Stage 4 Fitness 2015

Good luck Nancyh - I could barely walk briskly let alone contemplate a half marathon while on cytoxin.

I made it to gym for some treadmill work on Monday & even though its only 20 mins, its is satisfying to see my average speed & distance covered increasing each time.

10 weeks till my first post-chemo race & for 3 of those weeks I'll be holidaying abroad, so got to keep to a training schedule!

Great to read everyone's posts.

Nancyh-wanted to be sure and wish you all the best with the half. You are an amazing, incredible athlete. Hope you have a great day!

Andi-loved reading about your trip and the photos were beautiful. I am so glad you had such a memorable time.

Karz-good for you doing the treadmill. I have been walking with a little "slogging" (world's slowest jog) at the school track while my DH has been jogging. He will be doing a biathlon (running and target shooting) tomorrow. I am planning to do a long bike ride. I would like to do around 40 miles-we'll see how it goes.

Fuji-how's Goodie doing? I've been out on my horse several times lately, always very short, easy rides to keep my hip and leg happy. My horse loves it -short rides, with lots of hugs and treats!

Heidi-are you still having hot weather? Hope you are able to be out for walks and hikes despite the heat.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

All you wonderful women amaze me with your efforts, goals, achievements, fitness plans, smiles, you-name-it!

Although many might feel somewhat intimidated by posting here when they have less "impressive" goals and achievements, I for one still refuse to compare myself and instead focus on feeling proud of any and every effort I make each day! I'm still pursuing my 15 minute rule--do something at least 15 minutes even if you feel like the sludge at the bottom of the pond--but I respect those days when my heart says, "You there! What the hell do you think you're doing! Stop all activity and let me rest!" There are days I exercise for 30-45 minutes; sometimes it's 30 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening. Some weeks it's more gentle yoga on most days, other weeks I can manage a 30-35 minute walk at a deliberate pace (how do you like that for a reframe of "slow-poke"?) two to three times a week with other activities thrown in on the off days and nothing other than gentle stretching or just breathing on the truly off-OFF days.

My beacon may not be shining as brightly as others' but it's still there if you look for it!

Brendatrue,

Keep that spirit, I admire your courage and determination, and I agree that even though we have to adjust our goals, the important thing is that we keep striving (I once was a marathoner but now find it a challenge just trying to get through daily household tasks). Saw a card yesterday that said something like we should not wait to get through the storm but keep dancing in it. So great job keeping on dancing!

Brenda, I love your 15 minute rule. Excellent!

Go, Nancy! I'm thinking of you today.

Happy Sunday to you all...

Congratulations, Nancy, you not only finished but you look amazing as well!

Yay Nancy! I truly admire your ability to run.

Bionic- Goodie is doing well. She's adjusting to her new home. I board her at a friend's. She's made a boyfriend out of the lowest gelding in the herd.

Andy- Your trip sounds like so much fun. Especially the part of no kids.

As for me, I had two huge victories. Yesterday was my husband's company party at Silverwood! I was able to fit the stupid little train ride. Of course now my ds is now big enough to ride alone. Grrr! I also walked the entire park. Last year, I had to rent the motorized scooter. That's when I used to wear a Komen Survivor shirt. Nobody picks on you. I guess my "Gudy Tu shus" fitness plan is working!

So awesome, Nancy!!! Brenda, you are absolutely on the right track with your 15 minute rule

Bionic, it's gotten cooler but still nicer to take walks or bike in the forest. DH had a headache last Saturday after biking in the heat.

Karz what cuties! Way to go, fuji!

Had an early morning walk with a friend today.

Nancy, congratulations I agree that you look wonderful and I am so happy you were able to finish. Kudos! Your upcoming cruise sounds amazing.

I have been struggling to get back on track and I love that you all provide inspiration in one way or another. I retired from 28 years of teaching at the end of June. It was a bittersweet time. I know having the time to take care of myself will be good but I will miss having a new group of students in the fall. I hope to get back on track exercising.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend.

Fuji she's an Arab x Namibian Warmblood. With the Arab size (she's just on 15h3) & movement but without the dished head.

Does yours have Arab in him?

