Meet Honoree Ally Bain

Ally has had Crohn’s disease since 2001 when she was 11 years old. For awhile, flare ups and mismanagement of medical care caused her to miss school because she was running to the bathroom, sometimes going as much as 40 times in one day. During high school, she had several surgeries related to her Crohn’s, including one that was due to her colon perforating, resulting in a temporary colostomy, which would allow her colon to heal. Before finding quality medical care, her case of Crohn’s almost killed her. Each day was unpredictable, and she never could have imagined what would happen to her several years later.

When she was 14 years old, she was shopping at a retail store when her Crohn’s began to flare, and she needed to find a restroom immediately. The store did not have public restrooms, so she and her mother spoke with the store manager. While Ally was bent over crying and in pain, he continuously denied her access to the employee-only restroom and claimed he was making a “managerial decision.” After leaving the store, Ally knew this could not happen to her or anyone else again. That day, she contacted her local state representative. Within months, Ally was helping to write legislation that would allow anyone with a medical emergency access to an employee-only restroom. She testified before a committee where it passed unanimously, just as it later did in the Illinois House and Senate. It was signed into law in August 2005 as the Restroom Access Act, more commonly known as “Ally’s Law.” To read more about Ally's Law click here.

With her Crohn’s disease currently in remission and as a senior at Lake Forest College, Ally has continued to spread awareness and has sought passage of the Restroom Access Act in other states. Since 2005, it has passed in eleven other states, and Ally is working to get it introduced on a federal level. Ally has also stayed involved with the CCFA and is an active member of the National Youth Leadership Council as well as a participant of fundraisers and events like Take Steps. She plans to participate in Team Challenge in the near future and is grateful to all who have joined in the cause to help find a cure!

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Fundraising Friendly Businesses

An Easy Way to Fundraise

Jewel Osco has provided Team Challenge with a great fundraising opportunity. If you need that extra push to make your fundraising goa consider canning at your local Jewel- Osco. All you need is our CCFA IRS Determination Letter (available online at the participant handbook), information about CCFA, and can to collect donations! Click Here to access the participant handbook and download all the materials you need to begin your canning event. Login: illinoistc@ccfa.org Password: illinoistc

Call your local Jewel-Osco and begin today!

Other businesses that do "Community Nights" for local charity events:

Pot Belly
Noodles and Company
Chic-fil-a

There are many more local businesses that will help you fundraise by donating a percentage of their evening's proceeds to your cause. You know your neighborhood and your town best, remember to ask when you are out and about!

Coaches Corner: A message from Coach Brad

We have reached to half way mark in our training. Way to go Team Illinois! You have probably reached different milestones in your training that may have seemed impossible 8 weeks ago.
The training programs have now moved into the double digits for our long Saturday workouts. Congratulations to those who completed their first 10 mile workout!

There are few things to keep in mind to be successful during this phase of training.
• Break down the workout- You wouldn’t eat a steak in one bite? Same principle applies completing an endurance event. These longer distances can seem very daunting. Don’t try to wrap your mind around the whole distance. Think about completing the next mile or pick a landmark like a tree, building or telephone pole and getting to that point.
• Now is the time to think about pre-race nutrition. Be sure to fuel the body before your long workouts and figure out a race day nutrition plan that will work for you.
• If you have a hydration system, use it during your workouts.
• Post run nutrition- Your muscles will be fatigued and need proper nutrition to begin the repair process. A combination of carbs and protein within 30 minutes of finishing your workout is optimal.
• Stick to the training plan- It is normal to feel tired for a few days following a long workout as you increase mileage. On the other side, you may feel very strong toward the end of the week and be tempted to train faster or farther than the workout in your training plan. Follow your training plan.

Please reach out to your coaches if you have any questions about the above items or any other concerns.

Check out Julie and Paul Mikrut's pictures from their fundraising event!

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Week Eight: How to Start Getting Ready by Coach Stacey

Welcome to week eight training.  How is your training going or not going?  Are you feeling stronger, or not quite sure that this is something that you will be able to do?  Have you started visualizing your race or you don’t even know where to start to see it?  These are the some of the things that are quite normal, and you are not alone!  The first thing that I am going to tell you, and you have heard this before from me and Coach Brad, and he even wrote a piece on it - CONSISTENCY! It is so important.  If you have not started training, please take the time to talk to either Coach Brad or myself so that we can get you started.  However, it is important to be consistent from here on out.  If you need to rearrange the training schedule talk to us, we will help you move days around so that it will fit your schedule.  But, and I want you to hear what I am saying, if you need to rearrange your life to accommodate your training THAN THAT IS WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO!  I know that this may sound harsh, however, it is the truth, and what you must embrace.  You need to eat, breathe and sleep this training so that you can be as prepared as you can be at the race.  Come to Saturday trainings so that you can bond with your team and coaches.  Coming to Saturday trainings is the one thing that will help with consistency.

   

This is the time that where your training is going to be intense, your Saturday trainings are going to be longer, the time that you spend during the week training is going to be longer, doing this on your own will be hard, why not make it easier on yourself and come to the Lakefront for the group training?  Not only will you have your other teammate to train with, but the whole running or walking community that is out training for their events.  It will also give you a better understanding of what it is like to be surrounded by other and how to navigate them.  We understand that for some of you that it is a distance to travel, and that gas is expensive, but, we promise you the benefits will outweigh the negatives.  Plus you just may meet someone that lives close to you and you can train during the week together and carpool to the city on Saturdays.

I want everyone to start thinking about traveling, and what the weekend is going to look like.  In the very near future Coach Brad and myself will be hosting a race prep clinic, we are going to go over everything from what to pack and why, to what you can expect on race weekend.  Please make sure that you come to that meeting as it is one of the most important clinics we will give.  But start thinking about what you think you are going to need during your race, what are you going to wear, how are you shoes?  Are you going to listen to music or nothing.  How about your hydration pack, have you found one that you like?  These are just some of the things that you are going to make sure you have ironed out before you leave. 

Start this week - Saturday’s training is 10 miles for everyone, if there ever was a time to start preparing for the race, this is it.  The sleep that you get on Thursday night, is going to be the sleep that you will run/walk on Saturday, so try to get 8 hours of solid sleep on Thursday night.  Make sure that you are hydrating always, but make sure that on Thursday and Friday that you are you hydrated.  Use the pee test as you guide.  Eat a well balance meal both Thursday and Friday evening.  Make sure that on Friday you eat both complex and simple carbohydrates.  Friday evening if you partake in an alcoholic beverage, please limit it to one.  Lay out what you are going to wear on Saturday morning so that all you will have to do is put it on.  Have everything ready to go, and if you can even put whatever you are going to need in your car on Friday night so you are not having to remember everything that morning.  A change of cloths and a pair of comfortable sandals to change into.  Plan what you are going to eat on Saturday morning.  What nutrition are you going to have with you?  These are the trainings that you want to make sure that you have both nutrition and hydration with you.  What about Gatorade?  Can you use Gatorade, or do you have to use something else?  If you do, you need to make sure that you have it with you.  The point to the training from the beginning, but not is critical to figure all of this out now, so that come race weekend you will know everything that you have to do, you won’t even have to think about it.  Failing to plan is planning to fail. 

We will be meeting at the Lakefront, Montrose Harbor, start time is 7:30 AM Sharp.  We will be starting with a few announcements and then we will be sending you on your way.   You will be turning around at the 6.5 mile marker.  I will be one my bike this week so that I can see as many of you as possible.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call or email either myself or Coach Brad.