2011 walking thread

Today was a perfect example of why I love this thread, this site.  I had a dentist appt at 10am, hair appt at 11:30 and had to leave for m-i-l 75th b-day party at 1:30.  Old me would not have done any excerise.  New me motivated from this thread wore my sneakers to the dentist (even though it was 80+ and I wanted to wear sandals!), hoping I could get in a quick 20 min walk before hair appt.

Dentist was longer than I thought, but I still parked near track and walked 10 minutes, then up and across the street to hair.  Then walked another 10-15 minutes after hair appt before going home for lunch.

Did I make 10,000 today?  No, slightly less than 7.500, but still a lot more than I would have gotten before dx. 

Thanks for starting this thread!!

Walked today around the duck park with the ladies... 2.7miles approximately... It is getting easier every week.. I slacked off last week because of the headaches I've been getting from arimidex...  The ONC took me off of them today and is giving me a 3 week break then I will be on something else I guess.... Anyway, my goal is to get back to my 4 days a week at 1 hour walks.. Cheer me on girls..

MaryNY - me too.  But I got 8,600 steps in on the day of the Hurricane, just walking around with the kids in the afternoon to look at the streets, pool and fields.  I was on vacation this past week, so did good except Sat when we went to the Yankee game and Sunday when we had a neighbors party...  I'm not sure about this week, it is pouring now and it is suppossed to rain all week.  I walked the kids to school this am, but have MO visit and Herceptin this pm, so I hope there is a late afternoon break in the rain.

I fell off the wagon ... going to start again with a walk this afternoon. Will report back on that.

I was at the breast surgeon yesterday for my annual checkup -- it's been two years since surgery. I told her I was having a lot of problems with weight gain so she gave me a number to call about a study that she said I might be eligible -- it looks at the effect of exercise in post-treatment breast cancer patients. I called up and the study coordinator asked me a number of questions. At the end she asked me about my current level of exercise. I said that I walk 3-4 times a week and that I probably average (at the moment when I'm being bad) about 3,000-4,000 steps a day. She said I was already getting as much as the target amount of exercise for the study group so I wouldn't be eligible. Whaaat! and here I am with a BMI that is 30+. I'm not too disappointed as if I was enrolled in the study there would be a 50% chance I would end up in the control group, where they don't do any extra exercise. 

Who's walking today? -- ReadingMama? anyone else? get those runners and pedometers on and get out there.

Off to take my own advice.

I never fully "got back" from rads -- as soon as I was finally able spend more of my day sitting up than lying down (and was beginning to think about how I was probably going to have to start all over from the beginning with the walking), I got hit with peritoneal mets, ascites that -- EWWWW! --  made me look 9 months pregnant (had to have a paracentesis; they drained 5 liters of fluid!), now I have a bladder infection and more ascites (and look about 6-7 months pregnant at the moment. again, YUCK!). I've been, and am still, constantly wiped out 24/7. It makes me tired to wash dishes even and my legs are exhausted/I get short of breath just from walking up the stairs from the kitchen or living room to the bathroom, computer room or bedroom.

So -- I'm just done. Good luck to you all and enjoy those wonderful walks for me. 

I won't count you out yet, Lena. Just take a break and see how the treatment goes. I hope it works wonders for you. And soon.

I have been walking in the gym. I should try to get outdoors more. Maybe tomorrow.

I've been doing great the past two weeks, but not this week.  I had a biopsy on Mon (still waiting for results) and with that and the rain, I've fallen off the wagon for a week.  I will hopefully re-start on Saturday and have a new week next week!

Hi everyone,

Haven't checked in this thread in a while, but wanted to brag a bit as one of these days I will have power walked 1,000 kilometers in the last six months, some of it during chemotherapy. I also lost about 10 pounds in the process! 

I get up at 5 am and walk for one hour (7-8 km/h), five days a week. Often I walk again in the afternoon and on weekends, but since its not regular and not always power walking, I don't count it towards my mileage. I hope to be able to continue through the next six months of cold Canadian winter....

Best wishes to all!

Thanks Mary. I don't keep a running total, but I always walk the same route and its every work day. If I miss one, then I make up for it on weekends, but because I get out of the house so early in the morning its hard to come up with an excuse to miss a walk, unless the weather is really awful or I am not feeling very sick. I don't count the walks I take with DH or kids because we then walk at a much slower pace and its hard to keep track of.

I have a 18 months old labradoodle that keeps me company on my power walks, and she loves it as much as I do. Her behaviour around the house is much less destructive since she started coming along, she spends the whole day sleeping, LOL.

This is the only exercise I get, I work from home so my commute is the total of 8 stairs I walk down to the basement where my home office is. That is a big motivation for me, knowing I could never keep up with gym commitment, this is the best I can do, so I might as well stick with it.

Beautiful fall day here as well, too bad I have to clean house, but might take the kids to the playground later.. not many of nice, sunny days left in this calendar year...

Hi,

I am new to this thread. I had 28 radiation treatments (finished on August 29) and when I walk a brisk walk with my arms bent at the elbow and swinging, (think fast walk without the fast!) my underarm starts to feel a burning sensation internally. Has anybody else experienced that? I'm not sure if this is normal or if I should ask my dr.

Any help is appreciated!

~Julie

I also got a new pedometer. It was pricey, but it is cool. It is called Striiv. Check it out...

http://www.striiv.com/

It really shows me how little I have been moving since surgery and rads. Yikes. Time to get out there.

MaryNY- The Striiv has a stats screen that shows steps, stairs, running, miles, calories, and energy. It shows these catagories for today, daily averages, personal bests, and all-time totals. You also earn "trophies" for various accomplishments (like exceeding previous days steps, etc). You do not have to hook it up to your computer. The only time I have hooked it up is to donate on the walkathon feature (they work with companies to donate to global giving either for drinking water, rainforest, or polio). To send in your donated steps, you have to hook up to the computer. It also has a cute game where you earn points for walking and you can grow trees, etc. on a little imaginary island. Kinda silly, but still cute.