Exercise and well being during chemo and radiation

hey everyone, congrats on your activities! well....I have been doing some daily stuff - dog walks, easy bike rides, but had hoped to be doing more by now. While I am out kayaking and paddle boarding a bit too, a new problem has developed. The paddling on the water part is fine. But I splurged and had a new dock built [bad case of dock envy with my old stub] and the new one got installed last week. It is truly a thing of beauty, but it is high. 14" high above water line, so struggle and struggle to get back out of kayak -- can't do it -- just don't have the upper body strength -- I am sure I look like a sea lion hoisting onto the rocks -- so had swim ladder put in thinking easy peasy - but it's still awkward and ungainly -- hadn't realized how much ab strength and balance is involved too -- at least I can climb that [but can only imagine how it appears when a boat passes by:(((( ]. So my solution: I added a fake palm tree at the end of the dock for some diversionary camouflage!!! Looks better after a sangria..... really.

gorgeous photos Moondust!

I've always wanted to go to Mineral King but the descriptions of the road in are a bit daunting. Is it really that bad? Perhaps I should go in the back of your truck, with a blindfold... :-)

Octogirl

ooh, Moondust...I'd love to go...my fear is not of the curves, but of drop offs. (I am afraid of heights. Mind you, I love to hike the Sierra, but prefer trails at least three feet wide if there is a cliff :-) )

Alas, no free weekends this summer. It is sort of ridiculous how overbooked I am. and too busy to take a few days off work. But if that changes...or if not, we should plan a celebration of your one year post chemo mark next summer! and include a hike or two, of course!

You got his Moondust! Keep rockin it!

I was away on the east coast for 10 days to visit friends, family, and attend a family wedding. I had enough humidity and traffic to last many years. Bleh! Funny that the drive from NYC to DC was the same amount of time as my drive from Chinle AZ to Santa Fe NM (4.5 hours) but felt soooo different. East coast driving is not soothing. Happy to be back in the southwest!

Still plugging away with my daily workouts...waiting for the day a long run really feels awesome like it used to before all of *this*. I'll get there.

Another half marathon in 5.5 weeks. All my ongoing tendonitis tells me it's a bad idea, but my the rest of me says heck yeah!! Want to get to the mountains in SW Colorado but can't seem to find any weekends because I'm going back and forth to Santa Fe for some PT that I can't do to myself. F/u with PS in 4 weeks and might have some surgical decisions to make if my radiated chest wall is doing well.

- xoxox

My friend's fitbit says we are averaging 9.5 miles a day of off trail hiking. I'm trying to do a 4 mile run to loosen up every night. Still trying to remember to work my core, but I suppose a pack helps with that you guys are killing it here! So inspiring!

Phoebe - your dock with the palm tree (and the sangrias) sounds heavenly! I would love to live on a lake. I'm considering moving to a lake - I just don't know where yet.

Octo - It's so not fun when you're overbooked. Hope you get in some hikes this year.

Andraxo - hope your tendonitits stays light and you can do your half. I would just love to come hang with you and travel around where you do. I love that area!

Ksusan - I'm with you. I so need to get back to my normal diet and exercise program!

LBF - that's awesome on the hiking! That's a lot of off trail miles! Definitely work the core - it'll help with the hikes in ways you don't even think it will.

Moondust - So happy you are still out there hiking away! I love your signature at the summit of Slate! I love the photos, too. Such lovely times.

Sorry I've been so vacant. I'm dealing with some after effects of Taxol - pain in my legs - that is driving me insane. I feel like I just hiked a huge mountain and am dealing with the after effects. I'm 3 weeks out from the last taxol and last chemo. So hopefully this will go away soon.

CJ, glad you are done!! That is so super to hear. I hope the SEs start going away soon. It would be nice if you could enjoy some normal days before your scheduled surgery.

It is super hot down my way. It will top out over 110 every day this week. Friday I plan to go to Sequoia Park and hike the Lakes Trail to Pear Lake. It might be a bit much depending how I feel, but I can always turn around early. It will be high enough elevation to get out of the heat. Octo, are you sure you can't play hooky and go with me?

It really helps to hear how we are all doing our best!

Lots of amazing activity on here My hats off to you. So in summer that would be shady sombreros and baseball caps....

