2010 Running Thread

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  • 2bsnapod
    2bsnapod Member Posts: 16
    edited March 2010

    Good for you on your running path.  Sounds like you are going to do great for your 5k!  Probably won't be as wiped out as I was considering I hadn't worked up to 3 miles until I actually did the 5K

     Keep up the good work...........let me know how it turns out.

    Fond memories of Vacaville...........had a family reunion there about 20 years ago, a really good time :-)

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  • lewing
    lewing Member Posts: 1,288
    edited March 2010

    Just bumping the thread to see what kinds of miles people have been putting in (and what kinds of stories you all may have).  Sunshine, have you taken the next step up yet, to 3 miles (or 5K)?  Let us know!

    Treadsoftly, I'm impressed that you were able to run through rad's.  I turned out not to need them, but I'd been worried that the skin irritation would make running impossible . . . or at least very painful. 

    Tomorrow is the big Around-the-Bay-30K, so I'm camping out in my hotel room in a Holiday Inn Express on the outskirts of Hamilton, ON and trying not to obsess over the weather forecast.  (Which, for the record, is cold, rainy and 20 mph winds.)

    Linda

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  • C130sunshine
    C130sunshine Member Posts: 174
    edited March 2010

    I just did the 3 miles on Saturday.......I was able to run the entire way.......and this time I had a couple of people behind me.  Even though the class does not end until 1 May, I signed up for a 5k on the 17th of April. I will be out of town for the 5K the class is getting ready for.  They have a 10K class starting in July....I don't know yet if I am going to sign up for it yet or do another 5K class.  I am just going to keep up my options.

    Hope eveyone had a great weekend.

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  • ktym
    ktym Member Posts: 2,637
    edited March 2010

    Lewing, need some encouragement.  I think you know I've talked about the myopathy and neuropathy I've been dealing with.  I've stalled at making about 1.8 miles at a 3.6-3.8 mph pace.  Very frustrating.  I so wanted to run the 5K at the end of April.  If I find myself pushing it I end up backtracking.  I'm trying to tell myself it will be ok to run what I can and walk what I can but it is hard.  I want my old legs back.  They were never great legs, but they sure suck now.

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  • lewing
    lewing Member Posts: 1,288
    edited March 2010

    Oh, kmmd, I feel for you.  As difficult as it is, I think the key is not to push too hard.  That's what I did right after treatment, and it ended up setting me way back.  So don't let an artificial goal (an April 5K, running a qualifying time for Boston or NYC, whatever) make you do something that's going to mess you up.

    But don't get discouraged and give up, either. 

    I guess it's called patience, which I'm terrible at, but it's the only way to go.

    OK, the 30K:

    I had four goals.  The first was to finish uninjured - check (except for stiff legs and a blister under the nail of the pointer-toe on my right foot).  The second was to finish in under three hours - check (2:49:07).  The third was to run negative splits - check (by nine seconds).  The fourth was to have the last 5K be my fastest 5K - missed that one, but not by much.

    I was especially proud of the negative split, since I've always been terrible at pacing myself in long races, and the second half of this course was WAY more difficult than the first.  There were lots of rolling hills starting around 17K, and one truly sadistic stretch after 25K: a steep, pounding downhill followed immediately by a steep uphill that sucked the wind out of you.  Mercifully, the final 3K were a gentle downhill.  I even managed a little bit of a kick at the end.

    At this point, I feel I have the distance thing down.  What I'd like to do now is get just a teensy bit faster.  As soon as my legs recover from yesterday, I'm heading to the track to try my first real workout in I-can't-remember-how-long.

