One year since San Francisco

One year ago today 

I woke up in San Francisco having finished my ride  and feeling excited, it started as a random thought of ‘what if I could...’ and turned into an amazing way to raise money for Ovarian Cancer and gave me the confidence to pursue my dream of crossing Canada. 

We raised over $20,000, and I surprised myself when I finished, this started an idea and no bike. 

Unlike the first Ride to Conquer Cancer I did (200 km over two days) I finished this 1700 km bike ride in 9.5 days, riding 150-200km each day. I crossed mountains, rode on cliffsides next to semi trucks, cried, laughed and got to spread Katrinas ashes at some beautiful beaches along the way. 

It was an amazing trip that really proved to me that with the right planning and training there were so many possibilities for what I could do. 

I was never athletic growing up. I felt embarrassed about not being fast, able to crush a beep test or feel very coordinated like it seemed some of my peers were. I wish someone had explained exercise to me differently, it felt like punishment for the longest time. 

I finally found exercises that I liked in my 20s after I quit drinking, I started with boxing (shoutout to JY Kim ) and then moved on to kickboxing classes in the morning at Lions MMA before sprinkling in a little Jiu jitsu before this ride. Cycling came in when I joined my first Ride to Conquer Cancer in 2018 and I loved being able to do it as an addition to my other activities. 

I’ve run a 10k, half marathon and full marathon, ridden down the coast to San Francisco and now across Canada. 

And from all of it I’ve relearned what exercise is, it makes the rest of your life a little easier. You can bring in groceries in one trip, move or carry things without needing help, and clear out the cobwebs of your mind. 

I’ve had setbacks and haven’t always been able to move how I’d like to, a rheumatoid arthritis flare up in late 2018 made it difficult for me to dress myself let alone walk or run, I had a partial acl tear in March of 2018 (2018 was a bad year). 

But each time after some rehab I was so happy to get to return to some movement. 

This is my love note to exercise because I miss it right now, not being able to use my hands really restricts what I’m able to do, my legs are still jelly so I’m mostly stuck with walking at the moment. 

But i’ll be back doing all the things I love so much very soon. 

Alan and I in front of the Golden Gate Bridge