The Road to 140.6

Almost Final Update: Good news and bad news....

2006-09-18T22:24:00.000-07:00

First the bad news.... well, at least for me. I would definitely have to consider this a failed attempt at blogging. Going into this, I knew I was a procrastinator (if not the king of all procrastinators), but I honestly thought that I would make time for blogging since the Iron Man experience was something I really wanted to remember every step of the day and blogging was the perfect way to record this experience. Oh well, I would say maybe better luck next time, but there is only one first Iron Man... which leads me to the good news... I completed my first (and I promised myself only) Iron Man on July 23 in 15:46:51. Not exactly a Kona qualifying time, but then again my only goal was to finish and that I did. I hope to post one last update with a quick summary of the few leading up to the race as well as the race day itself.

No Time for Updates (aka "an excuse for slacking")

2006-07-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know, I have seriously been slacking on the updates here, but honestly between work, training, and trying to keep somewhat of a normal life, I have made little time for updates. But, we ship our bikes today (yep, 13 days and counting) and we are in the taper phase now, so I should have time to go back and make some updates and hopefully add a few photos.

A Break From Training

2006-01-05T22:00:00.000-08:00

The last part of December was really a break from training for me, as I had four friends from Holland come in town and we took a little road trip from SF, to Vegas, to LA, back to SF, up to Tahoe, and back to SF again. In there, I had planned on getting some excercise snow boarding in Tahoe, but due to the poor weather while we were there (it was raining the whole time), we never got a chance to hit the slopes. I think the most excerise I got was walking down the Vegas strip, looking at all of the casinos, and the closest I got to swimming was sitting in the hot tub in Tahoe. Instead, there was a lot of drinking and unhealthy eating (think Vegas buffets), so I will have to hit the New Year runing now that my vacation is over.

Practice Tri After Xmas Party... Not a Good Idea!

2005-12-04T22:00:00.000-08:00

Unlike Katie's post, where it sounds like we were excited to be doing the practice tri out on Treasure Island, I will share the real truth. We woke up at 6:45am, groggy and hungover from the fun Diageo Xmas party the night before at the Fairmont Hotel. Neither one of us really wanted to go, but unfortunately neither of us would admit it until we were on the Bay Bridge where there is no turning around until you reach Treasure Island (which was where the Practice Tri was located), and there was no way we were not going to the practice once we were already there. So we begrudglingly unloaded our gear and setup our transition areas and put our wetsuits on in the sunny, but freezing cold parking lot.
After walking over to the swim start area and tip toeing into the freezing waters, we swim two laps for a total of approximately 950 yards, usually an easily doable distance, but with the pounding headache I had, it might as well have been 950 miles. By the time I struggle out of the water, my hands and feet are pretty much numb, and in between throbs of my pounding headache, I am cursing myself for not taking it a little bit easier at the party. We then transition out of our wetsuits and onto our bikes for a 12 mile ride. Several of the people on the team get flats because of the poor road conditions out on Treasure Island, and as I pass by them, I almost hope for a flat so that I can just quit the race and go sit in my car with the heater on (of course that is wishful thinking because I would really just have to change the tire and get on with the race). I finally finish the ride and change into my running shoes and start my "short" 3 mile run. It is here where the headache finally goes away and I actually start to enjoy the course. The run is a scenic two 1.5 mile loops, so it goes by pretty fast. All in all, a very long "sprint" tri, but at the end of the race I am glad I sucked it up and did it. I am sure there will be many more times throughout the next few months where I don't feel like getting out of bed for training and this experience will help motivate me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2005-11-27T22:00:00.000-08:00

I spent this Thanksgiving in San Diego with Katie and her family. It was my first time meeting them (except her brother who I had met a few weeks earlier on his visit to SF), so I was really hoping for an experience different than Meet The Parents. Fortunately it was nothing like the movie and her family was extremely nice and made me feel right at home. It was great weather there, so Katie and I managed to get a couple of runs in, and even swim around a bit in the ocean after a run along the beach. I definitely needed the excercise after the delicious turkey dinner and coffee cake breakfasts.

Our First Bay Swim of the Season

2005-11-20T22:00:00.000-08:00

Today I got reacquainted with Aquatic Park, the part of the Bay by Fisherman's Wharf that is blocked off for people crazy/stupid enough to brave the cold waters for a swim. It was just a short swim out to the buoys and back twice, running along the beach for maybe 50 yards in between each swim. After the swim we did some core excercises (situps, pushups, etc) that I'm sure made us look like a boot camp to all of the gawking tourists. We then changed and did a 30 minute run with some running drills mixed in the middle.

