HERO'S - PERSEVERANCE: MS can't stop Arizona marathon runner Krista Milne: Tips from Krista & Dr. Timothy Vollmer, her physician at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix." :
"At 5 a.m. when most of us are still hitting the snooze button on the alarm clock, Krista Milne is getting ready to train for San Diego's 26.2-mile Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, work, and care for her 4-year-old daughter Lauren.

On top of it all, Milne has MS and must cope with the the extreme fatigue and vision disturbances it brings.

'I'm wiped out,' Milne said on a recent weekday, sinking into a plush armchair with a glass of iced coffee. Earlier in the morning, Milne went on a 45-minute bike ride with her husband, Mark, who is also running the June 4 marathon....

"Once you've been diagnosed, there are various things that make the symptoms manifest — stress, heat, trauma in your life — so you try to minimize them," Milne says of the relapses. "I have good and bad days."....One day when she ran 22 miles was a mixture of both.

"Physical activity is one of the most challenging things for MS patients," says Dr. Timothy Vollmer, Milne's physician at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.

Due to the rise in body temperature and physical stress, people with MS may develop additional symptoms during the race, and it could take them longer than usual to recuperate from such intense physical activity, according to Vollmer.

Vollmer recommends that athletes with multiple sclerosis pay special attention to keeping their electrolytes in balance and their bodies cool.

Though exercise may temporarily induce an attack of MS symptoms, he also says that "its long-term effects are very positive."

Many experts believe exercise makes the brain find new nerve pathways. This rewiring may restore lost cognitive and motor function. Vollmer says he encourages his patients to exercise regularly.

She remains this active despite the fact that she has had the disease for more than 20 years, which she hopes will prove that someone can have multiple sclerosis and still be healthy and physically active.

"Everybody thinks, 'Oh, MS — isn't that what Richard Pryor died from? Isn't everyone with MS in a wheelchair?' " Milne says before answering, "Well, no."

What has given Milne the drive to intensively train for the marathon in addition to working and doing her regular household activities?

Milne says she recites a mantra she calls the "Five F's" while running. Simply put, the Five F's are foundation, faith, family, friends and flow."......"