Friday, March 31, 2017

Running More, Peeing Less

     This week I noticed that I seemed to be peeing myself a lot less all of the sudden. I've been dry at night for some time now, and sitting is good also. I'm talking about my day job where I'm on my feet, and lifting heavy stuff. The incontinence seems to have suddenly improved. My sneezing and coughing still bring squirts, but overall I'm seeing improvement. My running seems to be getting better as well. I'm still caffeine free, except for a couple of jelly beans on race days. I'm slowly increasing spicy foods, but not nearly as much as what I used to eat. As for alcohol, I had some beers in Laughlin, and they pretty much went straight through me. I haven't had any since, but tomorrow is another race.
     The race we are going to tomorrow is the Casa Super Hero 5 and 10k in Bakersfield. The race will be flat, and the course should be one of the most scenic in recent times. I have put in the most midweek miles since my surgery this week. I have eleven miles done before the weekend, so I might top my weekly high of 21 miles before the weekend is over. I have recovered from the tightness I had after my 5k last Saturday, so I'm looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings. Both Robin and I will be running the 10k to get ready for longer races coming up.

Monday, March 27, 2017

First Real Race Report Post Surgery!!!! Laughlin Runnercard 5k and Half-Marathon

This is my Strava screenshot from my first race since my Prostate Cancer Surgery.

     It seems like it's been an eternity since I raced last, and that was early December at Mr. Toads in Bakersfield. This past Saturday, March 25th, 12 weeks and 4 days since my surgery, I ran a real race, even though I'm not fully back in race shape. The race was the Laughlin Runnercard 5k. The race starts and finishes at the Avi Hotel just south of Laughlin. There were eight of us that made the trip across the 58 and 40 to Laughlin, with two coming down and over from Fresno. Six of us, Robin, Trevor, Mark, Joan, Melissa, and I ran the 5k, and Andrea persevered in the 1/2 marathon also held on the same morning. Ray opted to watch from the leather comforts of his new Jaguar this time. The course is flat, but it is all on dirt and gravel, so I spent the race constantly changing my line, always searching for the best traction. The 1/2 marathon took off at 7, and we were sent on our way at 7:15. The weather was perfect, low 60's, no wind, and some cloud cover. 
Trevor in his new cool shorty shorts


   My goal was to run a consistent pace, and not run so hard as to be crippled and unable to train the following week. After the start, I hung back a little, watching Trevor in his cool shorty shorts take off. I slowly moved up as I tried to keep my pace at right around 7:00 minutes per mile to see how I felt. Soon I was around Trevor, and following along, picking off runners that went out too fast one by one until I was up to third. The course was very well marked, and the mile markers seemed to coincide with the buzzing on my Garmin watch. My first mile was 6:56 on my watch. It was a few seconds fast, but I felt pretty good, so I decided to continue along at that pace. After the turnaround, I began to see some familiar faces on my way back on the out and back course. Trevor was first to be spotted, and it became fun to see how soon I could spot the others. Robin and Mark looked like they were having a great battle for position, and then came Melissa and Joan, well before the back markers. Everyone was still smiling, and wishing me good luck as I ran the other way. With the runners going the opposite way disappearing, I settled into my mode of concentrating on my arms and just trying to maintain my pace to the finish. My second mile was 7:02, and my third was 6:59, so I accomplished my goal of a consistent race. My official finishing time was 21:45, a 6:59 average. I finished 3rd overall, and second in my age group. Trevor was the other medal winner in our group, nabbing first in his soon to be departed age group. 
     My stomach area didn't bother me at all during the race. I never felt like I was peeing myself, but my custom depends had plenty of urine in it after I was done. Not enough to warrant an immediate change, so I was happy about that. Of course, that changed as we went into the casino and had a couple of beers while waiting for Andrea to finish. All in all, we had a great time, the race is very well run, more people should try it. Next weekend Robin and I are going to Bakersfield to run the Casa Super Hero 10k on the bike path along the mighty Kern River.

