After a sedentary Christmas stuffing my face and getting fat I decided it was time to get off the sofa and do something positive.
I'm going to run my first ultra marathon in May and want to raise some money and awareness for a charity that has recently become an important part of my family's life.
Why - Because I read a book about running and I'm SUPER impressionable. Also... My sister, Leanne, was diagnosed with Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS) in 2014. This diagnosis was absolutely devastating and seemed to come out of nowhere, but from the start OMS offered a ton of support and advice on diet, exercise and other lifestyle choices. OMS has the ability to change lives and allows people to take back control of their lives in some of their darkest times.
Here are a few words from Leanne:
"I started having the occasional episode of numbness in my arm or down one side of my body in 2010. Initially this was diagnosed as a back problem and I was given physio, which seemed to help.
However, in 2014, I went to the doctor as I had developed blurred vision in my left eye. The doctor suggested further tests and eventually, after an MRI and a lumbar puncture, this led to a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). At first, I went into shock.
I’d trained for and ran a marathon earlier in the year, how could I possibly have a degenerative neurological disease?
The more I read, the more uncertain my future became. Would I wake up one day and not be able to walk or see? Would I end up in a wheelchair? What does my future hold?
After a while I decided it was time to find out if there was anything I could do and what my options were, other than just take disease modifying drugs (DMDs), which I wasn’t quite ready for.
It didn’t take too long for me to find Overcoming MS: An Evidence-based Guide to Recovery by Professor George Jelinek. I ordered the book straight away. After the first chapter I was convinced this was the right path for me. Based on extensive long-term studies, OMS advocates a
healthy lifestyle based on a wholefood, plant based diet, alongside meditation and exercise plus vitamin D and Omega 3 supplements, as well as DMDs, basically: ‘whatever it takes.’ I slowly started
to incorporate OMS into my life and attended a 2-day OMS retreat in Wales. There I met some great people and got lots of practical advice, but the most important thing I got from the experience was
HOPE. Hope that I might be able to slow down, or even stop the progression of the disease... The OMS lifestyle makes sense to me, and makes up the kind of lifestyle I would like to lead.
OMS has allowed me to take back control of my future."
Overcoming MS is a charity established to promote a positive lifestyle programme that aims to help people with MS live long, healthy lives. They are committed to improving the lives of people with MS by providing the tools to enable recovery.
Overcoming MS... is possible.
Time to steal back the spotlight - I'll be running an event called A Bridge Too Far that takes in 37 miles worth of sights in and around Otley in the Yorkshire Dales and will climb almost 5000ft over the course. I have run a couple of marathons before (26.2 miles) but found them extremely challenging and fully anticipate this experience to be even more grueling.
There will be many miles, mud, blisters, blood, sweat, cups of tea and probably a couple of tears during my training but it will all be worthwhile to support such a deserving cause.
Thanks for taking the time to read. All donations are enormously appreciated.
From Me, Leanne and all the passionate people working for OMS - Thank you!!!!
