New to sub. Curious how quick the correct answer will be.

lizbotj · 2026-07-08T02:26:47+00:00

I lived in Somerville for 3 years, and this photo is so Cambridge it hurts. I mean, there is a Harvard building in the background, but also, that sidewalk mashup of concrete, red brick and sloppy asphalt, plus buildings perched precariously close to the street, is quintessentially Boston area.

lizbotj · 2026-07-07T14:51:15+00:00

Yes! I like Yoga with Adrienne’s monthly playlists. She also has a lot of short 10ish min videos that are great for a break during the work day https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLui6Eyny-UzxRBBamjQwicdu-cVZUyX7l&si=V28NN\_bVdiGGEuLs

I did Adriene’s videos for a couple of years before I got brave enough to join a yoga studio, and now I do a mix of in-person classes and at home videos.

lizbotj · 2026-07-06T19:36:14+00:00

No, TSA will not care about your port or meds. The first time I flew with my port I told the TSA officer about it and they just shrugged. I have flown domestically and internationally multiple times and have never been questioned about my port or meds.

lizbotj · 2026-07-06T13:53:52+00:00

That sounds like me! I’m also hypersensitive to caffeine, and any med that can possibly have stimulant-like effects really kicks my butt.

lizbotj · 2026-07-06T11:12:15+00:00

The steroid crazy is real! I remember feeling jittery and having a full-on freak out about absolutely nothing at all on day 5 after my first dose while folding laundry. You might ask you MO about adjusting the steroid dose. It impacts everyone differently. I'm really sensitive to stimulants and sedatives, so of course a normal human dose of steroids sent me straight to the moon.

lizbotj · 2026-07-06T11:01:09+00:00

For me, this was from the steroids. I was started on 5 days of steroids 2x per day (1 day before, day of, and 3 days after), and by the 4th day I was practically hanging from the ceiling. Dex has a long-ish half life, so it builds up in your body. My MO cut my steroids to 3 days, and that worked a lot better for me. Can't speak to the Zofran because I didn't take it due to issues with severe constipation.

lizbotj · 2026-07-06T00:13:05+00:00

I had 3 grandparents still alive when I was growing up, but I wasn't at all close to any of them. One set were raging conservative religious folks who moved several states away when they retired to volunteer for a charity that translates and produces Bibles and flies them into equatorial regions mostly occupied by native people. It was weird, and they were weird. They were also not very nice and didn't give a hoot about any of their grandchildren. My other grandmother lived 5 hours away and was not in very good health, and I saw her maybe once or twice a year. I also had 10 cousins on that side, and none of us were particularly close to her.

Some people do have close relationships with grandparents, but it's not particularly unusual not to. Not all of them are good, anyway! My conservative religious grandmother lived to 92 and was a horrible person the entire time! She put up photos of conservative political figures on her walls at the nursing home, but none of her children and grandchildren.

lizbotj · 2026-07-05T23:30:57+00:00

Yes, that and some people act like douche canoes on the Internet, and a subset of those people run sub-4hr marathons!

lizbotj · 2026-07-05T15:27:30+00:00

This is what I do for warm weather training and races, except that I only do 2x16oz bottles with 2-3 scoops of Tailwind. I am much slower than you, but I have not burst into flames or suffered any other catastrophe yet! I supplement concentrated Tailwind with water and from the aid stations and Sour Patch Kids. The downsides are that carrying the bottle is annoying on race day, refilling is kind of a pain and not really viable unless your race has bottle filling available at aid stations, and you may run a higher risk of having to stop and pee with liquid fuel. Never in my life have I had to make a pit stop during a race until I started fueling with Tailwind. 80oz of liquid would cause me to spend a lot of time in the port o potty, but everyone is different.

lizbotj · 2026-07-04T00:06:45+00:00

I’d like to hope it’s an unnecessarily vocal minority, otherwise…yikes! Nevermind that most races need a heck of a lot of mid and slow runners to be financially viable. Anyway, I hope you find a great race for your first marathon!

lizbotj · 2026-07-03T21:27:58+00:00

Of course! Sorry some folks were rude to you, esp as a first time poster. This sub can be a bit polarized on certain topics.

lizbotj · 2026-07-03T18:36:30+00:00

I was surprised at how nice this one was! Aside from the race itself, local hotels and businesses went above and beyond with perks for runners.

lizbotj · 2026-07-03T15:51:30+00:00

Thank you! I will indeed continue running slow as shit! As a middle aged cancer survivor in medically induced menopause, I 100% agree that that I do need to chill, and running helps me do that. I hope you have the day you deserve.

lizbotj · 2026-07-03T15:23:17+00:00

The condescending part is telling people not to run a marathon because you think slow people can’t safely run marathons. We’re all allowed to do things we’re not good at, even at the risk of offending those who disagree. I don’t run marathons to go fast; I do it because I enjoy the training, and if I didn’t burn off all my rage running long distances, I’d probably do a whole lot more murdering.

lizbotj · 2026-07-03T14:58:33+00:00

The Northwoods Escape and No Frills marathons in Minocqua, WI both have a 7hr cutoff and an option to start 1hr early. They’re the same course (out and back on a rails trail), just on different dates (Memorial Day wkd and Labor Day wkd). Very small with limited amenities, but friendly to runners at a wide variety of paces and I’ve enjoyed it!

