My first Published Article

 My journey continues and whilst these blogs initially started as a way to raise awareness things have developed and now I am being commissioned (well kinda) to write some blogs and articles.

Below is such an article that will soon be published as an article.  My first official commissioned piece of work!  Have a read, hopefully for Ostomist and non-Ostomist alike it should be interesting.

So what is my biggest fear as a Cancer survivor and Ostomist?  Believe it or not it isn’t actually the return of the ‘BIG C’.  I have learned that life really is too short and there is no point is worrying about things that are out of your control.  I am in remission now, and long may that continue, but if that changes it will not be due to anything I have or haven’t done.

No my biggest fear as an Ostomist is a hernia!

When I first came out of surgery I had plenty of other things to worry about, like dealing with my newly formed stoma.  I recall hernias being discussed and how as my stomach is now a weak spot I was at a higher risk.  In the first few months after surgery even sitting up caused a lot of strain on my core and I was terrified of herniation.  I invented cleaver ways to sit up in bed. I became terrified of lifting almost anything.  Including my own son!  But I soon realised hernias aren’t the Ostomists 'Boogey Man'.  Prevention became just another obstacle that needs to be overcome

So I guess the key question that needs asking is exactly what is a  Ostomy hernia?

Rolstad and Boarini (1996) define a parastomal hernia asa bulging of peristomal skin indicating the passage of oneor more loops of bowel through a fascial defect aroundthe stoma and into the subcutaneous tissues

Now I personally did not exercise until a few years after my surgery and my stoma has settled.  When I did decide to get fit I always feared I could never really get there as lifting any type of ‘heavy’ weight would create an issue.  So I decided to do things right and met my personal trainer.  Im not saying that a P.T. is always needed but as I had not been a gym goer before my operation I needed to make sure that what I was doing was correct and more importantly safe.

For the first few months I lifted no weight, everything was body-weight actions.  This slowly built up my core (which as an added bonus also improved by posture!)  This consisted of some very simple yet effective movements, shuttle runs lunges etc mixed with moderate running.  Well I say running but at first it was fast walking mixed with brief jogging!

I then progressed to some light kettle bell work and finally a few months ago progressed to what I class as real weight lifting.

I am now in training 4-5 days a week with a mixture of running, core conditioning (still a vital piece of my training to maintain my core stability)  I am also doing something now that I never felt possible.  I am dead-lifting.  This is ultimately a movement where you squat down and then stand up holding the weight.  I weigh approximately 90kgs.  I am now lifting 105kg plus for multiple reps over multiple sets.  Something I couldn’t do before my surgery and thought impossible with my stoma.

I guess what I am trying to share is, yes hernias are a risk for us Ostiomists.  But so is being struck by lightning or winning the lottery.  That doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen to every one of us. 

 

If you want to return to any type of physical activity take things slowly, at a walking pace at first if necessary.  Through my journey the one true fact that has guided me during all my training sessions, all my Obstacle Racing is LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! 

Why OCR?

People often remark how mad I am for competing in Obstacle events.  Wading through water, mud and climbing some monumental obstacles. (and that is without my Ostomy challenges)

So...are OCR's dangerous?

Now that is a very difficult question to answer, because the answer is yes, and no!  Let me explain what I mean.

Life is inherently dangerous, we risk injury every single day.  Getting behind the wheel of a car you are exposed to lots of injury risks such as collissions.  A bit of an extreme comparison? I have another perhaps more relevant example.

This weekend marked the Ride London cycling event. 100miles of London & Surreys roads, thousands of amateur cyclists taking to closed streets.  The tragic news of a young man who was taken ill at this event and sadly passed away hit my news feed over the weekend.  Similar stories are everywhere from Marathons, London, Brighton.  Relatively fit people that appear to of trained well.

So is OCR any different?  They are essentially still physical events with the only difference being that you crawl or climb over some obstacles along the way.  In my opinion if you stick to the popular established events such as Nuclear Races, Dirty Dozen or Back 2 The Trenches (to name a few) where safety is probably one of the highest agendas are they still dangerous?

I can speak from personal experience regarding these races as I have not only run these events, I have also had the privileged of speaking to their Race Directors.  It becomes clear that allot of time and effort is placed on making sure the races are well marshaled and as safe as possible.  Often as racers we are unaware of this as it all happens seamlessly behind the scenes.

So am I saying that OCR races are as safe as cycling or running? No what I am trying to say is that entering any physical event comes with some inherent risks.  OCR risks are just different. Bruising, minor cuts and scrapes are an everyday occurance, but we enter events aware ofbthese risks.

