Stage IV MBC Fitness

Sounds like a good idea @mara51506 ! It can be inspiring to workout with others, and an opportunity to get out.

Even on days when I don't feel like going to the gym, I find that if I go, I feel much better afterwards, both physically and mentally.

@tougholdcrow

So glad you made the reservation for 2026. Having something like that to look forward to can be incredibly helpful on the not so good days.

@AJ

The retreat sounds awesome. Wish there was one on the East Coast.

@eleanora here is one folks have talked about and loved ! https://www.marysplacebythesea.org/ It’s on the Jersey shore. I havent been, it a close friend went and loved it. ❤️

@chicagoan Really interesting. this is really advocating HIIT (like Japanese interval walking)—short bursts of intensity. I can get my heart rate up in Pilates, but I'm also trying to get some bicycling in. Good motivation. Guess I'd better get out for a walk tonight!

@AJ - Is the pool you're talking about the saltwater one? If so, it's a classic! Good for you for both the swim and the walk.

@brutersmom - Interesting about the interval training being best. Unfortunately, it's the kind I like the least. I like that gentle flow sort of stuff, like walking, and can see why those who swim like that too.

@tougholdcrow - I too walk slowly, but it's not because of a dog. In my case, I'm the one who wants to stop and smell all the flowers, observe the birds up in their trees, stop for a few seconds and look down the hill at the territorial view, etc. Like you though, I have put 2-3 relatively challenging and spaced out hills into my walk routine, so like you said, that heart rate does get up.

I can't seem to do anything just for the sake of pure exercise. I have to get something else out of it like completion of an errand (walking clothes to dry cleaners) or stopping to watch the birds, appreciate the foliage, etc. I find "pure exercise" for it's own sake grueling and boring. I am still wanting to go back to PT though, and that comes close to "pure exercise", but I think I can manage some of that, and maybe it will help.

I'm still suffering from some form of additional fatigue these past few months but don't know if they are from the drugs, a post shingles/viral syndrome, or even cancer progression at this point. The oncologist and NP told me there is no test for post viral fatigue, so it's not a solid yes or no from them about it. They do acknowledge that many people do report such a thing and that it can't be ignored, however. Two of my three scans that I got on Friday have come back and showed an essentially stable situation, so unless the third one (chest CT) that isn't in yet shows something new and different, I don't think this fatigue is from cancer progression either. I did get my fulvestrant shots last Wednesday and I tried my usual good long walk on Saturday, following the shots and a scan day Friday (with contrast and long periods of lying still on the table, etc.). That did not work out well at all, and I reached point where I really wanted a place to sit down for awhile before I made it back home (never happened before), but there wasn't one, so I trudged on and made it, but was totally wiped out and had to lie down for about an hour to recover enough strength to get up and do anything else. Consequently I stayed in yesterday, but am going to try the walking again today, but maybe do a shorter, flatter round.

@AJ - Lincoln Park? I so remember that pool from long, long ago. Had a first couple of swim lessons there when I was about 6. I thought I'd heard something many years ago though, about how they were going to have to close it down? I could be wrong, but hope it's still there. It's a real local landmark sort of thing. Glad to know people are still enjoying it. I used to just love that whole park. I lived in an apartment complex a few miles south of there in the 1950's and groups of mothers there would organize trips to the park for some of us. My mother didn't drive, and I was always a "tag along", but sure remember loving that place. Thanks for letting me know.

@threetree , yes! Lincoln Park! The pool is still going strong. And I just got back from a two mile walk in the park! I go there all the time.

@AJ - Wow, that pool's probably been redone umpteen times since I last saw it. It still doesn't really look all that different though than it did in the 50's😮. That park is so, so nice and I remember having wonderful times there as a kid. Also, there's a little row of small tudor style houses across Fauntleroy from the park and when I was a kid I used to really like them and I would look across that street and say to myself how I was going to live in one of those houses someday. Well it never happened, but I do still once in awhile enjoy that very old memory and the dream. If you've been walking around that area, it would be great! A real pleasant and scenic place to walk. You've got the ferry to watch there too. Thanks so much for the photo and the info that it's still going strong, as I do seem to remember there was talk that it might not be kept up. I haven't been by there in a many years now, but I used to drive by from time to time way into adulthood, and I've always enjoyed it; and those old childhood memories. A real treat.

@gailmary Working outdoors is fantastic exercise! Good for you.

@eleanora - I agree that age and especially the accumulation of drugs really adds to all of this. I quit doing PT too at around the time I got shingles, and now I'm realizing it was a bigger help than I knew. The straw that broke the camel's back here for me was the soreness that I've now added from lying on those scan tables last Friday. I am more sore than ever now, and have not recovered, whereas it usually only takes a couple of days. Just this morning I started doing some of the PT exercises (just a couple and very slowly) and I think if I continue it will help. I'm going to try and call the PT sometime maybe later this week and see about starting back up. I think you're right about the gift of time and grace being needed, but it's so much easier said than done. Thank you.