Episode 4.15 Cancer is a Marathon Not a Sprint
===
[00:00:00] Kathryn White: Welcome to The Living to Thrive With Cancer Podcast. A podcast about the big and little issues that come with living with cancer. I'm Catherine White, a stage four colon cancer. Thriver passionate about supporting others who have faced a cancer diagnosis and are looking to feel empowered in taking back control of their health and happiness.
[00:00:19] My own walk with Cancer helped me to learn more about myself and how to live with cancer, and it led me to become a holistic cancer coach so I can support others to move from survivor. To thrive, so let's get started.
[00:00:35] Hello and welcome to episode 4.15 of the Living to Thrive with Cancer Podcast. In this episode, we are diving into a metaphor that I think perfectly captures the experience of living with cancer. It is that cancer isn't a sprint, it is a marathon. In my Living To Thrive membership, we are exploring the concept in April of patients.
[00:01:00] And so when I thought about the idea of how to navigate cancer with patients, it made me think about marathon training that I did pre-cancer, the training for my big post-cancer marathon, and all the work in between in those initial years with cancer. We are going to look at what this phrase actually means in practical terms and how you can approach this marathon with the endurance mindset and resources you need to keep going when the road may feel impossibly long.
[00:01:32] If you are a new listener, I would like to welcome you to the podcast. I'm Catherine White, a cancer thriver, using my stories and experience with stage four colon cancer to guide you through your walk with cancer. As a holistic cancer coach, I want to help support you through creating a health building lifestyle, managing your stress, and helping you to navigate the day in and day out stuff that comes with life with cancer.
[00:01:55] If you find what you've learned here today to be helpful, please share it with other people that you think could benefit from this. Episode sharing helps me to support more people living with cancer and help them to move from survivor to thriver. And you can go ahead and subscribe to the podcast wherever you're listening.
[00:02:11] Follow it on YouTube. And I would love for you to head to the show notes and get your name on my weekly email list so that you can follow my path to thriving and. How I am using what I have learned to support you in your walk with cancer and your goal towards becoming a cancer thriver too. And when you sign up, I will send you a free download gift from me to you.
[00:02:31] So let's dive into this concept of cancer is a marathon, not a sprint. There are two things in my life that I can definitively say I never thought that I would do. One was run a marathon and the other was learn how to navigate cancer. I have run six marathons in total. Five of them happened, um, prior to 2015 prior to my diagnosis of stage four colon cancer.
[00:02:59] And one other happened in 2017 after I had set a goal to run another marathon. I wanted to fulfill this goal of a post-cancer marathon so that I could bring myself back and know that I could do. Anything I set my mind to. Now, in terms of a marathon, it is no small decision to commit to running a marathon.
[00:03:25] It is a long and trying process that requires a tremendous amount of work to get from start to race day. So how does this analogy fit with the idea of living with cancer and the concept of patients? Well, let's start by breaking down what I mean when I say cancer is a marathon. If you think of the opposite of a marathon, it is a sprint.
[00:03:50] And in a sprint you are running full speed. You are expending all of your energy all at once. Now you train to be a sprinter. There's different ways to do it, but the sprint race itself is a very short lived experience. Well, the marathon, as you know, is a little bit different. It's about pacing yourself.
[00:04:12] It's about conserving energy. It's about preparing for unexpected hills along the way. It's about preparing yourself physically and mentally for a long experience. Perhaps this sounds familiar to you. The cancer marathon can feel very long. Like a marathon. It's filled with ups and downs from the initial diagnosis to the treatments, to periods of remission or no evidence of disease and everything in between.
[00:04:43] Just like a marathon, there are moments when you are going to feel strong and there are moments when you wanna give up. The key is to putting one foot in front of the other. And it involves a lot of training in a marathon. Runners train their bodies and minds for months before the race, like many, many months.
[00:05:04] You don't just show up to a marathon. It is truly from start to finish, a test of perseverance and determination. Cancer doesn't give us the same kind of warning and preparation time that a marathon does, but we still have to try to adopt this training mindset and persevere and feel determined by focusing on what I think are three big areas.
[00:05:29] The first is physical preparation. A marathoner is going to pay attention very acutely to themself. They are mindful of how they are eating, what they're putting in their body. They're mindful of the feelings of their body of injuries that may happen and how to prevent them. There's a lot of awareness that goes into preparing for a marathon and the training that goes into it.
