I Am Climbing Up This Hill

I am climbing up this hill. And I don't know when I will reach the top.
But it's no good standing still, and I will get there if I just don't stop.

That's a song lyric I started writing on my ride today as I was at around mile 45 of a 60 mile day. I needed a lot of reminders right about then. Maybe if I hadn't done 50 miles the day before, and maybe if it wasn't 92 degrees with a heat index of 103, the hills would not have seemed quite so challenging. There were other physical challenges as well, but I did vow not to complain, so I won't venture into a laundry list of what they were, but just as I would be feeling pretty low, a support car would drive past with yells of "You're doing great! Keep it up! Pedal power!" And then I would remember all the people who need the help of the organizations we were funding and the reason I was riding.

I am not as fast as Lanny, but he waited for me so that we could ride the last two miles in together. As we crossed the finish line there was a huge crowd of cheering volunteers who had all worked hard for two days to keep the riders fed, hydrated and safe. I remembered at that moment that just three years ago at this time, I was starting chemotherapy with no real idea of what was ahead of me. Tears began streaming down my face when I recalled all that we had been through together three years ago, and all that we had been through over those two days, and all the many people who have supported us along the way. Even though we are individual riders who all have our challenges and we have to get to the finish line under our own power, none of us are alone on this ride, and there is support at every turn if you just take advantage of it.

That's why I did this ride. Ride on my friends, ride on!

I am SO not ready. But that's OK.

This weekend is the Hartford Breast Cancer ride to raise money to help breast cancer patients and to fund further research for a cure. Saturday, we'll be riding about 52 miles, and Sunday about 60 miles. I have not biked more than 50 miles in a single day since I was in my 20s. And I have not biked as much this summer (not anywhere near as much) as I should have to prepare for this. In fact, my longest ride all summer was 35 miles.

I have a feeling that I will be OK on Saturday, but that bicycle seat will feel pretty darned hard on Sunday morning! But you know what? This should be a breeze compared to chemotherapy and surgeries. There are women who will be doing this ride who are in the midst of treatment right now. If they can do it, I sure as heck am not going to complain. And if I do, you have permission to chide me mercilessly.

I'm within $100.00 of my fund-raising goal, and our team is within about $300.00 of our team goal! Thanks to everyone who has donated so far! Your support is very much appreciated. I will try to remember your words of encouragement when I'm grinding gears up a long hill into the wind!

Go Team Lucky Life!

The Training Begins

OK! I am making a resolution tonight, that beginning tomorrow morning I will begin training for my 150 mile fundraising bike ride this August! I figure I need to keep myself honest by actually reporting on my progress via this blog. If I just resolve to do it in my head, it will never happen. I need the pressure of actually telling people that I'm going to do it!

I rode 10 miles last weekend, but I need to start doing that on a pretty regular basis and getting some 20+ mile rides in soon or I'll have one tired little butt come August.

I know I'm just not disciplined enough and don't actually care enough to actually get up and ride in the morning (plus it is still kind of cold), but I figure I can get up 15 minutes early to do some squats every morning to get those quads in better shape.

So, tomorrow, I will resolve to get up just a bit early and do 100 squats and 20 pushups. It's not much, but hey, we have to start somewhere, right? Honestly, the getting up 15 minutes early part will be the biggest challenge for me. I do love my sleep.

Getting back in the Groove

My new exercise attitude is still holding steady. Thanks very much to those of you who offered encouragement and advice. Music was an especially good piece of advice (thanks Leslie!), and I don't know why I ever stopped using my ipod when I exercised. But once I incorporated it back into the picture, it really helped a lot!

So far, my tally for exercise this week is:

Tuesday: 60 minute yoga class
Wednesday: 20 minutes on the rebounder and 10 minutes of yoga
Thursday: 40 minute walk
Friday: 30 minute bike ride and a 25 minute walk
Saturday: 75 minute yoga class
Sunday: Mowed the lawn (does that count?) and 30 minutes on the rebounder.

The rebounder, for those who don't know what the heck I'm talking about, is a little mini-trampoline. It's actually really fun to use (Jasper likes it too) and is much easier on the joints than running or jogging. I've read that it is also one of the very best exercises you can do for your immune system because it really gets your lymphatic system going. Ready for a quick biology lesson? This was all news to me, so I'm betting it might be newsworthy to some of you as well.