I wont lie sometimes these can appear rather nasty as the pic of my legs (below) after Nuclear Races summer Party shows. Yes this is the back of my legs after tackling the 6ft invereted walls!!

Or my arms after my first encounter with Nuclear races 1/4 pipe!! Mmmmm seeing a pattern here ;)

But the more extreme injuries, broken bones etc can occur in any of the events mentioned above.  In my opinion the key is being aware of what you are doing.  Over the last 18months I have seen may injuries that have occurred where a competitor has pushed their limit.  Steep muddy hill?  Don't risk a twisted ankle, slide down on your bum!  It may not look as 'matcho' but you get down in one piece and probably a bit quicker too. (trust me if you have run Back 2 The Trenches you will adopt the bum slide technique!)

 So back to the original questions, are OCR's dangerous?  In my opinion NO.  Yes an inherant risk is involved as you scale walls and crawl through mud but isnt everyday life just as dangerous?  That said OCR's are not for everyone.  they challenge you in ways other events do not. Physically and mentally.

However, if you are thinking of choosing an OCE event as your next challenge, do your research, speak to people who have already competed in them.  Your first OCR should be a challenge, but not to your safety.  If you arent sure and if my opinion counts for anything (and your looking for a race in the South) you may want to consider fro the many events available:

• Nuclear Races (my home team, my first OCR and always a special race. They have some of the most unique obstacles for with the Death slide, zip line, the longest monkey bars in the UK and that special clay Essex mud!)

• Back 2 The Trenches (competed in 2 events, well orgainsed with some nice nautural obstacles and some hills that will kill your legs!)

• Dirty Dozen My first DD is August 16th (only a few days away, however the obstacles are huge, the team are superb (Doug is a legend!) and I must admit I am more excited about this race than I have been about many races this year!

Look forward to seeing you in the mud soon ;)

Return to the Park - The National Lottery Run

Last year I had been lucky enough to secure last minute entrances for my Carley, Jack and myself to run the 1st National Lottery run.

Carley ran the full 5 miles and I ran (well carried mostly) the much shortly 2.5km family run with Jack. The uniqueness was the finish was on the Olympic track where only a few months earlier we had seen Paralympians compete at The 2012 Games.

It was a great day as I got to share it with my family.

This year I was running solo and the full 5 miles.  Plus as the stadium was being rennovated ready for the Rugby World Cup the course didnt enter the stadium. Instead it looped around the Olympic park. Ill be honest it was a little boring as far as scenery goes. 

Race day was also HOT, really HOT!! Plus my training had hit a bit of a slump so I wasnt as prepared or confident as I would of liked to be :(

This was also the first race where I wore my compression calf guards. They are supposed to help by protecting your calves, aiding recovery. They are not the most fashionable of items so I hope they work ;)

I set off a little fast as I got caught up in tge crowd. After about 1.5 miles I found my pace and soldiered on.

If you have never been to the Olympic Park, dont be fooled...its hilly! Some of the surrounding roads we ran had some cheeky gradients that caught you out.

The event over was incredible well organised with lots of free water at the start and a welcome water station & shower. Not sure what its officiall called but you run through a tent with water being sprayed at the roof. This created a light and refreshing haze for you to run through.

With so many events this year Return to the park was not my favourite event. Possibly as I am not used to finishing a race and being able to get home without getting changed. I felt like at tge finish I had to find some mud and crawl through it a bit ;)  Yes I really do #lovemud

Still a great bit if race bling and another achievement in the bag, however,  the big plus is I now have priority entrance into the 2015 event which will once again finish in tge stadium and on the track. 

Bring on 2015 ;)

Pics: 2014 Run the Park

#allin24 TR24..... my biggest challenge yet?

 A few months ago I was asked by a group of Ostomists if I would like to join their team and enter the Addidas Thunder Run. A 24 hour 10km cross country race. We would start midday Saturday and each take turns running laps until midday Sunday......how could I say no! ;)

Before I go on I must explain, this team were made up exclusively of Ostomists. 7 other people with ileostomies with similar life stories but still leading an active lifestyle. How could I refuse the opportunity, the honour to run alongside these fellow warriors?

Most of us had never met. We had spoken virtually and thanks to facebook we kinda knew each other. However, spending 24 exhausting hours with a group of strangers.....this had all the hallmarks of a disaster!

Well I am pleased to confirm there were no arguements, no cross words. We were all there for the same reason with similar challenges. Once again Microsofts 'spell check' covers it better than I could. Ostomists are optomists. We all knew this would be tough, but we all had a great attitude, we all knew our limitations.  We all knew each of us would do our best. We were not there to win, we were there to have fun and show the world that having an Ostomy doesnt stop us competing hard!

