- Published on
I have always loved running.
Three years ago I was training for a half marathon
And then I got cancer.
A year-and-a-half ago I was signed up to run a 5km race
Then had to drop out two days before because my counts dropped too low.
Nine months ago I signed up with a personal trainer
She whipped my butt but she got me moving again.
And on Saturday
After 23 weeks of training
I ran a half marathon
And it felt So. Damn. Good.
The past few years have been such a rollercoaster.
Not just physically, but emotionally too
Depression and anxiety have been slaying me
I have had trouble getting out of bed
And then I had panic attacks before heading out the front door.
But I always feel good when I’m running
The aches and pains that bother me when I’m not moving
Seem to go away when I’m running
(Knock on wood)
I’ve been training with the Nike+ Run Club App
It’s such an incredible resource (and free!)
You plug in the date of your race,
Your level of fitness and experience
And it builds a training program
That adapts itself as you complete (or miss) the runs.
It got to me a level of fitness I’ve never had before.
Mid-way through the training
A friend sent me a copy of Born to Run
It was a game changer
It got me thinking about running in a whole new way
I went from enjoying running
To being passionate about it.
Race day was so thrilling
The sea of people in active wear
The people who come to cheer on their friends and family members and perfect strangers
The homemade signs
You’re running better than our government!
You’re almost at Nathan’s! and
Tap to Power Up! beneath pictures of Mario Kart mushrooms and stars
The volunteers at the fluid stations
Pouring cups of water and gatorade
Cheering the runners as we zip through
Looking great runners! Keep it up!
The bands dotted sporadically throughout the course
Rock bands and jazz bands, and at one point, a lone fiddle player
The way the runners encourage each other
As we passed mile markers, a runner would call out the mile number
And everyone would cheer.
In the last 800m of the race
My playlist switched to “Put on Your Sunday Clothes” from Hello, Dolly!
Out there, there’s a world outside of Yonkers!
I got so emotional
I’m doing the things! Running feels amazing again!
I’m healthy and I’m here
It feels like forever since I've felt this good.
I was tired at the end
Needed a nap and two dinners,
But I wasn’t dead
I could actually walk the next day without pain and
Two days later I was ready for another run.
Yesterday, I did my first training run for the NYC Marathon.
Bring it on.
Three years ago I was training for a half marathon
And then I got cancer.
A year-and-a-half ago I was signed up to run a 5km race
Then had to drop out two days before because my counts dropped too low.
Nine months ago I signed up with a personal trainer
She whipped my butt but she got me moving again.
And on Saturday
After 23 weeks of training
I ran a half marathon
And it felt So. Damn. Good.
The past few years have been such a rollercoaster.
Not just physically, but emotionally too
Depression and anxiety have been slaying me
I have had trouble getting out of bed
And then I had panic attacks before heading out the front door.
But I always feel good when I’m running
The aches and pains that bother me when I’m not moving
Seem to go away when I’m running
(Knock on wood)
I’ve been training with the Nike+ Run Club App
It’s such an incredible resource (and free!)
You plug in the date of your race,
Your level of fitness and experience
And it builds a training program
That adapts itself as you complete (or miss) the runs.
It got to me a level of fitness I’ve never had before.
Mid-way through the training
A friend sent me a copy of Born to Run
It was a game changer
It got me thinking about running in a whole new way
I went from enjoying running
To being passionate about it.
Race day was so thrilling
The sea of people in active wear
The people who come to cheer on their friends and family members and perfect strangers
The homemade signs
You’re running better than our government!
You’re almost at Nathan’s! and
Tap to Power Up! beneath pictures of Mario Kart mushrooms and stars
The volunteers at the fluid stations
Pouring cups of water and gatorade
Cheering the runners as we zip through
Looking great runners! Keep it up!
The bands dotted sporadically throughout the course
Rock bands and jazz bands, and at one point, a lone fiddle player
The way the runners encourage each other
As we passed mile markers, a runner would call out the mile number
And everyone would cheer.
In the last 800m of the race
My playlist switched to “Put on Your Sunday Clothes” from Hello, Dolly!
Out there, there’s a world outside of Yonkers!
I got so emotional
I’m doing the things! Running feels amazing again!
I’m healthy and I’m here
It feels like forever since I've felt this good.
I was tired at the end
Needed a nap and two dinners,
But I wasn’t dead
I could actually walk the next day without pain and
Two days later I was ready for another run.
Yesterday, I did my first training run for the NYC Marathon.
Bring it on.
- Published on
Today was a momentous day: my two-and-a-half year post-transplant check-up.
It was surreal going to the hospital after a full six months off from appointments. For one thing, the new Q line makes the trip infinitely faster - one train instead of two, and 50 minutes travel time instead of an hour and a half. We've come a long way from Aaron driving a bald, tired, and often cranky Lulu across New York City!
After the routine blood work and vitals check, I was ecstatic to see that my weight has finally gone back down to my "normal" pre-cancer level. Being in early menopause, losing weight has become really difficult. Eating well and a mountain of running have finally helped to shift it.
I had my next set of vaccinations, and then we sat around and waited for two hours to see my doctor.
