BEST YEAR YET

"It was the best of times....it was the worst of times." This is how the classic by Charles Dickens, "A Tale of Two Cities" begins.  It goes on to have many contrasting statements for a few sentences, but we all get the picture.  THIS is how I felt on May 11th.

I had spent most of the previous year (2015) declaring that from Nov. of 2014 to Nov. of 2015 would be my BEST YEAR YET!  This was the time period before I turned 50 in November of 2015.  I had set out to gain entry into the New York City Marathon, which I did, and run as a St. Jude Hero to raise money and awareness for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which I did, as a cap off to this "self described" BEST YEAR YET.  It truly was a year to remember.  I asked myself last November, after I ran NYC and had my 50th birthday, "how does one follow up his BEST YEAR YET?"  I decided that the best way to do that would be to hit the "reset" button and have another BEST YEAR YET!!  Why limit my best year to just one round of 365 days?  Why not just live an inspired life, for the rest of my life, 365 days at a time....really, one day at a time?

So I set off to have another BEST YEAR YET.  I decided to challenge myself to run 4 marathons in 2016, the most I would complete in one calendar year (previously it was 2 in 2014).  So when I heard on May 11th, "the diagnosis is prostate cancer," this was not a part of my plan....my journey...for the year.  The diagnosis came just 10 days after I completed my 2nd marathon on the year.  Knowing I still had 2 more marathons to go (which I had already committed to running as a St. Jude Hero for the Chicago and Memphis marathons) my first reaction to my doctor at the time of deciding treatment options was, "how long until I can begin running?"  A few days later,  still processing the diagnosis of cancer in MY body, I started to not feel well.  I wasn't able to eat, could really only take in liquids and for the next week, I kept thinking "this will pass," but it didn't and it got worse.  I was taken to the hospital on May 23rd and found out I had a bacterial infection called Clostridium difficile...C diff. Not a pretty sight.  Cancer....C diff....NOT really the attributes that make up a BEST YEAR YET scenario.

Prior to this year, my only overnight stays in a hospital came when I was born and a one night stay when I was 16 for an early morning orthoscopic knee surgery (this was before it was an outpatient procedure).  I had a 5 day stint in May for the C diff and another 5 day stay in August for surgery to remove my prostate.

I'm not the fastest marathon runner, but I'm not the slowest either.  I won't make the podium in my age group, unless their are only 3 of us running.  One thing I prepare to do is start and finish each marathon I enter.  I do know how important training is and with my treatment choice for the cancer diagnosis, I chose what is called a Robotic-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy, I was going to be "down" for some time.  With surgery set for August 1st and the Chicago Marathon on October 9th, I had 9 weeks and each week down was going to be tough to prepare for 26.2 miles....doable, but tough.

I'm sure there are many that ask, "Why do you keep doing this?"  I probably could have taking a well accepted "pass" on completing my last 2 marathons this year.  I believe Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stated it the best, "Life's most persistent and urgent question: What are you doing for others?" 

I learned a lot over the last 366 that has shaped me: love of family; the will to battle; my body can still do incredible things; and so on.  Not looking back, only forward.  In Luke 9:62 Jesus tells about the importance of keeping our eyes fixed in FRONT of us.  Don't look back, you're not going that way anymore!  

So, here we are, 51 years + 1 day, setting off on another 365 day BEST YEAR YET journey...who's in?



Note: if you would like to get involved in helping St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and my efforts as a St. Jude Hero for this upcoming St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend (Dec. 2nd), please go to heroes.stjude.org/timpete.  There is no amount too big or too small.