The Three Bears Ride

2005-11-19T22:00:00.000-08:00

Today we did what is called the "Three Bears" ride out in Orinda (East Bay). The reason they call this route the "Three Bears" is there are three climbs, two (Mama Bear and Papa Bear) of which are a somewhat straight and even 7% grade. The best part was the long fast descent after Papa Bear (I hit 45mph to give you an idea of how fast it is). We rode an out and back course twice, but we didn't hit Baby Bear until the way back in, so even though it was a "Baby" climb, it didn't seem so small at the time.

Iron University - Turning Over A New Leaf (No More M&M's?!)

2005-11-13T22:00:00.000-08:00

On the calendar, Saturday's workout read, "Iron University: Nutrition/Hydration" followed by a flat tire clinic and spinning on our trainers. I only attended the presentation on nutrition and hydration because my bike is in the shop for some maintenance (plus I wanted to get back and watch the Aggies play Oklahoma... yet another painful-to-watch Aggie loss). I wasn't expecting much new information in the presentation, but it turned out to be very interesting and informative. There was the usual information that I had heard before such as recommending eating 5 meals a day, don't try the Atkins diet while trying to maintain any kind of excerise routine, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, etc. But this presentation went deeper than previous presentations by explaining how testosterone is made and how there is a special balance that must be kept in order for the body to continue to make testosterone and how having the right nutrients plays a crucial role in this balance. Coming out of the presentation, I couldn't help but think to myself, "So I guess those ten handfuls of M&M's and three Dr. Peppers I drink and eat every day aren't helping much", and, "Wow, I must be really nutrient depleted since I don't eat vegetables", so I've decided to turn over a new leaf and start taking multi-vitamins as well as completely drop the junk food and sodas.... well at least the daily dose of them, I will still have special treats every now and then. This will definitely help me lose some weight and, with the help of the workouts, turn the fat into muscle. The speaker also recommended giving up alcohol, but I have to draw the line somewhere.

I'm a Believer!

2005-11-10T22:00:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to give a quick plug and a huge thanks to Guinness. Thanks to their generosity (and of course thanks to Katie's generosity for involving me) I have managed to already reach the $1000 mark for my fundraising. They have these series of events called "Guinness Believer" where, thanks to California ABC law, they have to partner with a charity in order to be able to give beer away at the events. I could try to describe the events in my own words, but I figured I would use their own words from their website: "Believer brings together GUINNESS® enthusiasts to celebrate the heritage and the legend of the world's most fabled beer. Enter into a world where GUINNESS® is rejoiced and its fans regaled triumphant — with cold GUINNESS® Draught, satisfying food and fiery conversation." This year they have partnered with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and require a $5 donation from the attendees, and luckily Katie asked me to help out and collect money at the door. So the next time you're out drinking, consider ordering a Guinness or one of their other two great beers, Smithwicks and Harp. By the way, I actually had a chance to listen to the last event and it is definitely worth checking out, so see if they have one near you by checking out this website: http://believerrsvp.com/docs/lda/index.aspx.

Just Another Workout

2005-11-08T22:00:00.000-08:00

Tonight I went to the U2 concert in Oakland with Katie and some people from her work. On the way back, our bus had to stop in the middle of the Bay Bridge (just after Treasure Island) due to construction at the end of the bridge. After about 20 minutes of sitting around, literally not moving at all, we noticed other people getting out of there cars and walking around. People on our bus started to get off the bus as well, so Katie and I decided to get our workout in right there and run the rest of the way home (note that this was after a few beers before and during the concert, so our reasoning wasn't exactly logical). We figured when else would we have a chance to run across the Bay Bridge... so we get off the bus, start running and make it near the end of the bridge when we see what has been holding up the traffic... a police car parked diagonally in the middle of the road. We start to go towards the police officer to ask him if we can just run off the next exit, but he yells at everyone to get back in their cars. Of course our "car" is about a mile and a half back, so we start heading back to the bus, hoping to make it before the traffic starts moving. As we're running back, traffic begins to move, so we knock on the first car that we think would let us in and ask them if they'd be willing to just drop us off at the first exit. Luckily they were nice enough to let us in along with two other people who had the same dumb idea to run across the bridge and they dropped us off at the first exit where we then took a cab the rest of the way. Not the ideal workout, but we probably got a total of two miles in and we can now say that we ran on the Bay Bridge.

