The Invasion of My Body - Part 2

On May 14, I had my follow-up appointment. What I thought was going to be a biopsy, turned into another mammogram. This one was going to be centered on the spots only. Wait spots, what the heck do you mean spots. The rad tech informed me the first mammogram indicated 3 spots, 1 on the right and 2 in the left breast. Now I'm concerned because I'm looking at the X-ray film and I can see the spots before she points them out. That film made them look extra large. All I could think of is do I really want to be a C cup and buy new bras or stay a B cup, just get my girls more firm. I know, a strange thing to think about while staring at lumps in my breast.

This mammogram was a lot more painful because two of the spots were located near the wall of my chest. It took a lot of maneuvering to get my breast in the correct position. Needless to say I was irritated during the whole process. The tech kept saying she was sorry. By the way, if you know you will be talking directly in patients' faces, and you drink coffee, it should be mandatory to use breath mints. Finally, after an hour, it was over. She said stay here while I make sure the film is correct. It had better be correct and it was. The doctor comes in about 15 minutes later and said everything was fine. Cool I thought, I just need to cut back on the caffeine in take.

Well cool until I talked to my sister Crystal. She strongly suggested to me that I needed biopsies because of our family history of breast cancer. My sister, 2 cousins and an aunt. Not to discount my dad had prostate cancer that spreaded through his whole body. So I made my third breast appointment, but this time with a breast surgeon. I'm really getting tired of them playing with my girls.

The Invasion of My Body - Part 1

Some how I knew before they found it. I had a prophetic dream several months ago. April 2, I went for my annual mammogram, annual rape session as I call it along with my annual pap smear. Something was different during this exam, it hurt more than normal.

One week later, the letter came in the mail. I started not to open it because I assumed it was the same as last year. I open it, speed reading through what I thought was a normal paragraph. But the part about further testing stopped my eyes. Okay, did I read that correctly. So I read it again. My honest reaction, aww hell. Not the cutting of my body again. The last time I had a lump was in 1998, a benign lump.

My reaction led me to call my prayer sister Felicia. I said look, they found something during my mammo screening so let's pray to God that its nothing because I'm really enjoying my life. I don't want anything to interfere with my running. Plus I don't have time to keep going to doctor appointments, I finally have my natural hair acting accordingly, no need for chemo. But....if this my destiny, then the breast is coming off, I'm getting a tummy tuck so I can use the fat from stomach to increase my breast to a C cup. Then I can bring bra tops back in style for the 50 and over ladies. Of course Felicia laughs and calls me a fool.

Then I texted my girl Mae, she always provides me with some hidden spiritual knowledge. She said don't stress, we'll go to the doctor together, then afterwards out to eat. We always have great conversations over food and drinks. My most memorable is the first time she saw me actually drink some alcohol. Shocked her so much, she stopped drinking.

I decided not to tell my best friend Jo because she has enough on her plate in regards to her own health. I waited until I had my girls together to tell them. We were having one our mother/daughters talk. Like clock work, they went on to the next subject. I have the best daughters. I told my sister Crystal because I knew she would have something positive, worry free to say.

Anyway, for some reason, which I feel is stupid, I needed permission from my GYN to have the further testing conducted. And that's where the problem began. I have a great GYN doctor, but this current nurse, is an issue. She failed to send the medical order to the breast imaging center. It took a third call from me before she finally responded. I think me letting her know that this is my body and she isn't allowed to drag her feet got her attention. Plus I sounded mean, like don't make me show up in the office voice.

I was okay about the invasion until I felt the lump. I was like hmmm, that's kind of big. I told the Lord I would be really upset if I have to stop running or I couldn't celebrate my 50th birthday in Miami at the Rock N Roll Half. And of course peace covered me. He said this isn't about you. All I could say was okay.

My Second Half Marathon

Today (6/10/12), I ran my second half marathon, the Wounded Warrior Half. This wasn’t a good race for me because I originally wanted to participate, but later changed my mind. I changed my mind because I knew I wasn’t really prepared for this race, lack of training. Since I convinced the other ladies of my running group to participate, it would have been wrong for me not to participate. Even though I finished 71 out of 99 in my age group of 45-49, I did pretty well for my first run in the Texas sun, 2:47:10. My body overheated and I completely lost all energy at mile 10.

Miles 1-6, I ran a 4:1 interval. Miles 7-10, I ran 3:1 interval. After mile 10, I was doing whatever I needed to get to the finish line. My feet and shins hurt, my sunglasses and sun visor began to give me a headache. I couldn’t get the water in my mouth fast enough. I didn’t know if my body was wet from sweating or the water I kept pouring on me.

At mile 11, some man came up behind me and two other women to give us some encouragement to finish. The four of us headed to the finish line together to end this race. Mile 11.5, I said bump this, I’m walking. Then that man showed up again. I finally made it to mile 12, but my body said “I think you need to walk”, so I did. Mile 12.5, I started running again. Thank God for Keisha being right at the finish line, she caught me as I collapsed. I remember Marilyn, Desiree, and Chandra helping me to the shade. They immediately started giving me fluids to drink. Marilyn held onto me the entire time. The plus about this route, no hills and the route shower.

