Vasbyt

The beauty of climbing one of life’s hills is that getting to the top reveals more hills to be climbed. Three examples:

White blood cells. At the beginning of Round Four, I was dismayed and a bit alarmed to see they had dropped from over 7 billion per litre to 4 (the normal human range is 3.6 to 11.5). Neither my doctor nor nutritionist were surprised or alarmed. ’That’s just the way the treatment goes’, they said. Our own ColombOZ home medical team advised boosting spinach intake and cycling uptake. My oncologist’s reading earlier today, the start of Round Five: 'I’m happy with you'. The blood monitor’s reading: 6.2. Of course, this hill conquest is small but it helps keep me in the race as I cling on (for dear life), waiting for the breakthroughs in neuro-oncology to keep coming.

Surrey Hills. Getting back out there was a big team effort. Scottie almost killed me as he transitioned from the Swedish roads during a weekend visit. Then it was Nina’s turn: she prefers mountains and is training for a Tour de France stage. Still, she pedals up the grades as smoothly as a ballerina with sublime pacing. My brother is the opposite: possibly the worst pacing I've ever seen, he doesn’t train much, but when he goes out he raggedly bursts up the inclines like a mountain goat. Imagine me clinging on (for dear life), knowing I need my team to keep rolling up ever bigger hills.

Ironman. Congratulations to Grant for this incredible achievement. Thanks for taking me along for the (hilly!) ride. Next time I race one of these monsters I hope it will be with you, as I cling on (for dear life).

And you can be sure I’ll be shouting VASBYT!
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Vasbyt: South African. Be stoical: ‘I am expected to vasbyt and bite back my tears’.