Running

We are well into March and I’m still at it! I logged 59.5 training miles in February and have completed 2 races so far in March! I completed the Annapolis Running Festival (Annapolis Running Festival 10k Recap) and a 2 mile portion of the Shamrock 10 mile relay (recap coming soon)! The Run for Hospice race is next on the radar, but I haven’t decided if I want to run the 5k or 10k. I feel like I could potentially do decent in the 5k, where the 10k would definitely be more challenging for me. It’s my favorite local race because I get to see so many people I know and because it benefits a wonderful community program. And my company sponsors us to run! You can’t beat that!

Other Training

As far as other training, I’ve mostly been doing Peloton strength workouts via the digital app. I decided to cancel my gym membership. Unfortunately, I’ve gotten kind of bored with Body Pump (it happens; I’ve been doing it on and off for ~20 years). The Peloton subscription is cheaper, has more variety, and I can do it at my own home – can’t beat that flexibility! Sometimes I like to get a quick workout in on my lunch break and Peloton is a great option for that. It seems to be the best option for now, but I always seem to find my way back to Body Pump, so we’ll see. I also worked out at Orangetheory for the first time at the beginning of February and then went back again in March. The workouts are not cheap, but it was so fun to mix it up and what a great workout!! If we had one locally, I’d consider a membership, fo’ sure! I can’t wait to go back!

Medical Update

I had labs done in February and then followed up with the Myeloma expert last week. I had a lot of anxiety going into this appointment because I was able to see my lab reports before the appointment and could see that some of the markers had increased. Dr. B assured me that he still considers my numbers stable because they did not significantly increase. I still have MGUS and there is no treatment necessary or available for this blood disorder (🎶 You know I got bad blood 🎶). So that was good news! He did review that I have several high risk features and while he had already told me that at a previous appointment, it was the first time he really quantified what that could mean for me and made me feel like my MGUS will inevitably progress to Multiple Myeloma (blood cancer). He assured me that while Myeloma is not curable, it is treatable. This has been hard for me to process. On the one hand, I feel like nobody really knows what their future holds so there is no reason for me to stress over something that may or may not happen. And let’s just say it progresses in 10 years. Well, hopefully the medical community will continue making advancements in treatments during the next 10 years. I listened to a podcast Monday night that said while Myeloma only accounts for 1% of all cancers, it has actually had the most advances in treatments over the past 20 years. That is very reassuring! And maybe it will never progress. Other than some mild symptoms that may not even be associated with MGUS (could be my aging body), I feel fantastic physically. But with all that said, I’d be lying if I said I feel optimistic 100% of the time. I’ve never really struggled with aging before. I mean, sure, I don’t like the wrinkles on my face, the fact that I need reading glasses, or the fact that my body seems to distribute fat a little differently than before (that mid-section seems to be a little softer than I remember – lol). Vanity aside, I always envisioned a wonderful 2nd half of my life. I dreamed of retiring a little early, spending lots of time with my future grand babies, and maybe even moving to the beach one day. For the first time, Im a little worried that I won’t get to see those days or that the days will look a lot differently than I envisioned. That hit me pretty hard (control freak over here). I do feel better about the decision to hold off on the splenectomy because that spleen may just come in handy one day! I think as time marches on, I will feel less anxious and will settle into this life of watchful waiting. So, what’s next? More blood work / hematologist appointment in June and then more blood work / oncologist appointment again in September. Other than that, I plan to carry on as normal. I’ve got some exciting things coming up this year that will help distract me and hopefully I’ll be able to push out any negative thoughts with my toxic positivity (wink)!

Till next time. Just keep swimming (running)!