Thursday, January 9, 2014
Winter Soldier Marathon
Friday, January 3, 2014
The Marathon
As many of you know, in February or March, my oncologist believes I will probably need to begin treatment. The most likely treatment option is one that has a host of charming side effects, including hand and foot sores, and explosive diarrhea. You're welcome for that visual. Anyway, you may remember that just after I got this news in November, I said that, one way or another, I was going to run a marathon in February, because if not now, when? (And, PS, that's true for the rest of you lot, too. As many of us in BG were reminded all-too-vividly over this break, we never know when we'll get called Home.)
Over the past few months, my friends Elizabeth Gorski, JD Pooley, Meg McVey, and my doctor, Brian Rini, have been training and preparing to run 26.2 miles together on Sunday, 2 Feb... Super Bowl Sunday, and Groundhog Day! For Meg and I, it's a first marathon; for all of us, the first in winter (and we are sure hoping for at least 15*F that day!!).
This run is a PURELY informal affair! And by purely, I mean that in the sincerest definition of "pure." In "Born to Run," Chris McDougall talks about how running as a community activity - and NOT as a race - is part of the secret of not just the physical health of the Tarahumara, but their social and mental health, as well.
Now, I also mean this is informal in a purely legal sense. There aren't going to be any crossing guards, closed roads, formal aid stations, or anything like that. We'll have some friends who offer up water or Gatorade along the way, and you're welcome to stow a warm pair of shoes or spare pair of socks somewhere on the route! If you run with us, you're running at your own risk, just like you would if you decided to lace up the shoes on any given Sunday and go out for a run with your best friend!
I would love to invite some of you to run with us, for a mile or two, even for a few hundred yards! I can tell you personally that, based on my long runs of up to 17.5 miles, I sure would love to see some fresh faces and fresh legs in those last ten miles to keep us going!! Maybe you'd like to adopt a mile near the end to come run with us! I'll be posting more information here as we get closer to the race. But if you feel like a run on Groundhog Day - well before the Super Bowl starts! - come on out with us!
9am start at St. Aloysius
The Boyledonia government offices and Katie's office building on campus are on the route 3 times if running the whole marathon. Great places to stash or discard layers.
Over the past few months, my friends Elizabeth Gorski, JD Pooley, Meg McVey, and my doctor, Brian Rini, have been training and preparing to run 26.2 miles together on Sunday, 2 Feb... Super Bowl Sunday, and Groundhog Day! For Meg and I, it's a first marathon; for all of us, the first in winter (and we are sure hoping for at least 15*F that day!!).
This run is a PURELY informal affair! And by purely, I mean that in the sincerest definition of "pure." In "Born to Run," Chris McDougall talks about how running as a community activity - and NOT as a race - is part of the secret of not just the physical health of the Tarahumara, but their social and mental health, as well.
Now, I also mean this is informal in a purely legal sense. There aren't going to be any crossing guards, closed roads, formal aid stations, or anything like that. We'll have some friends who offer up water or Gatorade along the way, and you're welcome to stow a warm pair of shoes or spare pair of socks somewhere on the route! If you run with us, you're running at your own risk, just like you would if you decided to lace up the shoes on any given Sunday and go out for a run with your best friend!
I would love to invite some of you to run with us, for a mile or two, even for a few hundred yards! I can tell you personally that, based on my long runs of up to 17.5 miles, I sure would love to see some fresh faces and fresh legs in those last ten miles to keep us going!! Maybe you'd like to adopt a mile near the end to come run with us! I'll be posting more information here as we get closer to the race. But if you feel like a run on Groundhog Day - well before the Super Bowl starts! - come on out with us!
9am start at St. Aloysius
The Boyledonia government offices and Katie's office building on campus are on the route 3 times if running the whole marathon. Great places to stash or discard layers.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY
Summary of Intercepts :: The Boyle Cell
The agency has intercepted telephone and
internet communications related to the shadowy revolutionary organization known
as the Boyle Cell throughout the 2013 calendar year. In the wake of the
unauthorized Snowden disclosures, the agency has decided to release a summary
of our analysis of these wiretaps.
WINTER: Social
media intercepts indicated that three agents of the extended Boyle Cell network
arrived in Detroit, Mich. with the express intent of humiliating an American
treasure, Miss Michigan. Boyles with the known aliases of “Joe,” “Ellie,” and
“Papa” threw up an “O-H-I-O” with the beauty queen. Local prosecutors
considered terrorism charges until it was confirmed that Ohio indeed does own
Michigan. Soon after this exploit, “Ellie” suffered a broken arm in what intel
indicates was a ‘basketball incident.’ This story is expected to grow larger
over time.
