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And then the oncology nurse said:
“Okay, now we’re at the part where you sit and listen to the lecture, where I tell you what a terrible risk you’re taking, what with the condition you have. You have a depressed immune system, and any little cut you might get could have really serious ramifications”.
Okay, we’re all an experiment of one, and you should take everything I say in the context that I’m willing to try more extreme experiments on myself than most people. One example is the time that I ruptured my Achilles tendon. I had it surgically repaired, and was told that there could be no running for 6 months. I’d started to train for the 2014 NYC marathon, which was 5 months away. You can do the math.
Still, I resolved to complete the race at a fast walk (there were reasons). They said I couldn’t run the race, but they never said I couldn’t walk it! The surgeon shook his head when I told him about my plan. He said that no one had ever asked him if they could do a marathon 5 months (to the day) after Achilles repair. He said OK, but I needed to stop if it started to hurt. Deal. Done. Another NYC marathon in the books.
So now I’m undertaking this project of training for a marathon while fixing this new little problem that I have (lymphoma). That’s probably radical enough, but I’ve also gotten into the habit of barefoot running over the years. That deserves a little background.