PS The concert was incredible, definitely one of the best concerts I have ever been to!

I Love Aquatic Park

2005-11-06T22:00:00.000-08:00

Today was another training day out in the East Bay, this time out at Shadow Cliffs park in Pleasanton. This was the first official open water workout of the season and consisted of a 10 minute warm up followed by a 40 minute swim. Going out there I thought it would be pretty pleasant to swim in the lake since it was fresh water and definitely warmer than the open water I am used to swimming in out at Aquatic Park in San Francisco. But after getting in the water and swimming around, I realized I will not take Aquatic Park for granted again, even with the green slime (not to mention smell) it leaves on you when you get out of the water. You see, the Park District plants rainbow trout and channel catfish in the lake and the water is just clear enough that you can see them swimming around you in the water. Some people probably enjoy that (in fact I heard a few people say, "Wow, did you see the pretty fish?"), but I prefer not to see anything when I am swimming.... I like the water to be either so murky that you can't see the creatures around you (like Aquatic Park) or so clear that you can see everything (like Lake Tahoe). On top of that there was a warning about larvae in the water (you could actually see them being stirred up from the mud as you were stepping in the water), something about how they can burrow into your skin during certain seasons. Luckily, this is not their "burrowing season", so we all came out unharmed by the larvae.

After the swim, we did a 45 minute run using the "Galloway Method." This methodology was created by Olympian Jeff Galloway and promotes a walk/run strategy while training/racing long distances. We did 4 minute runs, followed by a 1 minute walk for 45 minutes and I have to say I am a big fan of this method for two reasons: first, I know there is no way I will be running all 26.2 miles during the race, so this makes me realize it is ok to walk, as long as you have a schedule; second, it works for me mentally because I am able to push myself harder during the running time, knowing that I have a "treat" of a 1 minute walk coming up. It's clearly not for everyone, but it seems to be working for me. I look forward to trying it out during longer runs as we increase the running time while keeping the walking time to 1 minute.

Masters? I'm No Master!

2005-11-04T22:00:00.000-08:00

Last night I reluctantly signed up for the Masters Swim class at USF. Mike and Katie had been going to the class for a couple of months now, and I finally joined them. What is a Masters Swim class? Good question. I had heard the term many times and just assumed that it was a class for the very good swimmers, hence the term "Masters", right? Well, it turns out it is actually a national program for anyone looking to improve "their fitness through swimming".... here is the actual description from the US Masters Swimming website:

"United States Masters Swimming (USMS) is a national organization that provides organized workouts, competitions, clinics and workshops for adults aged 18 and over. Programs are open to all adult swimmers (fitness, triathlete, competitive, non-competitive) who are dedicated to improving their fitness through swimming. Founded in 1970, the non-profit corporation is organized with 500 clubs in 53 regions throughout the United States. Membership numbers more than 42,000, with individual members ranging in age from 18 to over 100."

To start the class, we had a series of warm up drills such as kicking and pulling. I was pretty much exhausted by the third set of four warmups and obviously the coach noticed because she came over and gave me a few tips, such as relaxing my kick and doing more flutter kicks than deep kicks. She told me to continue the drills rather than doing the interval training and kept a close eye on me, correcting any mistakes as I went along. All in all, it was very exhausting, but a great class and I will definitely continue to go because I have a lot of work to do before thinking I can swim 2.4 miles. There are swim classes Monday through Friday, but I hope to make it at least twice a week, hopefully on Tuesdays and Thursdays when possible.

A Reminder Why We're Doing This

2005-11-03T22:00:00.000-08:00

I thought I would share an e-mail we received today that introduced us to our newest Honoree, Larissa Campaña, a ten-year old girl who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) just after her first birthday in 1995. An Honoree is an honored patient who we are racing for and allows us to really get to know just who and what we're doing it all for. Typically a Team In Training team will have multiple Honorees; some are kids, some are adults; some are still battling cancer, some have fought cancer and are now in recovery or cancer free (and even particpate on a Team), some have passed away, and some are even waiting for the disease to really "set in" (i.e they are in stage 0). It's stories like Larissa's that really give me the motivation to get in those extra miles of training when I'd rather be heading to In 'N' Out for a Double Double. Larissa's story as told by her mom is below...

Diagnosis
My daughter, Larissa, took her first steps on the day after her first birthday. In doing so, she missed showing off for the fifty or so guests assembled for her party—an early indication of Larissa’s headstrong nature—she knew what she wanted and when she wanted to do it.

