2 Year Cancerversary

Last Sunday on September 21st I celebrated my two year cancerversary. I'm not quite sure if it's actually a day to celebrate though. Sure, I have survived cancer for two years and feel great each day, but that day in 2012 was a horrible devastating day, and it's strange to feel like each time that date comes around on the calendar it's means for celebration. I'm also only 36 so celebrating having lived from 34 to 36 doesn't seem quite right either. David and I talked a lot about the meaning of the date and I think for me its a reference point to look back on to compare how far I've come in that time.

 

 

Cancerversary Dinner at Cowboy Star

 

 

In the past two years a lot has happened, both with cancer and with the rest of my life. On the cancer side since diagnosis I went through brain surgery, 6 weeks of radiation with low dose chemo, 12 months of 5 day cycles of high dose chemo, and endless blood tests, MRIs and doctors appointments. And of course the never ending bills that are associated with all of that. Ugh. On the personal side of life I've changed jobs, gotten married, moved, seen the Glam Runner business explode (thanks Tutugate!), and have continued to run, race, ran three more marathons, and even completed my first half Ironman.

 

 

Finally a Half Ironwoman!

 

 

These past two years have gone quickly, and it's really hard to believe sometimes that I'm living with cancer and feel perfectly fine. Not that I want to feel sick, but sometimes I really can't believe that I can feel perfectly healthy, have no side effects, carry on with a normal active life ... and yet I have something inside my body that is trying to kill me.

 

I'm trying to do what I can to stay healthy and positive, and the most recent thing that David and I have done is enroll in the 8-week Natural Healing and Cooking program through UCSD's Center for Integrative Medicine. I saw a doctor there recently who specializes in treating cancer patients from a whole body perspective. Diet, lifestyle, activity, etc. I really believe that all of these factors play into the prevention and treatment of disease, and with little in my control right now with my brain cancer and no cure on the horizon, I feel that this is the least I can do and the best I can do.

 

 

Natural Healing & Cooking

 

 

My cancerversary falls on the same weekend as the San Diego Brain Tumor Foundation 5K oddly enough, and last year and this year I had a group of friends join me in the race as Team Mokie. It was great to see everyone out there running and walking in their tutus, and I really appreciate everyone who came out to support me.

 

 Team Mokie 2014

My Fave Running Partner

Unicorn Running Team

My Awesome Oncologist

 

A few days after the 5K I had my next MRI, and the Baizes were nice enough to continue their tradition of meeting David and I for dinner before I headed in for my scan. The weeks, days, and hours leading up to an MRI are filled with anxiety, and having a fun distraction is always welcome.

 

 

Pre-MRI Dinner Tradition

 

 

Good news - but my MRI looks great! My tumor is still stable when compared to my previous MRI, and better than that when we compared it to a MRI from earlier last year you could see significant shrinkage in some areas! I can now relax again for a few months until my next MRI, and can go back to appreciating feeling healthy and symptom free.

 

This weekend David and I are heading to Minneapolis for the Medtronic Marathon 10 miler, and later this month I'll be rappelling down the side of the Manchester Grand Hyatt again to help raise money for brain cancer research trough ABC2's Over the Edge event. Want to support me? You can donate here.

 

 

Last Long Run

 

 

Here's to two years of living life to the fullest, and many more years to come.

 

 

 

 

Brain Tumor 5K (Plus 17 Miles)

A few weeks ago on September 21st I celebrated my one year cancerversary. It's hard to believe it has been a year, but on September 21, 2012 I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. This year as September 21st rolled around I was amused to see that it landed on the Saturday when I had my last 20 mile run scheduled in preparation for the Long Beach Marathon. On top of that, it was also the day that the San Diego Brain Tumor Foundation was having their annual 5K. I thought about running the 5K on Saturday and then doing my long run on Sunday (which I hate), but then came up with the crazy idea that I'd run the 5K AND my 20 miler on Saturday. I ran this idea past a few of my crazy running friends to see who might want to join me, and soon a plan was set! We were going to run 10 miles before the 5K, do the 5K, and then run 10 miles after.

