Article by David Haas re: exercise vs cancer

Fighting The Cancer Battle With Physical Fitness

Coping with cancer symptoms, and the side effects of cancer treatment, creates tremendous stress for cancer patients and their families and caregivers. Physical fitness provides amazing benefits for everyone affected by cancer.

But cancer patients, the men and women doing firsthand battle with an ugly disease, can benefit most from a fitness program. Whether they were just diagnosed with cancer, going through cancer treatment, or currently in remission, cancer patients should consider exercise in their treatment and recovery programs.

Years ago, most cancer patients were encouraged to rest and to limit their physical activities. This is still good medical advice, if physical movement causes pain, a rapid heart rate, or breathing difficulties. But research indicates that exercise is safe for most cancer patients. In fact, it can improve physical functioning, speed the recovery process, and generally perk up life.

Exercise Supports Cancer Patients In Many Ways

According to the American Cancer Society, exercise supports cancer treatment in numerous ways Regular exercise improves a cancer patient’s physical abilities and makes them less dependent on others. Physical fitness builds muscle, improves blood flow, builds stronger bones, and lowers the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Exercise helps cancer patients deal with the side effects of radiation, chemotherapy, and other cancer treatments. It lessens nausea and fatigue, improves appetite, and lowers the risk of depression and anxiety. Best of all, physical fitness boosts self-esteem and improves outlook, both of which are important to the recovery process.

Most Patients Can Exercise, Pending Doctor Approval

Many cancer patients wonder what kinds of exercise they can engage in, during the cancer treatment phase and into recovery. The experts recommend three main types of exercise: stretching and flexibility movements, aerobic exercise, and strength or resistance training. The best fitness program depends on numerous factors, including the cancer type, cancer stage, and treatment plan.

For example, weight lifting is not recommended for breast cancer patients, particularly after breast cancer surgery. And vigorous aerobic activity is impossible for asbestos cancer patients, who should talk to their mesothelioma doctor about exercise during treatment.

Most cancer patients can start a fitness program immediately after diagnosis, even if they were not active before. In fact, patients who were sedentary before cancer will derive tremendous benefits from exercise during cancer treatment and recovery. Doctor approval is important with any fitness program, and patients should start slowly and increase their workouts as their fitness level improves.

Article by Davis Haas

Bat Mitzvah

I was able to squeeze a run in after Valerie's volleyball game and before it was completely dark.  I ran/walked 3.34 miles in under 40 minutes.  Runkeeper clocked my miles at 12:22, 10:22, 11:52.  I felt like I was moving quite a bit faster in the first mile and I'm certain the mile 1 alert was at least .1 if not .2 miles off the actual distance, so that may account for some of the time discrepancy.

Val and I attended our first Bat Mitzvah this weekend.  Val's friend, Samantha, did an incredible job.  I can't imagine how much study and practice was required for preparation, quite a lot!  Congratulations, Sam!  I thought the service was fascinating and very well done.  And I was teaing up through much of it.  I was so proud of her.

I had a little trouble with the eating plan on Saturday because we had lunch served after the Mat Mitzvah service and it was certainly not low-carb based.  I would have LOVED the spred if I could have had all those carbs, though. Darn!  I somehow got out of there with 5 carbs left for the rest of the day, so it was a tough afternoon and evening.  I ended up just 3 carbs over budget by the end of the night, which is pretty good considering where I was at 1pm.

I'm on day 8 of the low carb diet and doing fine.  I'm down 4 pounds.  It's funny how I don't crave bread at all, but I really want to be able to eat more nuts and have wine with cheese and crackers.  Not yet.  I'll get through induction and then get those back into the diet in a few weeks.  I don't want to blow the diet head-start process I'm going through now.  This is not the type of diet that can be cheated.  It's all in or don't do it at all.  Just watching carbs doesn't have the impact I'm looking for right now.  I'll get to the "just watching carbs" stage later, though.

And then we'll have a wine and cheese and cracker party!

