I’ve always liked starting the week with a rest day. It gives me time to reflect on the past week, review the workouts for the week ahead, and negotiate with myself about whether my schedule or mindset might make completing my workouts a challenge.
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Let’s run a 10k: Take 3
So I’ve done it now. I’ve signed up for a fall 10k to put a race on my calendar — the Marathon Beneva de Montréal has a 10k route with a generous two-hour cutoff. Far enough out to rebuild my base, early enough in October that the weather should still be good racing conditions. And it will be after my September scans and follow-ups, so I’ll know where I am heading into race day.
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And exhale …
There is nothing quite like the anxiety of sitting in your oncologist’s waiting room, knowing that on the other side of the door are the results that will shape, or reshape, your future. That was my Tuesday. To my surprise, we landed in an unexpected place. I walked in untethered, not knowing, and I walked out NED. My pathology was Stage I. Exhale, literally …
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Buying forward: Not running won’t stop me from buying new shoes
Four weeks out from a robotic right hemicolectomy, I have more patience than energy — and apparently, more optimism than sense. It’s Ottawa race weekend, and while I know why I won’t be toeing the line this year, it doesn’t stop me from dreaming about what’s next.
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Can running be bad for you?
I remember seeing the articles start to circulate last year. It was in the middle of race season, and I was following some of my favorite road runners’ transitions to the trails and ultra distances. The correlation was between extreme distances and the incidence of colorectal cancer. Without reading closely, it had a logic: distance running is hard on your gut, creating an inflamed environment that gives rise to pre-cancerous lesions.
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Let’s make a hard pivot
I was just getting into the headspace of starting immunotherapy this coming week when my phone rang at the end of the day last Thursday. It didn’t have call display, so I debated whether to even answer. Who would be calling me that wasn’t already in my contacts? I’m glad I picked it up.
It was a colleague of my medical oncologist, calling to tell me that the tumor board had met. Instead of moving ahead with immunotherapy, the new plan was to proceed directly to surgery. The rationale was that the lesion in my colon is small, and my other CT findings are unrelated to the bowel tumor. A successful resection should complete treatment. Good news, right?
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Sitting with what comes next
I wish that title were tongue-in-cheek, but I tweaked my right knee last week, and for the last few days I’ve been resting my legs while the swelling goes down. It’s feeling better, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to run again by the weekend, but in the meantime, I’m feeling proud of myself for not running through an injury, however mild it might be.
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Is this the other shoe?
When I was first diagnosed, I was going through a detailed mammogram diagnostic process as well. Mine was the 1 in 10 pulled for recall, and the tomosynthesis showed cysts, prompting a recommendation for an additional ultrasound. In the end, it was all summarized as ‘bilateral simple and complex cysts, benign.’ A relief, but in the moment, it definitely felt like waiting for the other cancer shoe to drop. I’m learning that a CLS diagnosis is a little bit like déjà vu.
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So this is what “normal” looks like.
I’m not sure where the last six months went. Well, I do know, but it surprises me that I’ve been less inclined to update here. For the year ahead, I’m setting the intention to keep this journal more current.
So what’s new? Both my Hereditary Cancer Predisposition Panel and Developmental Disorders Panel returned a ‘clean’ status on all counts. My most recent blood draw saw all my markers in the ‘normal’ range for the first time in two years, including iron and ferritin—two important markers for anyone training for longer distance races. These results are enough for my medical geneticist to want to investigate further—my clinical presentation doesn’t match my genetic profile, and that piques the interest of any researcher.
What this all means for my running is mostly good.
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