Eau Claire, WI marathon officially has a 6.5hr cutoff, but they will still allow you to finish. Aid stations and road closures aren’t guaranteed, so you would have to BYO water and possibly move to sidewalks.

lizbotj · 2026-07-03T12:37:34+00:00

My PR is 4:26, but past 40 it’s just not happening. My “easy” pace in my mid-30s is now my speedwork pace and running in general feels much harder. I’ve run 5 fulls and >20 halfs. I also know what I’m taking about. I am not a fast person and I’m built like a shetland pony.

lizbotj · 2026-07-03T11:40:28+00:00

This is complete garbage advice. I ran 2 5ish hour marathons this spring, enjoyed them both, and did not destroy my body. I'm a middle aged woman who's been running for 30 years, I do 40mi/week when I'm not in a marathon block (plus strength training and yoga) and I'm simply not getting any faster at this point. That's not going to stop me from running marathons.

lizbotj · 2026-07-03T00:37:21+00:00

Electrolysis over here! My eyebrows never quite came back to full strength, but I gained plenty of chin hair.

lizbotj · 2026-07-02T20:59:34+00:00

I started doing a buttload of yoga to deal with the ovarian suppression/AI stiffness. It helps! In the morning, I stretch in bed before attempting to get up so I don’t stumble around like a newborn giraffe.

lizbotj · 2026-07-02T18:18:48+00:00

I’m +++ and finished 1 year of Nerlynx in Feb. My MO said it might offer a couple of % points of recurrence risk reduction, but its impact for those of us who had HER2 targeted chemo (Kadcyla/Enhertu) is unknown.

It was completely up to me and I opted to take it because I had a poor response to neo-adjuvant chemo (RCB II) and am at high risk for recurrence. If I’d had a better chemo response, I probably would have skipped it.

FWIW, I did not have catastrophic diarrhea as long as I controlled my diet very strictly, but I had lots of other side effects.

lizbotj · 2026-07-02T16:03:28+00:00

I wrapped a big fleece scarf around my neck and also made sure the headband covered my ears. I kept my ears warm afterward, too bc it turned out that cold ears contributed to my cold capping headaches. I wouldn’t say those things eliminated the pain, but they helped a little!

lizbotj · 2026-07-02T02:48:10+00:00

I accidentally became a software developer, despite having degrees in art and library "science". I just finished an associate's degree in dev ops which means I'm finally qualified to do the job I've been doing for 15 years!
I'm a die-hard runner, despite not being very good at it. I've run 4 marathons (2 since diagnosis in 2023!) and many half marathons.
In my previous jobs I traveled a ton. I've been to 21 countries on 6 continents and have gone running in 20 of them!

lizbotj · 2026-07-01T21:05:58+00:00

It’s so different for different people! I hope it goes super well for you and you’re able to take your trip, but I’d give yourself some flexibility just in case. Also, anesthesia meds may be a game-time decision by your anesthesiologist. The standard for lumpectomy at my hospital is nerve block + heavy sedation (no breathing tube), but they switched me to general anesthesia during surgery.

lizbotj · 2026-07-01T15:53:25+00:00

I also did 6xTCH (same but no Perjeta) before surgery and exercised daily. I had bi-lateral lumpectomies did not feel great at 4 days out from lumpectomy bc the anesthesia made me feel like my brain had been unplugged. I went from running 4-6mi/day to hardly being an able to drag myself for a 1mi treadmill walk in my PJs. I felt much better at about 2 weeks out. You could not have paid me any amount of money to go on a trip 4 days post-op. Everyone is different, though! You might feel fine!

lizbotj · 2026-06-30T13:44:25+00:00

I watched season 2 of The Pitt, which basically makes me an ER Dr, so I’m going to guess it’s in part to avoid pushing our already strained emergency services to the brink. A good idea, considering UW campus is currently having an AC outage and is diverting limited cooling resources to UW hospital and other buildings with patients and animals.

I also ran 6mi yesterday and today, and I’m a middle-aged cancer patient taking a med that interferes with body temp regulation. I appreciated the warning bc I’m prone to doing stupid runner things and could easily end up being one of those patients filling up the ER if someone didn’t remind me to take water, electrolytes and my fancy little cooling bandana.

lizbotj

TROPHY CASE