    Linda

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  • ktym
    ktym Member Posts: 2,637
    edited March 2010

    lewing, thanks, I'll have to find the patience somewhere.  Congrats on your 30K, very inspirational

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  • C130sunshine
    C130sunshine Member Posts: 174
    edited April 2010

    lewing....congrats on your 30K.  You keep me inspired.

    kmmd.....just take it nice and slow......all you have to do is get to the finsh line....it does not matter how long it takes you.  You have to give yourself time.  In the running class that I am in, I might be the one of the slowest ones but atleast I am out there.  Actaully the 5 of us are starting to have fun being the lost ones across the finish line. Wink

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  • ktym
    ktym Member Posts: 2,637
    edited April 2010

    Thanks you guys.  I just have to remember to run because it feels good and only as long as it feels good and just make sure I walk the rest of the time, I guess.  You're right, have to stop pushing to artificial goals

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  • LoriL
    LoriL Member Posts: 185
    edited April 2010

    Howdy, all! I've been reading, but haven't posted in a while. It's GREAT to see all of the "runners" and the "I'm-not-really-a-'runner'-but-I've-started-running" runners! :-) I love reading the stories. I'm still battling some hip issues, which I have decided will probably plague me as long as I'm on the tamoxifen. But, I'm still building some good miles and plan to run a half marathon the end of May. I'm also training for a cycling Century (100 miles in a day) the end of April. Don't ask me why I'm training for both at the same time! :-) Not necessarily a wise decision, but I'm having a good time doing it! Eat...workout...eat...sleep...eat some more... oh, and go to work somewhere in there... and did I say "eat"?!

    OK, question for those of you that had radiation.... have you noticed any changes in your lung function when you run? I finished 6 weeks of radiation last August, and now just in the past month or so I feel like I'm "huffing and puffing" a little more when I train hard. Even sometimes when I'm just sitting around I finding myself "catching my breath" a little more. During radiation I definitely noticed that I was more out of breath when I was running/cycling. But then it seemed to go away after that and everything seemed back to normal until this past month. Anybody else experience that? I remember my radiation oncologist telling me that since the radiation was to my left chest wall, there was no getting around SLIGHT damage to my left lung and a tiny bit of my heart. But, he specifically said that it wouldn't be anything that I would notice. I'm just curious what your thoughts are. I see my medical oncologist for a 6 month recheck in a few weeks and will be having a chest xray done at that time. Of course, the other thing that is hanging over me is the thought that it might possibly be mets to my lungs. I had negative sentinel nodes, but I know that mets can still occur. I guess that is what I'm fearing the most. Also, I have been training harder than usual- more intervals, etc. So, theoretically I guess my huffing and puffing might just be from the higher intensity of my workouts. Any thoughts from my fellow runners?         

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  • KiwiSuze
    KiwiSuze Member Posts: 1
    edited April 2010

    Hi, I am wondering how long before I can run without feeling like my chest is going to explode. Mastectomy and reconstrcution in July completed Chemo begining of December and comppleted radiation Feb. I did Ironman March 2009 and need to run again.

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  • lewing
    lewing Member Posts: 1,288
    edited April 2010

    Hi, all.  I love the reports and encouragement here. 

    KiwiSuze, I think recovery is a very individual thing.  When you say feeling like your chest is going to explode - do you mean "explode" as in short of breath, or "explode" as in your surgery is going to come undone (now THERE'S a great image).  I have experience with the former, but not the latter (no reconstruction).  I think both chemo and (from LoriL's report) radiation affect your aerobic capacity.  So does just plain being out of shape.  And so, for that matter, can being a year older.  I know that I still get out of breath if I try to run at paces that used to be easy for me.

    This is an easy, low-mileage week for me.  I'm on vacation, and am using my runs to explore.  Saturday morning I ran around a mountain lake in Tennessee as the sun was coming up and coloring everything pink.  Gorgeous!   At moments like that, fast or slow doesn't matter; being out there on the trail is more than enough.

    Linda

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  • angela456
    angela456 Member Posts: 7
    edited April 2010

    Hi -  I posted this in a different thread, but this seems to be a more appropriate place! 

    I Went through treatment for Stage IIIb about 4 years ago.  Bilateral mastectomy, and had ovaries removed.  After treatment, I found a love of running. It got me outside and I could think through everything.  It is my therapy!!   My favorite distance is the half-marathon.

     This past October, I started to experience pain in my hip and groin area and thought it was a running injury.  Nursed it as a running injury and when it didn't get any better I went to the doc.  Found out I have mets in my left hip.  Waiting for additional scans to see if they are anywhere else. 

     Here is my ridiculous question.  Will I be able to run again?  It's the only thing that has kept me sane after treatment.  Do any of you runners have bone mets?    Those who have bone mets, are you able to be physically active? 