CJ I remember the taxol - for me my feet and fingers were the worst - not the legs so much except at night. It did fade so hang in there, and I also took gabapentin for a while. Yes, I do love going to the lake [originally a coast girl] and coincidentally was just chatting seriously with my lake neighbour and long time bf about retiring there in a few years. This week I swam and paddled lots and love watching the birds - terns, eagles, mergansers.... So refreshing with the heat wave, [I am sure nothing like what you are experiencing down south Moondust and Octo] but I do need to be mindful of not overdoing my arm as it got a bit heavy and achy. Now back in town for a bit catching up on chores and sweltering:( with a cooling fan as i watch the DNC with utter fascination. Enjoy your hike Moondust. I hear you ksusan about getting back into a routine - mine flies off the rails with any excuse far too easily.

Be healthy and happy as best we can everyone.

1586 miles biking, 289 miles hiking/walking so far this year. Bike ride tonight really kicked my butt, lots of hills and sooooo hot! But I'm not complaining

Thanks CJ - I'm still running, but it doesn't feel that great. Still on the fence for the half marathon. So odd that my muscles felt better in May (a month after I was done tx - 6x chemo and 7 wks rads) than they do now. I also though for sure the tendonitis would get much better when I took 2 weeks off running after the fat grafting surgery in June. Nope.

Hooray for you being done CJ!! The few weeks after the last chemo can be even harder than other rounds because of cumulative effects, but it should start getting better now.

Today I hiked a few in 3 Turkeys Canyon, which is a narrow canyon with some Anasazi ruins in it, which parallels Canyon De Chelly. So beautiful!! 12 of us hiked.

Prior to the hike I ran 9 miles with my dogs, leaving my house while it was still fairly dark. The first half of the run sucked. I was so discouraged and mentally spiraling down thinking about how much I want my body to perform better. The second half was thankfully better, not great, but better. I wanted to run 10 but I didn't have enough time before the hike. Almost 100 degrees today - glad I did everything early as usual. Planning to road ride the south rim on Canyon De Chelly tomorrow morning.

you all continue to inspire!! xoxoxo

Ksusan – Thank you! I drink a ton of water, so I'm on it. I'm eating good proteins as well. J

Moondust – Two more weeks until surgery. We'll see if the SE's wear off. If not, oh well. You have some HOT days, ouch! I'll bet hiking in Sequoia Park was fabulous.

Phoebe – thank you! I iced my fingers and took glutemin and I I have little to no numbess. It's mainly my joints and where I have arthritis will throb in the middle of the night. It's annoying. Paddling sounds amazing. Maybe I'll con my ex into going to Santa Cruz for Paddle boarding lessons – or kayaking – I'm happy either way.

AZRescue – I'm being you by a month. I have to admit that I have high hopes to do big things next summer, too. My daughter is trying to introduce me to Parkour. We'll see.

Italy – AMAZING! Way to go so far this year!

Andraxo – It'll be a while before I can run again. I get that. For now, I'm happy with walking, and even that is tough. J You sound like you are doing well! Nice getting the 9 miles in then the hike! Whoot!

JLB – oh, it's not just me! Exactly – legs are off and knees are brittle. I was taking Turmeric and ginger root along with Advil, but as I have surgery in a little over 2 weeks, I've stopped it all (all three are blood thinners). The next few weeks should be interesting. :P

I've been walking and biking. Not far, but I'm doing it. I guess that's good. J Once I get going, I'm fine, but it's the 5-10 minutes leading up to the "getting going" that requires a strength of mind.

As I told AZRescue, my daughter is into parkour and attended a JAM this past weekend in Boulder. She really wants me to try - she met some amazing older woman doing parkour in Boulder and thinks I would love it. I may just do it. This is a intro video to the 2015 JAM. I really love it:

And then here's a master: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61waQYkIxM4

You'll get back to everything CJSharma! Just keep staying as active as you can - just like you are doing...It's all great! The joint pain sucks. I had so much of it for the last 2 months of chemo + 1 month after (super stiff - especially in the morning), but I also attributed it to a bad drug reaction (the one that also gave me the tendonitis and muscle problems). I'm 5 months post chemo and I can tell you that it does get better, but it is slow. I can't say when the joint pain went away (for the most part) because it was soooo gradual a recovery.

xoxo

Andraxo: Awesome!! You should celebrate.