SPRING: Medical
staff have examined electronic medical records to confirm that “Joe” Boyle had
surgery on a particularly sensitive area for complications from a cancer
treatment-related procedure the previous year. We have not corroborated the
specifics, but intel indicates he really had a ball! At approximately the same
time, phone intercepts imply that the middle Boyle – code name “Joey” – was
initiated into the organization through a rite they call “First Communion,” and
the shortest Boyle (with the nom du
guerre “Mark”) graduated from an indoctrination camp called “Child Development
Center.” “Ellie” undertook a rigorous physical training program through a
religious extremist group monikered “CYO Track.” Much of the training focused
on hurling metal objects at high velocity.
SUMMER: The
entire Boyle Cell made an unexpected trip to Orlando, Fla. in mid-June. Agency
assets conducted 24-hour observation of the cell during this trip, observing a
number of suspicious interactions. The small Boyle Cell members were observed
in physical embraces (likely live drops) with disguised, and as-of-yet unidentified
characters with the street names of “Mickey,” “Minnie,” and “Goofy” and various
superheros and wizards. Analysts have pored over the situation, and can find no
way the Boyle Cell could have financed this complex of an operation without the
help of angels. Later in the summer, “Joe” attended one of the most dangerous
gatherings of suspected insurgents seen in recent years, the 20th
class reunion of the St. John’s Class of 1993. Throughout the summer, the Boyle Cell seemed
to be preparing for a water-borne attack, as they spent so much time at the
city pool, the children were said to have sprouted gills. “Joe” went so far as
to complete a triathlon in late summer, and the sight of him in tight trunks
was a clear threat to national security.
FALL: As summer
closed, the Boyle Cell lost one of its most potent weapons, a ferocious 13 year
old canine named “Emerald.” Considered the heart and soul of the Cell, the
dog’s death cast a pall on the organization. Weeks later, “Joe” went back to
his job in recruitment and training of young ideologues in Toledo, Ohio.
Simultaneously, all three of the small Cell members began attending a madrassa
known as “St. Aloysius.” This development was greeted with enthusiasm by “Joe”
and “Katie” because it eased the daily logistical problems of infiltration and
exfil. The Cell was broken up for a few days as “Katie” snuck out to eastern
Pennsylvania with a subset of radicals informally known as the “Mom Friends.”
“Joe” undertook a training regimen at the end of the year aimed at running 26.2
miles in the dead of winter. We expect he will be successful as he has already
completed 13.1 miles but will monitor his sanity closely. Near the very end of
the year, “Joey” was indoctrinated into the dangerous doomsday cult known as
the “Cleveland Browns.” His excitement level was recorded by thermal monitoring
equipment at Fort Meade, Md.
NSA will monitor the Boyle Cell into the
foreseeable future. The Cell has made clear that they are thinking of their
friends and family this winter, and are ominously hoping for a great 2014 for
all.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
“I can’t surrender. I don’t know how to.”
“I can’t surrender. I don’t know how to.”
The Cap, Captain America #437 (1995)
Dark thoughts are seldom more than a nightmare away when youget diagnosed with cancer. They inhabit every corner of your mind. You can ignore them, you can play around with them, you can even taunt them from time to time. But they’re still there. All the time. Ask anyone who’s had a chronic disease, and they’ll tell you the same thing – the physical battle is child’s play compared to the cumulative mental toll.
Over the past two and a half years, I have been incredibly, freakishly,and characteristically, lucky. I had a couple of physically bad months after the surgery. I had a bad July 2012 with the IL-2 treatment. But, more often than not, I have physically felt pretty damn good. Sure, a good mile split now is 10’15” in a 5K as opposed to 7’30” before I got sick- but most days, I feel pretty much like myself. It’s fairly easy to deal in the more or less abstract with the darker thoughts; thoughts of what’s next, thoughts of decline, thoughts of mortality.
I guess that’s what made yesterday’s news difficult. The euphemistic “spots” on my lungs are still growing. They’re growing slowly, which is great –because growing fast would be bad. But they’re growing. And that means at some point, probably in the next four to eight months, I’ll have to go on a pill-form treatment. These drugs, called receptor inhibitors, have proven over time to slowthings down, and give you time. How much time is a matter of great debate; there are freakshow cases who have made it up to ten years on these things. The pills will, with near certainty, extend my life. That’s obviously a good thing!
