NYC Marathon Recap

By Steve | Published: November 7, 2017

I don’t want to bore people with a long winded race recap. But I do want to say THANK YOU for everyone’s well wishes and congratulations at the NYC Marathon. As some of you know, I went into this one with a small health blip on the radar which was being treated and monitored. I can happily say that this blip had zero impact on my day or how I felt. I felt strong. I felt “normal”. And today, I’m almost ready to run again. Almost. Below are just a few brief lessons and observations from this year’s race.

  1. I have the most loving and supportive family on the planet.
  2. I also have an amazing supporting cast of friends and I value and appreciate every one of you.
  3. The NYC Marathon is an incredible event  that should be experienced at least once (or seven times).
  4. Not even an all-day drizzle can dampen the excitement and spirit of the Five Boroughs.
  5. Racing for causes bigger than yourself is gratifying beyond words.
  6. Not all New York City spectating residents appreciate the value of a rousing Philadelphia E-A-G-L-E-S cheer.
  7. Anytime you see an aid station offering leg massages with Icy Hot and The Stick… GET IN LINE without hesitation. It’s worth the few extra minutes.
  8. Even Budweiser is refreshing at mile 17. Thank you whoever you were.
  9. While I’m a firm believer that virtually anybody can do virtually anything they put their mind to, I strongly discourage anyone from running a marathon with a long training run of 8 miles. It hurts.
  10. Take a few seconds to high five some spectators along the way, especially the little ones. They will remember it much longer than you will.
  11. And if one of those little spectators offers you a piece of their Halloween candy – take it.
  12. See #1
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The Color of My Shirt

By Steve | Published: October 31, 2017

So, I’ll share this….

One of the hassles about living with a chronic form of leukemia is that it’s always there. It may lie quietly in remission showing no clinical evidence of being there…. but it is there.  You may feel strong and fit and like your old pre-cancerous self, but the monster is in there…lurking.

This time last year I was finishing up my 4th and last round of chemo in response to a relapse that had gained momentum over the better part of 2016.  I assumed that after 4 rounds of some hard core drugs, that we wouldn’t be thinking about this for a little while. Or a long while. Yet last week I found myself sitting in the office of my favorite oncolodoc talking about the fact that my lymph nodes are again swelling and I’m having difficulty swallowing. The good news is that my blood work is great. But we now need to go through the exercise of conducting some additional testing to figure out what the rest of my lymphatic system looks like and to determine if any additional treatments step might be needed.

So 75% of me is excited to race the NYC marathon this weekend. But there’s a piece of me that’s a little bummed that we are having these conversations again. I had a CT scan last Friday and am seeing an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist tomorrow for more talking and probing. I’ll keep ya’ll posted when I get some of these results. In the meantime, NYC… here I come for the 7th time. (and 27th marathon overall).

I have cancer. It doesn’t have me and it never will.

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The Courage to Succeed

By Steve | Published: October 18, 2017

How do you define success in a race? For some, success equals winning. But “winning” itself may also take on different meanings for different people. Does finishing with a PR define your success? Or does simply finishing the race determine that your day was successful? Such that your finisher medal is your living proof of a successful day. Then by default does that mean that a result which is anything short of your determined point of success, is a failure? Maybe. I personally don’t believe that to be the case but a lot of that depends on one’s perspective and expectations. No matter what the result I try not to consider any race a failure.

The reality is that success isn’t a fixed measure of outcome. In 30 years of racing, I’ve defined success a number of different ways. When you first start out I think the measure of success for many people is simply to finish what you started. Crossing the finish line as an official finisher means your day was successful. As you gain a little more experience your point of success may then become besting your previous time. With a little more experience, maybe that success point becomes to finish in the middle of the pack, or the top third, or top 10, or to place in your age group. The definition of success changes over time.