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Laughlin Bound

      Well, this week brings my first real 5k attempt on Saturday, in spite of the fact I'm not fully back in shape. I did manage a nice 5 mile run Wednesday, Tuesday I was rained out. My Wednesday run was the same after work loop I have been doing since I bumped my mileage up to 5 miles. I improved to an 8:45 pace, with 325 feet of climbing. My custom pad collected the least amount of fluid so far since I started running.
     One thing I changed this week was the elimination of one of my medications. Like a lot of people, I have started to develop those fun spring time allergies. When I checked, I found out I shouldn't mix antihistamines with the Imipramine tablets I was taking for incontinence. I also discovered that a lot of people had trouble stopping the drug. I had only been taking them for 5 weeks, and I was still having issues with a strange taste in my mouth, weird dreams, fatigue in the mornings, and sometimes funny feeling in my head. I decided I would rather pee a little more, and feel normal.
   

Monday, March 20, 2017

When in Doubt, Run Uphill

View of the trail heading uphill we ran and hiked on Saturday morning. We did over 1600 feet of climbing on the 6 mile round trip.

    This last week, I hit 21 miles for the second week in a row. Thursday, I went to the dermatologist for my 6-month skin cancer check up, and it was relatively good. I had one mole removed from my back, one spot on my temple froze, and a biopsy was done on a spot on top of my head. Afterward, I hit the bike path along the Kern river for an easy 6 miles. The Kern doesn't get any better looking flowing through Bakersfield than it is right now. The banks of the river are still green, and the water is at the edge of the path in some spots, and yes, my depends remained intact. Saturday, we went up the West end trail in Frazier Park, took the left fork, and hiked up and over Tecuya ridge to the Cold Springs ohv trail. We started at about 5000 feet and climbed to just over 6600-foot elevation. It was a beautiful day, no wind, not too hot or cold, and we found snow patches for Maggie to munch on to save water. We were out there for over 2 hours, and I didn't bring a spare depends, but I got lucky, and my custom depends did the job. Sunday we did our usual short 3.7 miles from our house. Our legs were pretty beat up from the day before, but we persevered through another 730 feet of climbing. I don't think there is anything better than hills for building strength. This next week won't be as tough as we get ready for my first real attempt at running a race, even though I'm not fit yet. Racing is a great way to get in shape faster, so a bunch of us are heading to Laughlin for the Runnercard 5k and half marathon. Laughlin will be the first of 5 races over a 7 week period that will test my fitness, as well as my pocketbook.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Track is Back, and I Blew Up my Depends!!!!

      Well, yesterday was 11 weeks post surgery, and I celebrated by going to the track at College of the Canyons for an abbreviated track workout. It was nice to see some of my fellow Santa Clarita Runners again after a few months away. The planned workout for the night was either 800's, or if you were planning to run the L.A. Marathon this weekend, 400's. I opted for the 400's at a pace where I could talk(thanks, Jeff) and not kill myself the first time back at the track. I got there a little early, did my mile warm up, then stretched and watched the youth track runners practice their starts. Soon everyone showed up, warmed up, and were ready for Margaret to coach us, as Phil was missing. We started out with the usual drills. These were tough on my incontinence issue. We started out with skipping. Every little skip felt like I was peeing. Next were high knee skips, and I had the same sensation. Yes, the butt kickers and karaokes did the same to me. Next up were 3 laps of easy curves, then strides on the straights, alternating speeds. This wasn't so bad, as it was just running, changing pace, and more running. The 400's were up, and I did the first 2 with the group, then sat one out, then did 2 more. I did them at about 6:50 pace, fast enough to get some speed in, but no too fast to cause pain the next day. After my four 400's, I proceeded straight to a one mile cool down. this is when I had some pain in my lower left abdomen. It wasn't real sharp, almost like a side ache I used to get when I first started running.
     I used the restroom to empty my bladder before my 40-minute drive home, and I didn't think my pad was too full, so I decided I would change it when I got to my house. When I stopped to top off the gas tank, I noticed a wet feeling between my legs. I thought it was sweat from the 4 plus miles I had just finished at the track. I decided not to take a chance and drove straight home, where I discovered that my Depends had blown a seal. It wasn't the top seal, which I had customized, but the bottom of the depends had come open to allow liquid and little white balls to run into my undershorts. Luckily, they were the tight spandex ones, so they held everything inside. I'm not sure why the Depends blew up, but I'm glad it happened after practice, not during, although by now I'm not too embarrassed by much anymore. Next time, I will change before the trip home, lesson learned.

