I wanted to start this post here, with the most important part! ITS NOT CANCER! Yay
Thank you to those of you who reached out and shared your experiences. I appreciate it, it’s always nice to have someone to talk to about these things. In writing this, if you are someone going through breast surgery or biopsies, I hope I can be that person for you. My contact can be found on this blog site.
Healing from excision biopsy still hasn’t been smooth, but I am thankful that once I heal, I can put this chapter behind me.
I had to drop out of Mount Mitchell Heartbreaker 50 in March as I have NOT run more than 10 miles in many months, but I have put off dropping off of the Hardrock 100 waitlist. I know the race is not until July, but living at sea level and not having access to actual mountains, the only way I can complete Hardrock is if I have lots of consistent months of training, and I do not have that currently. This one is hard, I am 6th on the waitlist, which puts me in the…”probably will get in, but not until a few weeks before the race” category, I don’t have the emotional bandwidth to train in this grey zone right now. Stress from worrying about health issues for a few months can really wear you out!
Sometimes it’s odd to step back and think about how fleeting things like life and fitness are. Last year I finished Hardrock 100, this year, I am not in shape to finish 20 miles on the road at the moment. I always try to stop and appreciate where I am in moments of hard work, I am now on the other side of that. I am on the side where I look back and thank my body and my hard work for allowing me to cover so many miles over rough and rugged terrain. It’s maybe the first time in my life that I am not working towards an epic goal, but looking back and being thankful for epic things I have accomplished. This is in no means the end of my ability to run hundred milers, just a humbling spot that I am in where I go walk 4 miles and think…wow, this body thats tired after a long hike ran one of the toughest 100 milers in the US less than a year ago.
On the plus side, I haven’t needed to come back from an extended period off…maybe ever, so I am really excited about running and being able to train again. I feel a bit like a new runner
I have my follow up appointment with my surgeon later today and hopefully I’ll get the go-ahead. As I mentioned above, the healing hasn’t been so smooth. I had an allergic reaction to the suture tape that made my breast all hot, swollen and itchy. It also slowed down the healing time as it got into the incisions and irritated the tissue there. Now that I have all the glue removed and I have tried every bandage imaginable, I feel a bit better and have started healing again. I am sensitive to bandage glues, but apparently the skin on my chest is much more sensitive to bandage adhesive than the rest of my body. I found hypo-allergenic bandages from Band-aid helped with the allergic reactions.
Trail Wisp(erings) 