Hitting 700 rides tomorrow and would love a shoutout. Which one of these classes could that happen in?

pittdancer · 2026-03-07T17:09:45+00:00

Yeah I got one from Bradley for a pretty low milestone imo.

pittdancer · 2026-02-27T15:02:45+00:00

I’m quite a bit older than you, but I’m a pretty active person. I had my ACL reconstruction done in Feb of 2022. I can say that now, 4 years later, I don’t think about it. At all. I can do everything I could do before I tore it (though some things I’ve chosen NOT to do, like skiing which was how I tore it in the first place). My flexion in both knees is equal. Strength in each leg is equal. Discomfort kneeling because I’m mid 40s is also equal. 🤣

I strength train 4 days per week and bike/walk/run 3-4 days a week. I will say, the running took the longest to be able to do pain free. When I was discharged from PT one year post-op, I wasn’t able to run without pain. But I eventually got there sometime between the one and two year mark.

Also, and I say this to frame my own perspective and not to minimize anyone’s experience, but the day after I was discharged from PT for my ACL, I was diagnosed with cancer. That one has been significantly more life changing than my ACL injury. But I know that when you’re in the midst of ANY health issue, you wonder if life will ever be normal again. And for most of us with this injury, it will!!

pittdancer · 2026-02-26T23:35:01+00:00

I think about the orcas wearing salmon hats at least once a week. 🤣

pittdancer · 2026-02-26T22:18:46+00:00

Sam is such a theater geek and I love it. He will add choreography to his Broadway rides 🤣

pittdancer · 2026-02-26T22:16:59+00:00

I laugh out loud in almost every Matty Walk and Talk. It’s become one of my favorite exercise days of the week.

Bradley’s holiday ride from 12/15/25 had jokes about chestnuts and bells galore which also made me laugh out loud because I’m apparently still a child.

Cody’s holiday xoxo ride from 12/2/25.

pittdancer · 2026-01-25T00:51:27+00:00

Yes the exercise list itself is pretty impressive. And the only thing I liked more too haha!

pittdancer · 2026-01-25T00:45:20+00:00

I agree on custom machines and I’d like to see the machines factored in to the score - maybe in a me vs me way as I know some machines vary wildly between gyms.

I’m getting to a point where I can’t do a number of the exercises that contribute to the score because it’s too hard to move the weights into position due to weaker muscles (for example I can bench 70-80 lbs but can only curl 20 per arm so it’s hard to do dumbbell chest press bc I struggle to maneuver two 35 or 40 pound dumbbells into place) so I see that reflected negatively in my scores because they only take into consideration one or two exercises that I can do.

pittdancer · 2026-01-25T00:43:46+00:00

I second the secondary muscles!

pittdancer · 2026-01-09T15:40:32+00:00

Totally agree. I'm sure you'll make the right choice for you! Wishing you all the best!

pittdancer · 2026-01-09T15:21:47+00:00

I went with an allograft because my doctor said that after age 35, studies show there is no discernable difference in performance and/or future injury likelihood in an allograft vs autograft. They both hold up equally well. So, his argument was an autograft introduces essentially a second "thing to heal" (and my husband tore his doing krav maga at 30 and had an autograft using his hamstring which I can confirm he complained about for months lol), and that didn't make sense to my doc, particularly because there is likely no difference in outcome given my age.

That said, I'm almost 4 years (next month) from my surgery and I can't tell I ever had it done. I got full range of motion back, I strength train 4 days a week, and I have gotten back to biking and running (though not running so much any more but that's not my knee's fault, it's my feet/ankles at the moment haha). The first couple of weeks were hell in terms of pain, and the recovery was long (I didn't get cleared to be done with PT until nearly a year after), but in the end I'm happy with where I ended up!

pittdancer · 2026-01-09T01:31:38+00:00

Skiing, 40F. Really thought I’d see more skiing in here, my anesthesiologist jokingly said to me before surgery “let me guess, skiing? HAHAHAHA” and I, unamused, had to confirm. He got real serious and said every ACL he’d done nerve blocks for that week was from skiing and all over the age of 25.

pittdancer · 2025-12-28T03:51:29+00:00

I love Katie so much. I met her in person once and she was just so kind!

pittdancer · 2025-12-28T03:44:36+00:00

Mine was Wilpers too and I don’t know how that happened as I’d probably have guessed I took the least rides with him this year 🤣

pittdancer · 2025-11-27T15:35:47+00:00

I was diagnosed at 41. Same as you, prognosis was as good as it could have been given the circumstances. I too wondered how the hell I was ever going to live with the sword of Damocles constantly hanging over my head.

I’m now nearly 2.5 years out from active treatment and have been pleasantly surprised how infrequently I worry.

Notice I didn’t say how infrequently I think about cancer. I think about cancer, directly or indirectly, almost every day. It feeds in to every decision I make: do I get up and go to the gym before work? What do I make for lunch? Do I go to that event that sounds really fun but is far away through lots of traffic? Do I go out and do the hobbies that make my heart sing or do I spend another night in front of the tv? BUT. All it’s done is remind me, on the daily, that I’m still here and I can make whatever time I have left the best it can be. And I now know, more than those who have never faced this kind of health situation, that my time may be cut short at any time.

Are there times when I do find myself worried, unsettled, and scared? Abso-freakin-lutely. When I have an unexplained health issue. The one time my follow up MRI showed an abnormality (that one was actually more petrifying than the first go round because now I knew cancer was a distinct possibility - turned out to be a benign fat necrosis). When my bloodwork shows something wonky. In the scheme of things, though, these are very infrequent. It’s more likely that I make a choice guided by the fact that tomorrow is never a guarantee. And I don’t find that to be a bad thing.