[00:05:57] Marathoners need to listen to their body and give it what it needs, because not doing that is going to lead to potential setbacks or potential injuries or even potential mindset setbacks. It's the same for you, the person moving through the cancer marathon for you. It also means being connected to your body, putting nourishing food in it, treating it with loving kindness, resting when you need it.
[00:06:27] Engaging in gentle movement when you're able to, and really. Listening to what's happening in your body and adapting to what it needs. So this is like the fueling of your body for the marathon. It's the providing everything physically that you can to prepare it for what is a lengthy process. The second piece is mental preparation.
[00:06:55] A marathon is truly a game of patience. It is a mental challenge as much as it is a physical one. Perhaps even more runners prepare by mapping out their goal. What race am I doing? What's the route? What do I need to do each day, each week in the months leading up to to get ready for this race? They break down the event into specific.
[00:07:20] Running and lifestyle goals. They plan their route, thinking about where they're going to need to rest, where they're going to need to fuel up, where they're gonna stop to go to the bathroom, and even where they might need to drop water on their longer runs to stay hydrated. There's a lot of planning that goes into this for you.
[00:07:39] Your preparation can include practicing mindfulness. Practicing meditation for calming, for ease, and even visualizing what's going to happen to help to build up mental resilience. Visualization, much like a runner, is going to help you to see what is coming and what you need to do to prepare for what's coming and to help you to get through that experience in the moment.
[00:08:07] Now, sometimes it's a, it's about taking it one day at a time, or even one moment at a time. In the long run though, it's really about the long game of being a patient, and what this brings with it is the need for support. No Marathon Runner does it alone. You can train alone. You can run the race alone, but ultimately there are pieces and people around you that support getting through the practices, the running training, and the marathon itself.
[00:08:43] There may be coaches. Those are like your people who are your support supporters. There may be cheering crowds along the way. People that you know and that you don't know that are silently or physically present, cheering you along as you're going through your cancer marathon. And there may even be fellow runners during the race.
[00:09:04] Who in your world may be the people who are walking the cancer walk with you at the same time, who are supportive. Again, whether that's silently or whether that's actively, for me, when I was running marathons, there was nothing better than having someone cheer me on from both inside the race and from the sidelines.
[00:09:25] It was just so wonderful when I was running to have people run by and give me a pat on the shoulder or to give me a wave, or just to say, you know, keep going, and from the sidelines to have people reading the name, my name on my race. Bib and yelling at me. Go, Catherine, like this. Cheering from complete strangers.
[00:09:44] That really was the uplifting that was needed when things were starting to feel hard, knowing that I wasn't alone, and that even strangers were rooting for me, lifted me up, and kept me moving forward in a cancer marathon, your support system, whether it's family or friends or healthcare providers, a cancer support group, a therapist or a coach, is a big part of the process.
[00:10:08] Whether they are active in your cheering or whether they are quietly cheering you from the sidelines, just knowing that there are people present who are supporting you in whatever way is best for them or best for you, is really a big part of the mindset piece around navigating this, and they are there to lift you up, to cheer you on, to provide you with what you need when you need it.
[00:10:35] And so as the person running the marathon, it is up to you to lean in and on them when you need to because that is what they are there for. Now, even with the support, there are going to be times when you may, what we call hit the wall. What's important is what comes next in a marathon. There's something runners call hitting the wall, and it's that moment when your body feels like it just can't go any further.
[00:11:06] Everything hurts. Your body is screaming for you to stop. Your brain is telling you all the reasons why this was a bad idea. I remember telling myself this was dumb. I don't know why I am doing this. I'm never doing this again. And you're, you can fall into a slump. During your race, when all of those feelings of not wanting to finish this, not wanting to do this, start to creep in, in the cancer marathon, hitting the wall might look like feeling completely exhausted or overwhelmed.
[00:11:38] I. Discourage, and this is where digging into self-love and self-belief and patience with yourself and the process becomes so important, there are going to be a lot of obstacles along the way. A lot of moments when your brain is telling you that this is hard, where your body is exhausted and when you feel like you have hit the wall that you just can't go any further.
[00:12:05] But I wanna offer that having the physical preparation, having the mindset, and having that support around you will help you to get up and keep moving forward and to get across your line that we'll talk about in a moment. That is your goal. Just remember that if you've ever hit the wall, you are not alone.
[00:12:29] So many people find themselves in the place where it just feels like it's too much. But it's important to remember that this feeling is temporary. That just like marathon runners who push through by slowing down, adjusting their pace and focusing on small, manageable goals, you too can find a way to move forward.
