@outdoorsy Rasus y Bannau? That looks like an absolute beast with 3500 m climbing 
I thought my 50 was bad enough with only 1000 m
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Yes. I dunno if I’ll finish. It does look like an insane beast…but therein lies the attraction i guess. It will at least be beautiful. I live local to it so can be familiar with sections before hand.
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Yes @gromit12 looks appealingly insane for my current mood. Might be the dex talking!
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WOW ladies what an inspirational thread to read. I did my first marathon in April and was in the middle of training for a half when I got diagnosed in September, just started 5 months of chemo and will probably need DMX due to BRCA2 positive gene test. I did fertility preservation and haven’t run at all for 3 weeks now on the advice of the team due to risk of ovarian torsion and OHSS. They have even advised against yoga. I have been walking and doing very light movement but I am so anxious Ive lost fitness and to a certain extent routine and motivation. I have one more week to go then hope I can get back out there.
I was wondering for those still going to the gym during chemo, do you wear a mask or how do you manage risk of infection?
I am quite anxious about this, I think possibly because my mum was going through chemo during Covid so I have a lingering paranoia about it.
I am not sure if I am over-worried about picking up infections.
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@jenbc91 I have to say I didn’t go to the gym whilst having EC / Docetaxel as I was too afraid of infection risk. I just kept up the walking and running. I had to have Kadcyla post surgery and did return to the gym and classes then but I was still quite anxious initially and tended to keep to the edges and was very aware of anyone with colds and coughs
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26km run done after 5th paclitaxel. No idea whether there is more room to extend during treatment but i’ll try find out.
I saw a study from 2019 the other day which showed that higher muscle mass was associated with fewer chemotherapy sideffects. At the time i was actually looking for papers on the effect of chemo on skeletal muscles. Was surprised how little there was. I feel strongly that the benefits of exercise are undersold.
You ladies on this thread doing big runs and keeping active and ‘dreaming fit’ has been one of the biggest encouragements since i was diagnosed. Thank you. Here’s a run pic to cheer everyone up.
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@jenbc91 I still haven’t really gone back to the gym - even now with Kadcyla done in the summer. I had picked up some weights and other gym equipment during covid so I didn’t really miss the gym all that much. There’s a lot you can do with just a few sets of hand weights/kettlebells/mat/bench.
@outdoorsy nice… looks like a lovely view for a run! 
I think there’s a lot to it with muscle mass/exercise and fewer side effects or at least that was definitely the case for me.
I was supposed to be having my DIEP flap surgery today but now that’s been postponed so I’m looking at signing up for a race or something while I await my rescheduled date.
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@outdoorsy you’re being pretty inspirational yourself! Well done, fabulous achievement 
Just keep lightly pushing and see what you can achieve. Your body will tell you when to stop x
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@kartoffel so sorry your surgery has been postponed. Any idea when it will be rescheduled for? X
@gromit12 Nope, not yet - probably next year. We need to wait for my liver function to improve before they can look at a new date.
@kartoffel sorry to hear re surgery postponement.
Hope you get a new date. You will be even fitter for the day i guess.
@kartoffel oh that’s a real bugger. Some of the side effects do go on longer than I expected xx
@gromit12 They really do - I guess that’s why it’s so hard when people expect you to be back to normal when you finish treatment. How is your achilles? My neighbour had an achilles injury earlier this year and that took ages to recover from!
@outdoorsy thanks, I’m taking this as an opportunity to get more pre-hab in. Adding extra core/mobility stuff to my regime and such. Plus, I had set myself an arbitrary target to get (at least) 1 parkrun in a month and I was going to struggle getting December ticked off since I would only be cleared to run again last week in December. How is your training going?
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@kartoffel physio just allowing me to gentle run / walk, but I think its going to be a slow recovery but at least I can now do something. The muscle and joint pain from the Letrozole is horrendous at times and that can really limit me. I understand why compliance is pretty awful generally with these oestrogen inhibitors - far more pain than I ever had from chemo 
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@kartoffel a slower week with training especially with local floods. Just been hiking this am. Ive got to slowly add weekly km I think and more hills, including walking. Main issue is knee arthritis with effusion which starts playing up around 20km. I think it will improve with persistence .