The lymphatic system is a little bit like your circulatory system. But unlike the circulatory system, the lymphatic system is not closed and has no central pump (a heart) to keep things moving. It only moves because of exercise or muscle contraction. Within the lymph system are lymphocytes like white blood cells (which if you remember anything at all from biology are great little disease fighters). They consume metabolic waste, bacteria, and dead cells. One type of lymphocyte known as T-cells enters cancer cells and destroys them. Yes. Destroys them. Moderate exercise not only helps to increase the number of lymphocytes in your body, it keeps the lymph system moving and unplugged, so those little buggers can get busy and do their thing. And the lymph fluid also helps bring nutrients to your cells while taking away their waste. It's like a combined sanitation system/grocery delivery system for your cells. But you have to move your body to make it work.

I don't know about you, but I sure didn't remember anything about the lymph system from high school biology. It's not like you get a primer on body systems from the doctor when you get cancer either. It seems like this would be a useful thing to tell people, don't you think?

Kicking it back into gear

I haven't posted a blog entry for awhile because, well, frankly I sort of lost steam after my mother-in-law passed away in June. I originally started this blog as a means of, hopefully, providing her with some inspiration and ideas for staying healthy through cancer treatment, but she got sick so quickly that, I really don't think she even saw more than one or two of the posts, and I really didn't have much heart to keep writing.

I also lost some steam in other ways. Two years ago I was walking every day despite being robbed of energy from chemo, and I was downright enthusiastic for awhile about going to yoga three times a week as soon as I was healed from surgery. But it's funny how you can let those things slip away. This summer, I've been lucky to make it to yoga once a week. And as for walking? Well, lets just say that the dog gets ecstatic if I bring out the leash. Why do I let exercise fall by the wayside when things get busy? Why don't I make the time for it? I have seen and felt what a great cost cancer has. I know from all the research that I've done that exercise is one of the key links in keeping my own cancer from returning. I know I feel great when I do exercise, and when I don't get frequent exercise, all the little back pains I've experienced over the years start coming back!

There really is no excuse for it other than pure laziness. So, earlier today, I decided that I needed to be excited about exercise again. Maybe by putting my goal in writing for all the world to see will be the motivation I need to keep myself focused and kick myself back into gear. They say it takes about 3 days for something to become a habit. So lets see if I can make this a daily habit again. I'll let you know in 3 days!

Vegan Ice Cream!

I used to love ice cream. But I have to really watch out for added hormones in my diet. And cow's milk definitely has hormones. But I won't miss it at all thanks to a fabulous discovery that I have recently made. Coconut Milk ice cream from Purely Decadent. And this stuff lives up to that name. Yum. Yum. Triple Yum. And it isn't even made with sugar! It uses agave syrup for sweetener, so it's low glycemic. And most are gluten free too(probably not the cookie dough version, though). The truly important thing, however, is that it is rich, smooth, creamy, and ultra tasty and just as good, and, I think, even better than regular ice cream.

Of course, I will allow for the possibility that not having eaten hardly any regular ice cream for two years may not qualify me to make a comparison, but I can for certain assure you that it is a thousand times better than soy or rice ice cream.

Everything's Relative

Sunday I went for a bike ride. A really, really long one (for me anyway). About 26 miles or so, according to Lanny. I haven't done 26 miles on a bike for at least 5 years. Maybe more. I probably haven't done that much riding since before Jasper was born, come to think of it. Of course, getting home was all uphill, and I lagged way behind Lanny. My poor little butt hurt a heck of a lot by the end of the ride, and I was really wishing I had worn the biking shorts with the cushy inserts. I was pretty creaky and feeling a little rough around the edges and out of shape.

Today, however, I went to yoga. I go to yoga two or three times a week, and I've been doing that for a couple of years now. It's a tough class that, four years ago when I first started taking classes from this instructor, I would almost black out from lack of oxygen. Now I think it is pretty easy.

Just goes to show that everything is relative. Some things you are good at, other things maybe not so good. Don't expect to be great at everything. You just keep trying and eventually you reach the top of the hill.