[00:12:53] Maybe for you, it's through giving yourself permission to rest, or perhaps it's by saying yes to fun and doing things that bring you joy. Perhaps you need to take a step back from the big picture of what's happening and look at the smaller moments and the steps along the way. Maybe it's an inspirational message like the one I shared in a past episode of when my friend, when I was at my lowest, sent me a message that he was thinking about me.
[00:13:21] Maybe there is something like that that is going to happen that reminds you that you are loved and supported and there are people cheering you on. Maybe it's taking the time to do one of the things that I encourage the most, which is celebrating the milestones along the way. One of the most powerful parts of a marathon is the way runners celebrate milestones throughout the race.
[00:13:46] Every distance marker is a reminder of how far you've come, not just in the moment, but also in the days and the weeks and the months, even the years leading up to that moment in your cancer marathon. It's important to celebrate your milestones too. Whether it's finishing a round of treatment, getting good test results, or just having a good day after a string of tough ones.
[00:14:13] Every step forward matters. And each of these milestones is one step closer to finding some closure and peace in your marathon. So I wanna take a moment to talk about the proverbial crossing of the line. Runners have a set finish line that they set their eye on and they sprint towards at the finish to signify that they have completed this challenge for people living with cancer.
[00:14:47] That line is not necessarily a definitive line. Instead, it could be the concept I shared of breaking things down into smaller moments. It might be completing treatment and entering remission or hearing those magic words of no evidence of disease. For others, it might be crossing the line from living in fear to finding peace and meaning in their life.
[00:15:11] For some, it's closing the door on cancer and moving forward. You get to decide what your line looks like. Whatever you choose should be meaningful to you. Your pace is your own. You get to choose the markers along the way that allow you to feel successful and that help you to pace yourself in this marathon.
[00:15:35] It's about patience. When I ran my last marathon, I was fulfilling a goal. I had set before my first surgery in 2015, lying in my bed in the hospital. I decided that I was going to run another marathon in 2017, I decided. Before I had even started the cancer process, that I was going to be able to run another marathon two years later.
[00:16:01] I had no idea before that day that I would be running a different type of marathon, one that would test my physical and mental capacity more than anything else in my life, and one that would prove to me that I could do anything I set my mind to. I did it. I ran my cancer marathon and then I ran my sixth marathon.
[00:16:25] Both were difficult, both required a lot of work, but both also brought with them a level of self-belief. I never knew I had inside me patience with myself and the process allowed me to do both and to achieve my goals. So as we wrap up today's episode, I wanna leave you with this thought. You are stronger than you realize.
[00:16:53] This marathon can be hard. It can be really difficult and challenging, but you are not running it alone. Take this one step at a time. Call in your support and remember to celebrate every win no matter how small it is, because every win. Keeps you moving forward, keeps you moving in this marathon. It just requires you to be patient and to believe in yourself.
[00:17:28] Thank you for joining me on this episode of The Living to Thrive with Cancer Podcast. If you found this conversation helpful, please share it with someone who may need a little bit of encouragement today, and don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. And to support you in your desire to thrive and in creating self-love and self-belief, I am hosting an online class for women living with Cancer.
[00:17:52] This class is also open to caregivers and to anyone who feels called to learn more about thriving with cancer. It's called Empowered Healing, and it's a 60 minute class that will take you through my five step thriver success path and provide you with practical tools to support your walk or your marathon with cancer.
[00:18:12] You can join me on Wednesday, April the 23rd at 12:00 PM Eastern, and when you register, you will receive information for joining the class. As well as reminder emails leading up to it, and all guests will receive a free copy of my Thriver success path. When you come to the class, you can find the link to register in the show notes and you can learn more about the concept of living to thrive with cancer.
[00:18:36] In my book, living to Thrive, a Holistic Guide to Living With Cancer, which is now available on Amazon, and I will also link that in the show notes. Friends. If you have enjoyed this episode, I would really appreciate it if you would leave a review Wherever you are listening, reviews help me to help other people who find this podcast and who are looking for support and guidance and a different way to live with cancer.
[00:19:03] Thanks so much for being here today and watch for the next episode that features a very special guest who shares his story of overcoming his mental health struggles and moving forward, and how he is helping others. Thank you so much for being here today. I hope you have a beautiful rest of your day, and may you live your life to your fullest.
[00:19:23] Follow your heart and thrive in all you do.
