Skipton Race For Life

Hooooooray!!!!! My first Event went brrrrrrilliantly, I loved it.

Yes there was rain, yes there was sheep poo, yes I was tired... but happy.

So, here's how it all went.

4:20 am Alarm went off, jumped out of bed (despite having been so excited I hadn't got to sleep till around 2am - but then I have to get used to a lack of sleep don't I?). James fixed me a cuppa tea, a flask of coffee (which I wouldn't get chance to drink), sorted out my snack pack (flap jacks and bananas) and waved me off before going back to bed.

5am Arrived on site, which looked like this;




5:15 Set to setting up my Start and Finish area. Sticking in stakes and reams of pink tape to create my finish funnels which I filled with medals, goody bags and H2O. Setting up the barriers and branding signs and checking all essential equipment was in place (the megaphone and starter horn for example).



5:25 Decided there was just no getting away from it, I was going to get covered in sheep poo... and not just covered in it with the rain we were going to get, swimming in sheep poo is probably an apt description.

7am Set up done! giving time for a short breather, cup of tea and bacon butty before getting shown how to start the clock, use the radios etc. Got assigned my radio and headset - felt very important. Put on my Cancer Research UK waterproof and Orange Staff Vest and felt very silly (the S/M was just huge even on a preggers lady).




8am Briefed my volunteers on their roles for the day and the Wave start we were going to carry out. Basically Runners, joggers and walkers were split out and entered the start area in controlled order (led by my volunteers), walked in an importantly controlled way to the start line and then held there to wait the starter hooter - very important!
8:10am Briefed my finish funnel volunteers on the intricacies of handing out medals and goody bags.

10am Volunteers all in place, clock starter briefed and me nervously awaiting to see if my briefings had all worked and this would all work.



10:25 And everything begins, the participants split off, my flag bearers lead them where they need to go, we take them to the start line, Wait for it ladies, Wait for it, nearly there now!

10:30 5,4,3,2,1 HOOOTER and the runners are off....
10:31 5,4,3,2,1 HOOTER joggers off...
10:32 5,4,3,2,1 HOOTER walkers off.....

It worked!

10:33 Spotted James who had come to catch the all important photos of me looking wet and official.



10:45 Finish funnels - volunteers in place and here we go for the first person must be coming back soon.. but where is my finish line tape..... it's with the other Event Assistant (EA) and Event Manager (EM) at the top of the final sprint ... but then... is that the first runner!!! They are coming! Run EA and EM, Slow down First Runner, slow down.... and they all cross the finish line at about the same time! Hillarious.

10:50 and my job begins directing the participants into funnels, managing the flow and the volunteers working in the area.



12am the final walkers are coming back now, but we have run out of medals!!!! My first Panic (well second after the Finish Line tape incident), but wait, what is that box down there, Phew its Medals!

12:30-2pm It's a Go for clear down. Unraveling all my pink tape and stakes and packing all the stuff up - in order to avoid the heavy duty lifting I elect to do some litter picking, Gosh the weather was miserable!

2:30 Arrived home to disinfect myself of sheep poo on the doorstep. A cup of tea and a hot bath and a cottage pie cooked by James for tea. Perfect. Bed by 8:30!

So if you want to know the effects of being a EA for a day - I think these two Before and After photo's sum it up quite nicely;


(p.s I do have a second decent waterproof and a bag all under that CRUK waterproof which is why I look so inflated - baby hasn't grown that much in one day)

Phew, I am exhausted just typing all that.

Let's do it all again on Sunday in Ilkely.

Ready, Steady, Go!

It's Cancer Research UK's Race for Life event series beginning and I am to be a part of it, quite a big part actually :-)

I have secured a position as an Event Assistant (1000 applicants nationwide and 5 posts up for grabs in the North so I am a bit chuffed at that). This means I will be right-hand-man to the Event manager at the Skipton, Ilkley, Bradford and York Race For Life events. And that kicks off for me tomorrow at 5am (yikes!) in Skipton.



