Member-only story
Okay, marathon training and chemo are not exactly the same. But they’re similar!
How? For starters, it takes 5 or 6 months to train for a marathon. My chemo will also take just about that same amount of time. The fact that I’m doing both of these at the same time is a bonus.
Both pursuits involve temporary discomfort in pursuit of a larger goal. I don’t wear headphones when I run, so I have plenty of time to think about things during a 4-hour training run, and here’s a recurring thought: One of the ironies of a 20-mile run is that you usually feel awful at some point, and the exercise pretty much wrecks the rest of your day. All this pain in the pursuit of happiness…
Chemo has similar discomforts, of course. Weakness, nausea, headaches, and neurological side effects are part of the deal. But a September day is coming when I’ll walk out of the “infusion suite” (that’s what they call the chemo ward nowadays) for the last time. I’ll get a scan that shows everything is clear, and I get on with my life, and this becomes another story to tell.
About 6 weeks after that, I’ll line up on the Verrazano Narrows bridge on Staten Island with 50,000 beautiful people and I’ll start running. I won’t stop until I get to the Tavern on the Green in Central Park.
I can already see both of these days, as clear as day. I can hear the cannon on the bridge and I can hear myself thanking the nurses on the suite on my way out (they’re great). Chemo and marathon training are both extended projects that involve a little discomfort and a clear-cut plan.
And both of these efforts are worth the effort.