I sent out invitations for the following options:

• Option A: Pre-5K 10 miles
• Option B: Pre-5K 10 miles + 5K
• Option C: 5K only 
• Option D: 5K + Post-5K 10 miles
• Option E: Post-5K 10 miles
• Option FF: Pre-5K 10 miles + 5K + Post-5K 10 miles

Surprisingly I had 7 friends for Option B, 1 friend for Option C, 2 friends for  Option D, and 2 friends for Option FF - aka Fabulous Friends!

Option B Team - 13 Miles Total

Team Mokie - Tutus By GlamRunner

I wasn't sure if people would be running the 5K and was prepared to walk it, but since there were a good number of people running we ran it as well, and decided that our run after the 5K would only need to be 7 miles instead of 10, for a total of 20 miles run for the day.  

Team Mokie in Action

 

Post-Race With My Neurooncologist

 

In addition to seeing my neurooncologist at the race, I was surprised to bump into two other GOTR coaches I knew who were at the event supporting others they knew with brain tumors. What a small brain tumor community!

Girls on the Run Coaches

Once A Cheerleader, Always A Cheerleader

Trying Pose For A Muscle Milk Promo Shot

Option E & FF Teams - 13 Miles/20 Miles

We came, we ran, we conquered! After my 20 mile run I was pretty wiped out took a much needed nap while my cousin Giselle (visiting from LA for the day with her son) spent the afternoon at Sea World. We met up later that night at Bali Hai restaurant and enjoyed a nice Restaurant Week dinner with a beautiful view of the San Diego Harbor, the setting for my 20 mile run.

Cousin Giselle - My Doppleganger

My one year cancerversary centered around a group long run plus 5K ended up being a really fun day and celebration of life. I'm touched that all of my running friends and my cousin came down to join Team Mokie and run the 5K, and love that my friends were crazy enough to join me for different combinations of my long run to make up 3, 13, or 20 miles. This anniversary could have been a sad and stressful day, but thanks to the company of a pack of crazy girls in tutus (and my wonderful husband David - no tutu) I really enjoyed this day and my anniversary. Cheers to my one year cancerversary and many more to come!


If you'd like to celebrate with me by supporting my fundraising for brain cancer research, check out my fundraiser on Crowdrise:  
http://www.crowdrise.com/beatbraincancer

LA Triathlon Relay

Several weeks ago my cousin Giselle emailed me asking if I wanted to do the LA Triathlon Relay. My initial thought was no ... my race calendar is so full this year, relays are usually overpriced, and a short distance run leg wasn't really on my horizon of running goals for the year. BUT .. (aside from the fact that I did think it would be fun to race with her) .. my cousin said that as a Kaiser employee (her) we'd get 50% off registration fees. WHAT? Okay, I'm so in! I hate thinking about the amount of money I spend on race fees and passing up a 50% discount was hard. So we signed up!

Race Weekend

Well as luck would have it I was scheduled to run 20 miles on race weekend in preparation for the Marine Corps Marathon which I'm running with David on October 30th. When I noticed the big "2-0" on my schedule earlier in the week I groaned and though ughh ... its so far! And I don't get a rest day after! Wahh! 

I'm currently suffering from training burnout and have had a hard time motivating for my long runs and have been falling way short of my training goals. I hadn't run over 13 miles since the SF Marathon and had lost my mojo for longer distances. Luckily I was able to coerce my friend Tara (currently training for the Chicago Marathon) into attempting 20 miles with me, so the plan was 20 miles along the San Diego Harbor on Saturday morning. And guess what? We did it! Whoo hoo!!

After running 20 miles do you know what I want to do? I want to lie down in bed and have a burrito spoon fed to me! While this past Saturday did involve a burrito, it also involved cleaning house, running errands, and then driving the 2hours up to LA to stay at Giselle's for the race. 

