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New Diary Edition August 2006 
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November 2000 Kim
Scholefield
Kleinman promised to run the Midnight Run to welcome
in 2001. The Midnight Run – as you might guess – is run at midnight
on New Year’s Eve and is more of a run away costume party than a road
race.
With or without a costume - 5 kilometers or 3.1 mile run isn’t all
that far. But it seemed a long way to Kim, who wasn’t a runner ….yet.
In preparation, she trundled out the door to start her block-by-block expedition
of hilly Riverdale.
“
At first I could hardly run a block,” she said, “but I had committed
to run the Midnight Run with friends.” For five weeks she hung with
it block by block, trying to run a mile non-stop.”
When she went online to register for the race, “ I saw the running classes
and I had heard how great they were, so I registered for those too,” she
said. A couple days after running non-stop for one mile in the Midnight Run
Kim started the running classes.
“I went right to the advanced beginner level with coaches Shantie Mypaulsingh
and Allison Madeira. There I met a lot of good friends
in class, among then Aggie
Zygas, now
one of the coaching staff," she explained.
"Aggie and I use to run a the very back of the group chatting
all the way. If we weren't so busy talking we could probably have run
faster.
One day we were gabbing away about dating and whatever, and Coach Shantie
came up behind us and said 'You'll have to talk a little louder ladies,
I can't hear you.' Aggie and I laughed, but we got the message and ran
a little faster. In February we ran the
Snowflake 4-miler and a year later the Brooklyn 1⁄2
marathon in 11-minute pace. I worked my way up to two New York City
Marathons in 2002 and
2003."
A
committed runner and accomplished seamstress, Kim even made many of
her beautiful running
clothes. But, even when you do everything right, things can go wrong. In
February 2005 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and in March 2005,
she had a lumpectomy and lymph node dissection.
“Like any committed runner, I kept bugging my doctor,
'when can I run again,'" she said laughing. “At two weeks,
I got the 'go ahead.' ” Kim and I planned out a tentative running
schedule flexible to chemotherapy side effects and fatigue.
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“I could barely run. I was so slow. It was hard for me seeing how much
fitness I had lost,” she said. “But it was reassuring that I could
still run and be out there.” She ran through her first 3-month round of
chemo - Adriamycin and Cytoxan.
Kim rejoined the classes moving back to beginners. The coaching
staff , students and her friends were glad to have her back. Despite
all the support, it was still tough. She
explained. “In beginners, there were some runners actually slower than
me, so I had company. It was so hard. I could barely keep up. It was so hard
I would count to myself to make the minutes go by. But I would tell myself … I
am here. I am alive. My body is still moving. Its so important to keep my life
and to keep my running... so I don’t loose everything to fighting this
cancer.”
As a psychotherapist at the Columbia University Parent-Infant Program,
she knows the value of a good support system. “It was so
important to be allowed to still be part of the running class.
The coaches
were all so encouraging
and kind. ”
The second 3-month round of chemo had different challenges to running. “My
hands and feet went numb. I had to worry about tripping all the
time,” she said when Taxol caused her to developed neuropathy – a
type of nerve damage. “I switched to Bikram (hot) Yoga twice a week.
Sweating out the toxins felt good. I just took my wig off and did what I had
to do.”
Once she regained feeling in her hands and feet, she came back
to running class. “I
learned a lot from running. I knew no matter how weak I got, I could get strong
again. Even those days I lay in bed and was so sick I couldn’t move,
I knew like when I was a beginner runner, I can get strong again.”
Top Tips From Kim:
1. Run as much as you are allowed too.
2. Don’t be embarrassed to be bald – nobody cares. Just go out there
and get all your sympathy, people are so supportive. Get all the positive attention
you can.
A Little More
Running Coach
Shelly Glover is has a master's degree in exercise physiology from Columbia
University. She co-authored The Runner's Handbook and The Competitive
Runner’s Handbook is a veteran road runner and marathoner. She
also coaches The Greater New York Racing Team is available for private coaching. Coaching
Services
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