Post
by samroot » April 14th, 2006, 10:59 am
My wife and I,pursued very different 'March Madness' regimens this past month. For myself,up until last Saturday,I erged and ran every day the last six weeks. I did alternating days of 10k hilly road run with 6k rows.and 8k flat village runs with a 5k rows. On the 8k and 5k days I lifted weights. I've been lifting weights 3x a week since the beginning of the year,missing only one session. On Saturdays, I ran long,13,17,20,22,15 and 13 miles,along with a 5-7k row. My long runs were slow except for the last two that were uptempo. I bordered on the obsesive. A couple of weeks ago,two hours after having a molar ripped out of my mouth,I hopped on the erg for 6k,gauze clenched between my teeth,to complete my daily routine. When I was achy and tired I reminded myself at least I had that option,my wife did not.
My wife's 'March Madness' consisted of 3 rounds of Adriamycin and Cytoxen chemotherapy infused every two weeks. The Adriamycin she not so fondly referred to as her 'Jim Jones' experience. Two big bright red syringes of caustic koolaid,that must be infused manually because if there is leakage,it can burn your skin. Plus there is the issue of getting it in right or it will collapse your vein-which happened at least three times. Even with all the drugs they have to control the nausea it still made her feel very ill. Her most often used expression was "I just don't feel human." About 5 days out from the infusion she'd hit a low point that would break her mentally and emotionally,and she didn't want to go on. After a good verbal and emotional purge,she'd start coming around the next day. By the end of the first week,she'd push herself down stairs and hop on the erg for 5k. By the end of the next week she would have completed 7-8 rows,working up to 8-10k. She had what I call the anti blood doping effect with her plunging red blood cell count and hemoglobin level. Her 500m pace increased 10 seconds but her heartrate soared to over 170 and as high as 177. Her oncologist remarked that her hemoglobin level was one of the highest he's seen,so I guess there is a training effect even in chemotherapy.
Our black lab has been pressed into therapy service. He is her constant companion when I am at work. They do run/walks to complement the erging. Her once very thick hair has been reduced to a few wispy strands and she's taken to referring to herself as 'Sweetpea'-Popeye and Olive Oil's offsspring. She complains that her bald head is pointed. I told her no its a knowledge bump,a trait she shares with the dog. I told her the possessors of said trait are capable of ceasing my babblings in mid sentence and commanding my undivided attention with one withering glance. They're both capable of that.
Tomorrow I fly to Boston to meet my twin sister,flying in from Green Bay,to do her 10th and my 11th Boston Marathon. On the way to the airport I'll give Debbie one of three specially made club singlets,and tell her if you think you hear your name shouted about 10,000 times,Monday afternoon,you probably won't be dreaming-the boomings coming all the way from Boston. My sister Sarah and I will be wearing the other two in the race. Emblazoned across the back will be'Go Debbie Benton Beat Breast Cancer!'.
I'll be looking for the ergers at mile 16,a shout out and maybe stop for a second. My wife already has her heart set on doing the erg marathon next year. She'd be a perfect poster child for erging and survivorship. The weekend before she started her chemo she did a 30k erg in 2-1/2 hrs.
So she was well within range of doing an erg marathon under 3-1/2 hrs.
Her race has been only postponed,not cancelled.
She is halfway home in the chemotherapy. This morning I took her in for the start of 4 rounds of taxol,once of every two weeks. All I need to do is think of my wife and I'll float through the hills of Newton and hammer it home to Boston on Monday.
) at 1000-2500 m height
