Saturday August 29

Got up early & had my usual 1 C. granola with soy milk & headed out. It was still dark (6:15 am). I met Rachel and Sherry at the Mopac Trail for the big 18 miles. We kept up a good pace & we went all the way to Eagle Nebraska before turning around. It seemed like it went on FOREVER! But here's the good part - I DID IT!! I finished in 4 hours 50 minutes (16.1 min/mile) with only 1 quick bathroom stop. Let's see - I blew out the toes of one of my socks,

I got WORSE black toes (toe nails),

but it was a huge mental landmark to know that I can do that distance! I feel very triumphant!

I came home & Leo and Sara were running the garage sale & Leo greeted me with his usual big hug. He had bought me a bag of ice so I slammed down some food & got into the bath tub & filled it with cold water & ice & stayed there for about 30 minutes this time - I was hurting! My quads hurt so bad...the last time they were that sore (well, not as sore as today!) was when I did the alligator at Sandy's Escape (a dance place) back in the 60's...some 40 plus years ago!

Sometime during the middle of the night I woke up with major thigh muscle cramps...not fun.

August 28

Had a garage sale today with all proceeds going to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society - thanks to many donations from friends Deb, Joan, Judy, & Rachel. There were quite a few people at the sale & the weather was decent so that was good. I assembled all my things for the big walk/run tomorrow - electrolyte water, snot gel diluted with water in a flask, Cliff bars, toilet paper, kleenex, pace watch & Garmin watch, visor hat.

August 27

I did an early 4 miles today in 60 minutes ( a flat 15 min/mile). I'm still stewing about the 18 miles on Saturday. I just wish it was over with!

August 26

Well, as they say - when it rains, it pours- & that about says it all. Leo had chemo today - his last round of a series of 6. So I decided to do my 3 miles early this morning & be done with it. So I took off & it was misting a bit. I started to see little flashes of lightning & rolling thunder in the distance & then it quickly started to POUR & the lightning was closer. This was just about at the 1 mile mark & close to a street that intersected with the trail so I called Leo to ask him to come pick me up & take me to my car. So as I was under a tree waiting for him & wondering what was taking so long, I get a phone call from Sara who is crying & telling me that Leo crashed into her car. Of course, my main concern was one of if they were both OK. When I got that out of her, then I asked for details. It appears that Leo had about 20 minutes prior to my call taken his mega dose of prednisone (100 mg) in preparation for his chemo this morning. So he was just experiencing the effects of true 'roid rage. He was all concerned about me in the rain & lightning & so he took off without a jacket, but took a huge umbrella (he can't get his picc line wet). He had a heck of a time getting into his truck trying to stay dry & folding up the gigantic umbrella that he grabbed. His truck was parked in front of Sara's brand new car that she had recently bought. It was pouring rain & Leo wasn't dealing with a clear mind & so he backed up, crashing into Sara's car. So Sara was upset not only about that, but about the fact that this would upset Leo which wasn't good when he was going in for his chemo in about 1 1/2 hrs. So I'm trying to calm Sara down & then when Leo picks me up, I'm trying to calm him down. When we got home I told him that everyone was fine & nothing else mattered & then told him to sit down & lower his blood pressure by taking some deep breaths & meditating so that his blood pressure wouldn't prevent him from getting his chemo treatment. So he did & by the time we got to the oncologist's an hour later, his blood pressure was 117 over 70 & so he was good to go with his treatment. Amazingly, he got along fine & even did some work on his laptop during his treatment in the afternoon.
Sara came over for lunch which was really nice of her as always to do that & it helped pass the time a bit

August 25

Got up early & had to wait for daylight - the days are getting shorter now. Did 7 miles in 109 minutes ( 15.6 min/mile) & then got ready & went to work. I'm so short of time getting to work that I have to head out the door with wet hair (from my quick shower) & then I take my curling iron to curl my hair at work! Just not enough hours in the day! This upcoming Saturday is a big walk - 18 miles - yikes! I'm struggling with this one mentally (& probably psysically!) I think because I missed the 16 mile one 2 weeks ago when Sara was in surgery. For some reason this 18 miler has me doubting myself, but I have to suck it up & just get through it.

August 23

Did my usual 3 mile Sunday morning walk/run & it always feels good to loosen up after Saturday's longer ones. Leo came along to do a walk, too & he went 2 1/4 miles - pretty sporty! Came home & we mowed the grass.