Feeling good about progress

Day 5 on the low carb diet.  I forgot to weigh in this morning, but I'm guessing I'm down a total of 3 pounds from Monday.  Yes, I know most of it is water.  But it's long-term water loss, it doesn't come back the next day.  And I feel like I'm making progress.

I love my carb manager iPhone app!  It has given me the information I needed to alter my previous low carb plan into something more healthy - and it should be more effective, too.  With less fat and more fiber, I should find it easier to drop these extra pounds.  This week, I've eaten limited quantities of raspberries, blackberries, cucumbers, V8, and tomatoes and quite a bit of lean meat, romaine and spinach salad.  I've also had less healthy things like cheese, nuts, steak, protein drinks, eggs and cottage cheese.  The balance in the food choices is a major improvement from my meat, cheese, and eggs focus during my 2004 low carb diet.  I had no idea how many calories I was getting from fat!  That couldn't have been good.  I hope the new plan is at least effective as before.

I did get that run in yesterday.  Runkeeper tracked me at 3.11 miles in 38:23.  That's sad if you know I ran that distance in under 30 minutes in May this year.  Ouch.  Oh well.  I haven't run much since May, probably just once a week or so.  These are the consequences.

Although I didn't plan to run today, the weather was just too perfect and I found myself at home alone for much of the evening.  So I laced up my shoes and headed out.  It felt pretty good to put in 5 miles in 60 minutes.  I walked most of the first mile to loosen up.  My mile splits were negative, so I must have gotten the hang of it out there.  Miles 2-5 were executed with a 2 minute run to 1 minute walk ratio.  Runkeeper clocked my splits at 16:14, 12:05, 11:45, 10:42, and 9:48.

Let's try this again

Wow, it's been such a long time since I updated this blog! I had to really think to remember my password.

I have no excuses, really. Just the usual busy summer things as well as too much going on at work. To be honest, I've also been having serious motivation issues with running. My fitness plan in early July lasted a little over a week and then crashed and burned. It must have been more of an idea than a plan since it didn't stick.

I'm slowly getting back into it now. It's amazing what a few months of running just once a week can do to my endurance! Bye, bye half marathon distance! Hello run/walk 3-5 miles at a time.

A lot has happened over the summer, so I won't even try to catch you up on all the happenings. I will share that I replaced my Blackberry with an iPhone 4, though. I don't know how I lived without the great apps, web browsing, and video support. I'm using a Runkeeper application to track and post my infrequent runs. Although I highly recommend the application, it has not always been accurate. If you want accuracy virtually all the time, stick with the Garmin watch.

My last few runs were 3.19 miles on 8/17, 3.39 on 8/26, 5.04 on 8/31, 3.5 on 9/4, and 3.02 on 9/5. I hope to add a run this afternoon/evening and I'll probably get soggy in the process since rain is expected all day. I'm also doing yoga once or twice a week.

In addition to trying to exercise more often, I've started a low carb diet again. The low carb approach has worked wonders for me in the past, but that was pre-cancer. Since my breast cancer surgery, I've been reluctant to use the low carb diet again because I didn't implement it in a very healthy way. However, I recently did some research and learned how to use the low carb approach while being more nutritionally sound. I also got an iPhone app (Carb Manager for 2.99) that helps me track my progress. The Carb Manager app focuses on tracking carbs, protein, and fat, however, it also tracks and graphs more comprehensive nutrition details compared to USDA daily recommended intake (vitamins, minerals, calories, sugar, etc.). Now that I know my daily fat/protein ratio, I have drastically changed my eating habits. I had no idea eggs were so fatty! Anyway, I'm down 2 pounds in just a few days and plan to keep it up for at least 2 weeks. At that point, I'll decide whether to extend the accelerated weight loss or slow it down by slowly adding the good carbs back into my diet.

Since I haven't been running as often, I'm behind on all my running and HR technology podcasts. The bright spot in this is that I'll have new-to-me episodes to listen to on all my runs for quite a while.