After a few moments, we walked over to the food table to eat. My biggest mistake was drinking Muscle Milk. I knew I didn’t like the chocolate, so I thought I would try the vanilla crème. It tasted good going down, but afterwards it made me extremely sick. So sick, I became nauseous and almost passed out. The curb wasn’t a hard seat and in the right place. I don’t know who put the ice pack on my neck and I don’t know who started praying, but I felt the cool breeze that overcame my body. Now I’m convinced Muscle Milk is the devil’s brew.

I’m also glad I carpooled with Marilyn because there was no way I would have been able to drive home. Once I did get home, I took a luke warm shower and a four hour nap. I would have probably slept longer, but Tiger (my dog) wanted some one on one attention.

Lessons from this half: (1) never run without proper training; I didn’t train for this half; (2) Texas heat is no joke (90^o and 57% humidity); proper and continuous hydration is a must; (3) it’s great to have a cheering squad at the finish line; and (4) I have more determination then I thought. I also gained a huge appreciation for my daughters, they both ran summer track, and now I know how they felt all those years. Now time to focus on the Too Hot Too Handle 15K in July and the Hottest Half in August; and to increase my cross training to build up my endurance.

Bucket List Has Another Check Mark

Today I accomplished something I never thought I would ever want to achieve, I finished a half marathon. Yep me, Lenora No Middle Name Hearst. To think when Crystal and Warren asked me to get into running, I had only planned on participating in 5K and 10K races, nothing more. But through their encouragement and the support of Black Girls RUN! Dallas, especially Alice, Sarah, and Marilyn, and my coworker Brandon, I was able to tackle my first half marathon. I finished the Big D Texas Half Marathon in 2:44:47, 69^th in my age group out of 98. Not bad for a first timer. And I finished vertically and uninjured.

I am on such a spiritual high. Today I had another spiritual connection to God through the weather. I didn’t see the rain as a hindrance; it was a gift to keep me cool. The wind that slowed me down at mile 6 was used to control my speed which helped me to reserve my energy for the hills I was about to overtake. My running buddy, Marilyn was a true Angel when it came to our last hill. I got into the middle of this steep hill and just stopped; my legs shutdown. But instead of leaving me, she came back to walk the hill with me. Soon after, we had a slight down pour, but to me, it was the Angels crying with tears of joy because we overcame every one of those hills. Around miles 10 and 11, the thunder started, but I heard Angels running to the finish line to greet us as we crossed it.

The biggest joy, my BGR sisters at the finish line cheering us through. Some of these ladies didn’t even run today, but they made sure they would be at the finish line. It was a celebration for us all. It was a first race distance for many of us. Our 5K ladies completed their first of many races, and they now have their eyes set on their first half marathon. They amazed themselves with their finishing times.

As for me, at this point in life, the half is all I need to accomplish. I would like to travel to all 50 states to obtain a finishers medal in each state. Hopefully, Hubby-to-be will have the same goal. But right now, I’ll just tackle the ones in Texas. I said by my 50^th birthday, I would have one half completed, well Bucket List has another check mark.

Thank You Lord for blessing me with a can do spirit and a mind to see a closed door to others as a door that needs to be kicked down. 

Before the race

Who said Black Girls Don't Run?

BGR Dallas Southsiders

Two Goals Accomplished…My Journey to A Half Marathon

On February 25, I accomplished my goal of completing a 10K (6.2 miles) race. I completed the Cowtown 10K in Fort Worth. I was truly surprised by my official time, 1:11:00, an average pace of 11:26 minutes per mile. My pace is decreasing, I haven’t done any speed work, I just want to finish. The stats for this race:

Ø  19 out of 39 for age group 49

Ø  106 out of 199 for age group 45-49

Ø  1377 out of 2360 females

Ø  2807 out of 4173 overall

The bottom line, I finished among a large group of people. We ran several hills, so glad we have hills to train on. I baby stepped the hills, while I saw others either walk them or ran them full force, more power to them.

My other goal I accomplished occurred on March 10, The Leaping Leprechaun 15K (9.3 miles) in McKinney. My official time was 1:44:41, an average pace of 11:15 per mile. After viewing the posted results, I received the 3^rd place medal by default, the ladies that came in before me left before the official results were posted. So the medals were given to the people that stayed around. The stats for this race:

Ø  2 out of 3 for age group 49

Ø  7 out of 9 for age group 45-49

Ø  85 out of 98 females

Ø  173 out of 190 overall

This morning didn’t start off to well, Friday night menstrual cramps kicked in. I woke up Saturday morning in so much pain. I asked God to please allow me to complete this race without vomiting. He granted my request, He allowed me to make it home.

This race had a lot of hills, I mean a lot. More hills than the Cowtown, I stopped counting. It didn’t rain as forecasted, another prayer answered. My GPS distance was inaccurate because it officially indicates I ran 11 miles.

Things I have learned from these two races, don’t try to run with a partner because your individual paces are different. Don’t plan races around your menstrual cycle; check your calendar before paying for a race. Get a better GPS. Have your own after race snacks, just in case the food is either gone or everyone is allowed to pick through the food, yuck. I need to continue to practice running with my fuel belt, the water bottles irritate my back after mile 5. And most importantly I need to get pass the 4 mile “what the heck am I thinking” wall. This thought pops in my head every time I run pass 4 miles.

My next race, The Big D Texas Half Marathon, on April 15, 13.1 miles. No more races under 6 miles for me.

2012 Leaping Leprechaun 15K

2012 Cowtown 10K