2013 Running Thread

TinkHalf is in Anaheim.

Starts in DL resort, runs through the downtown Anaheim (vs. the Labour Day weekend one where you run through the industrial area and Angels Stadium) ending back at the parks. The beauty is that for east-coasters, the 6am start is 9am. Easy peasy. 

LOTS of people at the WDW race weekend seemed to be heading to Anaheim for the next weekend (probably the ones who did Goofy - or Dopey!) Instant Coast-to-Coast qualifier.

(Let's see: medals for WDW10K, WDWHalf, WDWFull, Goofy, Dopey, Tink10K, TinkHalf, and Coast to Coast: 8. - No bonus medal for Tink10K plus Half.)

Oh, got it.  I guess I could have looked that up!  But thanks for the insider info about the course and the Labor Day weekend one.  That is a lot of medals!

Hi Rdrunner--Congrats on running through rads!  Weight loss is a known possible side effect of Tamoxifen, and I've seen people talking about it happening to them both on the Bottle o' Tamoxifen thread, which is a wealth of information, and another thread called something like "Has anyone had any really good side effects from Tamoxifen?"  Here's the link to the former:  http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/78/topic/696015?page=709#idx_21256  I can find the other one for you if you have trouble.  But 3-4 lbs/week is quite a lot to lose.  What did the doctor say?  Do you have normal appetite and eat normally and the weight is coming off, or is your appetite low?

I've also heard of people inexplicably gaining weight on Tamox.  I've been fighting it to a draw, monitoring what I eat very carefully, running and walking, but fighting almost constant hunger.  I was trying to lose about 8 pounds, but in 6 weeks of effort, I've lost about 2 (and I'm an experienced dieter with past successes to build from).  It's kind of exhausting, but I'm hoping the hunger is an early side effect that will wear off.  Haven't talked to my MO about it yet.

Ran 2 of 4 miles this morning. I'd meant to keep it down to 3 but the temp was only 51F this morning. It felt so good I tacked on the extra mile by sacrificing breakfast. I've been having a burrito & smoothie in the mornings, in the car on the way to rads. No burrito, but i still had the smoothie.

I'm out of the game - possibly for months. My reconstruction failed again and I had emergency surgery Friday. My PS thinks I have a very good chance of needing a more major surgery to stop my problem from recurring. I'm going to become a bowl of jello. Makes me sad because I did some really good running and badass indoor cycling on the Xdream just days before this latest issue.

So sorry for the turn of events, maria. Hope you can get up and around sooner than you fear. Take care of yourself - we'll pick up some miles for you!

I'm sorry, Mariasnow. I see you're in NH, I'm just south of the border in MA. Even right at dawn the heat wave we're having in New England is making it rough to run. Better to take good care of yourself right now. Your running shoes will be waiting for you once you're healed.

I never post on here but I have all the posts from this board pushed to my email inbox so I read all of the posts in here (is that creepy?). I just love this board.



FIRSTCALL - please add me to the list for 3 runs. Sept. 1 - HyVee triathlon in Des Moines. Ok, I don't swim or own a bike, but I am on a relay team and will do the 10k run part of the relay. Oct. 20 - The Principal Financial Group 5k, which is part of the IMT marathon in Des Moines. Oct. 26 - the Des Moines Komen Race for the Cure 5k.



So.... I had the implant "swap" portion of my reconstruction on Thursday of last week. Everything has gone great so far. Much easier recovery than a mastectomy with lymph nodes removed for sure! No running for another week. But, yesterday I had a chance to be involved with the Above & Beyond Cancer Million Dollar Marathon as it came thru Des Moines. A friend of mine was one of the chosen runners for this segment. It was so awesome and absolutely inspiring! I followed the group of runners along as water/Gatorade/ice/Advil support. It was the least I could do while they all ran in the 100 degree heat index temperatures. I am a short distance runner. I do 5k's. and want to work on improving my pace in 5k's. throw in one 10k for the season, but otherwise it's 5k's. the group that ran yesterday were not all runners. It was the first marathon for quite a few of them. That dang group has inspired me to think about a 20k. I am just still in awe of what I saw yesterday. I couldn't follow the group all the way to the end of their marathon and let me tell you, that was extremely emotional to break away from them and not see them complete their journey. But complete it they did!



