Count your blessings if you’re fit to run…

By justinesq on April 15, 2015 • ( 0 )

I didn’t feel as bad as I thought I might after the 21.2 mile epic run of Bank Holiday Monday possibly because it was so slow….I made it to my desk on time on Tuesday morning and whilst not quite poetry in motion around the office, those not aware of my marathon journey would be non the wiser I’m sure. Such a distance however did cause two side effects that needed tackling soon after ( no, not that one, the Vaseline worked like a dream!) …

Problem 1: Hunger – the normal regime of my ‘enhanced’ porridge for breakfast ……. Enhanced because I use a plain porridge sachet and then give myself a little moment of OCD joy each morning as I very specifically add 6 almonds, a handful of blueberries, 1 tablespoon of omega seeds and 1 teaspoon of chia seeds ( still can’t remember why they’re good for me but I definitely see them popping up in running magazines!) ……and then a banana at 10 o’clock just couldn’t stop ravenous hunger pangs. If it stayed still long enough I fancied eating it.

Problem 2: Narcolepsy – by about 2pm the desire to shut my eyes was overwhelming, I just needed a little excuse to pop my head down on my desk for a swift 40 winks, sadly not really possible. There are a few options I could come up with in this emergency scenario…..snaffle the keys to the first aid room for a proper lie down, spend lunchtime in the car which if you have a black car, with a black interior parked in the sun is a very warm snugly experience, paint open eyes onto your closed eyelids or spend longer sat on the loo with your eyes closed for a power nap and hope no one realises the same person has been in the cubicle for longer than is considered normally healthy ! I held out and didn’t hang around too late and stuck to my strict mantra…..

How to get through a tough post long run day !

I’m hoping the extra 5 miles now needed to complete the marathon don’t make a huge difference to this level of post run effects but I’m glad I decided to take the next day off work…..I’ll book a table now at the cake shop….for an all day session ! Mantra number 2……

My thoughts on those final 5 miles I’ve never tackled yet

The week and my blog ends on a thought provoking note. I promised my mum I would attend her first chemotherapy session. I haven’t dwelled on the last few weeks which has seen mum have a successful lumpectomy and come through surgery like a trooper, resume driving and most importantly to her gardening. We’ve been putting thoughts of chemo in the background but the day finally came. We arrived far too early and got one of the hallowed parking spots right outside the door, inner fist pump, never happened before. I sort of know what chemo is but I’ve never been on a chemo day ward. 6 big victims armchairs with 6 supporters chairs. I watched everyone come in. Mostly older ladies like mum, but terrifying when ladies my age and clearly younger appeared.

Hooked up and ready to go I was staggered to see about 6 big syringes of assorted drugs appear, all getting pumped in over the next two hours….red, yellow, clear, anti nausea….is it any wonder your hair drops out! Mum’s been a hairdresser all her life ( one customer left so technically still not retired! ) so the hair loss thing is a huge issue, you try to look see what other people have down, wigs, headscarves, patchy bald spots on display, it’s a great leveller. There was such a young woman opposite I kept looking, it’s too heartbreaking to think long about. She had a double headscarf on and immaculate make up, she looked beautiful. The machines beep loudly from all angles and the nurses race between machines as they beep to demand another syringe of the chemical cocktail is added. My sister in law popped in to see how we were doing having now finished her 6 chemo sessions and arriving for a radiotherapy appointment, it seems so prevalent, is it catching? Is it our reaction to the over processed world we live in ? Or are we better ourselves at looking for symptoms and getting checked?

Hard to say how we were doing, probably bewildered by a new world we’d entered that’s going to be ours in the coming months. So it makes me glad for health, it makes me glad I run and that I have a level of fitness that people 20 years younger would be proud of. Why should I worry if my thighs wobbles or my cheeks are sagging? If you think you’re too fat or you don’t like your legs, you run, you push your body to limits that it make it stronger and most of the time it doesn’t complain.

You have discovered a gift in running and just in case it’s ever taken away from you, enjoy it, maximise it, let it improve your life and if you can, pass it on.

https://www.justgiving.com/Justine-Squitieri2/