There will be 2 Event Managers and 2 Event assistants (that's me) and a gaggle (hopefully) of volunteers. And we have to make this event run smoothly for 1700 ladies. I will be Start/Finish manager. Setting up all the start and finish area, setting up branding and goody bags, briefing and leading a team of volunteers, controlling the staggered start process for Runners and Walkers and most importantly starting the clock! The race cannot start until I am happy all safe and ready to go and I give the go ahead for the count down to start and the hooter to sound.
I am slightly nervous but I am sure once my first event is under my belt I will know just what to do. The event starts at 10:30 so I should be home early afternoon for a warm bath and a long sleep. Looking out the window currently with the rain pouring down doesn't fill me with confidence for the weather tomorrow, waterproofs may be the name of the game.

So, wish me luck and I plan to come back and document the events here.

Happy News

Can you tell what that news is..... Yes, James and I are going to have a baby :-)

Meet the Wild child;




We are very happy and over the moon. It is nice to be able to come on here and put up this news to show that there can be life after cancer and even babies after chemotherapy. So this October will be quite a celebration. I will be approaching becoming a 5 year Cancer survivor, James and I will have had our 5 year Anniversary (a weekend off to the Drunken Duck in the lakes to look forward to for that, while we still can of course) and we should be joined by this little Wild Child.

Another year...

So January...

January has come and gone and along with it my annual check-ups and mammogram.

Again this year I have passed my MOT. The doctors are happy with me and can see no obvious changes on the mammogram since my previous one from the year before. I had the usual fit of giggles when I saw my notes being lugged across the desk by the nurse at reception.... I think I am yet to see any notes quite as thick as mine. I don't seem to be able to help but get the giggles when James and I go into clinic. I think there is quite a bit of nervous energy even when I think there is nothing to worry about.

But that's the squeeze over for another year. In the mean time I am going to be vigilant and get on with business as usual (hence the lack of posting on this Cancer blog).

Bye till next time.

Breast Buddies Get Together.

A lovely sunny afternoon and evening was spent chatting over cocktails and champagne with my 2 breast buddies, Sarah and Nic at The Grove in Watford.

Yay to Bosom Buddies.

A successful trip

So, I had a good check up appointment today and all seems well with my boobs.

There was quite a wait in clinic before being called in. It certainly takes you back and no matter how much I was sure that all is fine I still get a few butterflies. Being in the waiting room surrounded by people in all stages from diagnosis to treatment built up a few nerves. I felt quite sick when I saw the breast care nurse who had been at my diagnosis come out into the waiting room and get someones husband to go in with her.... it felt horrible to think that someone might be getting a diagnosis at that particular time.

But finally I was in, and, with the Top Man. My surgeon! Swoon Swoon! I haven't seen him since back in the days of my surgery. I felt a bit of a fraud getting the best man just for my little check up. But he gave me a thorough investigation and talked through some good stuff with James and I. He is very happy and I am just due back in for a check up in 6 months time..... for some reason I come out all flustered (in a good way) when I have seen him! worth the wait beforehand ;-D

I am also very very very much looking forward to this weekend. I am having a whole weekend away with my Breast Buddies... Sarah and Nic! We have planned to go for food and cocktails during the afternoon on Saturday at a posh looking place down south. Sarah and I have often caught up over a glass of champagne and are looking forward to finally meeting up with our other friend Nic. Whoop Whoop exciting.

2 Peaks!

It is the annual check up with my Breast Care Team today ;-)

But that is not the 2 peaks I am referring to though... We have now completed the Yorkshire Dales 3 Peaks. Obviously in a much more civilized way by spreading it out over several months, but still.

Pen-y-ghent was achieved on a hot hot hot day mid june.




Phew.




Whernside was achieve this weekend. The weather was not so great (we almost aborted before we even began because of windy rainy conditions) but as it was cooler I was able to power up this hill



(total walked 8.9 miles)

.


Past some lovely scenery (excuse the hat hair!) and made it back to the car just as the weather was brightening up. Typical. Especially as we could now see little people on the top of the mountain - when we were there we could hardly see a little way in front of us for mist.