Like most early walkers, Larissa fell down all too often, getting little bumps and scrapes on her knees. About a month after her first steps, one of the scrapes on her knee didn't heal up as quickly as the others had. That is to say, it looked odd, and it went back and forth between healing and looking re-infected. On top of that, my little fireball took more naps, quite unusual behavior for her.

My mom is a registered nurse. Within a couple of hours of noticing that Larissa had a fever we went to the emergency room at Children’s Hospital, on Mom’s advice. Her fear was that Larissa had a septicemia—an infection of the bloodstream—and that my girl needed intravenous antibiotics. It seemed worth checking out.

The emergency room doctor looked Larissa over and prescribed an oral antibiotic for her. On the way out of the exam room, she hesitated. She looked at Larissa one more time, asked me again about Larissa’s unusual lethargy, and then ordered blood tests. Maybe Mom was right about the possibility of more serious infection.

Larissa’s bedtime came and went while we waited for the results. It seemed to take forever for the doctor to return, and I got annoyed. Finally, after what seemed like hours, we were called to another room. The doctor we met there was young and looked nervous. He was an oncology intern, and on call that evening (FYI—oncology is related to cancer). His news was that Larissa had leukemia. No wonder he was nervous.

I don’t remember if I cried. Not that our conversation is an entire blur—I remember the young intern telling us about our immediate game plan, which included intravenous antibiotics and chemotherapy. At about midnight we were sent up to the fifth floor to get started. Waking in my daughter’s hospital bed the next morning, I was struck by the feeling that I had fallen out of bed and woke up in hell.

Treatment
As the parent of a kid with leukemia, you don’t get much time to absorb the news before you are intimately involved with your child’s care. That first full day at Children’s, a surgeon inserted a tube through Larissa’s chest all the way into her aorta, just beside her heart. As scary as that sounds, imagine being told that you have to learn to draw blood from that tube, and that you are responsible for keeping the dressing around it clean. A clinical nurse educator let me practice on a doll first. Pretty soon, it wasn’t a big deal pushing anti-coagulants and sterile water from a syringe into the tube sticking out of Larissa’s chest. I graduated! The tube’s importance was that it allowed Larissa to avoid feeling like a pincushion from all of the shots and blood tests they would be giving her.

The head of the oncology department soon met with me to explain in greater depth what was going on. He talked to me about the great success brought about by leukemia research, about how the survival rate is so much better today. My mother agreed: when she was training for nursing in the 1960s she was told to prepare parents of children diagnosed with leukemia for their kids’ inevitable deaths. The oncology expert let me know that there was an 80% chance of a cure for Larissa, and that each month Larissa stayed cancer-free after her initial treatment, her chances of survival increased exponentially. He laid out a schedule of chemotherapy for me that included intensive phases interspersed with moderate phases, over the course of two years (ouch!).

Two weeks after the diagnosis, and with a bag full of chemotherapy drugs and medical supplies for the tube in Larissa’s chest, we were sent home from the hospital. Some friends pitched in with my mother and cleaned our cottage for us, to help Larissa stay infection-free. Larissa managed to down about 5 different kinds of crushed pills a day, with the help of a little juice.

Pretty soon, Larissa lost her hair from one of the chemo drugs, and her face got round from another drug. We visited the outpatient clinic about three times a week for treatments, and the hospital ward less often, when Larissa’s low immune system created fevers, and she needed IV drugs. It wasn’t that bad. The worst part for us both was replacing the gauze around the chest tube, which involved my mom holding her down while I ripped the clear tape off of her skin. We had to do this every time she bathed, which was every other day.

At the hospital, we made friends with staff and patient families. As horrible as our situation was, there was always someone else who had it much worse. (One other single mom that I met there had just given birth to a new baby when her one-year-old was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Those two children grew up running the halls of that hospital.) The chaplain at Children’s Hospital, Sister Bernadette, very gently helped me through my feelings of guilt for my daughter’s cancer. Our favorite part of being in the hospital was the food. Larissa loved the french fries, while I adored all of the down-home cooking that came out of the hospital kitchen. Someone there must have been from the South, as grits and barbecue made frequent appearances on the menu.

Two years passed, Larissa’s hair grew back, and I grew familiar with the patterns of life on treatment for leukemia. At the very end of treatment, her body sensitized to even the slightest doses of the chemotherapy drugs, Larissa spent a couple of months in the hospital with fevers. It did seem so very unfair. At one point, the doctors even investigated whether a relapse of the leukemia was responsible for her low immunity. Then, without undue drama, Larissa took her last chemotherapy pill in December 1998. Before she learned to ride a tricycle, she had undergone more than two full years of chemotherapy.