Saturday August 22

Got up early for the Saturday team run. It's back to the Mopac trail - yay! - flat! I tried my new pace today - walk 2 minutes/run 30 seconds - and it's much better. Four minutes was too long to walk & 45 seconds was just a bit too long to run - so this new pace suits me fine & I have plenty of time to recover with the 2 minutes walk. The walk/run today was very scenic - we went out so far we saw cows in the fields!

Here's a typical scene from the trail:

And here's the half-way point...the 6 mile post:

I did 12 miles in 189 minutes (15.7 min/mile). Total miles this week = 30. After my usual ice bath & breakfast, I taught a cooking class for an hour or so. No rest for the weary!

August 20

I got up early and did 5 miles in 77 minutes (15.4 min/ mile). In the afternoon I went to Deb for a reflexology session...ahhhh...so wonderful!! And she again donated the money from that to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Deb, thanks so much for your amazing generosity! This evening Sara and I dropped off our recommitt forms to the LLS (Leukemia/Lymphoma Society) that says we are in this til the end...and if we don't make our goal of $6,100, we have to pay for it ourselves...yikes! So tell all your friends to please help us out and chip in $5 or $10 or whatever. It's getting close to crunch time! When we dropped off our forms, Rachel was also there and had a recliner in her car that she gave us for our garage sale. It is a nice comfy one that I'm sure some college student would love to buy! That was really nice of Rachel to donate that...along with a Christmas tree & microwave, etc!!

August 19

Went with Leo to have his blood work done. All looked good...again...good news! He's ready for his last round of chemo next week. I came back and did 4 miles in 61 min (15.3 min/mile)

August 18

Got up early (6:30) and did 6 miles using my Garmin! It was awesome! I did the 6 miles in 92 minutes (15.3 min/mile). I went to work & in the afternoon I met with the surgeon who (of course) thinks I should have my gall bladder removed - but there's no rush. I said I'll think about it.

August 17...my birthday!

My birthday...the big 6-0 !! I woke up to a wonderful 2 page typed letter from Leo (that he wrote) that was the nicest thing I've ever read - I'll keep it forever. I talked to all my children today & so that made it a good day, too. And I got a great birthday present from all - a Garmin GPS watch.

It's a GPS system & it tells you the distance you've gone, your pace, time elapsed & then you download this data onto your computer & it stores that info. It does all sorts of other things, too (and I don't have a clue as to what they are!) & it has a foot computer chip to put on your shoe to wear when you're inside walking/running...at the YMCA on a track (so you don't have to count the 352 laps!) or if you're walking inside a mall. It's perfect for me since it gives the EXACT distance walked/run. I charged it tonight so it will be ready to go on my walk/run tomorrow morning (if I can figure out how to turn it on & get it started! ) Also today we had a webcam with Andy, Darcy, & Delia & Delia (finally!) sang happy birthday to me and then Leo got a candle & lit it & told Delia (who's 1,200 miles away!) to help me blow the candle out. She came right up close to the screen & blew & of course, I blew it out, too! She thought that was so great that she wanted to do it again...and so we did!

August 16

Had a good walk this morning...3 miles in 44 minutes (14.7 min/mile). Sara did pretty good last night - just some problems with pain in her upper shoulder area...from the surgery...or from them pumping air in her abdominal cavity to do the surgery. Since I was not able to fly to Denver...and Leo certainly could not get on a cooty plane with his immune system compromised...so Matt volunteered to fly out to Denver to be with Sara after Laura was to leave this afternoon. That was so so nice of Matt to do that...we are so grateful to you, Matt, for stepping up to the plate and doing this. It made it so much easier to accept the fact that I couldn't go out there (which was upsetting)...but knowing that Matt would be there eased my stress level...and Leo's too. So today there was the "changing of the guards" as Matt arrived this morning in Denver and Laura flew home in the afternoon. You both are wonderful! Sara got discharged from the hospital in the afternoon & Matt helped get her to a motel suite with a kitchen so they can fix food since Sara's on a post-op diet that would be impossible to do eating out.

