Tim L
Awesome news! I’ve been given a clean bill of health by the docs and just have to undergo a bunch of cancer screening tests over the next few years to confirm it hasn’t come back. I think I’ll be fine though since the cancer was caught early and didn’t have a chance to spread. Early detection was the key and I think we all need to treat our bodies the same way we would our car, for example. Like a car, our body is a machine that can break down from time to time and needs periodic checks. If something doesn’t feel quite right the safe play is to go get a professional opinion from your doctor. Maybe it’s nothing, but on the other hand, maybe it’s everything.
So now that the whole cancer thing is in the rearview mirror, I can concentrate on getting back to what’s really important and keep chipping away at the task at hand. In early April I got back to running Edmonton streets and started back up again in Twin Brooks, running an homage to testicular cancer survivors due to the unique shape of this particular neighborhood (you’re shaped like man-parts, Twin Brooks!).
I discovered two things, however, on this short 4 and a half km run that were a direct result of watching Netflix and eating corn chips for 2 straight months:
- I got fat
- I got slow
Everybody do me a favor and remind me to eat a vegetable once in a while. Seriously, Tim, what’s wrong with eating a carrot? My diet is not good at the best of times but things dipped to an all-time low during this little stint. Either way, it’s time to pay the bill.
I used Twin Brooks as my warm up to get back to my previous form as much as possible and now I’m picking up where I left off still needing to clean up a couple of missed sections on the Henday before I get back to Ormsby in Edmonton’s west end. My mindset has definitely changed a bit from when I first started this project. Initially, when I decided I would run every street in Edmonton, I had a small amount of anxiety when it came to doing the busier sections of the city like the Anthony Henday ring road, Whitemud Drive and The Yellowhead Trail. Visions of getting smoked by a ’92 Honda Civic were at the front of my thoughts when I first did that section of Whitemud Drive between 17th and 34th streets. It actually turned out to be not a problem at all since I only run those sections early on Saturday or Sunday mornings when there’s pratically no traffic and usually a large shoulder. The best thing to do in these sorts of situations is to mitigate the risks as much as possible and see where that takes you. That’s what I’m doing, anyway, so far so good.
Quick update, The Streets Initiative has officially raised over $10,000 dollars for local city charities so thanks very much to everyone that has contributed with donations or encouragement! Feel free to visit the donation page on this site if you’re feeling the burn to help out local groups. Till next post, talk to you later everyone!
-Tim