Since Treatment
The first six months off of treatment were the most terrifying, because that is when relapses would usually occur. We started putting our lives back together, with Larissa in a preschool, and me at grad school trying to finish up a master’s degree. At a time you would think we’d be the most triumphant, with two years of treatment over, we both had emotional difficulties. Several times, Larissa ran across the rug at quiet time in her preschool to beat up her best friend. During that period, Larissa started in individual counseling, and we attended The Louie Group, a support group for families of kids with cancer. Again, we made friends who helped us through.

At the present time, in the fall of 2005, Larissa is ten years old. She has an amazing personal strength, in her body, in her will, and in her heart. Larissa loves to be sympathetic; she will always go and greet another child who is shy or new, and when she’s new herself, she’ll always go right up to other children and start to play. If I don’t watch her, she’ll give away all of her favorite possessions.

Since Larissa’s health has returned, it’s our turn to be grateful. We find great satisfaction in doing volunteer work like Team in Training, as well as doing public speaking for Children’s Hospital. And we really do appreciate the effort that Team in Training participants put out. As Larissa says, “Team in Training are my heroes.” That “give back” mentality continually motivates us. Even in my professional career, I chose to work for a non-profit agency involved in saving lives.

In terms of likes and dislikes, Larissa loves all the usual ten-year-old stuff: reading mysteries, watching movies, visiting friends, swimming, riding her scooter, Bratz dolls, pizza, etc. She says she wants to be a florist when she grows up. She hates to have her hair brushed, bedtime, and having to get to school on time. All in all, Larissa is turning out to be a pretty normal big girl.

Happy Halloween!

2005-10-31T22:00:00.000-08:00

Well, another workout missed due to a late Friday night, this time it was a Halloween party that caused the late night (yes, that's me as a beer can and Katie as Daisy Duke). I was in no shape to make it to the spinnerval and run workout on Saturday morning, so instead I layed on the couch most of the day and watched college football... although looking back I would rather have gone and suffered through the workout than sit and suffer through watching the Aggies get killed by Iowa State. I did make it to the park with some friends to throw around the football, so that counts for something, right? On Sunday Katie, Leslie, and I went for a ride around Paradise Loop.... a beautiful ride that takes you across the Golden Gate Bridge, down through Sausalito and Mill Valley, through Tiburon and back. It's only about a 40 mile ride from my house, but my legs were definitely feeling it coming back up the hills through Sausalito, a sure sign that I need to hit the gym a little harder to get my leg endurance back.

Training All Over the Bay Area!

2005-10-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was a good example of how our trainings will be all over the Bay Area. On Saturday we had "spinnerval training" and a small ride through the Presidio to practice climbing.... this was in the parking lot of the Sports Basement in the Presidio, about 5 minutes from my house. We were also supposed to get in a 20 minute run at the end of the workout, but Katie and I ended up skipping that due to the after effects of a few spontaneous beers at the Bus Stop on Friday night. On Sunday our workout was at a high school out in Moraga, a small East Bay town about 45 minutes from my house. There we did some core training and a pool workout consisting of water running and drills. We also were individually filmed swimming by Coach Wayne's wife and Coach Wayne then reviewed the tape with us to give us tips on what drills we needed to work on in order to improve our strokes. You can see my video here. I was told my body and head position were good, while my kick was a little wide, my body roll a little flat (basically I am only rolling my upper body, not my lower body), and there is some slight cross over in my hand entry, so I need to make my entry a little wider... in other words, I have plenty to work on over the next 9 months!

Note: For those of you who don't know what spinnerval training is, just think of a spin class, except that you are spinning on your bike placed on a trainer instead of a stationary bike. As for "water running", this consists of simulated running in the deep end of a pool aided by a floatation device (we use a water running belt) that maintains the head above water. It is basically a low impact form of cross training.

Back to the Motherland

2005-10-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

I missed this past weekend's team workouts because I was back in Texas to surprise my mom for her birthday. It was great to spend the short weekend with my mom, dad, and brother, and there wasn't even a thought of working out while I was there. Usually I lie to myself and think that I will try and workout anytime I go back to Texas, but this time I didn't even bother packing any excercise clothes because I knew I wouldn't have much time, as I wasn't even in town for 48 hours. During the week I was just as undisciplined, not training at all, but I did make it to the gym twice that week, which is a step in the right direction. The goal is to make it to the gym 4 times a week in addition to the rest of the training, so that will probably mean early morning workouts at the gym and evening workouts running, biking or swimming. I absolutly am not a morning person, but as long as I get in a routine, I should be alright... at least I hope.