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  • lewing
    lewing Member Posts: 1,288
    edited April 2010

    Angela, I'm so sorry about your mets dx.  I hope someone can come along and answer your question . . . did you also try posting it in the Stage IV section?  And have you talked about it with your Dr?  (I know a lot of doc's - maybe most - are pretty clueless about running and don't understand what it means to us to be able to run, but maybe yours can offer some reassurance, or advice, or at least point you in the direction of someone who can.) 

    Wishing you all the best.  (And by the way: it's absolutely NOT a ridiculous question.)

    Linda

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  • 33skidoo
    33skidoo Member Posts: 1,029
    edited April 2010

    I was told I can't run because the mets in my femoral neck are weight-bearing.  If not weight-bearing, it might be OK.  I asked for a physical therapy referal so I could have the physical therapist evaluate me to determine what exercise is safe to do.  My regular onc didn't have a clue. 

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  • C130sunshine
    C130sunshine Member Posts: 174
    edited April 2010

    33skidoo.....sorry to hear about the mets.  Hope you are able to see a physical therapist soon.  Let us know what happens.

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  • TreadSoftly
    TreadSoftly Member Posts: 192
    edited April 2010

    33skidoo - really sorry to hear about the mets diagnosis, hope you get an answer soon...

    LoriL - Im just finishing rads at the moment [29 over, just 4 to go!].  I havnt noticed any deterioration in lung function/capacity when running.  I find I am running slower times than pre-rads but that is intentional, dont want to overdo it.  I think you may be symptomatic because you have increased up your training intensity but I suppose the chest x-ray and Dr's examination of your lungs may clarify things further......

    lewing - congrats on the 30K!

    Overall, Im happy with how my running is going....I completed a half-marathon in 2hrs 10 mins on Sunday (I covered my red, radiated boob with lots of aloe vera gel and 3 dressings to avoid any chafing!).  The course was Really tough, lots of uphills and it was an extremely warm day so Im happy with my time, all things considering!  Im doing a 10K race this sunday.  I did the same race last year (pre-BC - chemo, surgery + rads) in 57 mins so hoping to match this time - just for my own personal satisfaction....!

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  • dcarpenter
    dcarpenter Member Posts: 36
    edited April 2010

    I am a runner (I guess)-- I had started doing some 5k's before all this BC stuff - back in 2007-2008 - my best time was 30:02 seconds,  but now i am just happy to finish - I walk alot, but still fun.

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  • C130sunshine
    C130sunshine Member Posts: 174
    edited April 2010

    Hope everyone is well.  I ran my first 5K on Saturday in 34:34....I ran the entire way!!!!!! 

    A couple people in my running class talked me into a 10K next month.  YIKES!  What did I get my self into!!!!  At least we are going to run intervals...run 3 min wlak 2 min.

    kim

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  • LoriL
    LoriL Member Posts: 185
    edited April 2010

    Hello ladies!

    I found out the the mild shortness of breath, and burning in my lungs and cough after hard running/cycling is not mets or damage from radiation. Whew! I'm so thankful! It seems as though my allergies are gettting the best of me. Typically it just involves my nose during the Spring months, but evidently my lungs are getting irritated, too. So, Claritin, here I come!

    On another note, I've had to back off on my running (and scratch my May 1/2 marathon plans)due to ongoing hip problems. But I'm continuing with my cycling, so I'm still a happy camper. I ran a few miles this evening, which was the first time in 3 weeks. I'm hoping that someday I can advance those miles again. Run on, ladies, run on!

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  • Blondie1964
    Blondie1964 Member Posts: 116
    edited May 2010

    10k tomorrow am - little nervous...heel has been bothering me lately, not sure what that's about...just finished icing with a bag of frozen peas, felt soooo good, gonna do it again in a little while.  Have a pedicure scheduled for tomorrow afternoon with my daughter - that will feel amazing and gives me something to look forward to while I am out pounding the pavement in the early AM...

    Hope everyone is doing well!

    Julie

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  • tamgam
    tamgam Member Posts: 255
    edited May 2010

    Julie- Hurray for you!  Hope you have great weather and a good personal run.  I had a pedi today and treated my 4 yr old to her first mini-pedi.  She loved it and her smile reminded me of why I have gone to such drastic measures to stay alive. We are so blessed to have children, they bring the sunshine on our rainiest days. Enjoy your day and stay healthy.