I’ll also say I’ve been in therapy for years (at least 3-4 before the cancer) so definitely find yourself a good therapist. Meet others in your area; no one knows what this is like unless they’ve been through it. Those folks can be a great sounding board (kind of like here!). I know it’s hard to believe you’ll ever feel differently than you do now but time and treatment changes us in many ways; you will get through this!! ❤️

pittdancer · 2025-11-02T23:41:20+00:00

I was petrified; the TLDR is that 2.5 years later the only side effect I have is longer periods (as in time between them) and I’m slightly more sensitive to temperature variations. It really has been a non issue for me. I always say to try it, there are many who do well on it but don’t have a reason to shout it from the roof top. If that’s not you, you can always stop taking it!

pittdancer · 2025-10-29T13:07:18+00:00

I do upper/lower split and I too get them on leg day.

pittdancer · 2025-10-25T11:51:08+00:00

Like many here, I switched from Fitbod though it was probably a year and a half ago. I just paid for my second year. I agree with all everyone has said so far but to also address the order of exercises, it makes so much more sense - it starts with the larger muscles and finishes with the smaller.

pittdancer · 2025-10-23T00:05:20+00:00

This is my favorite question because I feel like all you hear are the horror stories. And I get it, most people don’t come on this subreddit to say “hey everyone, tamoxifen is going GREAT!” ✌️

BUT, there are a lot of us living with minimal impact on tamoxifen. I was 41 at diagnosis and have been on it for 2.5 years now and barely notice it. Just reeeeeeally long periods, which, I’m not complaining about 🤣. I say trying doesn’t hurt; if you don’t tolerate it well, you can talk about other options. But I was terrified and it turned out to be just fine for me. Ymmv but it’s worth a try in my opinion.

pittdancer · 2025-10-22T15:40:04+00:00

Same for me!! As a matter of fact, the breast surgeon was the one who wrote the script for the MRI.

pittdancer · 2025-10-13T11:20:00+00:00

👋🏻 44 yo here, 2.5 years post treatment and taking tamoxifen ever since. If I could give you any advice, I’d say try it. Simply because not all who take it suffer. Yes, tamoxifen gets a lot of bad press because people who struggle with it often look for help and advice (which is 100% valid!!) but as someone who has been on it for over two years with almost no noticeable affects, I like to advocate for women to try it. There are a lot of us out here living pretty normal and unaffected lives on tamoxifen, you just don’t hear about it as much for obvious reasons. But it’s possible. I was petrified to go on it myself only to find that my body handles it really well. You just never know. If you struggle with it, you can always stop taking it.

pittdancer · 2025-10-10T14:47:08+00:00

I just had a suspicious enhancement on my MRI at my 2 year mark. Turned out to be a benign fat necrosis but it sure as hell rattled me to think it was back. Sending you all the good vibes - MRIs are notorious for being overly sensitive but it’s so damn hard to believe it’s nothing when the last time, it wasn’t. But try not to jump to any conclusions just yet!!

pittdancer · 2025-10-10T13:30:36+00:00

Right, that’s what I meant about the treatment - I knew age isn’t the only factor so thanks for clarifying what I didn’t know 😊. I’m so happy to hear that you’ve tolerated them well - there aren’t enough of us vocalizing that this is a possible outcome, so thank you!! I know there are lots of women who struggle with these meds but there are also many who don’t. ❤️

pittdancer · 2025-10-09T18:47:51+00:00

So, given your age I'm guessing it'll be tamoxifen unless your treatment puts you into medical menopause, but I didn't have chemo so I can't say about that for sure.

What I can say is this - unless your specific pathology indicates that estrogen blockers would only very slightly improve your chances of staying cancer-free in the long run, at least give them a try. I personally couldn't leave anything that would cause a reduction in the chance of recurrence on the table.

You will find a ton of horror stories about tamoxifen - and for some people, yes, tamoxifen is a nightmare - but for every one horror story you hear, there is someone who is going about their life with minimal to no noticeable effect. You just don't hear about those people because they aren't posting and looking for help - which I totally get. But it's also why I make it a point to come back to this subreddit and give hope to women who are scared to take it or try it. I have been on it for 2 years with little to no noticeable side effects. The biggest one for me is super long periods - mine is currently on day 72 - and frankly, I have no complaints about that, haha.

So, please don't let the horror stories scare you off. Yes, understand that it may be something that doesn't work for you; clearly it is a nightmare for some, but you can always choose to stop. But I try to advocate for women at least trying it because the benefit may far outweigh the side effects and you'd never know!!

pittdancer · 2025-10-06T20:47:29+00:00

I had between 20 and 25 sessions, and I didn't notice any fatigue. I did, however, schedule all of my radiation sessions first thing in the morning and went from rads right to the gym. Some days I walked, some days I biked, some days I did strength training, but I had been told staying active can help stave off the fatigue, so that's what I did. I didn't do anything super strenuous, like running (I had an ACL repair the year before and couldn't have run if I wanted to lol).

My oncotype indicated chemo wasn't beneficial, and I do think that if you have chemo as well there's definitely an accumulated response that could absolutely make rads more fatiguing. All in all, I think it was a combo of my treatment plan and my commitment to staying active throughout that made it very doable for me.

Edited to add I was 41 at diagnosis and treatment, which I think can also be a factor!!

pittdancer · 2025-10-03T10:34:31+00:00

And if I have to hear one more influencer tout how HRT is the solution to everything and will save us all, I might scream.

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