The Dreaded Track

2005-10-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

Monday was my favorite day of the week, the "rest day", and Tuesday was an "on your own" swim workout, although it became another "rest day" for me as I never made it to the pool. So tonight's workout was not only the first Team workout of the season, it was also my first workout of the season (I figure I will ease into the "6 days-a-week training" regiment as opposed to jumping right in). It was at Kezar stadium, which was home to the 49ers for about 25 years before they moved to Candlestick... well, at least the original pre-1989 earthquake stadium was, as it has since been rebuilt. Anyways, a workout at Kezar can mean only one thing, a track workout. Now, some people love track workouts, but for me, there aren't many things more boring than running around a track. I hate running in the first place (I think it might have something to do with the fact that I'm not that fast, some people would even say slow), but running around a quarter mile oval over and over just makes it even worse. In the coming months I will hopefully learn to like it because we will have most of our Wednesday workouts at Kezar. The good thing about Kezar workouts is that the night usually ends up at Kezar Pub, an Irish bar across the street, for some post workout rehydration, typically in the form of a Guiness. Tonight was one of those nights and it was nice to wind down and catch up with a few people on the team I already knew but haven't seen in a while.

Oh yeah, the workout.... we had to do a 15 minute warm up followed by what's called a "30 minute marker set"- a timed effort used to record our progress later in the season as well as to determine which group we will train with. Now, the workout schedule says runners running less than 13 laps will be in group one, running 14-18 laps will be in group 2, and running more than 18 will be in group 3. Of course I run 13 laps, right on the border of groups 1 and 2; so now I have a dilemma, do I go with group 1 and be the fastest of the slowest, or do I go with group 2 and be the slowest of the intermediate group? Of course I know what I want to do, but since running is the sport where I need to improve the most, I decide to put myself in with group 2 and will be the slowest of the intermediate group. I look forward to doing this again in a few months to see what kind of progress I am making.

Kick Off - The Journey Begins

2005-10-09T18:13:00.000-07:00

Well, it's finally here... we started our IronTeam 2006 season today out at Clif Bar's headquarters in Berkeley with our Kick Off meeting. I met a lot of the people (there are about 80 of us on the Team) I will be training with and it looks like a very fun group.... very important since I will be spending a lot of time with them over the next 10 months. At the end of the meeting they showed the video from last year's Team... it was very cool to see the happiness in everyone's face crossing the finish line. To think that could be me in 287 days made me a little nervous, but mostly excited.

Pre-Kick Off Thoughts - What Am I Doing and Why?

2005-10-08T21:18:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share what I hope to be writing in this blog.... For those of you who don't know, I have signed up for IronMan USA in Lake Placid on July 23, 2006. During the next 10 months, I will be training with a group called Team In Training, or TNT, an organization that helps people prepare for endurance events (they have other teams like running, cycling, etc) in return for fundraising for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I have been a part of 4 different TNT teams over the past two years and it has always been a great experience for me. I have met a lot of great people and raised several thousand dollars along the way. I finally decided to take both the training and the fundraising to the next level, and thus signed up for IronTeam 2006. I will be training 5-6 days a week for the next 10 months as well as fundraising $9000 to help the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society achieve its mission: to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

Well, that's what I'm doing. After explaining this to people, the first question is typically, "Why? Why would you want to do an IronMan? Why would you want to raise $9000?" I wish I had some great philosophical answer, but the answer is really simple, "Because I can." During my first TNT experience, I started out with zero connections to the Cause; in other words, I personally didn't know anybody who had a blood related cancer nor did I know anyone who had a friend or family member with this type of cancer. The closest connection I had was after reading Lance Armstrong's book. The motivation for me to join TNT that first season two years ago was actually pretty selfish: to get myself in shape and meet new people. Since then, I have met many great people through TNT who have been affected by these blood related cancers; from friends and family members of people who have lost their lives to cancers, to survivors, to those who are still in the painful process of fighting the disease, each of their stories have motivated me to take on this next challenge.

So, during the next few months I hope to record my thoughts about training, fundraising, and anything else that I think might be interesting to go back and reflect on once this is all over.