Groovy June!

SO! I did a THING

I apologize for being out of sight for a while, but I’m ready to share what’s been going on. One of my friends I’ve run with for years, has melanoma. If caught and treated early melanomas are isolated, encapsulated, and generally speaking NBD. Unfortunately, she did not.

I ran screaming to my dermatologist, saying what do I do? We had an honest talk how yes, I was consistent with sunscreen on my face but I was not consistent with hats until maybe 2008 and no, I was never consistent about sunscreen on my shoulders, arms, chest or legs. We looked at my skin under blue lights, and I was horrified at the amount of damage I saw. My risk for melanoma was 95%, or as my dermatologist said “it’s not a matter of if but when”. I was in shock. I had let myself believe that I was doing everything right, that my yearly dermatology check ups were enough. I was kidding myself.

This was last summer, and since then I’ve taken to wearing very large hats that embarrass my children, as well as driving gloves. I don’t leave the house without at least four layers of sunscreen on. And I’ve had no less than six deep (TCA) chemical peels performed to reduce sun damage and encourage new skin growth.

All of this was in preparation for a fractional CO2 laser, performed three weeks ago.

Me, on procedure day, May 17. And Me again, this past Thursday.

I’ve been fairly preachy about sunscreen, but I’m not gonna get less preachy about it. In fact over my 11 year career as a coach, I definitely have not emphasized the importance of sunscreen enough. I have six more lasers to go (one more on my face and neck, two more on my whole chest, my shoulders, my forearms and some hotspots on the back of my calves and thighs) and then my melanoma risk will be under 10%. I’m not yet certain how this will impact my running going forward. As of now my runs are still short, under 20 minutes and occur with long sleeves that offer UV and SPF protection, as well as a hat.

I tell you that to tell you this: if you’re running into me, I’m going to offer you sunscreen. 🧴 because I love you. But please, don’t let that stop you from hitting me up in office hours using the link below! I will remind, I will encourage, but I will never shame.

Office Hours. (Click the word "office hours" to book!).

You are coached. You are loved. We are gonna get through it all, together!

❤️❤️❤️💙💙💙

#coachedandloved

This Month’s Workouts

Yes, that patch on my chest is related to all of the sun damage removal

Gosh, it feels so good to be able to demonstrate strength again!!!! And if you’re in Maintain, you’re gonna see me all week long since Coach Nikki’s is traveling!!!

Rebuilders will have a fun progressive run/walk series with HIGH KNEES to get your heart rates up with minimal impact! These will also make you feel like you are FLOATING so have fun with it!

Maintainers will get a fun little speed workout reminding us what 3k effort feels like, and one floating fartlek.

CODES: Grooves

Maintain

Rebuild

Apple Music Playlist

Spotify Playlist