Back on my game!

I am 5 weeks post-radiation and have been on Tamoxifen for 2 weeks. It took a couple of weeks after radiation to get my energy back. I realized how tired I felt during the radiation once I started to feel back on my game. My appetite has improved, I now feel hungry, but my weight is still pretty light (I am 10 or so pounds down from pre-cancer weight). I am working on packing in the calories and getting in a solid recovery drink and then meal after longer workouts. I do not want to get any lighter….. I managed to train through my radiation, long slow efforts, and I do believe that I came out of it with a really solid base. I competed in IM St. Croix 10-days post radiation and was very pleased with my effort. I had no idea what to expect, but I went into the race looking at it as a training day and if I had to stop, I would. The swim went very well (4th in AG out of the water), the bike was tough with rain and slick roads, but I just kept my pace under control—made it up the Beast! The run was what I was worried about the most as my longest training runs topped out at 9 miles. We were very lucky that the sun was not out—it was hot and humid, but not too bad. I had a great first 6 miles and then felt a little wobbly, so I just walked the hills and was okay. I was hoping to come in around 6:00 and ended up coming in at 6:11:31, 9th in the AG. All-in-all it was a great day-- I was just happy to be out there competing. My recovery went well from SC and next up was the FS 100 with two of my clients/tri for hospice teammates (Dina was 2nd over all female and Becky won her age group!). As with SC, this race was a training day for us in prep for IM NYC (August 11th). The race was in Washington, NC (very flat) and consisted of a 2 mile swim, 88 mile bike and 10 mile run. Again, I just took it easy and felt even better this day. I ended up the 3rd overall women with a 7:09:19 (57:16 swim, 4:41:09 bike, 1:27:53 run). Feel like my old self again…… Now to get used to the Tamoxifen….. I have heard from other triathletes who have taken it during training and racing and most do not experience any major side effects. I did find out that it is on the USADA (US anti-doping agency) list of banned substances, which is very interesting—need to mention that to my Doc! I have been getting some night sweats which interrupts my sleep, which makes me a bit tired during the day—also have been having a dull headache…. I have an appointment with my oncologist tomorrow to go over some blood work (taken last week) and discuss the Tamoxifen. I hope that these side-effects are just temporary. I continue to feel very lucky with my diagnosis and treatment and feel very fortunate to be able to continue to do what I enjoy so much….. My Tri for Hospice teammates, Becky, Phil & Dina, and I are off for a 120 mile ride this Sunday and I will enjoy every minute of it—because I can…..