The event village was well layed out, and for a captive audience the food and drinks were all very reasonable. Including in the entrance fee was free camping. We arrived Friday evening (after 2 hour drive became a 4.5hour one!)

I was shocked at the volume of people at this event. There were litterally thousands. Competitor teams were up to 8. There were even some really hardcore solo runners! These guys were machines!!! 

 

As camping was free it seemed alot of people brought family and friends so the support around the track was great. Actually during my first lap I had never been so happy to see some kids with water pistols! ;)

Anyway, back to the event. We set a plan, worked out our timings and settled in for the start.

Thunder Run 24 Race map

I was scheduled to run the 2nd lap at 1pm and then another at about 9.30pm. I wasnt looking forward to the first lap. When we awoke, it was a SCORCHER. Easily the hottest conditions I have ever had to run in.

As a team we had a batton of sorts ( a snap braclet) that had to be swapped after your lap/s were finished. As the organisor of the team, she had the honour if the first lap. About an hour later I arrived back at the start line anxious and hot! Whilst the team had applied no pressure I felt like I had to put in a good lap. In this heat. It was going to be tough!

I saw Helen as she crossed the line beaming, she snapped on the braclet and I was off. My first lap of TR24.

I had been fooled by the course map. It looked fairly flat. However tge hills although not very steep were relentless. The course weaved through forests and back around the campsite. By 5km I was about done.

Im sure I have mentioned in an earlier posts but for Ostomists, particularily ileostomies hydratiin is always a challenge. I am no biology expert but I believe as we consume water the small intestine deposits small amounts of salt so it can be absorbes again by the large intestine, assisting with hydration.  See an Ostomists challenge?

Our small deposits salt that we are then unable to reabsorb. It would be a great trick for me as I believe my large intestine is in Liverpool and the event was in Derby!!

Mix this unique Ostomy challenge with running in this heat and sweating almost immediately after I started. Fatigue had kicked in :(

So after 5km as I neared the one and o ly water station. I was done! I really had to dig deep to keep my target pace for the next 5km. I finshed my first lap exhausted in 1hr 12mins. Not a bad time, I headed back to camp to rest!

I think this is what makes 24 hour events a challenge. Yeah running 19km is tough but you can train for this. Trying to catch some sleep recharge knowing you have to do it all again in a fee hours...that was tough. Thankfully being 2nd off meant my next lap "should be" cooler, and possibly at twightlight!

I managed to find some shade next to the tent and catch up on some sleep. A quick pasta top and I was ready for my next lap.

The British weather didnt let us down. We had moved from scorching heat to a muggy, wet night. As I set off on my next 10km a headtorch was a must and tge drop in tempurature and drizzle was actually really welcomed!

This lap felt like a different course. Darkness decended meaning your attention was required on every step. This felt more like home. A muddy run in darkness :)

I officially loved this lap, according to our plan this would be my last as some if the stronger runners in the group would soon be smashing out double 29km laps! In the dark I still managed a 1hr 12min. Im not surr if that meant my "hot" lap was bad and my night lap was good? Either way I finished wanting to run another lap, little did I know I would soon get my wish.

After trying to get some sleep in a very busy campsite. (Dont get me wrong not ignorant people, just a flow of runners preparing and fueling throughout the night).  I woke at about 7am ti find out that one of our runner (Sarah) had taken a bad turn in the night. Thankfully she started to feel better but it meant we were a few short as we neared the finish. We discussed hiw we coukd just stop here and log the laps we had. But that wasnt the reason why we were here! Myself and David agreed to do one more lap each.

This would be my 3rd lap, unfortunatley the hot weather had returned and my legs were not in the best shape. That and fatigue had set in :( 

I set myself a target time and set off. Becoming familiar with the course became a blessing and a curse. I knew where I coukd push, but also knee where tge tough bits were :(

I handed over to David to run the final lap. Once again I had pushed myself 30km in under 24hours... not bad. 

As a team we finished 23 laps in the alloted 24 hours and I think finished about mid table.

To be honest, I couldn't care how we finished. 

We had done something great. A group of Ostomists (strangers 24 hours earlier) had pulled together and competed. We weren't last, we werent first, but what we were was a TEAM!

Did I enjoy TR24 as an event, honestly I am not sure. However,  what made TR24 for me was spending some time to get to know a superb group of people.

We met through our stomas and the Ostomy Lifestyle Facebook group, however, now after sharing this unique experience....I have the priviledge of calling them all true friends. 

My life, boring???