@gromit12 the accillies injury sounds really tough. Plus the letrazole. I think from the day of my diagnosis I’ve been feeling more gloomy at that prospect (tamoxifen or letrazole) than the chemo, radiotherapy or surgery. I know how hard compliance can be. All I can do now is keep plodding and pushing and hope.
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Have either of you looked at infrared saunas/red light therapy or PEMF to deal with all the aches and pains? They’re supposed to help with the inflammation and such.
I’m particularly interested in the PEMF mats that I’ve seen advertised since they’re supposed to be good for people with osteoporosis and help improve bone density. There’s not a whole lot of actual scientific evidence but what is there does sound promising and anecdotally they seem to help people quite a bit.
@gromit12 I can’t remember if you had tried other AIs or Tamoxifen. I’m on Anastrozole and I feel generally less achy than I did on Tamoxifen.
@outdoorsy going slowly sounds good. Your body is dealing with a lot and there’s not a whole lot to be gained by pushing yourself too far, too fast. I kept reminding myself during my build up to my 50k and missed some of the runs on my plan that it was better to show up to the start line somewhat undertrained and uninjured than to hit every training session and not get to the start line.
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I think from a science perspective there’s not enough evidence at present for PEMF treatment. However I note a number of positive anecdotal reports in the area of chronic pain. I would imagine there’s nothing to loose by trying it.
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Except maybe £700-2000 
it’s a little spicy for an impulse purchase so I’m torn.
Hey there!
Sorry for gatecrashing this thread all of a sudden - I started chemo back in Aug - EC, then/now Docetaxel - due to finish December.
I was an active trail runner, swimmer, yoga, strength training/lifter in the gym and avid gardener pre diagnosis.
I’ve obviously moderated my exercise levels to fit in with the unexpected up and downs of treatment and being kind to myself, but despite the reduced activity level, the only real thing that has taken a slight hammering is my Vo2 Max - but kinda knew my cardio would a bit in the bin so to speak!
This is more to reassure you all about the gym and managing/mitigating infection risk and how I’ve done it successfully so far 
.
I used to train/lift 3x week at the gym - now, I don’t go near the gym until day 11 each cycle after the key nadir stage has passed. I then do a session 3x a week with my PT until next infusion. I’m not at a fancy gym - it’s one in my local leisure centre but it is cleaned to a high standard and my PT takes extra precautions such as I do not touch anything or any surfaces without him using a special anti bac spray first, even including stuff like barbell/dumbbell grips, resistance belts/equipment handles, seats, workbenches etc. He also wears disposable nitrile gloves, keeps his distance and chauffeurs/navigates me around/away from other gym goers, who have all been incredibly understanding and patient. I use hand sanitiser as well after every touchpoint. I think it helps that it’s a very respectful gym where people do wipe down a lot and are courteous anyhow under normal circumstances - not like the dreaded ‘meathead’ ‘roid’ gyms that sadly still exist 
I also go at quiet times - I choose not to wear a mask as the filtration system is also excellent and I also haven’t encountered anyone coughing and spluttering, even at this time of year. I prefer to breathe unrestricted while lifting and it’s my only area where I know I’m probably taking more of a risk but it’s my choice to do so.
I am fully jabbed as well - both flu and COVID - so that also helps with my peace of mind without breeding complacency on my behalf.
So far, so good! I hope that’s helped somewhat and given another perspective - cancer takes a lot from us and for me, the gym gives me a bit of normality when it’s as safe as it can be for me in my cycle. It’s definitely still a risk, but I’ve chosen to mitigate it but I also absolutely understand everyone’s situation, diagnosis, risk factors/appetite are very different.
I just think it’s so inspiring to read this particular thread and am in awe of all you ladies’ running abilities throughout treatment.
Keep on keeping on everyone 
xxx
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Hello active ladies 
I had a goal to slowly build myself up to running 10k again after I took a full month off training during fertility preservation and then started chemo. I have managed to get to 8k and then 9k by doing 2k run, 2 min walk. However my heart rate does go crazy high (around 180 bpm) when I do this. I don’t feel super uncomfortable or like I’m pushing it too much but my dad has said he thinks I’m going too hard and should scale back. Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this or has experienced this.
I really enjoy running and think it’s benefiting me mentally but of course I don’t want to do myself damage physically. I’m not sure when too much is too much.
I can sometimes have the tendency to overdo it, at a physio class recently I went too hard on the cardio and then had to sit out of some of the strength training because I got too light headed. Silly Billy!
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