Cancer patients should be wrapped up in cotton wool, lie on the sofa and wait to die right? Wrong, so very very wrong! Thankfully the days when health care professionals discouraged cancer patients from exercising and their families wrapped them in cotton wool are a thing of the past and many cancer patients are still able to do remarkable things like walk 588 miles over 36 days or complete 4 Marathon Des Sables despite living with terminal cancer.
As an ambassador for 5K Your Way, an initiative from the Move Charity to encourage those impacted by cancer to get together at certain parkruns across the UK on the final Saturday of the month and do 5k their way and then become a peer to peer support group over coffee and cake, as well as being a patient representative for Prehab4Cancer in Greater Manchester, I’ve built up a fair bit of knowledge about the value of exercise for those living with and beyond cancer. I’d go as far as saying that it’s helped me cope better with my cancer and its treatment side effects.
Given this, I’ve very much tried to walk the walk and not just talk the talk and now that I’m on the mend after a knee replacement and 6 months of pretty poor health with lots of niggling issues I’m back to running 3 or 4 times per week, getting out on the bike from time to time and doing a weights class.
Surely you can take a break from exercise when you’re on holiday? Well, no, not really. Movement becomes part of your life and, in any event, we’ve always preferred active holidays rather than just lying on a sun bed.
In January 2025 I was 8 months post knee replacement and happy with the progress so we took the plunge and booked a holiday to Slovenia that would include guided and unguided hikes for 10 days of the 14.
Then disaster struck. Five cold viruses in quick succession and pollen induced asthma, a new one for me, left me breathless and struggling to walk uphill or upstairs. I reached the point where I was seriously worried about going hiking in the alps! Thankfully a high dose of steroids and a steroid inhaler cleared things up a bit and I was feeling better so we went off to the Scottish Borders for a long weekend of hiking and that went well and left me feeling more positive about Slovenia.
Our first three nights were spent exploring the beautiful capital Ljubljana. A nice steady 20,000 steps and over 9 miles per day.
Of course, there were a few stops to “re-hydrate” with a much-needed cold beer which was very welcome in the 30c temperatures.
Next, we caught the public bus to Lake Bled where we were to spend 5 nights and do 4 days of hiking including 2 guided walks.
When we opened the curtains of our lake view room in the hotel, the sheer beauty took our breath away. Lake Bled is simply stunning and we spent our first day walking round the lake and exploring the town.
The first hike was guided and took us to Kupljenik Viewpoint with our local guide Liza from whom we learnt so much that we wouldn’t have on our own. The hike was a mere 10 miles and 553m of elevation gain but the views were stunning.
Hike 2 was self-guided through the stunning Vintgar Gorge with a lovely walk, via a couple of local bars, back to Bled.
Hike 3 was another self-guided walk and a little easier.
Hike 4 would be with Liza and a fair bit more challenging through Mostnica Gorge and Lake Bohinj, another stunning lake that’s very popular with families and the most incredible colour. One stand out thing in all the hikes was how incredibly clear the waters in the rivers and lakes are. You could actually see trout in the lakes. This hike turned out to be 9.7 miles and over 400m of elevation gain.
After 4 days of tough hiking, I was starting to feel the pace with fatigue from my treatment so was grateful of an easier day as we transferred deeper into the mountains to the lovely town of Kranska Gora. A day to familiarise ourselves with the town and it’s surrounds but still 18,000 steps and over 8 miles walking.
Hike 5 was to be the most epic of the holiday and self-guided. It was also the toughest hike I’ve ever done. The aim was to get to Tromeja where three countries, Slovenia, Italy and Austria converge but to get there was a 7 mile hike gaining 755m of elevation.
The first section was challenging enough but the final section on a zig zag path was brutal. I kept saying to Tracey that I couldn’t go on and she said to take a rest and then try the next zig and then next zag and very slowly, step by ever challenging step, the tress opened out to the most incredible vista. It was worth every single step!
The views at the summit were stunning.
We dropped down about 100m in height and 1km in distance to a mountain hut for lunch, and “re-hydration”, in Austria. It’s not every day you have breakfast in Slovenia and hike to Austria for lunch!
Where three countries meet.
Hike 6 was another toughie but nothing like the previous day. Hiking up through the pine forest meant it was a bit cooler, much needed given the high temperatures, and then after three hours we walked into a high alpine meadow to see yet another stunning view.
Hike 7 was an easier day with a hike to Slap (waterfall) Pericnik and back before getting the tourist bus to get deep into the mountains with a view of the north face of Triglav, Slovenia’s highest mountain, for a hearty lunch of goulash and then back down to the village. A mere 7 miles and 300m of elevation gain.
Our final hike was Krnica Valley with Liza and this was a very gentle 9 mile and 367m elevation trip for coffee at a mountain hut deep into the mountains but high into the mountains along a crystal clear river.
Re-hydrating whilst waiting for pizza.
Our penultimate day was to head back to Ljubljana for a very early flight home the following day.
And a wee beer at the local craft beer bar.
Amazingly we managed over 300,000 steps and 140 miles of movement over the holiday and the hikes averaged 8 miles per day with a total elevation gain of 3,334 metres over the 8 hikes!
I’m very grateful that I’m one of the lucky ones that can still do stuff like this and yes, even on holiday, movement matters!
We have to keep on keeping on, KOKO my friends.
Running Into Cancer 