Every time I write a blog post I finish thinking mmmm hope I have something else to write about soon.

Plus if im honest work has been MANIC so finding the time and energy to fit everything in my blogging has suffered :(

Excuses aside I have some really interesting ideas including a training diary leading up to an event, live blog posts during an event and possibly even adding some video blogs.

I guess that is the trouble when the first half of the year has been full of 1st and new adventures!  Well looks like the 2nd half is about to rival the 1st and keep me very very busy :)

I dont want to ruin the surpise but here are some of the upcoming highlights:

Last weekend a year later I ran the National Lottery 5 miles at the Olympic Park (blog post to follow)

Addidas Thunder Run 24hour race which is this weekend. Im planning on a post soon and some running updates LIVE from the course ;)

O2 Dome publicity walk for Clinimed my Ostomy suppliers. With the possibility of some very special publicity shots.....watch this space

Ive been asked to join a very special OCR team, with some VERY special people :))

I have been given the opportunity to meet an OCR legend Doug 'THE BEARD' from Dirty Dozen and actually have some one on one time training in his legendary backyard playground!

My blogging is also I (it seems) still in demand.

I have been asked to write some more blogs for Clinimed. Im working on about 4 at the moment ;)

I am also just finalising the details but have been asked to write a blog about one of my next OCR races.

Oh yeah, plus the usual training epic OCR'S (Including my first 2 OCRs in one day) and just normal life!

I have some Ostomy awareness posts bubbling away that will hopefully give you an ongoing insight into the world of an Ostomist.

Wow, im gonna be busy and thats just the stuff I am aware of!

Over the last few years and especially the last 6 months life has a way of keeping me entertained and is always interesting.

You cant control what happens, but you can control your response!

Recent events have made me reflect on my own Cancer diagnosis. Whilst most of the last 8 years is a blur with tests and hospital appointments all merging into one. Strangely I do recal very specific things about the day my life changed forever.

I mayve mentioned before but NLP Nero Lingustic Programming suggets that many memories are logged as sounds, or smells. These sounds or smells create negative or positive anchors.  Years later one of these senses will trigger a memory from years ago.

The hospital "smell" is something that anyone who has undergone an operation or even visited someone in hospital will be familiar with. I , however, recall the exact seat in the waiting room. The day we were told I had cancer there was at least an inch of snow on the ground so even that strange silence you get when it snows reminds me of that day. 

I do recall immediately after being told just laughing. A strange nervous laugh expecting that there had been a mistake.

Then the years that follow. The day you are given the news that the Cancer hasnt spread, then when you are told you are "clear" you have earned your 5 year all clear badge. Thats it right? HELL NO!!

I sincerely hope you never have to experience this but a piece of paper and a pat on the back and no longer being an outpatient gives does not convince you all is clear.

In my opinion when we are told we have a life threatening illness you are suddenly told your body (that you have understood and becone very familiar with) for the last 'x' number of years has hidden something from you. Something sinister was lurking without you knowing it was there. You go to bed Sunday feeling good, feeling normal and wake up Monday being told you have Cancer! Can we really trust our bodies again? Again in my opinion, honestly....NO.

But who can? Who knows whats really going on beneath the surface. Whilst I no longer fully trust my body what I do have is a better understanding of it. More awareness more time to listen to it. Our bodies are a machine, with ever part doing a specfic job. Each important in its own way. All we can do is listen to the signs its gives us and make sure we pay attention. Now this may sound negative, far too serious for my blog posts. 

Personnally I have found it all very liberating. Dealing with my own illness was easier than dealing with my mums diagnosis only a few weeks after my operation. 

I realised all I can do is survive, the rest is down to fate and the skill of the medical profession. Why stress over something out of our control? That said I DO NOT underestimate that I was VERY VERY lucky with my diagnosis  and recovery. However, I have tried to hang on to this philosophy after all the years. Often catching myself mid stress and cursing myself for it!

Based on this I do not however subscribe to life choices like Y.O.L.O (you only live once) or "Live today like its your last" These tend to be excuses people use to try and justify to everyone else why they are doing something. Does other peoples opinions matter that much? Can you EGO not take that others will not agree with your choices?

Yes you do only live once and we should make the most of it, but in my experience never at the expense of tommorrow. If you live your life right there should always be one. We should always be planning for today AND tommorrow.

That also doesn't mean you don't take the odd risk every now and again, o something that puts you out of your comfort zone. Do something that gets the adrenaline going ;)

Dont let a life changing event show you the real priorities in life like it did for me and so many others. 

Get ahead of the curve, enjoy what you have with those you love today and tommorrow ;)