Get ready readers as this is a pretty serious post. One of the stars of the wedding has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and is in the process of planning her treatment to fight it. This gives getting ‘WedFit’ a whole new meaning. Our star, I’m sure, wants nothing more than to a) fight this nasty disease and b) feel well enough on the wedding day to enjoy it. A whole different ball game and a much bigger challenge than losing a few pounds that’s for sure. So, while I promised myself I would take my fitness journey slowly, suddenly I’ve been thrown a curve ball in the form of Tough Mudder.
The bride and her two bridesmaids (one of them being me) have vowed to complete a 5 mile muddy course set to challenge the toughest of the tough. It will involve crawling, climbing, and most likely dragging ourselves around some pretty tricky obstacles – definitely not a gentle introduction to fitness for a postnatal mum but I do love a challenge!
I’ve got six weeks before the event in which to hone my running skills, including adding some hills to my usually very flat course, and build up as much strength as possible. While I was writing this I downloaded the training plan, which has now filled me with dread! With only six weeks to go, I should apparently now be able to a circuit involving sprints, burpees, 20 sit ups, 15 jump squats – I can’t. Oh well, I will do my best because it’s all for a great cause: raising money for Pancreatic Cancer Action.
27 years ago, my Grandpa died of pancreatic cancer. In those days, they couldn’t even do a CT scan to see what the problem was so they had to operate simply to tell him there was nothing they could do as the cancer was too advanced. 4 years ago, my Father in Law got pancreatic cancer and was eligible for a major surgical procedure to cut out the cancer from the pancreas and surrounding organs. This was not a pleasant experience but it got rid of it. Now, my sister’s soon-to-be Mother in Law is embarking on chemotherapy treatment to beat her pancreatic cancer. It just goes to show how far things have come, not just with this cancer but many types of cancer, thanks to people’s donations and excellent research. Survival rates are much higher, technology and treatment are much better and people now have reason to be more than hopeful when it comes to beating it. That’s not to say undergoing treatment is a walk in the park though and I will have to remind myself of this when I am struggling with the training and dragging ourselves around the course.
If anyone out there has any tips on how to get Tough Mudder Fit then please do let me know.
Come on Team WedFit, let’s do this!
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WedFit Mum 