Sophia - Ready to Swim

Kaiser Perks

Kaiser has a lot of fitness perks in addition the race registration discount. (Totally made me miss working for a huge company.) When I got to Giselle's she proudly showed me our goodie bags and the Kaiser branded tri gear that was free for Kaiser employees. WOW. Tri gear is soo expensive! She got bike shorts for herself and somehow sweet-talked the guy into giving her a tri top for me too. 

Tiniest Tri Top - And I thought the Sony One was Small! (Behind)

Um.. one problem, the tri top was sized for a child! Tri gear runs extremely small and if you have any body image issues .. um expect them to increase exponentially once you put on some tri gear. I put on the Kaiser top and thought okay, I can't wear this!! :( After several instances of "Are you sure it doesn't fit??" and "It really looks okay ...." I figured okay, I think someone wants me to wear this ... I will. SUCK IT IN! haha

Kaiser Crop Top

In It To Win It

When Giselle first asked me to do the tri relay the first thing I thought wast hmm ... if we do this race could we win?? (You know, because I'm obsessed with achievement!) My cousin's husband is an AMAZING swimmer and  knew he'd be one of the fastest in the swim. My cousin just won a local bike race which meant she was good on the bike. And hey, while I'm not busting out 5 minute miles at any point in time ...  I'm a fairly decent runner. I figured between the three of us we had this race! 

Due to time constraints Giselle never had time to get a road bike ... so she'd be riding her pink cement block - I mean pink mountain bike (from Target!!) in the race. Oh man! I rode my Target mountain bike in the first tri clinic I ever did and let me tell you it is so demoralizing! I was the slowest person out there! What a bummer. And its not like I wasn't working hard! Ugh. Anyways, knowing Giselle had to suffer with her mountain bike I figured we wouldn't win, but still figured we had a good shot.We could still be in it to win it!!

Me & Giselle Ready to Race

Race Morning

This race course was pretty different from other tris I've done. The swim was in Venice, the bike was from Venice to LA, and the run was an out and back in LA. The big challenge was that T1 was nowhere near T2. I was able to drop Giselle off at T1 and I quickly drove to T2 to park where she'd finish and I'd start running. I had no idea how parking and traffic would be so I dropped her off before her husband even started swimming and headed straight downtown. 

Giselle & Her Pink Mountain Bike

Giselle & Marc Pre-Swim (No wetsuit?!?)

Well .. I found parking right away  (score!) but that meant I stood around for almost two hours waiting to run. This was an interesting experience because i got to see the first elite triathletes come in and got to watch a ton of participants on the course for the next hour. I *might* have gotten a little misty watching all of the people go by! I'm such a sap!! I love distance racing. :o)

I Love Kids with Signs!

My Turn Yet?

After watching the racers go by for about an hour I thought okay, I need to figure out when I will be running! I texted David who was able to figure out from the race app when Marc finished swimming and when Giselle started running. I predicted a 10am transition from Giselle to me. Around 9:45am I decided to make a quick bathroom stop and then head over to the transition area. As soon as I got out of the bathroom I saw a missed call from Giselle and thought oh no! she's done! I quickly turned on my watch and stood by our transition area.

Hanging Out in T2

Moments later,  instead of seeing Giselle running her bike towards me I saw Giselle sprinting toward me with a smile ... her bike helmet on and no bike in sight. "OMG where is your bike?!?!' I asked her. "Oh, I ditched it over there" she said. WHAT?!?! OMG You can't do that! By then she had the timing chip on my ankle and was like Go! Go! So I shoved my jacket and cell phone in her hands and was off!

Relay Run Time

As I took off I looked down at my Garmin and noticed the satellites hadn't connected. I figured whatever, they'll connect soon. Um, they never did. UGH!! I have a bad habit of running like a maniac in the first mile of a 5K at a 6:00-6:30 pace .. which I totally cant sustain. I know a  ~7:00 pace is a good goal for me and try to keep myself there. Without a watch I had no clue how fast i was running! I was passing people right and left but was afraid of a burnout. 

The course was an out and back and as I looked out on the course I saw a big hill beyond an inflatable CLIFF bar mountain arch. ARGH! Just like at the OC Marthon! Ugh! I hate hills!  I have been training on them and can deal with them ... but why in flat downtown LA would they pick a run course where you had to run up a big hill to turn around and run back down? So annoying. 