I really do need to get some new outdoor clothing because I might as well just superimpose myself in the same get up in all sort of outdoors locations. (I probably could have got away with claiming I did it all in one day if I had thought about it!)

Breast Cancer Care Pink Ribbonwalk 2010

What a fantastic day! I don't know about the walkers but I was shattered at the end of it.

I arrived at 7:30am just as the event was getting set up in the grounds of Harewood House. I met some fellow volunteers (being on my own I soon latched on to some friendly faces) and we put on our crew T-shirts and went to get a bacon butty and a cup of tea.


I was soon put to work on the Registration desk, signing in the excited walkers ready for the 20 mile walk to begin. After they were all signed in we went and joined in with the warm up








and at 9:30am the 20-milers were off!


all heading off into a very lovely June morning (I hope they all had suncream and sun hats because it was due to get much much hotter)














The glorious day was just getting warmed up, so there was a small lull where we were able to get out our sun hats, put on some sun cream and help out on a few jobs, like getting the medals ready for the walkers return and setting up the finish line.





I was then re-assigned to a team of marshals and was placed at a strategic point on the route to await the walkers and alert any traffic to their approach (I had about 5 cars through the 2 hours I was there).


Boy, what a lovely view point I had. So I got out my chair and my packed lunch to keep myself company and await the walkers (I was never really alone, all the time I was being circled by some majestic Red Kites - probably eying up my packed lunch).








But the walkers were soon to arrive and for 2 hours I was a smiley face at the top of a very steep, evil hill at 8.4 miles.



After 2 hours of watching tired, but smiley, faces walk past me I was thinking twice about the little spark of an emotional idea born while on the registration desk earlier that morning that I should do this 20 mile challenge. However, it hasn't gone away completely.

But for those 2 hours I smiled and encouraged. I hope I was appreciated. Some told me it was nice to see such a smiley face to greet them at the top of the horrible hill they had to tackle in such heat. Others may well have blamed me for the horrible hill they had to tackle in such heat and I am sure others were thinking "it's all very well for you, you haven't had to tackle this horrible hill in such heat". But I kept the smile and the encouraging and joking up for the 2 hours until the last walkers had passed my little checkpoint (one lady even recognised me later from being at the 8.4 mile check point - I hope that was a good sign).


It was then back to the site for 1:30, just in time to enjoy a Pimms and Lemonade (bursting with fruit) with some fellow volunteer friends (who had been on car park duty) in the sun while awaiting the first walkers to return and when I would be put onto cheering duty.

This is the life!





After seeing the first few walkers come in (20 miles - 5 hours), I was again re-assigned as a gate marshal on the homeward stretch.



At this point it is less than half a mile home and the point when the walkers pass by Harewood House itself and make their way across the final field to the finish point where they are greeted by cheerleaders (doing fantastic pyramid arrangements for such a hot day), Morris Dancers, yoga and massages (not to mention the BBQ).










And after some of the final (although not all) walkers were through I went back to grab my own burger of the barbie before heading home at 6:30.





Weary but very happy!



I think that myself and the other 100 volunteers made the event work for the 500 walkers who took part. I just hope they do it again next year (unfortunately numbers in Yorkshire have been lower than at the other Pink RibbonWalks and it is yet to be confirmed whether they will be coming back to Harewood House - although perhaps that is me off the spot for doing the actual walk next year). And I am also very glad that it was yesterday and not today because it might not have been such a glorious day to be a volunteer if it had been raining.

All in all I am so glad that I did it, Yay to volunteering.

Pink ribbon walk approaches...

I have received information through about my volunteering day at the Harewood House Pink Ribbon walk Sat 5th June....

I have been assigned to the Pink Ribbonwalk Registration Team :-) I am very excited about this role.

I have to arrive for 7:45 (gosh - it is 50 minutes drive away from me as well!) but I do get a breakfast roll and a hot drink.

Walkers set off at 9:30 (20-milers) and 12:30 (10-milers) and should expect to come back in between 3:30-5:30. So I expect I will be the smiley face signing them out and back in again.

After that it will be full on support at the finish line for the final arrivees and all finished off with a BBQ!

