Week 6 Training

The best laid plans… Well I was sick most of last week.  Not sick enough to skip work but sick enough that I had to rest after work.  Needless to say, I got behind on mileage but I thought it was better to rest up for the big weekend walks!  Our team is a bit off the schedule because of scheduling conflicts so we did our big back-to-back 18/15 mile weekend this week!

Week 6 Training (scheduled/actual):
Mon: Rest/Rest
Tues: 5 miles/Rest
Wed: 45min Cross/Rest
Thurs: 6 miles/Rest
Fri: 45 min Cross/Rest
Sat: 18 miles/18 miles – YAY!
Sun: 15 miles/15 miles – Woo!
Total: 44 miles/33 miles

For being sick most of the week I don’t think I did too bad.  I got through the 18/15 miles without new blisters and with minimal aches and pains.  I am beyond proud of the team mates who walked all the miles with me.  I’ve done this before, they haven’t.  The first time doing that kind of mileage can be killer if you haven’t been training consistently and they breezed right through!  Great job girls!  I’m looking forward to walking with you for the 60 miles in just 32 short days!

101 Things You Should Know (27-33)

33.  Drink, rehydrate, pee! Say no to an IV!

32.  The shower trucks are not glamorous but you won’t care about the lack of privacy the second the hot water hits your face.

31.  Do it big. Do it right. Do it with style. – Fred Astaire

30.  Those 8hr heat wraps – they can be wonderful for sore muscles overnight!

29.  Do NOT forget to pack Motrin/Tylenol/Aleve… figure out which works best for you before you go because everyone has their favorite.

28.  Pack some warm PJ’s – no matter what the weather, your body can get really cold when you stop walking and start resting!

27.  Blisters really do explode!

(+) Positive

Being a cancer patient means you go through a lot of testing.  For me its been fine needle aspirations, biopsies, CT’s, whole body nuke med scans, x-rays, and countless blood tests for calcium levels and tumor markers.  And then there are the side effects I've dealt with like cancer brain, loss of taste, hypo hell, and of course the most recent [and annoying] parotid gland swelling/dry mouth. 

Always you want the tests to come back negative or undetectable.  Always.

Today I got the news that one of my labs from last week came back positive.

Now before I start a panic, let me emphasize that these tests were NOT my tumor marker tests.  Those were drawn a few weeks ago and are still fantastically undetectable.  These most recent tests were ones to rule out the possibility of Sjogren’s syndrome  based on the salivary gland swelling evaluation and to assess the need for me to see a rheumatologist.  Most of these came back negative… one [just one] of the tests came back positive.

Yup, its on to another doctor who will most likely run more tests.  I have no idea what kinds of answers we may get…

Week 7 Training

Some people have asked why the week number is going down instead of up... good question! Basically the week number corresponds to the number of weeks out we are from the 3 Day!  So this past week was 7 weeks from our 3 Day event and currently we are in week 6!  Mileage is building, the summer sun is getting hotter, fundraising is winding down and pretty soon we will be sleeping in those lovely little pink tents!  Week 7 was a challenge because of the holiday but i'm pretty darn proud to say I got all my miles in!

Week 7 Training (Scheduled/Actual):
Mon: Rest/5 Miles
Tues: 5 miles/Rest (Dad's Bday dinner)
Wed: 45min cross/Eclipse Fundraiser!
Thurs: 6 miles/Rest
Fri: 45min cross/ 11 miles
Sat: 15 miles/ 15 miles
Sun: 11 miles/ 6 miles - Happy 4th of July!
Total: 43 miles/43 miles - WOO!!!

I had a bit of a setback on Monday... Training Tip: never do 5 miles barefoot. I made a pit stop to Urgent Care on Wednesday to make sure I didn't have a stress fracture from the barefoot walking. [I don't, its just plantar fasciitis which really isn't all that pleasant] And then I just kept on walking!  It feels really good to FINALLY get all the mileage in for a week even when its been chaotic with birthdays, fundraisers, and holidays!  Week 6 will be interesting with the short work week, dinner with Gracie who is in from CO, and our big 18/15 mile back-to-backs on Saturday and Sunday!  Here's to hoping to make it 2 weeks in a row doing 40+ miles!

101 Things You Should Know (34-40)

40.  Hills become cruel jokes of nature.

39.  It is critical to drink Gatorade and water during the walk so your electrolytes stay in balance.

38.  There are tons of fun things to do in camp – make sure you check it all out or you may miss the foot massage tent!

37.  You can never take too many pictures!

36.  You will never be so sick from candy in your life – but   who can resist kids cheering and giving it away?    35.  By the end of Day 1, things like men with fake breasts, swarms of cheering people, cars that honk continuously, and every name you never thought of for breasts (plus some!) will be completely normal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

34.  You will be too inspired to be tired.