Stepping Up to Wellness - Cancer Wellness Center 5K Recap

First of all, thanks to all who entered the Esprit de She giveaway. According to random.org the winner is Bobbi. Congratulations!

And now for something completely different...a soap box, a PSA and a recap.

Cancer has touched my life. My mom, my dad and my brother. Friends. Church family. Cancer sucks. Angelina Jolie has been in the news recently due to her decision to have a double mastectomy because she has the BRCA 1 gene. Thanks to my insurance and my dad nagging me every so often, I got the genetic test for the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 gene six years ago. At that time, I had two daughters, and my mom had died of ovarian cancer. I got the test done for my girlios. It was something I didn't want to pass on. I saw a genetic counselor, mapped my family history and had my blood taken. The results for the test took six weeks. In that six week time, I mulled about what I would do with my results. If I had both genes, I would have gotten a mastectomy and a hysterectomy. It was a long six weeks. A colleague's wife was tested right around the same time. She found out she had both genes and had her operations. Thankfully, I found out that I had neither gene. If you can, get tested. I did, however, fail a pregnancy test shortly after.

If you have not had cancer, the American Cancer Society is looking for volunteers to participate in a 20 year study called The Cancer Prevention Study 3. More information is available at www.cps3illinois.org or 1-888-604-5888.

My step mom volunteers at the Cancer Wellness Center. Quite a few of their services are free to cancer patients. If you know someone battling cancer, please let them know about the Cancer Wellness Center. There are several locations around the Chicago area.

Family and Friends

On June 19th, my family did the Stepping Up to Wellness Cancer Wellness Center 5k. Thanks to my step mom, it was a family and friend affair. My brother in from San Diego and my husband got roped in too. My middle girlio was so excited to run a 5k. I went early to run a few more miles with Bobbi. To put my running in perspective, I didn't run for two weeks from the Wisconsin half marathon until the day before I ran with Bobbi. Since I have a triathlon coming up, I did a 5 mi bike + 5 mi run + 5 mi bike the day before. My legs were tired, and my body was cranky. It was a struggle to keep up with Bobbi for the five miles prior to the 5k. By the time the race started, it was getting hot.

My husband did a bang up job getting the girlios to the venue. He did, however, forget the double stroller which acts as a sag wagon for tired girlios. My brother, my husband and I were each matched with a girlio. I planned on pacing my middle. My step mom and my dad encouraged us all. My brother ran with my eldest. She only walked for about half a mile and finished in 39 minutes. Hubs, who hasn't run in two years, finished with my eldest. Not too shabby. Within the first mile, my middle and little one actually ran into each other and fell down.  Skinned knees does not help with morale. My littlest tried to catch me and fell again blooding her elbow. By then my middle was not doing as well as she wanted. It was hot. My husband and I switched kids. My middle finished in 49 minutes. My littlest and I finished in 54 minutes. She chattered the whole time.

My dad is rockstar.

My dad won first place in his division, 70+. That's my strategy for winning races. Outlive everybody else. It was a great time. We enjoyed hanging out with the family all afternoon and strangely my girlios stopped complaining and played hard as soon as the race was over.