awesome.

I should also mention that I am fortunate to have been married to a wonderful man for the past 24 years and despite his initial horror when I decide that I’m going to attempt something new, he supports me, encourages me and even picks me up when I fall. Likewise I have two adult sons who I think are quite proud of their Mum who never gives up. Without that kind of support I probably wouldn’t have come this far.

I have learned a lot over the past ten years. I have learned to be quite tenacious; to not expect big things all the time but just to keep chipping away at things to get to where I want to be. I’ve learnt to listen to my body and rest when it needs it; to find positive things in negative situations; to not fall apart when things go wrong but just to accept a bad day for what it is and hope that when the next day dawns that it will be better than the last, and if it isn’t, to just be patient, things will improve sometime ; to appreciate the simple pleasures in life like walking and running (I get really cranky when people make excuses for why they can’t exercise). I’ve become determined to be as active and involved in life as I am able and to appreciate the joy of friends and family. What does the future hold? Don’t know, don’t really worry about it. It’ll happen either way so it’s best just to enjoy the life that you have now. As my son says “LIFE. Don’t take it too seriously, nobody gets out alive!

My Marathon Story by Jo Sellick

So deciding to step up and do a marathon does have a lot to do with peer inspiration (not pressure).  When you watch your fellow GGG running a marathon you are in awe of their achievement and success.  You celebrate with them; you share their marathon journey; you support their ups and downs; you grow with them and then you begin to believe I can do it too!

So Sydney here we come…

For me this year (2010) has seen few too many injury set backs.  I was determined I was going to finish my running year on a high and why not do it in Sydney with my first marathon.

Ideally my training should have taken over 16 weeks, however this wasn’t meant to be.  After the Gold Coast ½ marathon, I had 10 weeks to train for the marathon.  Prior tho the Gold Coast I had 2 ½ weeks training after being out for 7 weeks with another injury.  I knew it was a big ask of my body.  My mind was going to play an even bigger part in this.

Right from the beginning, Colleen and Kerry told Megan and I that they were going to run the marathon with us, to support us and to see us finish.  For them Sydney was to be all about experiencing the atmosphere and celebrating the marathon.  We were in this together.  And this is just what we did.

In training my favourite Saturday run was the Kumbia run.  This was fantastic.  We were like the “awesome foursome” just cruzin’.  The k’s just passed on by.  For me it was a major hurdle in the marathon training.  I knew if I could run 28k’s in from Kumbia, I could do a marathon!  Thanks girls.  We had 5 weeks to Sydney.

The next 2 weeks of training were the hardest on my body.  I suffered from shin splints as a result of a loosening up of my ankles from deep tissue massage.  The last time I ran was with the girls on a Tuesday night, 2 ½ weeks out from the marathon.  After cutting the run short, I hobbled up

Fisher Street

with doubt flooding over me… What was I doing?  I went home to a warm bath, curled up in bed with the marathon book to refocus.

Colleen contacted me the next day.  She had already sorted out my training: I would rest and do some cross training.  I rested, stretched and focused on my goal of finishing the marathon.  Megan (with Finn’s wonderful help) gave me leg massages every second day.

The Tuesday before Sydney I went out for a short 2k run to see what my shins were like.  They weren’t that good.  I was in pain the whole way.  I walked back home with doubt flooding over me again.  Then as Colleen would say the Universe spoke to me.  I got an idea; if I strapped my ankles to restrict movement then my shins might be better.  I rang Colleen as soon as I got home and told her what I was going to do.  We met at the physio for a 10 minute update on strapping ankles and we were set.  Neither of us really knew if it was going to work but we were willing to chance it.  I had fitness, determination and wonderful support on my side.  My legs were going to see me through.  We also discussed running in out tutus for the last 1k.  It was going to be something to focus on and look forward to.  It was set the 4 of us will finish the marathon in out tutus.  True GGG spirit.

Marathon Day 19^th September 2010

The Marathon book was my bible.  I began a training diary.  I focused on my goal to finish the marathon.  I talked about the marathon.  I put my training schedule up on the fridge and gave myself a sticker with every run I finished.  I stretched every day.  I ate energy rich foods.  I had a physio, chiropractor or a massage appointment twice a week.

The morning of the marathon seemed to be so surreal.  The train ride; Megan rolling her ankle; the toilets lined up for a mile; getting my ankles strapped and Megan’s and then finally waiting for the start.

I knew that within the first 50 meters the ankle strapping was working and my shins would be fine.  My groin muscle gave me a dull ache from the start but, I felt I could put up with that.  I knew I was going to be able to finish.

We needed to do a 7 minute pace, this I could do.  I remember asking Colleen, “Is this the pace?”  It seemed easy.  The first 5ks just flew by.  Then we were at the 10k mark.  In the marathon book a woman had mentally ran 10k then ran 32.2k (splitting the run in two).  I thought I needed to do the same as I had run 32k before but no further.  I stopped the girls and asked them if they would like to run a 32k with me.  Funny enough the said yes (thinking I was crazy).  Maybe I am, cause at no point did I think I can’t run that far.  32ks was doable.

The morning just flew on by.  We admired old buildings.  We looked at beautiful gardens.  We sang songs.  We cheered other runners (and shirtless men!).  We played the alphabet song.  We joked and laughed.  We stopped for photos (few too too many).  We saw the sights of Sydney we wouldn’t have seen otherwise.  We played soccer “kick it to me”.  We had a ball!

We spotted Len way ahead of us, like 15ks ahead!  He was flying and looking good.  He wasn’t having as much fun as us!  It was so good to see familiar faces out there.   Brad, Lance and Teagan were all there taking photos and cheering us along.  I remember at 32k point Brad was waiting for us (he was worried I’d pulled out) ready to give me a kiss (girls thought it was a pash) and had to ask Colleen if I was okay.  He needed to know I was fine and I was going to make it.

At about 34ks my groin was aching.  I couldn’t go any faster than what we were doing.  We walked when we had our gels and filled our water bottles.  As we continued on less and less people were to be seen.  We spotted the “pick-up van” going in the opposite direction for the tale enders.  I was determined they weren’t picking me up (however nothing you could do as they had police with them).

All along the way I felt protected.  I had these wonderful women; Colleen, Meagan and Kerry supporting me till the end.  At 42ks we could see the tutus before we saw Julie and the crew.  This was my vision for the finish, crossing the line, hand in hand in our tutus.

It’s hard for me to describe how I felt running that last little bit in our tutus.  It was like running into the Olympic Stadium with people cheering and yelling and clapping us, like we were famous!  At that point I didn’t want it to finish.  I was so emotional, we were all emotional.  We did it, we ran for 5hours and 20minutes.  Finishing at 1pm.  We hugged, cried, laughed and celebrated.

It was wonderful to have everyone there at the finish.  It was like a dream come true.  If this is the only marathon I ever do, I could not be happier.  I couldn’t have done this without Colleen.  You have been my running guardian angel.  You have guided me.  You had a plan and you adjusted it to suit me.  When I was injured you helped me through.  You believed in me and in turn I believed in me.

Thankyou to Megan and Kerry for the opportunity to share this journey with you, it is one I will cherish forever.

Thankyou to the GGG, for all your support and admiration for us.    The old saying goes- If I can do it, so can you – just believe.

And lastly, to my family for your encouragement.  To Brad for your patience, support and love along the way and for being at the finish in Sydney sharing this with me.