Running Down the Streets of LA

I charged up the hill with everything I had ... caught my breath on the flat, and flew down. Man, I love running downhill! A 5K is a surprisingly short course when you're used to a marathon. Before I knew it I was turning the corner to the finish line. I was still passing people all long the way and in between pulling my tiny tri top down every 20 seconds I pushed with what I had to the finish. 

And ... I ended up with a PR! I'm totally amazed considering my last two PRs were on flat courses and this had a big (but short) hill. Official finish time was 22:38 or a 7:18 pace. (Prior PR was 22:55)

LA Triathlon Finisher's Medal

Post Race

Immediately after the race I thought oh crap, I didn't create a meet-up plan with Giselle after the race! Should I stay here? Go to T2? Luckily as I was milling around thinking about this I bumped into her. Many pictures ensued and then we headed to the VIP party a block away from the finish line. (Another Kaiser perk for employees!!) We hung out and had some fruit, Giselle talked to some coworkers, several Kaiser photos were taken, and then it was time to head home. 

Kaiser Group Photo

 

Kaiser LA

Race Results

I had to rush back to SD for some plans I had made prior to the race so I didn't have time to look up our race results. I assumed we had done well but hadn't won, and actually forgot about it until later that night. When I finally looked up the results I was amazed. We did really well!

Smiling Finishers

Swim - Marc

500 meters - 14:17

Division: 3/44

Overall: 6/68

Bike - Giselle

14 Miles - 1:01:20

Division: 29/44

Overall: 50/68

Run - ME!

5K - 22:38

Division: 2/44

Overall:4/68

Finish Time - 1:41:55

Division: 11/44

Overall: 20/68

Seeing these results made me want to do the race again next year. I've planted the seed with Marc and Giselle and hope they are in for next year. 

 Team Gemischte Pot for the win!!!!

Me & My Twin

AFC 5K - A New PR

This past weekend I ran my 2nd 5K this year, and only my 3rd 5K in several years! After "moving up" from shorter races like 5Ks and 10Ks to half and full marathons, it became hard to justify paying for and fitting in short races. I run 5K (3.1 mile) distances only daily, don't try to run fast very often, and usually have longer runs scheduled on the weekends which conflict with these shorter races.

I started the year out wanting to complete the San Diego Triple Crown race series which consisted of the Carlsbad Half/Full Marathon, the La Jolla Half Marathon, and the AFC Half Marathon. After having a bad race in Carlsbad and procrastinating and missing the registration cutoff for La Jolla, I had little motivation to register for the AFC half marathon in time. I had run the race in 2005 and 2006 and really didn't like the event (early wake-up, bus to the start, big hill in the last 1/4 mile), but would totally do the race again. After missing the cutoff for registration (it was full) I was going to write off the race, but at the last minute signed up for the 5K. I've done very few 5Ks in the past few years, but figured what the heck, its in my backyard!

AFC Expo

The AFC race happens to be the biggest local event which occurs soon before the start of the Fall Girls on the Run season, which makes it a prime event for attracting new coaches (most of whom are runners themselves). GOTR was planning on having a booth at the race expo on Friday and Saturday, and I committed my Saturday to hustling at the booth. Hey, I do it for a living, why not for my favorite non-profit? :)

I had recruited a number of volunteers to help with the both on Friday and Saturday, and was planning on being at the booth for most of Saturday after completing my long run with David.Working the booth was a lot of fun. I work tradeshow booths for my day job and while I love my job, that in comparison is totally different experience. Working a race expo is a lot of fun for me because everyone attending has something in common with you and most people have some interest in what you are exhibiting. (Stark contrast to the medical tradeshows I exhibit at.)

I met a lot of fun runners who were interested in GOTR for their kids, for volunteer coach opportunities, or who were interested in buying a Glam Runner tutu to race in. I also met two other bloggers, one of whom I was twitter friends with. Its funny how small this digital world is! (Their blogs here and here.)

