Part 1 cancer story: Running Injury.....

I can prepare and train myself for adventure races, marathons, and an ironman.  I don't know if I could ever really prepare myself to hear that I have cancer. In hindsight, all these endeavors helped prepare me both physically and mentally for this journey I was about to face.

I share my cancer story for a few reasons. I did not find many resources or personal journeys related to my kind of salivary gland. Hoping my story can give hope to someone newly diagnosed, to continuing fighting strong, and find your support team to get you through. Also (and most importantly) to encourage everyone to take the time to get bumps, lumps, etc checked out, don't leave anything to Dr. Google, seek as many opinions as you need to feel good about your diagnosis and treatment.

Throughout my story, I see God working in so many ways. He had to prevent me from doing something that I loved (running), to tell me something was going on even though he tried other ways, but I ignored them. He always provided people at the right time during this journey from who I met at various times of my life. I am forever grateful for this as if my cancer progressed to the next grade, the ending of my cancer journey would have had a higher chance of being drastically different. I still get chills thinking how God always knew exactly what I needed and when before I realized it through this journey.

So here goes.... It's a long one....

Back in early 2016, my friend Marian asked if I wanted to sign up for a running lottery with her for the Moose Mountain Marathon up, way up in Minnesota. Not really researching, but knowing I had a trail marathon on my bucket list, I did. Then, we got in. Then, I realized it is 14 HOURS driving to the race- just add it to the adventure. A fun girls weekend come this September.

We picked a training plan based on a 50K. Did I mention we signed up for an ultra in November 2016 too? Another friend, Danielle decided to join us too.  So we started training, and low and behold, my knee starts hurting. Eventually, I get to the point I couldn't run uphills OR downhills. Dr. Google was not helping me find stretches, no taping helped- even aqua jogging and biking hurt.
 Begrudgingly, I went to a family physician who told me to rest, but he said since I was a runner I probably would not listen until my meniscus in my knee tore. Needless to say, I did not listen, but sought out advice from local runners. One recommended physical therapy- first time for PT- and this is when I met Callie.

 On my second or third visit, Callie noticed my lump behind my ear. I had first noticed the bump in its infancy about 4 years ago when I was pregnant with my youngest. I figured it was just swollen lymph nodes. It never went away, just slowly grew. Never painful, and never bothered me. I researched it off and on. Dr. Google suggested fatty tumor, benign cysts. By the time Callie saw it, I could no longer wear earrings without my ear lobe being pushed out. She freaked out about it when she saw it. I told her I wasn't concerned.  She didn't care and urged me to get it checked out.
 So I found myself back in the doctor's office again a few weeks later. He told me it was most likely an epidermoid cyst. I could wait a few months to see if it would go away or get an ENT appointment.  I opted for a ENT because I knew it wasn't going anywhere.

the cancerous lump, pre-surgery #1

 I met with the ENT who thought it was a sebaceous cyst or epidermoid cyst and it was infected. With the large size, he suggested surgically removing it. A week later, I found myself in outpatient surgery for the first time ever. The surgeon told me husband that the surgery went fine and I can get the stitches out in a week.

post surgery

 I was so anxious about getting the 9 stitches out, that I was not worried about the pathology results that I would also get at this follow-up appointment. My ENT kept asking me if my husband was with me. I told him he was with our kids at home. Finally after he took the stitches out, he took me to another room to tell me I had mucoepidermoid carcinoma aka salivary cancer of the parotid gland.

Parts 2 and 3 coming soon....

The Flow: 4 hour AR

Remember that May where it rained a whole lot? One of those Mays was this year- 2016 and it was our first adventure race with our 8 year old.

361 Adventures added a beginner adventure race in 2016 called The Flow. It was geared toward teams with kids and others who want to try the adventure of running, biking, canoeing while orienteering to locate certain number of points in a given area. It is located in Frankfort, KY.

All geared up and ready to start

361 Adventures typically has a briefing to give an orienteering 101 class so that everyone can give it a try. There is some gear you need. You need a compass, bike, helmet, flat tire kit, first aid, hydration/fueling pack, whistle, canoe, paddles, life jackets (the paddle equipment can be rented). These are main pieces needed. 

With all the rain, the paddle portion was adjusted for the race to upriver and downriver to gain all the paddle points. However, there was plenty of biking and running. With adventure racing, the goal is to get as many checkpoints as you can and making it back to the finish line in the the allotted time. The Flow is a 4 hour race.Strategy is also a big part of the race. You want to play to your team's strengths. We are a strong team of runners with my oldest loving to run. He is weak in biking due to inexperience.

Biking portion

 In this race we all had to start with the paddle portion, then bike, followed with the run, and then back to the bike to finish it off. Some races, you get the checkpoints and you get to decide the mode of transportation. Once we got our maps, we decided which points we wanted to get on the bike, since we knew we wanted to spend most of the time running.

We started off great. We had to run less than a mile to get to our canoe. We were the second team in the water! The canoe was pretty easy since they had to change the course. Next we ran back to get our bikes. We biked all around Frankfort which was fun to see the state capital that way. We even rode in an elevator at a parking garage! So you can pick your routes that is best for your team. Once we hit a few biking checkpoints, we headed to the park to start the run portion. We made sure we all stayed hydrated and were fueling which was challenging with the weather was rainy and cool. You don't notice how hungry or thirsty as much. My oldest was enjoying the race and once we got to the run portion, he was ready to shine. He did great. We almost cleared the run portion and headed back to our bikes to head back to the finish line before time ran out. There was a big bike climb on the route we took back, but we made it.

in the elevator.

The orange and white flag is what we are on looking for in the race. The checkpoints do have tips of about their whereabouts. Your team is suppose to satay within 50-100 feet of each other.