I should get to drag my weary body home around 7:30 :-)

OOooooohhh I am really looking forward to it.

An update in photo-form

I have mainly been up to the following.....

Having a new haricut (a graduated bob with a new hair tone) which I quite like.



Having a girlie get together in Birmingham....



Being the proper little scientist with a work trip to Slovenia where I had to give a talk (and enjoying post-conference talk celebrations with my boss)





Entertaining friends visiting from Japan and getting excited by planning our summer holiday to Tokyo!!! (and preparing by drinking Sake and eating Japanese-rice-cake-thingys)



enjoying the sun with a BBQ



and finding it amusing that we were not the only ones finding the hot weather very enjoyable....


Being green-fingered in the garden and enjoying finding new ingenious ways of using up excess rhubarb (rhubarb bellinis and rhubarb and custard souffles)

An enormous sense of well being...

I have decided to volunteer to help at the Breast Cancer Care 2010 Pink Ribbon Walk. This is a 10 or 20 mile walk held in June at Harewood House in Yorkshire to raise money for Breast Cancer Care. I saw an email link saying that it wasn't too late to enter to walk it. But having not long raise £4000 from lovely generous friends and family, I felt they had done their bit. Then I noticed a link asking for volunteers to help at the event. Perfect! So I have signed myself up.

I am really excited. I could be signing walkers in on the registration desk, cheering and greeting walkers at the finish post, manning the rest stops on the route, or even directing cars (I can't see myself directing the cars somehow, but I am sure it is a very important job and the event could not run without it)

So let's hope for nice weather for June and lot's of money for Breast Cancer Care.

Climbing One Peak.

On Easter Sunday, James and I decided to climb one of the Yorkshire 3 peaks. I had thought we might work our way up to this with several preparatory walks this year, however, we just up and climbed Ingleborough. It was great!

We were up there setting off at 11am... and steadily climbed up and up. It was quite daunting as the route we chose meant you could see exactly where you had to climb ahead and you could just make out the little red dots of walkers waterproof jackets climbing ahead. But it wasn't all that hard in the end. My thighs soon stopped hurting when I was at the top.




We just had time to grab a photo, a chicken sarnie and a bag of crisps before the clouds descended and it turned icy cold. We could only make out the way down when someones head popped up the track showing us where to go. So after a brief hail blizzard we were safely on our way down again.

There is a little map here from James' GPS showing just what we did. I think we took 1.5 hrs up and 1hr down...



Now, the weather forecast had said Sunny intervals which was why we chose Sunday... however they were all concentrated in the afternoon after we got home. How annoying, however, it's a greater sense of achievement when you have made it up in a hail blizzard.

I now want to do the next two; Whernside and Phen-y-ghent.

Spot the champagne!

Not happy with how my last wordle turned out.... (the lack of champagne featuring has called into question the validity of the whole wordle... )

I have simply decided that I WANT champagne to feature....
Therfore I have;

a) re-created the wordle increasing the words until champagne features and thereby creating a new game for all readers called "spot the champagne".



and

b) I have artificially created the wordle I wanted to have (i.e I wrote champagne over and over again till it finally had the prominance it deserved) and....

ta da....

3 YEARS, 3 MONTHS and 3 DAYS (well near enough)

So, I have passed the 3 Years, 3 Months and 3 days time point since I was diagnosed this week. So let's top that good news off with another nice little sentence;

"We are pleased to inform you that your recent mammogram showed no signs of abnormality, please continue to be breast aware."

So, how about a little look back over good times and bad.... I came across a wordle on someones blog the other day (wordle.net). It scans text for the prominent words used. So I entered in the text of my entire blog and here's what came out the other side. I think it's pretty cool actually. That's 3 years, 3 months and 3 days of words relating to cancer treatment and what lies beyond (I am please to see that cake features in mine, and relieved to find that James features more prominently than cake!).

It's that time of year again.

The annual mammogram check-up has come and gone again.

I went for the squeeeeeeeeeeeeze yesterday and now have 2-3 weeks to wait until I get the results.

