Friday, October 9, 2009

October 9, 2009 update

been a good week for me so far.. 3 good swimming sessions on mon, tues, and thurs. including 2 over an hour. plus a 22k run on wednesday, among other runs.. i plan to hit the pool later tonight as well.

i had the exciting experience of speaking to a classroom full of university folklore students today, where i told my story and discussed issues regarding transsexualism in society. it was great to learn that some of the students had seen my tv interviews and/or had visited this blog site.

i will run my 3rd consecutive Cape To Cabot race next weekend, a 20K run that is extremely hilly. given the disaster that happened last year, i am anticipating that this may be the first time that i run a race faster than i did while pre-op.

C2C 2007 featured a run on very sore legs after enduring the newfoundland and toronto marathons while dealing with an extreme case of Illiotibial Band Syndrome. i ran that race at 183 pounds and finished with a time of 1.46.56.

a year later, i tackled the C2C while under the influence of a very high dosage of spironolactone, a dieuretic and testosterone blocker. i had also been on estrogen for 2 months by this point. Adjusting to the spiro was extremely challenging as i suffered from cramps and dehydrtation early into the run, forcing me to slow right down for the remaining 12k. i ran this race at 178 pounds, and finished in 1.56.08.

this year, i will likely come in at 193 pounds, yikes, but on relatively health legs/knees and while under stable hormone conditions, having testosterone and estrogen levels that have been consistently the same and consistently in the female range. the only major downer will be the continuing lung issues, which make hill-climbing extra challenging due to increased oxygen intake requirements. i still think there is a very reasonable chance that i could break 1.56.

Jenn

4 comments:

Alanna said...

Hey Jennifer!

I'm Alanna and I mentioned reading your blog in class yesterday, just wanted to drop by and say a big thanks for dropping in to talk to us and share your story. It was great.

Take care, maybe i'll see you out on the pavement! :)

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

You are an inspiration! I am glad I came across your blog!

Jennifer McCreath said...

Hi Alanna, glad you enjoyed my speech. thanks for keeping an eye on my site. it's great to know that i am having an influence on society.. best of luck with your running. my next race will be Cape to Cabot. are you going to run this one?

Hi Jolene, thanks for your comments too. wow, i see you are out in Sask! must be a nice place to run out there.. Jenn

Alanna said...

No C2C for me this year. It was something I had pondered training for but I don't think I could but it the time necessary with all the other things I have going on. Plus it intimidates the heck out of me lol

Sending you all of my luck and support for it though!