I always have a nervous anxiety in the lead up to my check-ups. Fear of relapse, fear of being told my counts are playing up again, fear that I'll be trapped inside the hospital for ever. But today, I was nervous excited. This is the first time my doctors will have seen me well. Even for my two year check up, I had a bad cold and was not feeling my finest.
Today, two-and-a-half years post-transplant, I got to tell my medical team that I'm running the Brooklyn Half Marathon in a few weeks. Then I got to tell them that I've signed up to run the New York Marathon, which coincidentally takes place around the third anniversary of my transplant, and I'm going to be raising funds for leukemia research at Sloan Kettering. My nurse practitioner got all teary. My usually unflappable doctor told me that I had inspired her to take up running again. It was the best way to say thank you to my team for saving my life.
My counts are looking great, I'm scheduled to finish up my re-vaccinations, and I am officially being moved over to the Survivorship Team for future check-ups. All things going well (knock on wood), I'll have my three year check-up in November, and then I'll be down to one visit a year! And no more bone marrow biopsies!
The past two and a half years have been an uphill slog.
Today, I feel awesome. Tonight, I'm working on Broadway (ok, I'm still in front of house... but baby steps. I had a stem cell transplant not so long ago!). In a few weeks I'm running a half marathon. In six months, I'm running the New York City marathon, baby!! In a year... who knows?
Right now, I'm sitting in the Rose Main Reading at the New York Public Library. Afternoon sunlight is streaming through the windows, and in between sentences I'm staring up at the ornate cloud-painted ceiling. And I feel so very lucky to be here.
It was surreal going to the hospital after a full six months off from appointments. For one thing, the new Q line makes the trip infinitely faster - one train instead of two, and 50 minutes travel time instead of an hour and a half. We've come a long way from Aaron driving a bald, tired, and often cranky Lulu across New York City!
After the routine blood work and vitals check, I was ecstatic to see that my weight has finally gone back down to my "normal" pre-cancer level. Being in early menopause, losing weight has become really difficult. Eating well and a mountain of running have finally helped to shift it.
I had my next set of vaccinations, and then we sat around and waited for two hours to see my doctor.
I always have a nervous anxiety in the lead up to my check-ups. Fear of relapse, fear of being told my counts are playing up again, fear that I'll be trapped inside the hospital for ever. But today, I was nervous excited. This is the first time my doctors will have seen me well. Even for my two year check up, I had a bad cold and was not feeling my finest.
Today, two-and-a-half years post-transplant, I got to tell my medical team that I'm running the Brooklyn Half Marathon in a few weeks. Then I got to tell them that I've signed up to run the New York Marathon, which coincidentally takes place around the third anniversary of my transplant, and I'm going to be raising funds for leukemia research at Sloan Kettering. My nurse practitioner got all teary. My usually unflappable doctor told me that I had inspired her to take up running again. It was the best way to say thank you to my team for saving my life.
My counts are looking great, I'm scheduled to finish up my re-vaccinations, and I am officially being moved over to the Survivorship Team for future check-ups. All things going well (knock on wood), I'll have my three year check-up in November, and then I'll be down to one visit a year! And no more bone marrow biopsies!
The past two and a half years have been an uphill slog.
Today, I feel awesome. Tonight, I'm working on Broadway (ok, I'm still in front of house... but baby steps. I had a stem cell transplant not so long ago!). In a few weeks I'm running a half marathon. In six months, I'm running the New York City marathon, baby!! In a year... who knows?
Right now, I'm sitting in the Rose Main Reading at the New York Public Library. Afternoon sunlight is streaming through the windows, and in between sentences I'm staring up at the ornate cloud-painted ceiling. And I feel so very lucky to be here.
- Published on
It feels like Christmas Eve! The Tony Award nominations are being announced in approximately seven hours and I feel the desire to share my predictions.
I am delighted to say that I have seen two-thirds of this year’s potential nominees (and I worked on one! Even if it was in front of house, it's so thrilling to be a part of this crazy, awesome world). Huge improvement on two years ago when I had seen precisely ZERO shows!
Below are my predictions for the 2017 Tony Awards in all the musical categories. It’s not that I don’t love plays, I just don’t see enough of them to make an informed decision, because time and money. A theatre junkie living in New York needs to have some kind of limits. My predicted winner is in bold.
Best Actor in a Featured Role
Andrew Rannells - Falsettos
Lucas Steele - Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812
Gavin Creele - Hello, Dolly!
Best Actor in a Musical
Josh Groban - Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812
Ben Platt - Dear Evan Hansen
Christian Borle - Falsettos
Andy Karl - Groundhog Day
David Hyde Pierce - Hello, Dolly!
Best Actress in a Featured Role
Jen Colella - Come From Away
Caroline O’Connor - Anastasia
Rachel Bay Jones - Dear Evan Hansen
Jackie Hoffman - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Best Actress in a Musical
Patti LuPone - War Paint
Christine Ebersole - War Paint
Bette Midler - Hello, Dolly
Denée Benton - Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
(For this category alone, I do not envy the Tony voters their job… HOW DO YOU CHOOSE?!)