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  • KarinaQ
    KarinaQ Member Posts: 1
    edited May 2010

    Hi Everyone!  I have been a runner my whole life.  I have never done any competitions but I just enjoy running.  I stopped running for a few years but in March of 09 I really got into running again. In Dec. 09 I was training for half a marathon when I found out I had BC.  I was very upset.  Anyway, I am almost done with chemo, 2 more sessions to go! YAY! I have read that some of you are able to run during chemo, HOW?  I feel very tired and have lost most of my muscle.  I do walk a lot but I just cannot seem to find the energy to run.  I usually walk about 4 miles a day.  Anyway, I am hoping some o fyou can give me some tips on how you have been able to stay so active while on chemo.  I am usually very tired the week I get chemo and the other 2 before my next cycle I can only walk. 

     thank you for the thread! Karina 

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  • TreadSoftly
    TreadSoftly Member Posts: 192
    edited May 2010

    Hi Karina, welcome!  I was training for a marathon too when I found out I had BC last September 09.  I had 4 cycles of chemo.  I was able to run during the first cycle but had to stop during the next 3 cycles.  I took up walking and swimming most days, which I found really beneficial.  Particularly swimming, I think it kept my fitness levels up.  I had my last cycle of chemo Dec 30th and was back running by the end of January.  So, dont be too hard on yourself, do what your body tells you it can.....it knows its own limits!  Best of luck with the last 2 cycles of chemo, hope the time flies for you!

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  • lewing
    lewing Member Posts: 1,288
    edited May 2010

    Hey, just checking in after a couple of weeks away from this board - darn job, interfering with my internet time!  So now I'm dying to hear how Julie's 10K went.  Julie?  Race report??

    Karina, I'm one of those annoying people who ran through chemo, and my secret was: luck.  Everybody handles chemo differently, and I turned out to be one of those people who don't have the massive fatigue that so many others do.  But if you're going out on 4 mile walks, rest assured, you're probably covering more ground than I did running when I was at a similar point in my treatment.  So welcome, and hurray for just 2 more to go!

    Linda

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  • kickingitsass
    kickingitsass Member Posts: 25
    edited May 2010

    Hello, Linda and all the happy feet of this topic! I just discovered this thread (moments ago) and have only scanned the recent posts. Any thoughts from this assembly on sports bras and lymphedema risk? Since the UMX a year ago, I wear a bra (to support Lefty-the-Uniboob) only when I run, which now is seldom more than an hour. Seems like I get a bit puffy in the armpit above the bra, but it usually goes down after a day or two of lymphedema-specific stretches and massage. Interestingly, long bike rides don't seem to produce that problem. Today I did my first 10K in summer temps (around 80F) and wore my compression sleeve to be on the safe side. It was uncomfortably warm, and I'm thinking I may have to run only at sunrise all summer. Just wondering if anyone has tips or cautionary tales about how to deal with this?

    Miles of smiles!  Ali

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  • lewing
    lewing Member Posts: 1,288
    edited May 2010

    Kickingitsass - love your handle.  On your sports bra question . . . I haven't had any problems myself, but have heard from other women (mainly on the LE section of this board) that they've had issues with too-tight bras (not necessarily sports bras) causing swelling.  Have you experimented with different styles (e.g., cut lower/higher, esp. under the arm), or sizes?  Is running bra-less an option?  (I did that during chemo, because of severe chafing around my port, and it wasn't as bad as I'd feared - but I was only running, slowly, for 30-45 minutes at a stretch at that point.  Plus, I figured people would be too distracted by my bald head to notice my lonely bouncing uniboob.)

    I also try to avoid running in the heat, but then, I've always tended to wilt in summer temps.  The main additional precaution I take now, because of the LE risk, is to drink lots of fluids . . . so where I might once have blazed by a fluid station in a race, or taken just a gulp, I now slow down to try to get in as much as I can.  I'm not in shape to be running PRs, so what's the diff, right?  I do have a sleeve, which I wear as a precaution when flying, but not when exercising.  (It's one of those personal decisions balancing risk and hassle that we're all forced to make.  I should be clear that I have NOT been diagnosed with LE.)

