Imagine being in the best shape of your life and qualifying to represent your county at the next world championships. And then imagine discovering a malignant mass while still recovering from the national championships.
In this episode of the Art and Science of Running Podcast we speak with Sanjay Sachdev shortly after he competed at the 50K Road World Championships in Romania and just over a year after being diagnosed with testicular cancer. He shares what he learned through the process, how he stayed positive through treatment, and how the past year of cancer treatment led to a new appreciation for life, family, running and led to a new perspective on training that resulted in lifetime best for 50K at the world championships!
Just weeks after qualifying for the World 50K Road Championships in May 2018, Sanjay found a mass on his testicle. Over the next few weeks, he had the mass surgically removed, was diagnosed with embryonal carcinoma testicular cancer, and then started the process of trying to find and eliminate the cancer.
Throughout this time, Sanjay exercised 83/84 days while undergoing treatment for cancer both to maintain health and to provide purpose to each day.
Prior to cancer, running was always a means of dealing with stress from work and life so Sanjay pushed most runs.
“This past year has forced me to slow down. I look at the overall benefit and the overall time difference and the numerical values and I have to ask myself, ‘Holy smokes, what was I doing before?”
Sanjay has a demanding, stressful, dangerous job. He could choose to see life or the world through a very negative lens, but instead he is one of the most positive, optimistic people that Malc and Jacob have ever encountered.
“To stay positive, I think you have to be around positive people.”
“Are you going to let adversity define you or are you going to define yourself through the adversity?”
“You’re a lot of things before you’re a cancer patient. Stay true to the things you are before, and you’re going to come out on top. For me, I looked in the mirror and went through the list and made sure I did something each day as a husband, father, athlete . . . and then you get to the part where it’s like, ok, you have cancer. Make sure you do what you have to do to get through this.”
Sanjay’s optimism extends beyond day to day life to his running. Rather than freaking out when things don’t go as planned, Sanjay adapts on the fly and makes the most of each situation. This has led him to have positive results, even when conditions or circumstances are less than ideal.
For more on Sanjay, please read: https://globalnews.ca/news/6041732/calgary-cancer-cycling-chemo/
All of this and more in Episode 8 of the Art and Science of Running Podcast.
Intro and outro music by Dallin Puzey, GOIN 4 A WALK.
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