Race Day

On race day I woke up around 5am and as I lay in bed I scrolled through my facebook and twitter feed on my blackberry. I was horrified to see tweets and updates from HOURS prior from my friends running the half marathon. I was so SO glad that I was only running the 5K! I got up and made breakfast and around 6:15am David and I headed over to the start line. We found parking right away near the start (One of the things I rate races on) and walked over to the starting area. I was excited to see a few other Glam Runners in their tutus and wished I had worn a tutu as well. 

As we walked over I took out my inhaler to get a few quick puffs in and instantly freaked out when nothing came out. OMG it was empty! I hate the design of inhalers.. there is so little warning when they are about to run out! :( I have exercise induced asthma and always use my inhaler before I run. If I don't use it I dont' have a full on asthma attack (I haven't had one of those in six years), but I can feel my breathing becoming restricted which makes me panic which makes it even harder to breath. Sometimes if I jog around and warm-up my lungs I seem to be okay. I tried this out before the race and crossed my fingers that i would be okay.

Race Start

Before the race started I looked around to see if I could spot any of the other Team Sony women I knew would be racing. I didn't see them and thought maybe I'd see them along the course since there were a couple out and backs. Suddenly it was time for the race to start ... and we were off! I had positioned myself towards the front of the pack a few rows deep. I was pleased to see that as we started running that I had picked a good location for myself since no one was passing me and I wasn't passing anyone either. 

My goal was to stick close to a 7:00pace throughout the whole race. My goal finish time was 22 minutes, which comes out to a 7:05 pace. I kept and eye on my Garmin to make sure I didn't get going too quickly, and whenever I saw 6:30 I would ease up a bit. The first mile whizzed by and soon I approached the first out and back. 

I was pretty close to the front of the pack of runners and started counting women that I saw coming towards me to see how many were in front of me. I counted 12 before I made the first turn and thought OMG, I'm the 13th woman! I head that place for another mile but towards the end one woman slipped by me. Darn! Oh well, that meant that I was probably still at least 10th in my age group. Of the 13 women in front of me some had to be older or younger. 

The race went by so quickly and before I knew it I was approaching the finish line. I looked down at my watch as I came down the final stretch and saw that my watch had stopped. ACK!! Crap, I had set my virtual trainer to 3.1 miles and 22 minutes. I had run a bit further than 3.1 miles by then and my watch had stopped short of the finish line. I started my watch again and glanced at the clock right as I crossed. My watch said 22:37 and the clock said 22:55 so I figured I was somewhere in between the two. 

Team Sony Walkman

After the race David and I walked around in the finish area to look at the different booths and I bumped into two of my fellow teammates from Team Sony. They were both really friendly and we chatted for a while about this race, other races, being on Team Sony, etc. One of the ladies is doing the She Rox Triathlon which I'm doing in October and the other is doing the Santa Barbara Marathon (I'm doing the half) in November.

After the race David and I headed off for breakfast (number two for me - oink), ran some errands, and then at lunch time we met up with Tara and Ben (who had run the half marathon) at the Blind Lady Ale House.  

I was looking forward to that afternoon when the official race results would be posted and when they finally came online I was excited beyond belief when I saw how well I had placed. This was my best ranking road race ever!! EVER!

Official Finish Time:   22:55

Age Group Ranking:   4/130

Gender Ranking:   15/746

Overall Ranking:   80/1209

Maybe I should run shorter races more often! I usually finish in the top 10-20% in half and full marathons, to finish in the top 2-6% was a huge ego boost! Wow!

Next Up

My main focus over the next two months now is to train for the Marine Corps Marathon October 30th, but in between I have a few shorter races.

Sept 10th - Heartbreak Ride Half Marathon

Sept 25th - Los Angeles Triathlon (Doing the relay with my cousin & her husband)

Oct 16th - She Rox Triathlon

Oct 30th - Marine Corps Marathon

Nov 12th - Santa Barbara Half Marathon

Its been a busy race year! Fifteen races down, five more to go!