Location
Stony Point, NYI'm a certified Personal Trainer (ACSM), musician (viola), and 9-yr. breast cancer survivor (yea!).
I exercised all throughout my treatments; I was determined to return to all the activities I love, including playing music, climbing mountains, skiing, and windsurfing. In the beginning of my cancer experience I exercised because it's something I enjoy. But I quickly discovered that exercise improved how I felt and helped me manage the side effects of my treatments.
When I finally finished treatment, I started training to return to climbing. Just one year later, I climbed Mt. Rainier to raise funds for breast cancer research. I followed that with trekking through the Himalayas, and later summiting Cerro Aconcagua, at 22,841' the highest peak in the Western hemisphere.
I'd spent my life as a professional musician, but I felt so strongly about the benefits of exercise for cancer survivors that I got certified as a Personal Trainer. I still play music, but am now also dedicated to helping others stay fit and strong.
I write about fitness for cancer survivors at http://FitnessforSurvivors.blogspot.com.
juliegoodale submitted a way to: Live with cancer
way to be well created 12.27.10
I have a goal - & it scares me! What's yours?
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I have a fitness goal, do you?
I've decided to try my first marathon - a winter trail marathon! Not only will this be my first attempt at 26 miles, it will be in the middle of winter.
I'm kind of nervous about it. I've been training, but I'm sure it's not enough.
When I start freaking out about my crazy goal, I always go back to think about my training plan. I have a plan with manageable intermediary steps that all work toward my goal. Concentrating on the step right in front of me helps keep me focused and calms me down when I'm freaking.
But why am I writing about this in the Live with Cancer section? Because fitness goals are important for all of us. They're part of what got me through my own long treatments. My goals for exercise certainly changed as I went through treatment, but they were goals none the less.
The thing about goals is that they are totally up to you. Find something that matters to you. Assess your current fitness level - no matter what it is. Then make a reasonable plan that gets you from here to there.
The process I went through in thinking about how to prepare for this marathon is pretty much the same process I went through to regain enough strength to play the viola again after my mastectomy & full axillary node dissection. And it's the same process I went through as I was determined to return to climbing after I finished chemo, radiation, & more chemo.
It's all about where you are & where you want to get to. So what's your goal? And how will you get there?
I've decided to try my first marathon - a winter trail marathon! Not only will this be my first attempt at 26 miles, it will be in the middle of winter.
I'm kind of nervous about it. I've been training, but I'm sure it's not enough.
When I start freaking out about my crazy goal, I always go back to think about my training plan. I have a plan with manageable intermediary steps that all work toward my goal. Concentrating on the step right in front of me helps keep me focused and calms me down when I'm freaking.
But why am I writing about this in the Live with Cancer section? Because fitness goals are important for all of us. They're part of what got me through my own long treatments. My goals for exercise certainly changed as I went through treatment, but they were goals none the less.
The thing about goals is that they are totally up to you. Find something that matters to you. Assess your current fitness level - no matter what it is. Then make a reasonable plan that gets you from here to there.
The process I went through in thinking about how to prepare for this marathon is pretty much the same process I went through to regain enough strength to play the viola again after my mastectomy & full axillary node dissection. And it's the same process I went through as I was determined to return to climbing after I finished chemo, radiation, & more chemo.
It's all about where you are & where you want to get to. So what's your goal? And how will you get there?
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