    Miles of smiles back atcha!  I'm headed out for my long run right now . . .

    Linda

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  • chinablue
    chinablue Member Posts: 545
    edited May 2010

    I am off to do my first 10K post mx/chemo/rad.  Wish me luck.

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  • hymil
    hymil Member Posts: 826
    edited May 2010

    China blue, Hope it all goes well for you Good luck and let us know.

    I'm a not-really-a-runner (!) but been going out since a week after my Mx february and getting to like the good feeling afterwards. I did post higher up the thread but can't find it now. Managed to get round my 10k last week, well those who know these things will know that at 74minutes there was a lot of walking involved but i was pleased.

    People have been asking Will you keep doing it then? I say, Well maybe not the half-marathon maybe not this year but would be nice to stick at 10k and get to run it all next year. Maybe even go under the magical one hour target.

    I was also very worried about the "skin during/after rads" issue (i finished rads a week before the run) but loads of people were praying about just that, and by some miracle i escaped intact. As i'm one of those who only has to see the sun and i start to peel,...  can only say there is a God and s/he cares about the little things! In the last week of rads i had abandoned any ideas of elastics round my chest and was running with just a tee-shirt and one of those ballerina-style wrap-around cardigans to support uniboob and it did work. A bit warm, so i tried the morning time and found it better. People don't stare half as much as we think, well i think a few stared at the whole idea of someone my age and build trying to run, but not my chest specifically.

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  • lewing
    lewing Member Posts: 1,288
    edited May 2010

    Can't wait to read how those recent 10Ks went (hint, hint Julie and Chinablue).

    I did the Race for the Cure yesterday - it always provokes a mix of emotions in me, from inspiration and love to sadness and rage (why so many pink race bibs? and why are so many of them on such young women? why, why, why?) to plain old annoyance.  (Note to the high school boys who weren't even particularly fast but lined up at the front anyhow -- elbowing a 73-year-old survivor and local running scene icon in the process -- and then proceeded to make boob jokes: you are assholes!)

    Ahem.

    It was a very humid morning, not the best conditions for me. I felt great for the first mile, which I ran in 7:15.  Shortly after that, the course makes a series of right turns, and then rejoins the outbound street - so that the returning runners are on the left, and runners and walkers who are still heading out are on the right.  I tried to put on a good show for the outbound runners (I imagined them marveling at my smooth form, awesome pace, and determined demeanor) but I was, frankly, fading.  I messed up my watch at the mile 2 marker, so I really had no idea of my pace at that point.

    I'd been reeling in the other survivor with whom I'd chatted at the start (she was also rolling her eyes at the high schoolers), but she either paced herself better than I did or was just a stronger, faster runner (or both), and she pulled away from me decisively in the last mile. 

    I managed to pick it up in the last quarter mile, though, and when the clock at the finish came into view, I was surprised and thrilled to see that the first number read "21."   It had flipped over to 22 by the time I crossed the line, in 22:10, but still: I was hoping to break 23:00, and so to come so close to breaking 22:00 was a confidence-builder.  Next time!

    I finished as 4th survivor - the top survivor, the woman who won last year and has been running GREAT this year, ran just over 20:00.  (I see a sub-20 in her future very soon.) The second spot also went to the same woman as last year, the third to the woman I'd chatted with at the start.  In the complicated calculus of race awards, I was awarded "top master survivor" (even though the first two survivors were also >40, and even though they, in turn, were faster than the women who were awarded the top overall masters places).  We all hugged each other up on the stage and posed for pictures, and it was very cool.

    I walked away with a pink ribbon sun visor, pink shoelaces and a pink gym bag that looks unfortunately like a diaper bag. 

    Linda

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  • ktym
    ktym Member Posts: 2,637
    edited May 2010

    Linda congratulations!!  Makes you wonder if they were embarressed enough to be there that they had to make boob jokes what prompted them to get up and do the race.  

    Been a hard month for me for running.  Wonderful pollen season making for horrible asthma season.  Add it in to what the neuropathy was doing and its been hard.  I've been  running a mile here and there when I can, and walking the rest.  Still feels good to be doing it, so I'll keep plugging away

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