Back Into The Crazy World Of Running!

Hey, Y'all! It's the middle of August already??! I can't believe how quickly the past few months have flown by!

As I mentioned in my last post, I am now slowly beginning my journey back into the crazy world of running! After many months of going through treatments for breast cancer, it will take some time to regain my energy and strength, but I am happy to say that I managed to get in three days of walking/jogging last week and each time I headed out the door- I felt stronger and more empowered!

One of my favorite hats is the one that I am wearing in the photo below, and I wore it last week for the first time in months.The reason I had not worn it in awhile was that I felt like a fraud somehow, wearing a hat that says's 26.2 on the front, when I hadn't been running, much less running marathon mileage! I absolutely love this hat, because after all-it's adorable! Also, one of my oldest and dearest friends Judy Ballew gave it to me! In addition to being such a good friend, she has been one of my biggest supporters in all of my crazy marathoning and fundraising adventures (I guess that makes her an enabler??!) So why did I suddenly decide to put this hat on for my walk/run? To remind myself that I AM a marathoner!

After my breast cancer diagnosis, I felt that surely I had run my last marathon, but now....I'm rethinking that! Maybe I have at least one more marathon in me??!! The idea of picking the perfect race to run, trying to figure out the financial aspects of running a marathon, putting together a training plan, getting in the long-painful training runs......Funny-just writing that excited me to no end!! LOL! I guess it's true what they say-

Having said that-I'm not planning to run that next 26.2 miles in the immediate future! Seriously, do you think I'm insane???? Oh, wait-maybe we've already established that?!!

Seriously though, I do have my first race as a survivor planned! On October 7th, 2017 I will be doing the Paint Gwinnett Pink 5k with some of my family members and closest friends. I was looking for a goal race to do, whether walking or running and this one just sounded like it was meant to be! Since I live in the Gwinnett community and received my treatments through Gwinnett Medical Center, this event is very close to my heart.

Paint Gwinnett Pink was born out of the hearts of two passionate women, Bobbie Menneg, breast cancer survivor and Gwinnett Medical Center's (GMC) Women’s Support Group facilitator, and Jennifer Griffin, GMC's Oncology Community Outreach Navigator. Both women having worked closely with cancer patients, began to realize patients were not only battling breast cancer, but also many other worries associated with a cancer diagnosis.  The two ladies agreed the Gwinnett community could help make a difference and Paint Gwinnett Pink 5K Walk was born!  The proceeds from Paint Gwinnett Pink provide the following:

• Funding for the latest diagnostic technology for breast cancer.
• Providing access to mammagrams and surgical concultations.
• Patient access to comfort items needed during treatments. 

 Also, making this event so special for me will be running it as a team with some of my family members and closest friends. Our team name is Pam's Pink Posse. 

Did I mention that the week of October 7th will be the one year anniversary of my breast cancer diagnosis?? What better way to celebrate kicking cancer's butt than doing a 5k with some wonderful people for such an important cause?!! Like I said, it's meant to be!

So, for now, I will concentrate (mostly) on this 5k, but soon I will be planning a 10k, a half marathon and then...........

                              
   

New Beginnings-August 1

Hey, Y’all, I’m Pam. I am many things: a wife, mom, grandma, woman of faith, slightly overweight runner, and a cancer survivor.

This is my first post on my new blog! Some of you may have visited me at my old blog-Just Another Stupid Marathon. I'm not altogether sure why, but I have been feeling the need to start over with this blogging thing, and I felt like a whole new blog might be in order!

I have been a runner and marathoner for many years, but since last October, I haven't done a lot of running. Instead, I have been using all of my energy-battling breast cancer. I have been through chemo, a modified radical mastectomy, and 33 radiation treatments. Hopefully, I will have reconstruction surgery at the beginning of the new year-assuming I get some things straightened out with my insurance company.

When I received my cancer diagnosis, I was determined to be one of those women we have all heard about or even known who just went on with their normal activities while going through treatments, but unfortunately, that was not the case. I experienced a lot of the usual side effects from chemo-nausea, digestive issues, fatigue, hair loss, etc. I also experienced extremely low white blood counts for the duration. I had to have injections from two to four times per week to temporarily raise my numbers so that I could get my treatments as scheduled. The low blood counts made me highly susceptible to any and all infections and illnesses, and I was pretty much confined to my house the entire time, other than going to the cancer center.

Chemo Day

I did venture out for a walk as often as I was able, with a bit of very slow jogging thrown in, but that was an infrequent occurrence over the many months of treatments.

Run/Walk Selfie!

Me and my sweet hubby!

Surgery Day

                                                     

Radiation

Last day of radiation! Gonna miss these crazy, wonderful people!

Now that I am officially DONE with my cancer treatments, other than the hormone therapy that I will continue for the next ten years, and some follow-up doctor's visits, I am ready to become a runner again! Of course, I will be starting off with a lot of walking/jogging and work my way slowly into running. I can't tell you how happy and simultaneously nervous I am about lacing up my old running shoes again! I no longer feel like the experienced runner that I once was, but instead, like a beginning jogger.

Yes, I'm starting over on a brand new adventure back into the world of fitness! Maybe that's the reason I feel the need for a new blog?? A new beginning with both my running and my blogging!

I will still be blogging about some of my experiences with breast cancer in hopes that I might be able to help someone else who has just experienced a life changing cancer diagnosis. I will also be talking about my efforts to lose the excess pounds I am carrying (yes-I'm one of those people who GAINED weight during cancer treatments!), as well as my efforts to get back the energy and endurance that I lost over the past few months. I'm hoping to talk a LOT about running in the very near future as I make the transition from cancer patient to cancer SURVIVOR!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you will stop by often to check out my progress!