Why I run...

Every weekend I get up early and go for a long run of at least 10 miles. 

For over three years I’ve done this without missing a single weekend. 

This morning I was up at 4:30 to get out on the trail by 5:30.

I completed week 165 today with a 15.5 mile run.

The most amazing thing is the fact that for more than three years I haven’t been sick enough to stop me from running at least 10 miles. 

I’ve only had a couple of colds over the last three years that made me even question if I could run 10 miles.

But I’ve done it; every weekend.

It’s not just about getting up early on the weekends and running 10-20 miles. 

It’s all of the in-between miles.

It’s the cold rainy mornings at 5:00 when I don’t even want to get out of bed.

It’s making myself do what my body doesn’t want to do.

It’s pushing myself to do one more mile.

It’s putting on those running shoes day after day.

Rain or shine, alone or with thousands of other runners in a race.

People ask if I always enjoy running.

Not all the time.

But it’s the tough runs that make the great runs so good.

It’s the tough days in life that make the great days so good.

It’s the tough times that make me appreciate the good times all the more.

So in a month, July 30, my streak of running 10 miles every weekend will come to an end.

It’ll be a day to remember.

It won’t be a day that I failed at something.

It’ll be the day I will have kicked cancer’s butt; cut the sonofabitch right out!

And then I get the excitement of starting to run all over again.

Walking a mile, then running a mile, then running two miles, three miles, four miles...

It’ll get back up to 10 miles, then 13.1, then 26.2

That’s the way I choose to look at it.

Thanks to so many of you who have been with me on those 10+ mile runs.

There will be many more to come!

  

Same disease; different journey….

I'm not an expert on cancer by a long shot.
I'm learning what cancer isn't.
It isn't a death sentence.
It isn't who I am.
It isn't going to beat me down.
It isn't going to use me to bring others down.
It isn't going to win!

I'm also learning what cancer is doing.
It is making me a stronger person.
It is giving me a different view on what's important.
It is making me enjoy life.
It is bringing me closer to my wife.
It is making me depend on others for strength.
It is making me healthier.

Last week two people I know were diagnosed with cancer.
I have to apply what I have learned.

It's all in the way you look at things.

When people ask why I take the  hard road,
I reply, "You assume I see two roads."

Update...

Not much to really update on.
Surgery is still a long ways off (July 30) so I'm just trying to stay fit and healthy.
Running about 30 miles a week.
Getting in a few bike rides here and there.
Working out in our home/garage gym most days.
Eating organic whole foods, fruits and vegetables with a little fish and chicken.
Juicing 2-4 times a day to ramp up the enzymes and nutrients.
No processed foods. (Bread, pasta, cereal, crackers, chips, cookies…)
Reading about cancer and prostate cancer while trying not to obsess over it.
It sure is wonderful being a teacher with summers off!
I am amazed at all the prayer, positive thoughts, and support I'm getting.
Please keep it up. It gives me strength.
I need that strength for the times when I can't find it.
And so I continue…
I won't back down.
I won't give up.

Thanks for the reminder Harr!

da Vinci

I have a date.
July 30, 2014.
I'll be having a RRP or Robotic Radical Prostatectomy.
My urologist/oncologist will cut out my entire prostate using a da Vinci surgical robot.
It may take up to 4 hours and I should only have to spend one night in the hospital.

I'm glad to have a date nailed down but it also makes it seem all the more real to me.
At first I was thinking that with the later date of July 30 I would run the SF marathon on July 27.
After a little thought I figured, why?
Just because I signed up for it in January?
There is absolutely no need to make my body recover from a 26 mile run AND surgery all in the same week.
I'll save my strength for the surgery recovery.
The SF marathon also has an option to run the first half or second half, so I'll just run the first half at an easy pace.

I, not events, have the power to make me happy:

When I get up in the mornings, it’s there.

When I go running in the morning, it’s there. 

Throughout the entire day, it’s there.  

When I go to bed, it’s there.

I can’t get it out of my head.

It’s changed the way I see things; everything.

But I have a choice.

I can choose to see the things I can do, or the things I can’t do.

I choose to see the things that I can do.

It’s my choice to make.

Cancer can’t make that choice for me.

The great philosopher, Groucho Marx said,

Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself:

I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy.

I can choose which it shall be.

Yesterday is dead; tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet.

I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.

Thank you cancer for changing the way I see things.

Thank you for making me realize the choice is mine, not yours.

I might not always make the right choice, but today I choose to be happy.

It looks like I will be having my robotic radical prostatectomy surgery on July 30 but no confirmation yet.  If it is July 30 I might be able to run the San Francisco marathon on July 27 if the Dr. gives me the ok.

I'm good to go...

Went to my urologist this morning, results from the CT scan were good.  He was concerned that I had blood in my urine about a year ago and wanted to check out my bladder.  Then he stuck a camera and a light for the camera into my bladder.  Don't ask how he did it, just think putting a hotdog on a shish kabob skewer.  (That should give you a good picture of how it happened.)

I got to watch the camera making its way to the bladder.  Interesting but… well, uncomfortable would be a good word.  Everything inside the bladder looked pretty good to him.

No bladder cancer!

So now I'm good to go.  Next step; schedule the surgery.  At first he thought I might be able to get in June 18, but it's looking more like July 16.  They will call back to confirm.  I'll update this post when I find out.