Sometimes I come out of surgery with a surprise. This time it was tubes hanging out of my back that go into my kidneys. This happened in March 2025 and I felt a bit concerned as I had another ultramarathon to run in May.

May came, and somehow I managed to rally and run the Highball to Thurmond 50k through New River Gorge in West Virginia, tubes and all. It was a beautiful race and I want to do it again hopefully under better circumstances. Getting to the start line felt like a win in itself. The training had gone well, all things considered, but on race day my body felt heavy and off. The tubes were a constant reminder of everything I was carrying, both physically and mentally. The run was slow, hard, and humbling. But I finished. It wasn’t pretty, but it was mine.

Another issue I’ve been dealing with is a frozen shoulder. I had never even heard of it before. After running the Rocky Raccoon 50 miler and taking several hard falls, my shoulder started to ache. Eventually it became immobile. I ran the Highball to Thurmond 50k without being able to move it, and I still don’t have full mobility. My doctor says it should clear up in 12 to 24 months, which feels absurd. Strangely, it’s not related to the cancer at all but to the trauma from those falls. I suspect it also has something to do with how hard I’ve been pushing my body.