“I began inhabiting a body that no longer felt like my own. The dream I had been chasing — running 100 miles — suddenly felt impossible, if not completely ridiculous.”

In 2024, I attempted my first 100-mile race. After 28 hours of running through the mountains without sleep, I sprained my ankle at mile 83 and was forced to pull from the race. The next morning, lying in bed icing an ankle that looked more like a grapefruit than a body part, I didn’t feel defeated — I felt unfinished. I signed up to run the race again the following year. I had come too close not to try again.

Over the next year, early mornings became routine. Waking up at 4 a.m. on Saturdays, I logged countless miles through the Santa Monica Mountains. By the end of summer, I felt stronger than ever. I had done the work. I was ready.

Then, eight weeks before race day, everything changed.

While training for my second attempt, I began experiencing seizure-like episodes that caused muscle paralysis in my hands, torso and legs. Over the course of several months, I lost my ability to walk independently and at times my ability to speak. After countless ER visits, months of uncertainty, and a five-day hospital stay, I was finally diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) — a condition that disrupts how the brain communicates with the body.

In just a few months, I went from being a healthy 31-year-old woman who climbed mountains for fun to needing help getting out of bed, getting dressed, and managing basic daily tasks. I began inhabiting a foreign body that no longer felt like my own. The dream I had been chasing — running 100 miles — suddenly felt impossible, if not completely ridiculous.

The diagnosis gave my symptoms a name, but it didn’t give me a roadmap. Resources were difficult to find. Treatment options were unclear. Doctors explained that my brain had a “wiring problem,” but no one could tell me how to fix it.

I refused to let that be the end of the story.

Project Rewire100 was born from the decision to keep moving forward — to retrain my body and brain one step at a time. It is a one-year endurance and advocacy project using long-distance running for personal rehabilitation while raising awareness and funds for Functional Neurological Disorder research. The journey begins with the LA Marathon, continues through two summer ultramarathons, and culminates with racing the Kodiak 100 mile Ultra Marathon in Big Bear Lake CA.

This project isn’t just about races. It’s about adaptation. It’s about learning how to live inside a complex neurological condition while fighting for the fullest life imaginable. That the diagnosis of FND isn’t the end - but can be a catalyst for a stronger version of yourself you didn’t know was there. It’s about showing what progress looks like when it isn’t linear — forward motion, no matter how small, is still progress.

I'm sharing this journey through video, writing, and community under Forward, Not Done — a platform dedicated to stories of resilience beyond diagnosis.

All funds raised through Project Rewire100 support FND Hope, a charity organization helping advance research, education, and awareness for people living with Functional Neurological Disorder.

This is what moving forward looks like for me.

One step. One mile. One signal at a time.

- Forward, Not Done.