6-week anniversary

To celebrate my 6-week anniversary since my last chemotherapy infusion, I got to visit my oncologist today.  Overall, the appointment was a breeze.  I had blood drawn for labwork, a physical exam, and I got to ask my rather short, but always interesting, list of questions.

Today's appointment reinforced what I am feeling; that I am doing well.  I am happy to report that my labwork results look really good!  Everything continues to be in the normal range and my red blood cell and hematocrit levels are creeping up closer to my personal baseline in February.  No wonder my energy levels are increasing.  I am not scheduled to see my oncologist again until December!

The past six weeks have gone by pretty quickly.  I have spent the summer nurturing my body and hitting all of my favorite singletrack up in Park City.  It has been nothing less than sweet!  I have also spent a good amount of time watching and supporting at bike races.  I genuinely enjoy doing this and seeing fellow racers, especially women, achieve their personal goals.  That said, I get bummed that I'm missing out on the epicness (is that a word?) of the experience, especially when I see high quality ultra-endurance events.

There were two such events that I got to watch this summer.  The first was the PC-50. This 50-mile race in Park City (part of the Utah State Championship Series) somehow found 50-miles of super-fun singletrack to link Park City Mountain Resort to the Canyons.  I've ridden most everything up in Park City, but this course found some gems that I have never been on.  Since my husband (along with 3 others) promoted this race, I got to see first-hand how tirelessly they worked with the highest priority being to make it an excellent experience for the racers.  Based on the racer vibe at aide station #2, the race was a huge success.  It should also be mentioned that the payout was HUGE and deep.  The fastest male and female went home with close to $1000 each!

Steamboat appears to be mountain living at its best

Another super cool event that Shannon and I traveled to was the Steamboat Stinger. This 50-mile race was also a first year event held in Steamboat Springs, Colorado and was promoted by, you guessed it, Honey Stinger.  The town seemed genuinely excited to host an ultra-endurance mountain bike race, the race promotion was slick, and the course stellar.  I definitely want to return next year!  Even though I didn't get to race this event, I did achieve my goal of completing a 25-mile lap with 4000 feet of climbing....rather easily.  We also had a great time staying with great people and meeting some new friends.

My attention is now turning to my final reconstruction.  Next week, I meet with my plastic surgeon to reveal (and I do mean reveal, as in I have changed my mind quite a few times and he probably has no idea what I'm thinking:) my final reconstruction decision.  Surgery is scheduled for August 15th.

and if you haven't read enough already, here is a link to a blurb that Gene Hamilton with BetterRide (skills training and coaching) posted.  I attended a BetterRide clinic last fall and it completely changed and improved my riding technique.  I continue to do my 'drills' and am hoping to see big payoff when I start racing next year. Gene found out about my diagnosis last week.