Apost mirror lakeI’ve also defined success a number of different ways in any given race.  I may register for a race with a goal of finishing in the top 3 of my age group. But as we all know, despite our best efforts and plans, things don’t always go our way.  And Mother Nature isn’t always our friend. Any number of things can unravel and prevent you from reaching your original “success” goal. So then what? That’s a simple answer. Give yourself a tiered if-then series of success points  in a race. Missing the mark on your initial target goal doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Be open to having a “Plan B” that you can quickly adjust to while remaining positive.  And if Plan B implodes, you move on to Plan C. And you do so with optimism and positivity and do whatever it takes to get across that finish line.

Apost medalsBut what if you run out of plans? What if you exhaust your arsenal of fail-safes and do everything in your power to succeed and in spite of all of that are forced to end your day early?  That’s a tough pill to swallow. I’m speaking from experience and I’ve choked on that pill a few times. The first reaction is to hang your head and curl up into a fetal position and reflect (obsess) on all of the things that went wrong. But the reality is, even with a DNF, a lot of things go right. So, sure, maybe you need to go dark for a brief period to fully reconcile any emotional or physical bruising. But keep that period brief, very brief. Pick yourself up, assess your day, make any necessary adjustments, and move on.

Celebrate the fact that you had the motivation to commit, the courage to start, and have the ability to try again another day.

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Sunsets

By Steve | Published: October 18, 2017

The thing about racing sunsets is that in time the sunset will ultimately always win. In spite of our best efforts, and all the hope and belief we can muster, the sunset is going to win. But if we’re lucky, that sun can set with breathtaking beauty. The key is being able to enjoy that beauty while in the middle of the race’s chaotic intensity. The key is to find that balance. The key is to find that quiet. The key is to find calm. The key is to develop keen senses of both resilience and appreciation.  And with that, we not only get to run our race, and appreciate that sunset, but we also get to witness the rising of a new sun. Bringing a new day. And bringing a new race.

(The motivation behind this post came from the book Racing the Sunset by my buddy Scott Tinley)

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Blood Cancer Heroes

By Steve | Published: October 12, 2017

Check out this video on some of the ground breaking blood cancer advancements coming out of Penn Medicine. Dr. David Porter is one of my docs and I’m grateful to be associated with this organization. Watch Dr. Carl June talk about his unprecedented immunotherapy treatment which received FDA approval in August. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society invested more than $20 million in Dr. June’s research which pioneered this treatment.

Click to watch.

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Carpal Tunnel Surgery – All Clear!

By Steve | Published: October 4, 2017

Hey gang! I had my post surgery check up with my hand surgeon yesterday and everything looked perfect. He told me that he had no issues whatsoever during surgery and was confident that all carpal tunnel pressure should now be relieved. Woo hoo! He removed the stitches and set me free. Now I just have to wait for full strength and nerve function to return, and that should be fast.

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Glass More Than Half Full

By Steve | Published: September 25, 2017

I was being a little more reflective than usual on my run the other day. During that reflection I realized that I’ve had a fair share of little bugs that needed repair over the last 14 months. Some bugs were smaller than others, and some perhaps not that small at all in comparison. As I tallied the list, it looked something like this beginning in July 2016:

  • IV chest port inserted
  • Commence four rounds of chemotherapy
  • Carpal tunnel release surgery of the left hand
  • IV chest port removed
  • Repair of torn meniscus of the left knee
  • Carpal tunnel release surgery of right hand

It looks like a lot when you write it all down. And I suppose maybe it is. But then again, who defines “a lot”? Over these past 14 months, while I’ve certainly had a few more trips to specialists than I would care for, I can honestly say that the results have all been favorable and the experiences have all been very positive with minimal interruption of daily living.  I healed, repaired, and became a stronger body as a result of everything that was done.

