Make the impossible possible... possibly???

In life there is always going to be that one thing... that thing that you HAVE to overccome. That goal that you    HAVE to reach. and that thing that you HAVE to conquer. I feel as if in this world there is so much negativaty so many " you cant do it", " that's impossible", or " There is no way I will ever be able to accomplish that. For some reason this for me has been what fuels my passion to overcome anything that I want to. I dont believe in " cant do it" because you can do ANYTHING. 

                    A well known story reminds me of conquering the impossible.

 At the age of thirteen, on October 31, 2003, Bethany was attacked by a 14-foot tiger shark while surfing off Kauai’s North Shore. The attack left Bethany with a severed left arm. After losing over 60% of her blood, and making it through several surgeries without infection, Bethany was on her way to recovery with an unbelievably positive attitude. Lifeguards and doctors believe her strong water sense and faith in God helped get her through the traumatic ordeal.

Miraculously, just one month after the attack, Bethany returned to the water to continue pursuing her goal to become a professional surfer. In January of 2004, Bethany made her return to surf competition; placing 5th in the Open Women’s division of that contest. With no intention of stopping, Bethany continued to enter and excel in competition. Just over a year after the attack she took 1st place in the Explorer Women’s division of the 2005 NSSA National Championships – winning her first National Title.

In 2007, Bethany realized her dream and turned pro. Bethany has since participated in numerous ASP and World Tour Events with her major highlight being a second place finish in the ASP 2009 World junior championships

Taken from-(http://bethanyhamilton.com/about/bio/) 

This story is such an inspiration to us all that the impossible is indeed possible. Well my impossible this past year has come true and that is what i wanted to share with you today. At the young age of two months I was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic illnesss in which the sodium chloride channels ( the cells that produce and take care of the function of salt) improperly work which creates a thick mucus in all of the lumens of the body. This being said it mostly affects the lungs and digestive system. Lung infections and decreased lung function are common and the median age of survival right now is 35 years. Now For me as a kid growing up in thehospital with numerous two week hospital stays, treatments, and over 30 pills a day I learned that life is something to be cherished. I learned that I was NOT going to be one of those people who let their illness rule their life. I have been blessed in many ways with this disease and learned things incomprehandable to most people my same age but they are priceless none the less. I have fought my whole life to keep my lung function up. because the rates and severity of infection are so high it causes scarring in the lungs which decreases lung function. However I always wanted to DO something that I thought i couldnt and this year I did. 

                                               ***** Let us take a moment and go back in time*********

In December of 2009 I was having a phone conversation with a good friend and we both decided that we wanted to be on a sports team. However here is the kicker ladies and gentleman. I happen to be THE most uncoordinated human being on this planet so this plan was tricky. Alas, fortunately you do not have to try out to be on the track team. So as sixteen year olds we decided that is how we would spend our next few months.... HA! running! HA!..... me? .... anyways, carrying on... I started running on my treadmill every night and it took me about a half hour to run two miles. I was so proud of myself, and then.... practict started. I had never really ran before I mean I have a lung disease so it wasnt really on the list of the top ten things I should do with my life. Anyways it was the hardest thing and I worked my butt off        ( literally I lost 15 pounds). I always came last in races.. honest to goodness last place.. but I didnt care. I didnt care because I made more friends through running than ever before and I did it. I became a runner. All of my friends that I had made on track ran cross country as well ( I ran on the long distance team) and so that summer every day I would run with them. Thats what we did. We ran. Ate. Ran. Slept. Ran. and that is when I fell in love with running. 

(JV regionals 2009)

(Cross country Regionals 2010)

About a year after I graduated I had lost touch with most of these amazing girls that always pushed me through the hard runs and helped me to reach my goals. However I decided to make goals ofmy own. I wanted to PROVE to not only myself but others that a girl with asthma and cystic Fibrosis was NOT going to let that stop her.  In November 2012 I ran my first half marathon. I did it!!! I ran it in 1:49:15 and was sooo proud of myself. Was it hard?? Yep. Did it hurt? Absolutely. Did I prove to myself that anything is possible ?? That was the BEST part. 

(Snow canyon Half marathon post run, November 2012)

My next goal I completed happened just a week and a half ago. I ran the wasatch back or ( Ragnar). Ragnar is a race from Logan to Park city. One team of twelve. 198 miles. About 36 hours ( give or take) and three legs each. My first run was 7.7 miles. It was incredible, I ran as hard as I could and thank you to good ol gummy bears I kept just the energy I needed to finish the run. My second leg was 3.0 miles. Super easy but I was still sooo tired. and the last run was 3.3 miles. Running on no sleep, very little recovery time was NOT an easy thing. Ragnar is not known as an easy race but I completed it. I ran with some of the kindest most fun people I have ever met and I would do it again in a heartbeat.It was HARD, but do you know what?? most of the things in this life that are worth it are. I issue a challenge. A challenge to do something that youthink is out of your reach. you CAN do it you just have to want it. 

(Right before my second leg 3.0 miles June 2013)

( My last leg just before making a kill (when you pass someone from another team they call it a "kill)))

( My favorite team member and mother in love, who was kind enough to make this race possible for me and supported me the whole way through)

My team:

LEGALLY DEAD

A special thank you to Wayne Freestone who was the captain of our team. And provided for all of our needs.

If I can do it.. run a half marathon and complete a 198 mile race. me. A girl with two lung diseases. let me ask you this...... What can YOU do???