Unplugged and a new plan

We just got back from a week unplugged. My family went to the semi-wilderness in Canada and had no mobile phones or access to email. It took a few days to get used to it, but was nice to slow down a bit. I'll admit that Ken, Val, and I turned on our phones immediately after crossing the border back into the States on Saturday, though. It took awhile for my Blackberry to sync all the emails and tweets and facebook updates I missed.

In the Canada wilderness, the evil biting flies kept me from running during vacation. A few hours of kayaking was the extent of my exercise, so I'm really itching to get moving again. Truth be told, I haven't exercised much since I completed my Trifecta of running events this Spring, so I'm well past due.

I ran this morning and logged 3 miles slow (~11:30 pace with 3:1 run/walk intervals). Then I walked another 1.36 miles to spend a total of 60 minutes to demonstrate (to myself) my commitment to my new training plan. Actually, it's not a training plan. Just a fitness commitment to help me with motivation and keep me interested.

While running, I listened to a Steverunner intervals episode about his fascination with all things involving endurance. He can collect pennies for 40 years and feel a sense of accomplishment for filling a 5 gallon glass water container. I think that shows amazing tenacity and stamina, as does running marathons. What's even more impressive to me is that he has committed to running for so many years; running as a primary exercise activity.

I'm not very good at maintaining. I'm a vision, ideas, passion, and action kind of person who craves change. I get bored and need to mix it up a bit to keep interested and motivated.

After my trifecta, I got burnt out with running so now I'm going to try to expand my training to include strength and flexibility training along with running. I also want to be more consistent with exercise.

So my new plan is to try to find an hour per day every day of the week for my workout. With just an hour, I won't be engaging in the longer runs. I'll just run/walk/run an hour 3 days a week. I'll also spend an hour 2 days a week on yoga and an hour 2 days a week on core/arms strength training.

I hope I can make this plan stick for awhile. I have such a crazy schedule with work and the kids' sports schedules. I know making time for me is critical, though. Send me some of those perseverance vibes.

Trifecta reflection

Whew!  School's finally out and all those Spring events are now fond memories.  Among them is my Spring 2011 trifecta.  I thought it sounded like a great idea to train for 3 events at once.  The very opitimy of multi-tasking: 3 running events in 3 weeks.  And this from someone who usually does 3 events in a year. 

The Poco Loco started the madness in me.  Initially I thought this was a 4 mile run and then learned it was a 13.1 mile run.  Hmmmm.  Well, I figured I would have to train for it, but it would be worth traveling to Boston and meeting Adam, Eddie, and Steve who have accompanied me for miles and miles of training via podcast. The event also introduced me to other podcasters and bloggers, all of whom I now follow on blog, twitter, and/or facebook.  Shortly after returning from Boston, I wrote about these wonderful people.

The Poco Loco event was very laid back.  I'm not sure how long it took us to run the 13+ miles, but I know it was more than 3.5 hours.  We stopped frequently to ensure we didn't get too spread out and to switch up who was running with who.  We ran in a large group the first 3 miles or so and then split into fast, medium, and slower groups.  I was usually in a medium group but ran beside different people after each stop.  It was a wonderful new experience to run with a group and talk and such.  I'm usually silent while I listen to the voices through my earphones.  Running and talking requires slowing down a bit and more breath control.

Event #2 was a week later at home, in Columbus Ohio, where I ran the Capital City Half Marathon in 2 hours and 24 minutes, almost a full 5 minutes faster than I ran the event in 2008 (before breast cancer).  I was thrilled with the accomplishment!

Before the race, I was standing in the 2:15-2:29 corral and having dillusions of grandeur.

This is great. I've been here before.  I can do this.  I may even stick with the pace person and do a 2:20.  I'm in shape.  I'm faster than last time.

Oooo, and when I'm done with this race I will have done a full marathon if I add last week's half to this week's half.  I wonder if I could put it all together and do the full marathon in October.  I'll bet I could.  Especially if I used my new gymboss to run-walk-run the race. 

