Barbara and I went to Austin Tx and ran the Livestrong Austin Half Marathon over the weekend. It was a great experience. I had no idea there were so many hills in Texas. They were tough. My original plan was to run 3:2’s like Disney.

 

It’s Scary To Commit To Running A Half Marathon During Cancer Treatments

I was nervous about running. Nervous that my fitness level has decreased so much that I wouldn’t be able to run as much. I kept saying “worst case, I walk” because I knew I could walk 13.1 miles. Deep down I didn’t really want to walk it, I wanted to run. My friend from Jonathan from Jr high school lives in Austin and is a really good runner. He ran with me and kept time. Just like Jenn did at Disney. The plan changed quickly from 3:2’s to walk uphill, run all the downhills and, run as much in between as I could handle. Click here to read about my Disney Half Marathon experience.

It was hard for me. My body was tired. There was a mental piece to the hills. I’m not used to hills. After a few, I decided I would walk all of them. If we were running and started up a hill I just started to walk.  I’m glad I did because I was tired and trying to run up the hills just to prove a point wasn’t necessary. Being there was proving a point.

The Downhills Aren’t Always Easy

I have been good about listening to my body throughout cancer and it was important that I continue to do that. The downhills were a blessing. Although it’s not easy to run downhill when your body isn’t used to that either! My ankles hurt at a few points and I think it was the hills.

 

Fan Support At A Race Makes A Huge Difference

Anyway, there was great fan support. So good that I bet it’s something this race is known for. Lots of people, fun signs, people with beer, tissues, and lots of cheering. It was really fun and kept me going. There is a LIVESTRONG mile along the route. Everything is yellow. Chalk writing all over the street, people with signs, a guy in a head to toe yellow stretch suit, fun and motivating. At that point, I thought “I’m doing this”. Participating in life, not spectating.

You can put your name (or anything else) on your bib so when you run the spectators can call out your name. Mine said “MESTRONG”.  It also said “SURVIVOR”. I loved having that on there. Nobody really said anything about it. Probably didn’t even notice but I knew I was out there running and in the middle of chemo treatments. So what, I walked some. I counted 4 people while running who had “survivor” signs on their back. There were actually 200 cancer survivors registered and running in the race. I was proud to be one of them.

 

The Funny And Inspirational Participants

It’s fun to people watch along the way. The Austin Half Marathon didn’t disappoint. There were some interesting people to see. People with funny tights, a few tutus, or the 80’s guys we saw on our way to the starting line. However, it’s some of the others that stay in your mind. On the silly side, the lady at about mile 6 who sounded like she was running with a half-empty roll of quarters in a plastic container or the guy at about mile 3 with the short shorts and big thighs. I was hoping he used body glide in the morning.

Beyond Inspirational

The most memorable person we saw was at about mile 10. It was the only person in a wheelchair doing the half marathon. She was incredible. Do you remember I mentioned the hills? She had a sign on the back of her chair that said “Do not push please” which was difficult not to want to push her.

If there was a sign of strength on that course that day it was her. The 200 cancer survivors combined made up the equivalent of her strength. Think about it. I couldn’t run up the hills, but I could walk. She was going up a hill and literally moving an inch at a time. The worst hills were in front of her. There was a nice downhill right before the huge hill at mile 11. I was hoping that she would get some good speed to be able to get up some of that big hill. There was water at the bottom of the hill that she would use to get some speed. Imagine how scary that would be? She could have easily wiped out if she was going too fast. We looked up her race results. She finished in just under 4 hours. I’m so impressed.

 

A Half Marathon PR

My finishing time was 3:02:42. A PR for me.  Imagine that, a PR between round 7 and round 8 of chemo? I was so convinced that my time would be much greater than Disney because I walked so much and even stopped and waited in a port o potty line. Maybe my time was better than Disney because when I ran, I likely ran faster because of the downhills. It was a great feeling to cross the finish line. It makes me want to train harder and do better on my time. I have never been concerned about my time running. Once I’m done with chemo I hope to be back on track with training.

Just like last chemo cycle, I feel like there has been a lot of time in between treatments. I also have the sick feeling about going. I am strong. I can do this. It’s almost over. I can feel it.