Welcome Sarah,
I was dx with UC in November 2008 and was working full time as a firefighter/paramedic out here in Arizona. I went from diagnosis to table in 2 months after literally losing half my body weight in the month of December. 10 months to the day from dx I was back to work full time and my third shift in we had a house fire. It was definitely an amazing feeling to be back after so many naysayers said I would never be back and to medically retire. That motivated me even more to push to get back and prove them all wrong. One of my close friends was a former cage fighter and he was training me to get back and pushing me every day. I eventually got back to running and slowly but surely built myself up mileage and speed wise. I ended up being able to stumble through my first marathon in 2015 in my second home town. The feelings I felt during that run are unexplainable, I went through every emotion possible during it, but I finished. I haven't been able to run much since due to some complications I've had recently, but once I heal up from this most recent surgery I'm getting back to running. I'm hoping to be ready to run the PF Chang's RnR Phoenix Marathon in January. Once you've done one, you're definitely hooked though. Good luck with everything and ask away with any questions you have. There are so many people on here that have had so many different experiences that can help you out along your journey of your pouch.
Joe