Yes, that's it, I'll knock out this race, do the Race for the Cure next week, and then just keep training at this level and do the full marathon. It will be amazing!

At mile 8, the 2:20 pace person passed me and kept pulling away.  At that point, I was somewhere totally different in my self-talk.

She isn't walking much through those water stops like she promised.  She must be going too fast.  Why can't I keep up with her?  I've been in front of her for more than half the race.  Grrrrrr.  Damn, this is hard.  I really need to find a portapotty soon.  Why did I think I could ever do a marathon.  That's crazy.  How am I even going to finish this race?

Between miles 8 and 13, I struggled and did a lot more walking than I wanted.  To compensate, I ran faster than I should have, too.  It was not a race run strategically.  It was a pure "hold on to the end" type of event.  but it was great to come in with a new PR. 

The last event in my trifecta was the Race for the Cure 5K.  I ran this with my daughter and she kicked my butt big time. I beat her by 10 minutes last year and she beat me by 1:17 this year.  I didn't see her the whole last mile.  I was very proud of her run and mine too. In 2008, I ran the race in under 30 minutes, but didn't have a chip and so I had no official time.  This year, I got the official sub-30 time: 29:53. 

Since the wildly successful completion of the trifecta, I have been wildly unsuccessful at keeping my training going.  I had a week or two during which I didn't run at all because of an issue with my right hip flexor and IT band.  Typically, though, I've run about twice a week for about 3 miles each run.  My 5Ks have been about 32 or 33 minutes.  On 5/31, I went crazy and did a 4 miler in 45:35.  I've been playing softball, volleyball, and mowing the lawn to supplement the lack of running.  But it's just not nearly the same level of exercise.

It's time to get back on the road.  I've missed it.  The music is calling me now.  Maybe I'll listen to music for a few runs and then catch up with my podcasts.

Need to mix it up now

I haven't run since my 5K personal record on Sunday.  However, I played competitive volleyball on Sunday night.  Neither of those activities gave me a hint that I was injured.  Evidently I am.  Or something crazy is going on with my right hip flexor and IT band.   

We had a significant rain storm all day today so I went to RPAC (OSU's Recreation and Physical Activities Center) to run on the track that got me through my winter training.  I felt fine climbing the 4 flights of stairs to the track, but on the first step I knew I was in trouble.  I tried running a lap (1/8 mile) to loosen up, but I was limping badly.  So I stopped and stretched for about 10 minutes, focusing on hip flexor, IT band, and lower back.  I also did lunges.  My second running attempt wasn't any better.  So I got on a stationary bike located inside the track.

I have friends and family who think it's crazy that I can run half marathons but completely refuse to do any activity involving a cycle.  I know it's great cross training.  And I know most people think cycling is much easier than running.  I don't. 

I pedaled 2 miles in 11:20.  That's sad, I know: Many people can run that distance faster than I can cycle it.  At just 5 minutes, sweat was already pouring off me.  After the tortuous 2 miles, I went back to the track to try to run again.  No dice. So I walked a mile. Then I did the 2 miles on the bike again.  And another mile walk.

I finished up the workout in the weight room. I spent 30 minutes on arms, chest, abs, and back.  No leg work, though. 

After my crazy trifecta of running events (2 half marathons and a 5K in 3 weeks), I've been thinking I need to mix it up a little and add some other activities to my training.  I guess this injury forced the issue today. 

I should have hit the pool, but I was already in running clothes and it's been so long since I swam.  Since the bilateral mastectomy, swimming is so much different than before.  I used to be a pretty good swimmer and had a lot of upper-body strength.  Now it's tough to do even my favorite stroke, breaststroke.  Butterfly is impossible (not that I could do it well before the surgery, though).  I even get tired pretty quickly with freestyle and can't keep a straight line during backstroke.  I guess all those excuses should be reasons for starting to swim again instead of excuses not to do so.  Maybe.  Then there is the embarrassment of putting a flabby belly in a swim suit.  Oh yea, I guess that's another reason that is masquerading as an excuse.  Drats.