The course was not a closed course since you decide which route you want to take. You had to watch out for traffic while on the bike and obey all traffic laws. Adventure racing adds a new dimension to racing - it is like a choose your own adventure book. You get to make your own routes. For running is it better to bushwhack or follow a trail.

For The D Teams first race with their oldest son, we had a blast. We ended up 18th place and 3rd in our division (3-4 co-ed team). There was no differentiation with kids on the team.

Ian with our map

If you are looking into trying adventure racing, this is a great race! 361 Adventures puts on great races. Also Dino Adventures Racing in Indiana also have beginner races. The Orienteering club in Louisville is also very active to learn more about the sport. 

All done! Wet and only slightly muddy.

Dances With Dirt: 100k relay

Dances with Dirt has been on my bucket list for a while now. The group that puts it on is from Michigan - Running Fit. They have this series in Gnaw Bone, IN, Hell, MI, and Devil's Lake, WI. You see a theme? They have an unique sense of humor. At the Gnaw Bone (near Brown county, IN) event they claim to have the world's toughest 10k. They also have 50m, 50K, marathon, and 100K relay. This race falls on the same May weekend as Dino's Mission Lite adventure race which I had a done for a few years with my husband.

This year, I recruited my husband, brother, dad, and cousin from MN to be my team for the 100K relay. (I still have the 10K on my bucket list.)  For the relay, they encourage you to have a team theme. With my brother active in the Indiana Beef council, we all got red Team Beef shirts and decorated my mini van. Our team name was 3 T-bones and 2 Skirt Steaks to continue the theme.

3 T-Bones and 2 Skirt Steaks all ready to take on DWD 100K relay

For the relay, there are 15 unique legs with varying mileage, difficulty (aka ski hills), creek crossing, bushwhacking, etc. (My dad's first leg was definitely the muddiest - or at least he got the muddiest). There are great descriptions of each leg on their website. As a team, you decide who runs what. We divided it all so everyone had 3 legs. Some legs you stayed and waited, while others you drove to the next destination. I saw very few race related volunteers at the exchanges which surprised me. Your team was self-sufficient - meaning you brought your own fuel and hydration.

See the red dot? That is me bushwhacking under a road through a creek.

My dad finishing up the muddiest leg.

After about halfway through, the teams started to distance each other and there were fewer teams waiting with us. The weather was unseasonable freezing for May in Indiana. So some teams, may have skipped some legs and had teammates run together.  This brings up their unique scoring system. They allow this for time cutoff reasons, but it is marked on their card. Also for scoring there are handicap rules, which my dad being 70 was our ringer. For the handicap rules, I recommend just reading about them from the website. It continues with the Dances with Dirt's uniqueness. We finished the race in 9 hours and 57 minutes, but our handicap time was 8 hours 39 minutes.

Finishing up

Overall, the race was a fun time despite the weather. Lots of stories were shared about each leg. We knew a few other teams, that also made it fun. My dad was our last leg and we all crossed the finish line together which was topped the day. Bonus we finished 5th out of 39 teams in the handicap division and received a DWD buff and beer can glass.

After the race, there was a complimentary beer and bbq dinner.  Since the weather was so cold, most teams just stayed in their vans instead of setting up chairs at the transitions. I think this took away from the overall feel of the race, but it was great hanging out with my family though. The course was tough, but fun since you knew you were only running between 3-6 miles before you took a break.

I would recommend this race for non-beginner runners based on the difficulty of the course and time limits. And go in with being just a fun race to hang out with your teammates. The 2017 Gnaw Bone entry is open if you are ready to give it a try!

5th Place! Winter coats in May!

A year to catch up.....

I am back with a keyboard that doesn't have a working 'c' button, so I plugged in an old keyboard from a desktop. I forgot how noisy they are!

I have changed the focus a little bit of the blog. Using this as a place to summarize races and other adventures with family and friends. I am constantly seeking race reports from normal, crazy people like myself to see if I want to do those races, so I thought I would start writing up my races again and other things. Who knows, really?

The D team refers to my family's last name and our racing name. I used to watch the A-Team and it just makes me laugh when I think a 'real' D team being out there. Anyone and everyone can join in our adventures and races. We do it for the fun, motivation to stay active with a few memories thrown in there, and of course the challenge.

So here is a short update and what is to come.

• Since finishing my ironman in 2015, I have yet to do another one. I am no longer at the phase of never doing another one, but more at the phase of when my 3 kids (ages 8,6,4) are out of school. I have other challenges I want to conquer in the meantime. Hoping to get back into aerials, run an ultra, and become a better 'orienteerer'. I think it would be fun to do a triathlon relay with my oldest too.
• I have several races to write reviews on: trail race with my oldest, my first trail marathon, trail Ragnar, my longest adventure race, a 100K relay, running with the Amish with one of my best friends. 
• I am still dedicating my runs to my I RUN 4 buddy, Kaiya who lives in Arizona. Hoping one day to actually meet and run a race with her. 
• I will also be posting about my race win over cancer this year and my experience as I start the Livestrong program at YMCA. 
• I have goals to eventually become a personal trainer with running and nutrition specializations. (A bit different from my previous life as a pharmaceutical chemist and current job as a SAHM.) I was able to coach my oldest and his elementary team this fall. I learned I really love seeing kids fall in love with running, achieving their goal times, and becoming a stronger runner.  I also help lead the local MRTT chapter for a year. I loved that just as much. Running and walking along side these wonderful women working on their goal races and facing their own challenges was great. 

So that is where I am at as 2016 comes to a close. We will see where 2017 takes me. Drop me a line and let me know what adventures in life you have had and hope to have in 2017! Or have a racing challenge that you did that you loved. Life is always more fun when it is connected with people who share your interests and passions in life.