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Fearing the Asparagus Tinkle

 
     This was the view looking down into the canyon we live in right before we turned around yesterday.

    Well, this was my best week of running since the surgery. I got in 4 workouts totaling 21 miles, and 2800 feet of climbing. Our hike/run yesterday was the big one, 7 miles with just over 1500 feet of climbing. I felt good, Robin and Maggie suffered a little, but Robin is starting her training for the 2018 Wild Wild West Marathon in Lone Pine. She has never done it, and I will be her pacer and support the whole way. I was able to go for the 2 hours on just one of my customized Depends, so my bladder control must be improving, and there was no blood in my urine after either workout this past weekend. I was even able to down a few beers Saturday night at our friends surprise birthday party without peeing myself. It helps to stay seated when drinking.
     On a lighter note, another thing I discovered, was to be careful what you eat if you are experiencing incontinence like I am because some of the foods leave a peculiar odor in the depends. I'm talking about asparagus. We all know that it smells rather quickly when you tinkle after eating some, but when you dribble, the odor stays in your pants. I discovered this after last night at the surprise party. That smell just wouldn't go away. I know, the health benefits of eating asparagus outweigh the odor of your urine after eating it, but it took forever to get rid of that smell!
     Remember there are only two days left to order a Running With Prostate Cancer t-shirt.

Order online at www.bsnteamsports.com enter access code = runnin2V5E
$5.00 of every shirt ordered will go to the American Cancer Society Relay For Life via our team, The Cancer Crushers.

Friday, March 10, 2017

We Don't Help Your Kind Here

    I should have known that something going smoothly would be too much to ask for. I was eagerly awaiting my physical therapy appointment at Pair and Marrotta on Wednesday.  I left work a few minutes early in case there were traffic issues, and there were, only a 15-minute delay though, so I still arrived at my 5:00 PM appointment 20 minutes early to fill out the paperwork for a first-time patient. There were four pages of questions, plus they made copies of my I.D. I filled it all out, got my I.D. back and sat there trying to tune out the screaming misbehaving kids that were in the waiting room. It only took 10 minutes before I heard my name called. This was great, I would soon be leaving the screamers behind. When I got to the desk I was informed sorry, they couldn't help me. The therapist was not able to work with someone who just had a prostatectomy, and needed help with incontinence. They apologized and said someone at their other location could help me, and I would hear from them later that day about setting up an appointment. Today is Friday, I still haven't heard from them. Thursday morning I called my urologist office and told them what happened. Again, lots of apologies, and I got a return call within the hour from the office with a new phone number and physical therapist to try. I quickly rang up Jacobo Physical Therapy and was told they had no appointment available until the last week of March, but none of those were at a time that was convenient for me. So now, my next attempt at finding the perfect pelvic floor muscle strengthening exercise is pushed off until April 3rd. Oh well, I'm more disappointed than angry.
     On another note, I did have two good 5-mile runs, with hills, nonstop this week. I peed a little less while doing it, so maybe by April 3rd, I won't need the appointment. I also had a little blood in my urine at the end of work Wednesday and Thursday, not sure why, but it went away, and hasn't returned. There's no pain when peeing or not peeing, so I'm not too concerned at the moment, but it is a little frightening when it comes back after weeks of no blood. This weekend promises to be the first one in a month without rain, so hopefully, we will get in some good miles and the inevitable spring yard work.

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

We Have T-Shirts For Sale for a Limited Time

Order online at www.bsnteamsports.com enter access code = runnin2V5E

     Because of my recent diagnosis and treatment for Prostate Cancer, I am having Nike running shirts made to bring awareness to Prostate Cancer. The shirts will be available for purchase through March 14th. Five dollars of every shirt purchased will go straight to the American Cancer Society Relay for Life via our team, the Cancer Crushers. The estimated delivery date for the shirts is on or around April 10th. Please do not order a shirt if you aren't in the U.S.A. The reason for this is all shirts will be shipped to me, and then I will see that they get to the people that ordered them. If you are someone I don't know personally, there may be an additional shipping charge to get the shirt to you. 
     Yesterday I did get a five-mile run in. It felt good, my custom depends pad held everything it needed to. I have 2 1/2 weeks until a 5k in Laughlin. I know the distance will be no problem, but I'm not sure I will have any speed back yet. I have to keep telling myself to go slow, take baby steps, and don't overdo it. Tomorrow is my first physical therapy appointment. I can't wait to see what new exercises I will learn.