So I feel sort of like a whiny little shit for what I’m about to write. The most common side effects for this class of drug includes hand-foot syndrome; swelling, redness, and pain in the hands and feet. I’ve known this for a while. Knew it since I was on that trial back in 2011-12 that turned out to be placebo. And that’s why this moment has scared me for so long. Hand-foot syndrome will mean the end of running. I’m not ready to be done with running. Not by a long shot. I spent most of my life avoiding it, and when I found it, it saved me in well-documented ways. I can’t lose it. I just can’t. No matter how slow I am, even if my running at anything more than five miles has to be run 2, walk 2 (repeat for 2.5 hours), it’s what makes me who I am. When I cried yesterday, it was more about possibly losing running than it was dying, and yes, I know exactly how f***ed up that statement is. I can’t surrender. I don’t know how to.
Our great hope is, naturlich, God. Our more proximate hope is for His help in getting on a clinical study of a drug called nivolumab. Itis a new kind of drug, called a PD-1 immunomodulator. It basically stops the ‘programmed death receptors’ which slow down the immune system. They’ve had a lot of luck with it on melanoma patients, and an early trial last year on kidney cancer looked REALLY good. My doc is working on one of these trials. He unequivocally said that if he could get me on, he would. The problem is the study design. They’re looking for people who are virgins to kidney cancer treatment. Since I had the IL-2 battery in summer 2012, I’m not exactly a virgin to treatment. But there is still a possibility I could get in. The PD-1 regimen would be similar to what I went through with IL-2, but a little easierside effects, and even outpatient.
I am full of hope that I can get on that trial. But I’m also still full of uncertainty, sadness, and maybe just a hint of depression right now. Basically, it’s this: I know that, ceteris paribus, I’ve got four excellent months ahead of me, maybe eight, where I can run, I can bike, and I can have adventures, and live a more or less normal life. I intend on packing as much asI can into the time between now and March. In a lot of ways, it is giving me a focus I have been lacking since just after the surgery. Meetings? Yeahhhhhhh, not gonna happen. Committees? After the one this next week, I’m taking a pass. Running? I’m running (if you can call what I do ‘running’) 26.2 miles by Valentine’s Day – it may or may not be in an organized marathon. Maybe it’ll be a group of my local friends and I huffing it out to North Baltimore and back, and being able to say that we DID IT (in less than six hours with any luck). Finding time to get in adventures with my family & closest friends? YES. Teaching stuff at school that’s REALLY important – and, my American studies friends, guess what I will NOT be teaching – the catalytic converter. Suck it, ODE! YES.That’s what I’m gonna do. Most of all, it’s this: Things are good RIGHT NOW. They might not be later. I am having a difficult time with this, but I’m tryingto remember what I teach in the World War II class: Hitler lost a lot of campaigns because he was unwilling to allow tactical retreats. Getting on these pills, when it happens, may be a tactical retreat that allows us to pursue strategic victory. But dammit, I sure would like to skip the tactical retreat, and go for a Hiroshima with the PD-1 drugs! I can’t surrender… I don’t know how to.
The quote at the top is one of the all-time Captain America classics. He's dying, and hallucinating, and remembering battles past. Iron Man rescues him in the nick of time. And did Cap die? Maybe for a second. But in the end, even though it looks bad, he makes it. Because that's what Captain America does.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Chris McDougall visit to Bowling Green.
Joe did get to attend the events and meet Born to Run author Chris McDougall.
The day started with a fun run from BGSU Jerome Library to the Wood Country Library and back to Jerome- about a 2 mile run. Our kids had a fog delay so they were at work with me and we were able to step out for a few minutes to see the group run by.
Friend JD Pooley took this picture as Joe neared the finish with Chris McDougall cheering him on.
Later JD Pooley took this posed picture of Joe and Chris McDougall
Later at a book signing Mr. McDougall signed Joe's copy of Born to Run and his Captain America shield that hung on his IV pole when he was received interleukin 2 July and August of 2012.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Running For Victory!
Written and posted on Joe's FB Sept 29.
--
I had no idea that the Sentinel story regarding my running journey was going to run today, much less that it was going to get the play it got. I had planned on posting this note today anyway, but I thought, what the hell, let's ride the publicity.
This Nov. 9, I'm going to do something I never thought I'd do again: Run the Churchill Half Marathon. It's the same race I ran the week before I got diagnosed with kidney cancer. Last time, I ran it for myself. This time, I'm running for something bigger.
The Victory Center is a place that's helped me, and countless thousands of other cancer patients, deal with the physical, and especially, the mental battles that are a part of our larger war. Services like counseling, oncology massage, reiki, and countless other therapies have given people the strength to carry on. Over the past few weeks, a few more friends and relatives have gotten cancer diagnoses, and I have felt powerless to help, except to run, and pray. This is a way I feel I can help the people who help them.