I should post more often so you all aren't subjected to my rambling, long posts.

I ran walked three days in row. Think i have shin spints now. Hurt a little now. Not much. Body is sore and i moan like a old lady when getting up. Will ice them and add motrin to pill box. Feel great though

Hating this weight gain from Tamoxifen.  Running all these miles, it's so frustrating.  I am doing WW (which is how I lost 45 lbs).  

Took a week off from running long distances on vacation.  Now that I am back, with the heat, these long runs are SO hard.  Did 6 miles last Saturday.  Supposed to do 7 this Saturday.  Need this heat to go away!

RunFree, I hear you about the heat. I'm in MA, just south of the NH border and even at around dawn it's been too hot to ask my dog to run with me. It is supposed to cool pretty dramatically this weekend.

No outs for us this morning - too dang hot & humid. The heat wave is supposed to break this weekend. I'm eager to get back out.



A couple of bra questions...



I am two months out from my partial mastectomy and one month from the SLNB. I'm using my tightest bras to maximize compression to minimize jostling of the surgical breast. Thought the fit is good, I find I'm getting a little more movement than I'd like. I tried tucking a sock into that side. It tightens it further but I'm still getting some bouncing and discomfort with that. If i mash it flat with a hand over it, that prevents enough movement to prevent any discomfort? Any tips for achieving a tighter fit while I finish healing?



I'm curious if anyone has tips for running while still being treated for rads. I haven't yet had bra problems but I know some women do. I'm a b cup which is just big enough to be uncomfortable running without tight fitting sports bra to minimize bouncing. If the rads does start to affect my skin enough to make a sports bra uncomfortable, is there another alternative?



Happy trails!

alaskamama, DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU YOU CAN'T!!!!!!  We are all going thru different treatments, so I can't speak to your specifics.  I know 11 years ago I ran quite successfully all through radiation and then last year I ran up until the day before surgery, was walking a few days after, and "easy" running a couple of weeks after that. Now a year later I'm back to my normal routine and then some.

I don't have any experience w/chemo (thank the Lord) but I know there are many on this site who have and have run successfully, though you may not be up to full strength.

The main thing is listen to your body.  If you need to rest, then rest dammit!  But because your BODY is telling you to rest, not because any "experts" are telling you.  Running will keep you sane, keep you into some kind of routine and keep you feeling somewhat "normal."

Good luck and stay strong! 

I didn't have chemo but I ran through a partially open incision and radiation.  I needed the stress relief.  It also helped with the fatigue during radiation.  

I was SO hot this morning.  Ran 2.7 miles outside and the remaining 4.3 on the treadmill.  I need this weather to break.  At least I feel better knowing my fatigue was because of the heat.  didn't have as hard of a time this morning on the treadmill.  

Thank you for your kind replies. I have now run three days in a row and feel GREAT. Subsequent infusions may take a toll, but for now I'm so happy to be running. I plan to run tomorrow morning with a group of Sunday morning runners (I just moved, found a running group on facebook)... I figure I should meet them before my hair falls out and they realize they're running with a cancer patient!

As to my scapula, a bone scan found this one spot. My oncologist thinks it's not likely to be cancer (it's just one place, and apparently not a likely spot for metastasis) but ordered MRI. MRI came back indeterminate--they can't tell what it is. That was Thursday morning, and that was my first low in this whole adventure, but I was smart enough to remember the only thing that pulls me out of a funk is running, and I have basically found a way to live with the uncertainty.

Oncologist says after chemo we'll do a follow-up MRI and if it looks the same, it's a benign nothing; if it's cancer, it will look like a treated metastasis. She says she would do nothing differently at this point either way; if it's cancer, she'll radiate the spot when we get to radiation. I'm still going with saying I'm stage 3, have not told my parents or many others about the possible bone met.