As I reflect on the last few weeks, It’s hard to put into words how encouraged and inspired I am about the future, despite the personal struggles I am dealing with.
Firstly, what a great weekend it was, spending time with our #TeamFox family for the Chicago Marathon. It was by far the most difficult marathon I have ever run, as I am having some serious knee issues (More on that later), but so uplifting to see the great spirit of my fellow teammates, many of whom also encountered their own difficulties and found the drive to power through and finish (I did finish but took a lot out of me).
This actually hurt my knee, but may have been worth it + Great hanging with John and Peter!
I was privately waiting to see if I could finish the Chicago Marathon, before deciding if I would go forward with my plans for the next two challenges. I received some not so great news the week before the marathon, that my knees are without the cartilage at the end of the femur, from years of sports and I have some significant bone bruising as well (You can see it on the MRI to the left). Apparently I have a high pain threshold, as the Dr. was surprised by my level of activity with these issues. Hence, I am cutting weight to reduce the force on the joints and training once again with trekking poles to further reduce the stress there.
I have decided to move forward with the next event, the New York Marathon in two weeks as another training milestone. Stay tuned, big announcement on a new challenge, coming within a week….
Last weekend was largely in support of the Parkinson’s Foundation’s moving day event on Sunday and Northwestern. Friday evening Jimmy Choi, Claire Hoppenworth and I took on two other teams of professional chef’s in an Iron Chef Cooking Competition to benefit three charities including the Parkinson’s Foundation. We held our own and took a very close second place. I have a feeling we will be back next year, with a bit of experience and a real shot at winning.
Saturday morning I had the great pleasure of speaking at the Patient and Family Annual Keystone Symposia at Northwestern.
Saturday evening, I helped host a wine tasting to benefit the Parkinson’s Foundation which generated $25k in ticket sales. Special thanks to my good friends who donated bottles from their cellar, they were a big hit.
Sunday morning I ran down to the moving day event with Peter leech, which was a challenge in and of itself and Jimmy was speaking at the event, which made it extra special. All told, collectively, they raised over $400k for the Parkinson’s foundation, which is exciting.
Click here to see a video of my and Peter’s run down to Moving Day and Jimmy’s speech
Then, this past week I had the great pleasure of heading to Atlanta to join Team Cantore’s 15th and final Countrified Rock for Research event, benefitting Team Fox.
This allowed me to have some fun and wear the antique belt buckle I bought on my walk, as well as a few other select wardrobe items that don’t normally see the light of day. More importantly, it was great for me to be able to come out and support Tamra Cantore and Brenda Thompson who went out of their way with Bill Wilkins and John Humphries to meet me in Georgia on my walk (see pictures below). Team Cantore raised over $90k with this event and close to $1,000,000 overall! It was a very inspirational evening….
What better way to end this, than with a joke on me…
Please look for a big update later this week and a fundraising push to support it.
More to come on what is looking like my biggest challenge to date…
