And so it begins...

My name is Lisa Jimenez. I have two teenagers (Fletcher and Madison), my partner is Yann, four sisters (Anna, Christy, Raquel and Meoldy), my parents are still alive (RICHARD! and Carol), a cat named Cleopatra and my best friend is Katie. All of these people share my heart. This blog will mention all of them at one time or another.

This story started last fall when Yann and I were in Sonoma picking up wine from a few wine clubs we belong to. It was a wonderful trip, just up for the day and we wondered in to the Whole Foods to pick up a panini for the drive home. I was at the checkout and they happened to have a brochure on a walk/run in Sonoma in July for the Team Challenge Crohns and Colitis team. I thought to myself, "That would be fun" and put it in my purse.

Well we all know what happens to items we randomly place in our purses! The same black hole that sucks up socks out of the dryer resides in the depths of a mother's purse.

Fast forward to June, I’m moving and packing and unpacking and I ended up going through a box of junk and found the old brochure. Hmmm... It's June and the race is in July... there was NO WAY I was going to make it in time. This then reminded me of how I've been wanting to get back in shape and how I've been saying that for a few years!!! I know myself and I know I will never get back in shape if I don’t make a commitment to something. So, I visited the website and found that the next team run would be in December and there was the Centurion Canada cycling race in September. Training would start on Monday, June 14. The date I saw this was Tuesday, June 7^th! I signed up the next day. What have I got to lose except the love handles, and extra cush around the middle! It was the cause though, that made the decision so easy. Crohn’s Disease and finding a cure. That’s what’s really pushing me.

It is my hope that you will discover why you should give to this cause and why I’m doing this race. I know it seems everyone is raising money for something, but this, this is something close to my heart.

In 1999, my youngest sister Melody was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. When she was diagnosed, none of us knew anything about this disease. We soon found out that it was hereditary and not very pleasant to say the least. Melody has had a rough time of it with the treatments, the blood transfusions and the meds, all while trying to raise three kids.

A few years later, my sister Anna was diagnosed with Crohn’s. She also has suffered at the hands of this ugly disease. You see in Crohn’s, the body’s immune system reacts inappropriately and mistakes the good bacteria in your digestive tract for foreign invaders. This causes your body to send white blood cells to the area causing chronic inflammation, ulcerations and injury. Both brave women are never 100% and suffer with a multitude of chronic symptoms.

To see more about Crohn’s, check out this site: http://www.ccfa.org/info/about/crohns.

As you can see, this is a cause that means so much to me because even though I don’t have this disease, there is a 20% to 25% that my children could be diagnosed and an even higher chance that my sister’s children could be diagnosed in their lifetime. Wouldn’t it be great if we could find a cure or even an effective treatment for this disease?

I have been racing on and off since 2003 and as soon as I found an organization that is raising money for Crohn’s Disease, I was ready to pedal my buns off, literally! Please help me and my family with your donation to raise money for research so my sisters and many others stop suffering!

I’m going to use this blog as a diary of sorts to really chronicle my 14 week training program, what I go through, who I meet, and who I have to thank for helping me on this journey.

Thanks for visiting and for your support.