In Douglas Coupland’s early 90s zeitgeist-fumbling novel Generation X, the narrator, describes having a “dreary workout regiment” inspired by a section of Andy Warhol’s diary where the scrawny artist laments having never exercised. I remember reading this at the time (still have this first edition copy with the green cover) and focusing on the dreary part, not the benefits of exercising. Exercise? That’s dreary! Pass.

Fast-forward almost 20 years. I moved to Baltimore from Chicago to live with my now-wife Lisa. Among the embarrassment of riches she’s brought to my life was a reintroduction to exercise. I joined the local gym and started a mix of lifting, running, and biking. I could feel the difference, and it wasn’t dreary at all if I had the right mix on my iPod. At the same time, my body was doing the weird stuff that turned out be the early symptoms of colorectal cancer (see the rest of this blog for all of the gory details).

2010 – the year of multiple abdominal surgeries, the ostomy bag, the lifting restrictions, etc – was pretty much a wash for exercise. Though I didn’t explicitly declare it, 2011 became the year I got sporty.

In my home office, I have a massive metal file cabinet (thanks for selling to me, Sheryl!) with a bunch of running and biking event bib numbers from 2011. I’m not very good at keeping track of finishing times, although the events that had chips or time keepers are posted online and I could dig them up if I wanted. I don’t really care beyond having a general sense of getting strong, better, faster. Here’s a quick event breakdown and some observations:

• St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock 5k – With Lisa and Becky. My first event. Downhill and flat with beer at the end.
• Port To Fort 6k – Solo. Started and ended at Museum of Industry, where Lisa and I got married. I sweat a lot, but this was epic.
• Ride For The Feast 2011 (140 miles over two days) – With a slew of awesome friends. Ocean City to Baltimore charity ride for Moveable Feast. Raised over $1300 and had a ball. Doing it again this year. Donate here!
• Bike Jam (36 miles?) – With Becky. Around Baltimore City, which is a hilly SOB. Good ride for getting used to city riding.
• Larry’s Ride (scheduled 63 miles, rode 59 miles(?)) – Solo. Uber-hilly horse country north of Baltimore. Way over my head. I ended on the side of the road puking from heat exhaustion. Lisa saved me.
• Seagull Century (100 miles) – Solo. Around the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Flat, but brutal windy for the last 36 miles. Learned the value of pelotons and saw the famous wild ponies of Assateague Island. Then my butt hurt.
• Run For Your Lives 5k – AKA the first ever, anywhere Zombie 5k. There’s not enough room on the Internet to fully describe this experience. The idea: awesome. The execution: Babytown Folics. The sponsors oversold the event, causing traffic hell, and gouged the runners/spectators for money or cheaped out at every turn. Actual run was fun, wet, challenging. Results: I survived with one life flag, didn’t not get turned into a zombie. Jim Vee saved me from hypothermia.
• Restoration Run 5k – With Lisa and Jules. Did this 8am the morning after a wedding reception and Jules had worked an overnight in the ER. Now convinced that running cures hangovers. Benefited Trout Unlimited. Sweet long-sleeved shirt with a trout on it.
• Celtic Solstice 5-Miler – With Lisa and Jules in celebration of Jules’ birthday. Through Druid Hill Park. Great ending of the year.

Looking at this list now, I reminded of something Lisa told me her father said during the Ride For The Feast after finishing reasonably early (my in-laws volunteer at the rest stops, among one of the many awesome things about them): “I think Bob has something to prove to himself.” He was right, of course, but I hadn’t really realized it at the time.

Also, since this is a cancer blog, an update on that. All is well. Second cancerversary is early next month, and I have some CT scans and bloodwork. The monitoring moves from every four months to every six months after that.

How should we celebrate the 2nd cancerversary?