Fitz Koehler,MSSPM ’98, is a fitness expert, speaker, author and professional race announcer. Her focus is on helping others live better and longer. She was inspired to write her new book "My Noisy Cancer Comeback: Running at the Mouth, While Running for My Life" because she felt like her breast cancer journey was close to insane.

Koehler never stopped traveling the country to announce at races during treatment, so things became quite hairy and even hilarious at times. Plus, there are so many things nobody ever tells you about when undergoing cancer treatment. Besides having a good laugh at her expense, she wants readers to walk away with improved perspective and more hope for a cure if they're also battling any sort of cancer.

About her experience at UF, Koehler said she was excited to become a Gator the second she arrived on campus as a freshman, but then something really clicked.

“My heart was quickly stolen while walking out of the football stadium after a particularly painful loss,” Koehler said. “When the tunnels filled with people still cheering ‘It's great to be a Florida Gator,’ I knew I found my people.”

To Koehler, the Gator Nation is a legitimate family. No matter where her travels take her, she says she always meets a fellow Gator and that the mutual support is incredible.

Her time at HHP was rewarding, as Koehler considers her master's degree in Exercise and Sport Sciences the most powerful feather in her professional hat. She said she adores remaining involved with the college as a guest lecturer and by hosting interns.

Her advice to current students is to not bail on their dream jobs.

“You chose HHP for a reason!” Koehler said. “You love sports, fitness, health or travel – don’t just take any old job just because it's easy. Finding or creating a job that you love is worth putting in the extra effort.”

Read more about Koehler’s book:

MY NOISY CANCER COMEBACK: Running at the Mouth while Running for my Life

Finding a cancerous lump in her breast seven weeks after a clean mammogram was terrifying. But fitness expert and race announcer Fitz Koehler, refused to play victim or allow cancer to steal the extraordinary life she was living. After strategizing with her medical team, the wheels were set in motion to kill cancer while continuing to crush life. In "My Noisy Cancer Comeback," Fitz reveals the juicy and gory details of her 16-month battle while zigzagging across America. Fitz shares her dark, scary, hilarious and strange experiences while enduring chemotherapy, radiation, surgeries and scans, all while working in the public eye. You’ll laugh, cry, wince and cheer as she chronicles the clash of a nuclear bomb's worth of side-effects and 23 major race weekends. Her inspirational tale encompasses the terror of diagnosis, nostril wigs, bald heads and black dresses, parenting with cancer, things not to say to cancer patients, mean chemo, sick days, burns, boob grabbing, perspective, spectacular stages, superheroes, ribbon rejections, mosh pits, clear scans, dance parties and most importantly, triumph.

Fitz loves watersports, strength training, endurance events, hiking, animals, hugs, sarcasm, and travel. She lives in Gainesville, Florida with her husband and two kids. For more on Fitz and her book, visit fitzness.com.

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