Saturday, August 15

Sara did OK through the night. Laura stayed in the room with her to help out if needed & to be there when the doctor came through this morning. Laura we love you! I woke up early for my team run (5:30 AM) but it was lightning & thundering. I called Coach Rachel & because of the lightning we called off the run today. Instead, I went to the YMCA to use a treadmill. I called the downtown Y & they have a track, but when I asked what the distance is of the track, she said 22 laps = 1 mile. And I needed to do 16 miles today. Holy crap! That would be 352 laps!!! Ich don't think so! I asked if they had counters & they don't. I figured I would have gotten dizzy doing that many circles so I decided to go on the treadmill - which I had never done much of before. I had to get this guy to show me how to turn the thing on, etc. and I was all set & then looked up & the TV set in front of me - that the guy said you can't change the channel - was on Fox news (noise) - nooooooooooo! So I had to move down the row to another treadmill and set that one up all over again...one with something other than Fox.
So I started the treadmill, cranked the elevation to 1.5 & began. It was a fiasco. When my watch went off (time for my 45 second run) I'd have to push a button about 20 times to get it up to speed & then push it back to get to the walking speed. And I had to stare at a whole row of TVs - and I hate even just ONE TV! And..I couldn't hear my alarm go off because of the whir of the machines, AND I got dizzy when I dropped a sweat towel & bent over to pick it up, AND I was hot & sweating up a storm - I missed the outdoors and the fresh air, AND everybody stunk in there - because it was hot & stuffy with stale air. So I lasted all of 3 miles and couldn't stand it any more...I was out of there. It had cleared up a bit so I decided to do the other 13 miles outside so I took off. Now kids, some things don't go together - like drinking & driving & like walking/running - trying to get a decent time & texting on a cell phone...just doesn't work. Sara was texting me & I was trying to read the miniature text without my reading glasses on & then responding. My pace was off, I was tired, I felt like hell - so after 5 miles outdoors, I wimped out & called it a day. My gut/gallbladder was acting up a bit & well, I didn't really want to poke the bear. So my cumulative & horrible time for 8 miles was 136 minutes (17 min/mile) - nasty! But that's the way it goes. I had other things on my mind that day anyway.
Went home (no need for my Saturday ice bath) & waited for info from Sara & Laura. Sara's pancreas count (lipase) went down significantly & they got her into an OR around 1:00 & did the surgery. They were able to remove her gallbladder laproscopically & all went well, thankfully. The doctor estimated it would take 1 1/2 hrs & was done in under an hour. Laura did a superb job of keeping us updated on things. It turns out Sara had 2 golf ball sized stones, 4 ping pong ball sized ones, and then another 13 or 14 smaller ones - so it's good she got that taken care of.

August 14

Sara had a bad gall bladder attack during the night last night (in Denver) & went to the ER. She has some very large gall stones (the size of golf balls) & some enzymes are very elevated with her pancreas. They think she will definitely need surgery. I really wish I could fly out there to be with her, but I need to find out my situation first.
I had to fast from midnight last night - no food and no drink. I went in early to the hospital this morning to have the ultrasound - the technician took lots of pictures & I had to hold my breath a lot - good thing I've been training so I was in good shape to do that. I watched the screen, but didn't know what I was seeing. It looked like a few gallstones but I have to wait for the results.
Afterwards the technician told me I wouldn't get the results til next Tuesday so I called my doctor's office & told them I needed to know today whether I could travel to Denver to be with Sara for her surgery. The doctor called back & said I should not leave town because it looks like I have some stones & "sludge" in my gallbladder & will probably need surgery myself. Boy, this family is ringing the bells on medical bills!
Sara didn't get into a hospital room (none were available) until after noon (over 12 hours!) & waited to see the floor doctor til early evening. They said she would need her gallbladder out but had to wait for her pancreas to settle down. So they have her on IV & pain meds & oxygen - no food & no water. She's been throwing up from the pain meds. Laura has been so great and helpful & her medical knowledge is amazing! Sara is very lucky to have a friend like her & to have her there to help her through this. Sara sounded OK on the phone, but just in a lot of pain - even with the pain meds.

August 13

Got up & did 4 miles in 61 minutes (15.3 min/mile). I went to the doctor today and had bloodwork done. He's saying it looks like my gall bladder or pancreatitus. He's sending me on Friday to get an ultrasound on everything in my abdomen

August 12

Leo had blood work done this morning & it all looks very good - good news again! I didn't do my walk today until late in the afternoon & it was hot out - about 95° so I was really sweating. I did 3 miles in 48 min (16 min/mile). This evening I checked my email & noticed that an announcement came from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team in Training in Omaha & I have been named "athlete of the week"!! The article said I have been "so diligent" with my group training attendance. Holy crap! I've never been anything of the week...in fact, I've never even been an athlete! I was flabbergasted! I better not gloat over this, though...or else my shoes might fall apart or whatever. I'm reminded of when I won 1st place in a local newspaper recipe contest. I thought that this was just the cat's meow & so I laid down on the living room floor with the newspaper open, reading all about my win - with my picture in the paper, too!...and while I was gloating over this, I burnt my own dinner on the stove (I had forgotten to stir it)!! Leo was reading the paper with me and we laughed so hard over that when it happened...we could hardly catch our breath!!

