2013 Running Thread

Rdrunner - inspiring! Well, all of you ladies are!!

Went out to do 3 miles on Saturday and ended up feeling good enough to do 6 instead. Felt a little too "bouncy" at first, b/c rads and monthly cycle are swelling me up, but after a mile or two that went away, too, like you said LuvLuLu, all the initial feelings (cold, bouncy) disappear after a few hundred steps.

Going to try to do a few miles today, but holy icicles, old man winter's made an early appearance - have to watch out for ice patches.

My goodness it is awful chilly out there and yall are amazing! Happy thanksgiving to all.

Update on physio / massage. The massage therapist noted a lot of the improvements from last treatment had held. She broke up more scar tissue again today. The physio worked on shoulder knot that has resulted from the abs (short abs results in pitching the head forward which forces the shoulders/neck to try to pull it back), but that would not relax so she stabbed it with acupuncture (short treatments, not the 15 minute version. She called it "dry needling" I think. Stabby. But she said she saw a lot of muscle reactions to it, so it should soften up.) I told her about our discussions here about it and she agreed that it's easy to blame and fix the superficial symptoms like hip flexors because those are common running complaints, but for post-op, we need to address the weakness left over from our surgery and scarring because it's at the root of everything else. I am having particular problem with my obliques, because I cannot feel them and so I can't activate them. I pull with my head and shoulders. I push with my low back. I cannot crunch the obliques. If I work hard at it in the clinic and she is poking them as I do it, I can sort of make some of the reps work. I am not sure I am activating the obliques but if I'm cheating with other muscles, I'm concealing it better. It's harder to take the exercises home and do them properly without external observation and feedback. She put kinesiotape on them to help me figure it out and we'll see if that helps. Good luck with their training and coping with the cold fronts everyone!

Graccers im not running those mile while doing chemo !! no way i could have done that. I finished chemo and rads the end of july and now just have to take the daily devil tamoxifen. Piper is so great your son is getting into running.

Felt positively BALMY out there this morning in 30 degrees with no wind. We're expecting this huge storm to bring in lots of rain. Good, I'm not quite ready for the snow and ice. (Piper, your son can HAVE that polar bear plunge. Definitely not on MY bucket list!)

Anyway, fellow runners, I thought I'd throw this out there. My running partner and I were discussing this morning what constitutes a "distance" runner. We run about 30 miles/week. We do three 8-milers outside and 2 treadmill runs of about 3 fast miles each. We'll do the occasional half-marathon and I have done a few marathons (way back in the 90's). Does this make us "distance" runners? Probably not "long distance" runners but definitely not "sprinters" - those are the gorgeous, inhuman specimens you see on the track, right?

Any thoughts?

LuLu - Hell yeah you're a distance runner!  I keep trying to get back to a 5K capability and then I get derailed by something.  To someone like me your ability to do 8 mile and half-marathon runs definitely puts you in the 'distance' runner category.  Keep it up girl!

TammyT - Southeastern PA, where we rarely get any snow, much to our chagrin (we love the stuff!). Can't understand how Delaware and Maryland are in the line of snowy weather and somehow it skips over us.

Got 2 miles in today.

Summergal i had to do that gated breathing thing also. sometimes the computer cliches or your breathing just before you start is different than other day for what ever reason. My techs explained to me how it worked but even still one day it felt like i hardly had to take in and hold anything to keep bar in place so i stopped and they said nothing wrong but i insisted they checked and they just had to reset everything. As soon as you stop holding breath the radiation stops automatically so dont worry about that.

Lulu you are a distance runner, thats a decent weekly mileage imo.

I ran for the first two sessions, swam for the next two and walked for the rest. I did not do any races. Is the doc suggesting treadmill because its a little easier on joints ?

Congrats lovestorun! What a great accomplishment. Sounds like you're on your way back for sure.

I am just scrolling around tonight. I don't run, but do plenty of other exercises & you absolutely SHOULD exercise as best you can during chemo. It will help you get through it easier (and may actually make it more effective), and will definitely help you bounce back faster once you are done. Of course don't overdo it, but do keep moving (and being outside will not make you sick).

thats great piper and tell your son that is a decent time for a first 5km.. sounds like he is hooked now lol! Best way to increase 5k time.. have maybe two runs over that distance a week , increase one run by 1k a week , for 5k he doesnt need to go over say 10 or 12k. Then definitely once a week do intervals,and a progression run. There are many different kinds etc but lots of training info online. My bet is that he will be much closer to 20min the next one

Rdrunner and Lulu. TY.

Your insight and hints are so helpful and I will be sure to pass this info along to DS.

ahhh youth......

I admire you guys who can run in the cold weather. When it gets below 50 here in south Texas, I have a hard time running outside and I hate to run on The treadmill. It is torture to me! So I am having trouble getting past week 8. Going to try again tomorrow since it has warmed up a little. Want to run a 5k the week I finish Taxol.

Okay you gals are inspiring. I am doing the 1 mile run a day in December challenge. I did it today and had a 14min/mil the fast time I had since post-surgery. My peripheral neuropathy in my feet felt like I was running on fiery coals. I sweated more then I ever did in a 5K race, but I did it. As I was sweating I was hoping I was releasing the toxins from the chemo. My calves turn into rocks. I’m exhausted now just from the mile. I remember that 5Ks and 10Ks were so easy and I realized you can’t compare this run to those. But I can strive to be there again after all the cancer stuff is done. I also felt very defiant during my run since my MO told me no more running. It brought a smile to my face

It feels so good just to be out there again. I kept my run close to home incase something was to happen. The weather today is foggy so peaceful.

Keep on running!