TVC is completely funded through charitable giving; no tax dollars, no insurance contribution. And the services they provide are completely free - critical, because as we know too well, money starts flying out the window when you get a diagnosis, no matter how good your insurance is.
So the easy way for me to fundraise would be to simply note that if 100 friends donate $10, I could reach my goal of raising $1000 for TVC. But let's be honest, that wouldn't be very Boyle. So instead, I'm asking you to choose a sponsorship level based on everything that makes it absurd that I'm running this race. The following sponsorships are available:
- one $200 "Where the Hell Is My Kidney?" sponsorship
- one $150 "Massive Left Leg Blood Clot" sponsorship
- one $100 "Enormous, Suspicious, and Embarassing Testicular Mass" sponsorship
- one $50 "Hey, That Was My Adrenal Gland!" sponsorship
- seven $40 "(Let's Hope They Stay) Itty Bitty Lung Tumor" sponsorships
- eleven $20 "Removed Lymph Node" sponsorships
Of course, any amount you choose to sponsor is awesome! But I can guarantee you a fine little certificate that YOU and ONLY YOU, for instance, sponsored a giant, surgically-removed nut growth. It will, of course, be suitable for framing. Hurry now and sponsor before someone else claims one of my lung tumors! Lymph nodes may go flying off the shelves! I will post on Facebook every time a body part flies off the board!
To donate, simply write a check to "The Victory Center," and mail it to me at 943 Fairview, BG OH, 43402. When we reach the goal, we'll compile all of the checks and submit them together.
Thank you all for your support, whether you can contribute to this, or not! Your positive thoughts, prayers, and comments really do help all of us here get through this thing.
--
Since this was posted Sunday only lung tumor and a few lymph nodes sponsorships remain. Also sponsorships for "Scary sleepless nights" for $500 and "Interleukin2-Fueled-Hallucinations" for $200 were created by generious friends and family. -Katie
--
I had no idea that the Sentinel story regarding my running journey was going to run today, much less that it was going to get the play it got. I had planned on posting this note today anyway, but I thought, what the hell, let's ride the publicity.
This Nov. 9, I'm going to do something I never thought I'd do again: Run the Churchill Half Marathon. It's the same race I ran the week before I got diagnosed with kidney cancer. Last time, I ran it for myself. This time, I'm running for something bigger.
The Victory Center is a place that's helped me, and countless thousands of other cancer patients, deal with the physical, and especially, the mental battles that are a part of our larger war. Services like counseling, oncology massage, reiki, and countless other therapies have given people the strength to carry on. Over the past few weeks, a few more friends and relatives have gotten cancer diagnoses, and I have felt powerless to help, except to run, and pray. This is a way I feel I can help the people who help them.
TVC is completely funded through charitable giving; no tax dollars, no insurance contribution. And the services they provide are completely free - critical, because as we know too well, money starts flying out the window when you get a diagnosis, no matter how good your insurance is.
So the easy way for me to fundraise would be to simply note that if 100 friends donate $10, I could reach my goal of raising $1000 for TVC. But let's be honest, that wouldn't be very Boyle. So instead, I'm asking you to choose a sponsorship level based on everything that makes it absurd that I'm running this race. The following sponsorships are available:
- one $200 "Where the Hell Is My Kidney?" sponsorship
- one $150 "Massive Left Leg Blood Clot" sponsorship
- one $100 "Enormous, Suspicious, and Embarassing Testicular Mass" sponsorship
- one $50 "Hey, That Was My Adrenal Gland!" sponsorship
- seven $40 "(Let's Hope They Stay) Itty Bitty Lung Tumor" sponsorships
- eleven $20 "Removed Lymph Node" sponsorships
Of course, any amount you choose to sponsor is awesome! But I can guarantee you a fine little certificate that YOU and ONLY YOU, for instance, sponsored a giant, surgically-removed nut growth. It will, of course, be suitable for framing. Hurry now and sponsor before someone else claims one of my lung tumors! Lymph nodes may go flying off the shelves! I will post on Facebook every time a body part flies off the board!
To donate, simply write a check to "The Victory Center," and mail it to me at 943 Fairview, BG OH, 43402. When we reach the goal, we'll compile all of the checks and submit them together.
Thank you all for your support, whether you can contribute to this, or not! Your positive thoughts, prayers, and comments really do help all of us here get through this thing.
--
Since this was posted Sunday only lung tumor and a few lymph nodes sponsorships remain. Also sponsorships for "Scary sleepless nights" for $500 and "Interleukin2-Fueled-Hallucinations" for $200 were created by generious friends and family. -Katie
Joe Boyle on the run
The Sentinel-Tribune ran a nice story about Joe Saturday Sept. 28.
You can find it here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)