August 11

Got up early & did 6 miles in 94 min (15.7 min/mile) then went to work. This afternoon Leo drove up to Omaha with me to take Sara to the airport - she's going to Denver. I hope she gets along OK with her gallbladder problems she's been having. On the drive back to Lincoln, I had some gallbladder issues. I need to get this checked out I guess.

August 9

I did an early 3 mile today and it felt really good (other than my toes!). I did it in 45 min (15 min/mile)

Saturday August 8

Yesterday was my day off of training so I went to the Running Co. and bought a little gel container/dispenser. It's to hold several packets of the snot gel...that way I don't have to mess around with tearing the top of the packet off and squeezing and trying to get it all in my mouth (you sort of have to treat it like eating artichokes...using your teeth to squeeze it into your mouth). So this little bottle sits in a holster-like thing that clips to my water belt. It will be easier to show you a picture:

It holds 4 packs of snot gel... but here's what I did today: I put 3 packs in and then added some water to dilute it down...and it worked fantastic! I don't even need to call it snot gel now! It's actually tolerable! Understand, it's no treat, but it's tolerable...a huge improvement!
So I left for our team run this morning at about 6:00 AM and it was already hot and humid...ugh! We started about 6:30 and it was fairly miserable the whole time. At about the 4 mile point I started internally whining...it was going to be a very long 12 miles I could tell! I also had gotten some new insoles for my shoes yesterday and my feet started sliding and hurting around the 5 or 6 mile point...again, not so good. I didn't think I needed to break in insoles but apparantly I should have. It was so hot today...I don't know what it got up to...maybe 95. Rachel was so nice to have 2 buckets of ice water and sponges at 2 different points so I stopped twice to sponge myself with the cold water. The second time I just stuck the cold, wet sponge down my back and wedged it into my sports bra and just ran with it.
I tried to keep up a good pace but I could tell I wasn't going as fast as usual, but the good part is that I finished....or came close. I borrowed Rachel's GPS watch and when we got back to the cars it was only 11.4 miles, but Rachel and I agreed that that was enough...with the heat and all. I did the 11.4 in 3 hrs. and 18 minutes...well actually it was 4 minutes more...but those minutes were for sponging...and so I didn't count them. So it came out to an average of 16.8 min/mile...not great, but I was just thankful that it was over! My feet were killing me...and my two big toes were really sore...they were jamming against the toes of my shoes the whole time...ouch! I came home and Leo had bought me a bag of ice and this time I actually welcomed the ice bath!! I had my recovery drink on the way home again (that works so good) and also a protein drink. I was thinking it would be nice to take a nap today (Rachel and Laura, another person who is training said they take naps after early morning runs) but the day managed to slip by without me taking one (something is wrong with this picture...when I think of how much older I am than them!!)

August 6

I felt about the same today and so just gutted it out for my walk/run. I did a 5 miler in 77 minutes (15.4 min/mile). It didn't feel great, but it didn't feel awful either...so I guess that's good.
Leo had a crazy busy day at work...non-stop phone calls and deals...good thing he was hopped up on the roids! He is amazing to be doing that the day after a chemo treatment! And he's expecting tomorrow to be just as wild at work!

August 5

Today Leo had his 5th round of chemo. We met with the doctor beforehand and he gave us the results of the CT scan on Monday. The doctor said it was good news...that the tumor had shrunk by 70% or so and the other lymph nodes in his neck and groin looked fine. He said that some of the remaining tumor could be just structural..non-cancerous material that is just there to support the tumor. We'll have to wait to know about that until Leo has another PET scan which shows activity in the tumor. That was all very good news! So for now, he completes round 5 and in 3 weeks has his final round 6 of chemo. Then he rests for 4 weeks and then has the PET scan and the results of that determine what happens next.
So Leo got along fine with his chemo today. His blood work was good again. The chemo took about 6 hours plus the doctor's visit. Leo dozed for a bit in the morning after receiving the benedryl, but after lunch he wanted his laptop...so I got it out of the car for him and he worked on some business stuff until the last bag of chemicals had dripped into him.
I hadn't felt great for the last few days...stomach problems...so I didn't do the usual walk/runs yesterday or today. Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel well enough to get back on schedule.
Now for thankyou news: Big thanks to Michelle W. for her donation! That was very nice of you, Michelle, and good to hear from you! We look forward to further comments from you on the blogs!
And also big thanks to Joan who donated tons of items for another upcoming garage sale with proceeds going to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Joan, thanks for your great generosity!!
Also, for those of you who are just starting to read this blog and Sara's..be sure to go back to the beginning and then read to the present...there's a lot of posts to read before this page.. it will give you a better idea of what's going on. Just scroll to the bottom of the page to "old posts" and click on that, then continue clicking on that on each page until you reach the beginning.