Is so wonderful riding with our daughters :-)

had a rough-ish week but tried to keep up with exercise. with what we're all dealing with it's hard to whine about the dog getting sick, but man, it was pretty terrible - spoiler alert: she's home and seems pretty fine now. dh & I spent our days shuttling back and forth to the doggy icu & were exhausted from the distress, but we made the effort & took walks in-between visits - managed to keep at or above 3 miles a day. 'deliberate pace' (great reframe Brendatrue!) might be too generous - it probably looked a bit more like forced march. also went to 2 pilates classes - more woulda been better to help manage stress, but somehow, when I need it the most is when I seem to do the least - why is that? so counter-intuitive. oh well, points for what I did do. last two days - didn't even make 1 mile and no other exercise. reading here does help - thanks to everyone for posting the both the massive and modest wins.

not to do with exercise but a bizarre example of something that hit way too close to home:

the dog was running around, healthy & happy as a clam, then, one afternoon, started looking a little tired - by evening, clearly fatigued - middle of the night, labored breathing. she spent the next 5 days in the ICU - can't believe we did it, but at each update the vets reiterated that she could come out of this as she was before, how do you stop treatment when they're 'confident' she'll be fine? (thank goodness for pet insurance) well, one complication after another, things just kept slipping further downhill and then, when I least expected it, improvement. after 3.5 days of very serious complications she did start turning things around - we're one week since she got sick and she really looks great - not sickly seeming at all - truly incredible.

so here's the extra little mind-f*ck that went along with this whole event. dog kept having new docs assigned to her care and so I kept having to repeat the little speech about prioritizing QOL, minimizing unnecessary tx-related suffering, and if things are going south, wanting it recognized and respected asap with a focus on getting her home and keeping her comfortable. poor dh kept insisting this was not a trial-run (implication: for when we're doing this with me). he actually did a great job of holding it together, but he was tormented by the fine one minute-icu the next, docs spouting hope & optimism with only complication after complication - it was rough. I tried very hard, but it was difficult to not imagine myself in the dog's place.

I'm still fairly new to this disease and while I've had boatloads of tx this year, I hadn't really thought about this scenario. repeating the 'priorities of care' speech over and over again was surreal. we're thrilled to have her home and although I think I do a decent job of making the most of each day (most of the time), this was a harsh refresher of the importance of that practice. then, found out brother-in-law died of a heart-attack in his sleep - younger guy & hadn't been unwell, 3 kids - truly hideous. take-away from the week: there are no guarantees, life will always be challenging and there will always be 'crap' but now is the best opportunity to make the most of the good stuff, even when things are crappy. you'd think I'd have that clear & present after spending time on bco.... sorry if this was a downer - not meant to be - really using the week to reinvigorate the focus on happiness and fun. keeping up with exercise really does help facilitate things.

Hi to all...thanks for the great photos, check-ins, updates, stories of struggles and of attempts to keep moving and to keep coping, you-name it.

Spicypetunia, I especially want to let you know how much I understand how conversations on behalf of others--human animals and our companion animals--regarding QOL, priorities of care, minimizing unnecessary treatment and its related suffering, and recognizing when comfort care is the right choice can hit really close to home. Don't worry about being a downer. Your words reflect the experience of reality for many of us. And thanks for acknowledging an aspect of life that is very important to me: practicing gratitude for whatever is beautiful and honorable and joyful about life in the here and now. It's what's pulled me through some very tough times.

Time to check in. Things are better, but very crazy in terms of busy.

Hi to all,

I spent last week doing a hike from Aspen to Crested Butte (and back!) with my "hiking group".... a great group of women that I started hiking with regularly this past year. It was 13 miles each way - up (really UP) over a 13K peak... and we carried packs that were about 25-30 pounds. We spent the night in Crested Butte and brought additional clothes and shoes, which was a good thing as it poured down rain the first day. There were several river crossings.... up over our knees... and getting to the summit was very intense, at least for me. I am not good with heights in the first place. Luckily I'd brought walking poles...most of us had. The Aspen side of the hike was absolutely beautiful in spite of the rain.... lakes, aspen trees, wildflowers... and Crested Buttte is known as the Wildflower Capitol of the world and the wildflowers were at their peak. There is no way to describe how beautiful the hike down that side was (and then back up the next day - luckily a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky,) We all felt like we were in the Wizard of Oz because there were meadows and meadows of every single kind and color of wildflower imaginable - some up over our heads. Really amazing. The hike took about 8 hours each way... needless to say, I could barely get out of bed for the first two days afterwards, but it was one of the best adventures I've ever had in my life and I am so glad I did it. I hadn't been above about 10K feet since my pleurodisis (sp?) surgeries last year and the year before, so I wasn't sure how my lungs were going to hold up at 13K feet.... fortunately they didn't implode. I was always the "caboose" in the group, and I am not sure how many people knew about my diagnosis ( I left it that way) but I am so glad I did it.

I am attaching a few pictures... one of the whole group by Maroon Bells on the Aspen side. I am the one in one of the purple poncho's... the one on the left. Also a picture of the wildflowers in the CB side... although no photo's can accurately capture the beauty. I could have walked forever through those meadows.

My next focus is a half marathon... I am trying to talk my boys into doing it with me... although neither of them are too excited about the "training" aspects of doing it... so I may have to go solo.... but I certainly have inspiration from each and every one of you on this thread.

Spicy - so sorry about your brother in law, and thanks to others for the posts that are reminders that we need to be grateful for what we have each and every day.

Hope everyone else is doing well...

XO

Andi