This and That

First, thanks to the three people that voted on my poll about my best post. I didn't get a whole lot of interest this time, although "Relentless!" edged out "Look! There's One of the Leukemia Society People!" by two votes to one. I will try to think of a more interesting topic for my next poll. Hmmm, how about one about sex? Ah-ah, peaked your interest? Stay tuned, because it won't be quite what you are thinking...

I’ve not done a ton of working out since the half-marathon nearly four months ago, but now and then I will walk or walk/run some miles. Actually, this past Sunday, I walked a total of 10 miles. Four miles were early in the morning, a fast walk using my favorite local route. A short bit of this was running, but my back was hurting a bit and hurt more when I ran. One thing is clear – almost all of my hard-earned running gains of this past season are gone from not running often enough. But I can still walk with good speed and power.

The remaining six miles of my ten mile day were a hike at Spotsylvania Courthouse Battlefield that very hot afternoon. I made the mistake of only taking a liter of water along, and was pretty parched and a little dizzy at the end. It was a rookie mistake for someone who has not been a rookie in a long time. But even so, it feels good to have enough strength to walk ten miles despite not getting nearly as much exercise the past few months as became my habit.

At the end of the day, I did feel twinges of pain in my left foot Sunday, telling me that my neuroma is still going to try to be part of my life. It is hard to see where this will go. I hope to go for a long and hard mountain hike soon, and this will tell me more.

Over an eight day period, I will experience two cool survivor events. The first was last Friday when I was a fashion model in the American Cancer Society’s fashion by design show. That was something totally different, and a lot of fun! The next will be this coming Saturday, when the Richmond Fall Team does the Silent Mile. Several of us survivors will speak to the teams – marathon, triathlon, and cycle – before training. Then we will hold signs thanking participants at various points along the way for the first mile as everyone goes by on bike or foot. There will be no talking or cheering during this mile as we remember the struggles of cancer patients everywhere.

The weather has been very hot here the last two weeks. I am looking forward to cooler days ahead. I hope to get back into more intense workouts, and more hiking in the cool weather. I still need to lose about 4 of the 6 pounds I gained since stopping marathon training!