August 2

Sunday, and I slept in embarrassingly late...so missed my morning walk/run. It was warm today so I did my walk/run after dinner and a bit later than usual. I didn't get back until it was almost dark. Along the trail the crickets had started to chirp, the fireflies were floating around the path all lit up, and the cicadas were putting in their 2 cents worth, adding to the cacophony. Trying to hurry it up, I did the 3 miles in 45 minutes (15 min/mile).

August 1 - Saturday - 14 miles!!

The mist hung heavy to the ground this morning as I headed out for my team walk/run. It was as if the clouds dropped from the sky for the night & settled in low to the open fields, waiting for the sun to come out to make their exit. I got up at 5:30, had a small bowl of my usual organic granola with soy milk, & out the door by 6:15. I met Coach Rachel at 6:30 at Pioneers Park and miraculously did a 14 mile walk/run. The walk/run felt ok…about mile 8 I started to feel it, but pushed on. The hills weren’t so bad the first time around, but the second lap and I was really feeling those hills (yes, there are hills in Nebraska!). Of course at every hill, my watch would beep and it was time to run…right when the hill was the steepest! Rachel walked/ran with me most of the time so that was good to help keep me on a good pace. I completed the 14 miles in 3 hrs and 36 minutes (15.4 min/mile) so that is quite an improvement on previous long distance Saturday team runs. Here’s what my times were (in minutes per mile) starting 6 weeks ago. Total miles walked are in parenthesis.
6/20: (7 miles) – 16.6 min/mile
6/27: (8 miles) – 16.5 min/mile
7/4: (10 miles) – 16.2 min/mile
7/11: (10 miles) – 16.7 min/mile
7/18: (12 miles) – 16.8 min/mile
7/25: (6 miles) – 17.5 min/mile (this was my messed up day, disregard it!)
8/1: (14 miles) – 15.4 min/mile
Back to today – so after I completed the 14 miles, I did the usual stretching before getting into my car and heading home. I felt pretty good, but after 15 minutes of sitting in the car to drive home, when I opened the car door in our driveway and took that first step to the house…ouch! I hobbled to the front door! Leo was there to give me a big hug. He had done his usual Saturday routine…went to the recycling place and deposited the recycling items and then stopped off and bought me a bag of ice – yay!
Let me describe that wonderful ice bath I take after long runs: Let see…I put a towel in the bottom of the tub, put on a sweatshirt, sit in the tub, plug the drain, turn on the COLD water, and wait for the tub to fill. When that cold water starts to reach the calves of my legs, it takes my breath away for an instant, and then I start swearing like a sailor! Luckily I have the upstairs to myself so no one hears me (you don’t hear me downstairs, Leo, do you??). So I sit with my legs extended waiting for the water to get about waist deep and then comes the pièce de résistance to this masterful presentation: I dump a large bag of ice cubes in. Again, more swearing. Damn! That’s just plain cold! I start timing it from there…10 more minutes…then mercifully pull the plug and wait for the water to drain out before getting out of the tub. Then in my hypothermia state I go through a warm shower and by the time the sliding shower doors slide open to release me, I feel human again.
My recovery meal after my run was tofu and quickly stir fried veggies (sweet potatoes, cauliflower, green pepper, raw spinach, fresh ginger…yes, I know I’m weird…but it was very colorful!) and also some fresh fruit: pineapple, blueberries, tangelo.
Sara got back a bit later and we heard about her adventures with her 54 mile ride to the Czech festival today. Be sure to check out her blog, too! http://blog.cyclingsawatzki.com/
I relaxed for a while and then Leo & I went up to Omaha to a wedding reception party for (good friend from college) Jayne and husband. It was very nice and relaxing in her backyard and we stayed til about 10:00 and then had an hour drive back to Lincoln.
On the drive back, I was noticing some mileage signs along the interstate and at one point we were way out in the country and the sign said 18 miles to 27th street exit…which was only 4 miles more than I did today. We drove and drove until finally reaching 27th and I was amazed how far that was (linear lines seem much longer than loups!)! Then we looked at the odometer at the 27th street exit (we were still on I-80) and going past that exit, taking the downtown exit, going through downtown Lincoln all the way south to hwy 2 and then to Old Cheney and east to our house…and the total miles were only 11…holy cripes! I couldn’t believe it! That 14 miles was a lot longer distance than I thought. Well, that made me extra tired!
Oh…miles walked/ran this week: 29
Total miles (from beginning of training): 205 !! -woo hoo!!