This Sunday will be the one year anniversary of my FBC (F-bomb breast cancer) diagnosis.  The Silver Lining is that also on Sunday, I will be running a 1/2 Marathon. So take THAT, FBC!

 

 

My training has been going really, really well.  In fact, last week I ran 10 miles and this week, I ran 12 1/2.  I’m feeling strong and confident and inspired by the fact that this time last year, cancer was growing in my body. Still so F-bomb hard to believe.

By the way, a real Silver Lininng to my double mastectomy and reconstruction is that I don’t have to wear a jog bra (or any bra for that matter!).  I still have my expanders because I have to wait for 6 months for the implants – to let the tissue heal from radiation.  While they still feel like baseballs (of cement) glued to my chest, they don’t move – at all.  No bounce whatsoever.  I must say that while they feel binding, not wearing uncomfortable jog bra’s is a real SL. I’m just sayin’…

Anyway, I thought that I would share my training schedule with you.  While the idea of running 13.1 miles may seem daunting to some (most people gasp when I tell them what I’m doing), it really is feasible using a structured and accessible training program. Below is the training program that I have used and it has worked like a charm!  (Though the dates on this graph are incorrect for the timing of this race, the weeks are what I have been following.)

 

This week, inspiration for my running has been popping up everywhere!  While running on the treadmill, I have been catching up on old Vogue magazines (yes, I can run and read, but don’t ask me to walk and chew gum because that is impossible!). Anyway, I was reading the age issue and found myself crazily inspired by Ida Keeling, a 96 year-old competitive runner who, by the way, is trained by her 60 year-old daughter, Shelley.  Come on, how cool is this?

 

Other inspiration came via Finallly Five. Unfortunately, she has a terrible cold (that seems to be a rite of passage to Kindergarten entry). However, the Silver Lining is that we watched two Silver Lining movies this weekend (yes, we still call them SL Movies):  Disney’s Hercules and Secretariat.  Ahem, I couldn’t be much more inspired than I am right now.

In Hercules, the song “I Can Go the Distance” brought me to tears.  I will definitely be downloading this to listen to on the run! The lyrics are so cool and motivating. I especially love this passage in the lyrics (did I say that correctly? Are there passages in lyrics? Oh well, you know what I mean!):

And I won’t look back
I can go the distance
And I’ll stay on track
No I won’t accept defeat
It’s an uphill slope
But I won’t lose hope
Till I go the distance
And my journey is complete
But to look beyond the glory is the hardest part
For a hero’s strength is measured by his heart

 

And then there was Secretariat. Is there a more inspiring movie than this? When Finally Five looked over and said to me, “I hope with all my heart that Secretariat wins!” I melted. Talk about hope over despair and triumph over adversity. Inspiration. Motivation. Incitation.

 

This is going to be a really big week, as my mother-in-law used to say.  I am going to embrace all that comes with it, especially the Silver Linings!

Conquering any difficulty always gives one a secret joy, for it means pushing back a boundary line and adding to one’s liberty.

– Henri Frederic Amiel