Fingers crossed all is behaving itself.... yes, that means you evil boob (it's also pay back time to evil boob because it especially doesn't like these mammogramms as it's a sensitive little thing.. take that evil boob... feel that pain!).

How the other half live....

So, I'm back from that cruise that I mentioned. This one was a 16-day cruise around the Canary Islands over Christmas and New Year!

Lots of eating, relaxing, reading, eating, sunbathing, sipping coffee's on shore, eating, outdoor pool swimming/jacuzzi-ing and did I mention eating!

We set sail on 19th December to the sounds of a brass band playing us off and headed for several days along rocky seas down past Spain and Portugal (with quick hop-off visits to Lisbon and somewhere else I forget the name of). The weather was a bit choppy but picked up when we arrived in the Canary Islands.

So, how was Christmas on a cruise ship? Apart from missing being with family Christmas on a Cruise ship was a very fun time filled mainly with EATING and getting dressed up! We did get the Queens Speech piped in, Xmas dinner was an evening affair so we spent most of our Christmas day sipping sherry and having a pizza for lunch. Boxing day was spent catching a tan on sun loungers. Bliss.

We also had New Years Eve dropped anchor just off Madeira where we were able to watch a fantastic fireworks display, like nothing I have seen in my life before. Ten minutes of synchronised fireworks along the coast finished off with rather loud blasts from the ships horn. The Christmas Cruise Clientele are quite an elderly bunch.... "are you on your honeymoon dears?" with many a mobility scooter and walking stick to manouver around. But overall jolly good fun.

I've put some photos on Facebook untill I can upload some here.

It's Winter.

I think it was a bit cold and frosty outside this morning.
It's nice to catch a glimpse of a snowy winter :)

Hands up who hates me....

.... I am going to be going on a cruise again :-)

YAY to dresses, afternoon tea and martini cocktails here we come.

The Girls hit Manchester (and experience an ETAP hotel)

Here I am enjoying a night out in Manchester with my friends from University. We met up for a spot of shopping, an overnight stay in an ETAP hotel and a meal and drinks out. I had a full weekend of shopping through which I learned something new about myself. I think I may have been a magpie in a previous life as I seem to be attracted to shiny sequined things in the shops. But I certainly have an excuse (that deserves it's own little post!).

Our ETAP stay too was a very successful experience. We had a room for 3 with a double bed and bunk bed over the top. Small and basic but perfectly formed and allowed for many giggles. I will deffinately be visiting again, and all for £35 between all 3 of us. What a bargain :-)

Someone let me loose on the champagne :-)

I had a very nice 3-year-post-diagnosis Anniversary weekend. And, yes a couple of celebratory glasses were had.
As well as a bit of enjoying the great outdoors with a walk along the canal past the place where we got married. On this occasion I successfully managed to walk a significant distance alongside a canal without putting my life in danger and going for a dip.

Happy 3rd Anniversary to me!

So, I know... it's been a long time.

I guess I have just been living this little life that I am lucky to have. First thing to report I guess is that there isn't any current activity on the cancer front. Which is nice!

So I guess I will ease myself back in with details of some nice little pumpkin ginger cakes I made for Halloween. I took them into work and put them in the kitchen. It was nice to hear many a "ooohhh" as people walked into the kitchen and saw free cakes going. I say free..... I don't think people knew quite how to cope not putting a donation in a tin for Breast Cancer Care in return for my baking (I even had a couple of people come and ask if I was collecting - he he).

This Saturday marks my 3rd Anniversary since diagnosis. Haven't I done well. I don't think it's going to be a sad, melancholy occasion. It's quite a milestone actually and I might jolly well celebrate it..... as time goes on, the chance of it coming back for me decreases (which is why the counter of days since the end of my treatment is still up and running and still means a lot to me). I know it might not always be this good and quite often I get little reminders to that fact, be it someone I know starting out on this old road for a second time (which makes me very very sad) or someone I met going on 'How to Look Good Naked' and getting some post-mastectomy Gok treatment. So this Saturday perhaps I will have to revisit that Champagne habit, which I have let seriously drop off since the end of my treatment, and raise a glass to Good Health for myself and others.

"Cheers"