Don't worry, toenails are overrated.

Best spectator signs seen at marathons:

You are all Kenyans.

Toenails are for sissies.

Worst parade ever.

Don't die.

No one ever drowned in sweat.

My Grammy is faster than you.

Who fartlek'd?

One day you won't be able to do this.  Today is not that day.

Your feet are hurting 'cause you're kicking butt.

Because 26.3 would be crazy.

Don't worry, you're only half crazy (seen at a half marathon).

You should have pooped when you had the chance.

Run like you stole something.

Mortuary ahead---look alive.

If it was easy, I would do it.

Don't stop---people are watching.

You're a better running mate than Palin.

Beat Oprah.

Run Forrest Run!!

Phidippides almost died at this point in his race.

That's not sweat, it's your fat cells crying.

The Accidental Athlete

     I just finished John "The Penguin" Bingham's newest book:  The Accidental Athlete.  It is autobiographical. There were a couple of quotes that I found inspirational and want to share with you.

"This is a self-guided tour through one life, my life, and I hope that you will see yourself somewhere in my struggle to become an athlete."

"You are your best training partner, your best coach, your harshest critic, and your biggest fan.  You are both the player and the cheerleader in your life."

"The late George Sheehan wrote that we are all an experiment of one.  That's true.  But we are also an experiment of one within a community of thousands of experiments."

"Your body is a marvelous machine and you are your own mechanic."

Would you like some McStatins with that?

     The floor repair people were here for 12 hours yesterday, with the extremely loud sander going for at least half that time, dust everywhere, and me confined to the family room, office, or basement.  It was frustrating.  But camping out overnight went okay.  Dean took the couch, I took the floor and we slept fine.  Luckily, today will be warm as they put down the first coat of polyurethane.  I can open a window later to release some of the fumes.  The rest of the week, though, will be cold and snowy so no windows can be opened.  I may be relegated to the basement.
     Our daughter's cat, who we are caring for while Kate is in Great Britain, was upset by all the commotion and has been even pukier than usual.
     If I wasn't so lacking in trust I would just leave the house unlocked, let them do their thing, and  be gone for the day everyday.  I don't like strangers in the house alone, though, as we have been burned by that in the past.  Things were stolen.

     A couple of weeks ago I read the new book, "The End of Illness" by Dr. David B. Agus, an oncologist and researcher.  I didn't review it at the time as I didn't find it very helpful, although he did theorize about what form medical care in the future would take, which was mildly interesting.  Also, he proposed the controversial idea that possibly everyone over the age of forty should take statins to reduce chances of inflammation and cancer. I thought that was a terrible idea.
     Then,  there was an article in "The American Journal of Cardiology" with a Dr. proposing that fast food restaurants dispense free cholesterol-lowering meds along with cheeseburgers and fries to offset their harmful health effects.  http://www.advancednaturalmedicine.com/heart-health/do-you-want-mcstatins-with-that.html
     Today there was new information out about the adverse effects of statins.  They may cause cognitive changes or brain fuzziness.  http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/05/help-for-the-heart-comes-with-a-price-for-the-brain/
     The FDA changed their safety warnings for statins.  Periodic liver function testings are no longer necessary.  They do add warnings about possible increased blood sugars and memory loss in some people. http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/fda-changes-safety-information-on-statin-drugs-201202294429
     Doesn't all this seem terribly unnecessary?  If everyone just ate right, no statins would be required, at least for most people.

     The brain fuzziness is also a known side effect of chemotherapy.  A lot of the time Dean mentions that he just feels fuzzy, and that he can't express the feeling any better than that.  It is sometimes called "chemo-brain."  For most people, the effects last for only a short period of time, fortunately.

Happy Monday.

We are having our floors refinished this week after having a water leak a few weeks ago. We "get to" camp out in our basement and family room for four days while this is being done.  This should prove to be interesting!  How much cooking can I do in an old microwave in the basement?

Be a "get to" not a "got to" person.  Each day can be an opportunity, if you see it (seize it) that way.  
                                                  Josh Cox, from Runnersworld.com

March, the month of winds.

     We had a busy weekend.  We got to see our nephew play Rugby, and it was a great game.  We still haven't quite figured out all the rules, yet, though. Way to go Mike (number 20)!

   
     Then on Sunday we went to the Waterton Canyon Trail, which has been closed for many months and just reopened on March 1.  It was a beautiful day for a change, although still windy.  We can't wait for spring but days like this remind us that it will be coming soon.

   

Kharma

Lost, one man's gold wedding band, which fell off, unnoticed.
Found, one man's gold wedding band, had fallen into gym bag.
     (We're lucky, and now Dean will have his ring resized)

                           

  On Febr. 27 I blogged about a research study being planned at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston in which breast cancer patients will be treated with diet, exercise, stress management and social engagement, along with their allopathic treatments.  This study is being sponsored by the David Servan-Schreiber Foundation.  Back to that in a minute.
     This isn't the first research done using diet and exercise on cancer patients.  Dr. Dean Ornish did preliminary studies several years ago which showed that a low fat, vegan diet and exercise lowered PSA levels in prostate cancer patients. There have been many other similar studies..
     Back to Dr. Servan-Schreiber.  In reading about the breast cancer study and his foundation, I learned of his death last July.  Dr.  Servan-Schreiber had brain cancer which was supposedly immediately terminal, yet he lived for almost 20 years using diet, exercise, meditation, and other alternative treatments along with his conventional treatments of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.  He wrote a great book called "Anti Cancer, A New Way of Life," which I have read in the past and just re-read.  The section on anti-cancer foods is very enlightening. He discusses his fight against cancer in this book.
     He was one of the founders of the U.S. branch of "Medicine without Borders," an International organization that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999.

Exercise today because:

"The Hunger Games" was a good book series.  We enjoyed all three books, and plan on seeing the movies.



Unfortunately, we still fall more towards the 14 minute/mile speed.





Have a fantastic weekend.
Hooray--Today is an off-chemo Friday for Dean, but he does have to go have his labwork drawn to see how low his counts have gone. Fingers crossed.