I’m now within striking distance of my celebration of five years NED (No Evidence of Disease), which is a glorious thing. Even as I revel in my wonderful outcome, there’s folks around me that aren’t so fortunate.
I belong to a running group called the Pathetic Runners. It’s a fun crowd of folks from all over the country, always talking about running woes and successes. I get a lot of inspiration from ’em. The guy that spun it up, David Johndrow, is a real inspiration, and has written a book about his journey called ICU to Marathon: Diaries of a Nearly Dead Man. It’s a funny and poignant read.
David’s fought cancer before, and is once again fighting, so he spun up this race as a fundraiser for several cancer charities. Given my journey, I couldn’t help but support David in his.
So Thursday, I put on my running shoes, and headed out.
This was my 56th event this year, and was the first one since spring that felt terrific. The weather was amazing, sitting in the mid-60s finally, and with another week-an-a-half off the trails, my legs felt really fresh. I took my regular ol’ path on the sidewalks of the neighborhood, and didn’t really push too hard.
You might say I walked. You might be right. 🙂
I’d been fighting a cold since we got back from the cruise, and had a slight injury on top of my right foot — the likely cause being the big ol’ feet of a certain “little” hundred pound dainty flower of a dog named Roxy. I didn’t wanna do anything to jeopardize my races in Tulsa in a couple of weeks, so I just ambled along at my pace, enjoying the great weather, the color of the leaves and trees, and thinking about how fortunate I am that my cancer diagnosis and treatment had such a happy ending.
I really am blessed to have had the support of family and friends as I fought my fight. And sure, my fight was nowhere near as tough as some that other folks have to endure — and I totally get that. I was lucky, and each day, each step, is a blessing and a gift. I never loose sight of that.
This event benefitted ZERO Cancer, Hope for Young Adults with Cancer, PanCan, and the Melanoma Foundation of New England.
Race Course