Now, here is the real eye opener. Part of my reflection was to also inventory the number of things I’ve been able to accomplish during those 14 months of assorted and miscellaneous surgeries and treatments. I knew that I had scaled back my racing over that time frame. I hadn’t raced as frequently, and I hadn’t raced as long. But as I tallied that list, over those same 14 months, it looked like this:

  • Four 5Ks
  • Two half marathons
  • One ten miler
  • Two sprint triathlons
  • One Olympic distance aqua bike
  • One stair climb

So, while it’s true that I put health first and cut back on a few races during those 14 months, it’s also true that I remained pretty darn active during that time. Which I might not have realized had I not stopped and counted. And buried within those races was a 1st place and a 2nd place age group finish. Add to that some volunteerism and coaching and I would say I had a pretty rich 14 months.

So I guess the message here is quite simple. While it’s easy to get sucked down the drain by all of the things that appear to be limiters in your life, taking full and deliberate notice of all of the things that are going right in your life can keep your ship sailing and your perspective properly aligned.

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Dear Younger Steve

By Steve | Published: September 21, 2017

A few messages I’d like to relay back to my much younger self. I have a feeling some may be pretty universal…

  1. There is no always and there is no never
  2. Nobody owes you a thing
  3. Take that risk and don’t be afraid to fall flat on your face
  4. Be respectful of everyone around you as you never know what your relationship may be with them someday
  5. If you don’t know, others probably don’t know either so ask the questions
  6. You probably aren’t as good or as bad as you may perceive yourself to be
  7. Everything in life is cyclical
  8. Learn a foreign language other than snark
  9. Every single human encounter has purpose
  10. Your puzzle piece is important but it’s a piece of something much bigger
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Carpal Tunnel Take 2

By Steve | Published: September 21, 2017

So here’s a funny little story… you might recall that I had carpal tunnel release surgery on my left hand back in December. Well, my right hand apparently has gotten very jealous and wants in on the action. I’m not surprised as I knew both hands had very similar test results. So, long story short – I’m scheduled to have the right hand done on Tuesday 9/26. The pain has been pretty severe for about a week and I have no feeling in my middle finger. I think recovery for this one will be a little quicker because there appears to be a little less nerve damage. The same surgeon, Dr. David Zelouf will do the honors. This will make three surgeries in 9 months (2 carpal tunnel release and 1 knee meniscectomy).

I should be good as new for the New York City marathon.   Stay tuned!

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IM Lake Placid 70.3 Recap

By Steve | Published: September 15, 2017

Greetings!

I went a little dark immediately following the Lake Placid race but thought it was appropriate to share a quick update of my race with you. First of all – I’m ok. But I did have a disappointing day. The cold water temps and even colder air temps at the start presented a lot of problems for me with both muscle spasms in the low back and presented the perfect formula to trigger my condition induced asthma. That asthma thing doesn’t present itself often but when it does, it can be very problematic with breathing. Feeling those symptoms in the water forced me to stop often to try and breathe. Translation = missed the swim cut off by 2 minutes.

As I exited the water to a road block of orange cones and hearing the words “I’m sorry, your day ends here”, I was in a pretty bad emotional place. I made my way to the warming tent for a little bit not because I was cold, but more because I needed a place to privately “lose my stuff” before regrouping with my family who were eagerly awaiting my swim finish.

14498876-BE14-44F5-94CA-CBFD44717266Even after 30 years of racing, these things still sting. HOWEVER….., we all know that stuff happens. And the stuff doesn’t define us as much as our reaction to it. The rest of the day and next several days proved to be very memorable as we thoroughly enjoyed Lake Placid with our kids and grand kids. Including a hike of Mt. Jo and a visit to a couple of breweries. We created some more amazing memories in the gorgeous town of LP. And for that, I am very grateful.

If any of your are racing IMAC 70.3 this weekend, I will be running the 1st run aid station coming out of transition. I’ll wear a Team IMF cap, so yell hi on your way through. Next up for me is NYC marathon.

It was a pleasure connecting with some of you and an honor to represent the Ironman Foundation. Congratulations to all finishers. THANK YOU to all volunteers and supporters, and Peace to all.

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"Be the change you wish to see in the world " - Gandhi
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