Best Book of a Musical
Dear Evan Hansen
Come from Away
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Best Choreography
Come from Away
Anastasia
Hello, Dolly!
Holiday Inn
Groundhog Day
(Again, how do you choose?!)
Best Conductor/Musical Director
Sunset Boulevard
In Transit
Come From Away
Bandstand
(I'm sad that In Transit is unlikely to get much love here. It was conducted entirely by SOUND, with MD Rick Hip-Flores giving cues via a microphone backstage. The logistics of that blows my mind.)
Best Costume Design
Hello, Dolly!
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
War Paint
Best Lighting Design
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Dear Evan Hansen
War Paint
Best Scenic Design
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Groundhog Day
War Paint
Hello, Dolly!
Best Orchestrations
In Transit
Come from Away
Hello, Dolly!
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Best Score
Anastasia
Come from Away
Dear Evan Hansen
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Best Direction
Come From Away
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
War Paint
Dear Evan Hansen
Best Revival
Hello, Dolly!
Falsettos
Miss Saigon
Best Musical
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Dear Evan Hansen
Come from Away
Anastasia
War Paint
WHAT A SEASON!!! I genuinely loved the vast majority of what I saw this year. I think Come from Away will nab a good number of the awards simply because it opened later and is fresher in voters’ minds. Producer Ken Davenport did a blog a while ago on the fact that shows that open in the fall do not fare as well as shows that open in the spring come awards season.
But honestly, how do you compare all these wonderful pieces of art? Natasha, Pierre is immersive and scintillating while Come from Away is moving and heart-warming. War Paint and Hello, Dolly! tell the stories of powerful, wonderful, complex women. Anastasia shows us that “children’s” movies do not have to be light and fluffy. Dear Evan Hansen is tapping into the psyches of anguished teens. And all of these shows are using different styles of music, story-telling devices, and conventions of musical theatre. They all sing and dance and tell powerful stories. I feel so very lucky to have been witness to it all.
I am delighted to say that I have seen two-thirds of this year’s potential nominees (and I worked on one! Even if it was in front of house, it's so thrilling to be a part of this crazy, awesome world). Huge improvement on two years ago when I had seen precisely ZERO shows!
Below are my predictions for the 2017 Tony Awards in all the musical categories. It’s not that I don’t love plays, I just don’t see enough of them to make an informed decision, because time and money. A theatre junkie living in New York needs to have some kind of limits. My predicted winner is in bold.
Best Actor in a Featured Role
Andrew Rannells - Falsettos
Lucas Steele - Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812
Gavin Creele - Hello, Dolly!
Best Actor in a Musical
Josh Groban - Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812
Ben Platt - Dear Evan Hansen
Christian Borle - Falsettos
Andy Karl - Groundhog Day
David Hyde Pierce - Hello, Dolly!
Best Actress in a Featured Role
Jen Colella - Come From Away
Caroline O’Connor - Anastasia
Rachel Bay Jones - Dear Evan Hansen
Jackie Hoffman - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Best Actress in a Musical
Patti LuPone - War Paint
Christine Ebersole - War Paint
Bette Midler - Hello, Dolly
Denée Benton - Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
(For this category alone, I do not envy the Tony voters their job… HOW DO YOU CHOOSE?!)
Best Book of a Musical
Dear Evan Hansen
Come from Away
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Best Choreography
Come from Away
Anastasia
Hello, Dolly!
Holiday Inn
Groundhog Day
(Again, how do you choose?!)
Best Conductor/Musical Director
Sunset Boulevard
In Transit
Come From Away
Bandstand
(I'm sad that In Transit is unlikely to get much love here. It was conducted entirely by SOUND, with MD Rick Hip-Flores giving cues via a microphone backstage. The logistics of that blows my mind.)
Best Costume Design
Hello, Dolly!
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
War Paint
Best Lighting Design
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Dear Evan Hansen
War Paint
Best Scenic Design
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Groundhog Day
War Paint
Hello, Dolly!
Best Orchestrations
In Transit
Come from Away
Hello, Dolly!
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Best Score
Anastasia
Come from Away
Dear Evan Hansen
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Best Direction
Come From Away
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
War Paint
Dear Evan Hansen
Best Revival
Hello, Dolly!
Falsettos
Miss Saigon
Best Musical
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Dear Evan Hansen
Come from Away
Anastasia
War Paint
WHAT A SEASON!!! I genuinely loved the vast majority of what I saw this year. I think Come from Away will nab a good number of the awards simply because it opened later and is fresher in voters’ minds. Producer Ken Davenport did a blog a while ago on the fact that shows that open in the fall do not fare as well as shows that open in the spring come awards season.
But honestly, how do you compare all these wonderful pieces of art? Natasha, Pierre is immersive and scintillating while Come from Away is moving and heart-warming. War Paint and Hello, Dolly! tell the stories of powerful, wonderful, complex women. Anastasia shows us that “children’s” movies do not have to be light and fluffy. Dear Evan Hansen is tapping into the psyches of anguished teens. And all of these shows are using different styles of music, story-telling devices, and conventions of musical theatre. They all sing and dance and tell powerful stories. I feel so very lucky to have been witness to it all.