Well, I made it through the 5K and 1/2 marathon last weekend in Las Vegas.
It was a great weekend. Two of my cousins came in from San Francisco came in to hang out with us. One of wife's cousins came in to run the 1/2 Marathon. And I surprised my wife by flying my niece in to hang out with us. Everyone had a great time. Even just missing a parlay, or having Penn & Teller cancel about two hours before their show (had 4th row seats as late birthday present) did not take away from the fun.
I stacked my chemotherapy sessions to a two week interval this time - if it was on the standard schedule I would have been flying out the day after I disconnected which would really have been tough. Probably impossible due to how I usually feel. So I think it affected me a bit.
The 5K was a rather plain out and back course off of the festival grounds. It was also really crowded with many people walking, blocking the path. It was okay and I would do it again because you need to do this race to get the Remix medal. It is all about the bling. Otherwise, I would probably just do the 1/2.
About three hours before the 1/2 marathon I had what I call my chemo blowback hit. Was not feeling well before, then it came on full out. I took some medicine and then slept for a couple of hours. When I woke up, was not sure if I was going to go. But I felt kind of okay, and my usual stubborn kicked in. Figured even if I had to walk, I would make the cut-off. My first four miles went well for me - each mile I was cutting my time. But then things went awry. Walked a mile and was able to do another mile in my target range. Thought I could hit my time goal still, but never pulled it together. I did make the cut-off with room to spare, though I missed my goal time. But, as usual, I was smiling at the end.
It has been tougher the last few months. The chemotherapy build-up makes me more tired and my muscles are usually sore for prolonged periods of time - my legs feel like they have been on long runs without doing anything - I took it easy to rest after NC and it still felt like I was working out :) The two week chemo cycle probably exacerbated it. As I sat on the couch today, there was about 1/2 hour of me thinking I should blow off next month's sprint triathlon and perhaps I may not be able to do this anymore.
But then I think of how much fun I have each time I make the starting line and that my training is keeping me around until they come up with a cure.
So in my normal disregard of reality, I signed up for next year's DelMosports:Triathlon and Endurance Sports Community IRONMAN Atlantic City 70.3 as a relay. My wife's cousin is a good runner, does not care for triathlons, but thought it would be fun to do an Ironman relay. And I will be signing up for North Carolina 70.3 when it opens up. I am going to beat the cut-off there to make up for this year. Will be over 50 chemo sessions by then I think. Will make hitting the cut-off even better. And I have the pre-sale prices for Las Vegas next November, so will be going there again ;)
#TRI4aCure #EmbraceTheSlow
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