Sunday, March 5, 2017

Bending the Rules, It's A Way Of Life As We Know It

    Since there is not much new to report on my running or prostate cancer issues this week, and I worked a lot, I decided to write about something that's been in the news quite a bit lately. Since I'm a running nerd, my news feed may be a little different than the mainstream news. I'm talking about taking advantage of the "gray area" regarding prescription drugs and doping in athletics.
     Some athletes, coaches, and sportswriters have taken issue with the fact that the Nike Oregon Project coach, Alberto Salazar, may have bent the rules, or taken advantage of the "gray area" as far as administering supplements to his athletes. So far there has been no proof that he broke any rules. If anything, what has been shown, is that coach Salazar read the rules very carefully, and did everything he could to make his athletes as successful as legally possible. Some are calling this morally wrong, some call it cheating. I think it's just human nature.
     How often have we heard the phrase, If you aren't cheating, you aren't trying", or "It's not cheating if you don't get caught." Cheating, or breaking the rules, are second nature to us. It's part of our DNA. I wonder how many of these morally offended athletes, coaches, and sports writers have kids playing soccer? Do they raise the same issues when their kids pull on a jersey, or trip someone, to gain an advantage? Youth soccer players are taught at a very young age how to hide jersey pulling or obstruct a free kick. It's still cheating, or at the very least, taking advantage of the "gray area." Many times these little acts do have an outcome on the results of the game. We see the same thing every Sunday during the fall and winter watching NFL games. The defensive backs do everything they can to hold the opposing receivers, and not get caught. This is not cheating if you don't get caught. Offensive linemen do the same thing, holding the defensive player on virtually every play. The announcers often tell us when an offensive lineman gets caught, he needs to keep his hands inside, obscuring the hold from the officials. Again, not cheating if you don't get caught. Again, these rules violations often affect the outcome of the game. We, as fans, spectators, and coaches, accept this. Cheating is part of the game, part of life as we have been taught.
     Every day, the majority of people in California attempt to commute back and forth to work, dance practice, dinner, etc. etc. as fast as we can, when traffic permits. Often times, this includes driving well over the posted speed limit, violating the rules of the road. In fact, violating the rules of the road in California is so accepted and rampant, that if you try to drive the posted speed limit you suffer honks, glares, and the inevitable middle finger. Try driving to Vegas on a Friday evening and just do the posted speed limit. No one does that. Everyone is driving well over 80 MPH all the way to the Nevada state line. Everyone does this knowing if they get caught, they will suffer monetary consequences. Again, we're not cheating if we don't get caught.
     In the world of competitive running, whether it's at the world championship level, or your Saturday morning neighborhood 5k, we all want to do as best as we can. Given that human nature seems to will us to find a way to do our best at virtually any cost we seek ways to be faster. Now, it's obvious we can't cut courses, as most races, even cross country, are using chip timing. We all know the more and harder we train, the faster we will become. This is where the gray area comes into play. There are some supplements that will allow a quicker recovery, enabling workouts to become more intense, more often. Some of these supplements work better than others, some are illegal. The same ego that drives us to beat the other car to the exit, or to grab the jersey to prevent a goal, tells us to look for that edge that will get us up the hill, or around the track a little faster than our competitor. Some of this is illegal, some of it is working the "gray area." I think all of it is human nature, part of our DNA as competitive people, and will continue to happen unless we start changing everything about our lives, doing everything to the letter of the laws, whether we agree with them or not, and that's just not going to happen.
     Now while I'm happy just competing at my best, sometimes winning the occasional medal, I do it cleanly, without knowingly ingesting banned supplements. Of course, I don't go through the USADA website looking for gray areas to exploit, but I do take what my doctor tells me to take for my health and cancer recovery. If post race pizza and beer were the newest, latest and greatest training aid, I would be an Olympic champion.
     One thing I have learned looking through the various cancer treatments that are available, is there are gray areas there too. There are diets, experimental drugs, many things that fall out of the mainstream cancer treatment. Will one of them change cancer in you or me? Maybe, and someone, like Alberto Salazar, who meticulously researches everything on the subject, will figure out a way to make it happen.