WOW...just days away!
Well...inevitably but unbelievably the moment is here...less than 5 days and counting. This means I am nearing the end of the most difficult 8 months of training I have ever attempted...I can't believe it.
Thank you so much everyone that has supported me. Both with donations and words of encouragement. I want to take a moment to reiterate what this experience has meant for me, and, since I have not yet met my minimum, ask again for donations to support my efforts! :-).
I knew that 8 months of training was going to be difficult. I started in December agonizing over 45 min runs, 30 mile bikes with runs after, and ocean swims followed by long rides. Now, the longest swim I have completed exceeds 3 miles (5000 meters to be precise), my longest bike was 112 miles, and my longest run was 20 miles. I have now climbed over 10000 feet in one day (after swiming 2+ miles), and I have run my heart out through poring rain (probably the most fun run I have done this season). Now the only remaining challenge...is to put it all together in one day (minus the insane climbing and the rain...)
and I feel ready! I am becoming nervous excited just at the thought of the swim start...where 8 months of training will come down to 14 "short" hours.
This has been a rough year
I am thrilled and a little lucky that I can say I feel ready. For the last 6 months, on top of training, I have had my fair share of trials and tribulations. To briefly recap...
- Unemployed for 3 months
- Moved 400 miles north (closer to home!)
- Car troubles FOUR separate times between two cars in the last 5 months (I am getting my clutch replaced this tuesday...hopefully the last problem I have for a while), two of which left me stranded many miles from home.
- 1 Trip to the ER, rode in an ambulance for the first time. (Turned out to be a kidney stone)
There was a week where I'll I wanted to do was scream at the world and tell it to #^!$ off. My new (used) car that I bought a month previous had just broken (for the second time) down on my way to race wildflower. About 5 days later my body decided to break down. On an otherwise normal Wednesday I found myself reeling on my floor in intense pain after biking home from swim practice. I had no idea what was going on. I'll I knew was I had no car to drive myself to an ER, I did not yet know anyone close by I could call for help, and with the rate the pain was intensifying I felt I may be unconscious in 10 min...so I called an ambulance ($2500 charge for a 10 min ride to the ER...luckily I am still on my dads insurance!). Thankfully, it turned out to be a mostly harmless, although extremely painful, kidney stone. I spent my fourth week in the bay area riding my bike to work with a kidney stone while attempting to coordinate service on my car. Oh and just for fun by the end of the week...I had a cold (no doubt induced because of training+stress+lack of sleep).
I need not mention that having just moved after being an unemployed new graduate meant finances were exceedingly tight, and as a contractor I do not get sick pay....
I am still one of the lucky one's
Despite my troubles the fact that in the grand scheme of things I am still extremely lucky does not escape me (although its not always very consoling). To be diagnosed with a terminal illness, or have a loved one diagnosed, is a life altering event like no other. To then lose a loved one because of that illness...is unimaginable. I am inspired every day by the stories I hear through TNT. Some of my team recently shared stories for why we are on the team. All of the stories from my team mates were heart-wrenching, many about people close to them that did not overcome their fight with cancer. This includes Louie Bonpua and Jim Delaney, members of our team that passed away recently. My heart goes out to them and I am thankful to hear these stories. I am amazed at how much courage, wisdom, and vibrancy them and their family displayed as they fought against cancer. I am inspired by their example.
Will I be thinking about them when I am out on my race Saturday? You bet I will. They are the reason I am out there in the first place.
Another story that was shared from a fellow teammate was that of John Reeves Hall. His story hit frighteningly close to home...he was a pilot, engineer, and marathon runner who died at 25 from cancer (I am 25, a pilot, engineer, and...yeeeahhh...) He chronicled his struggle here,
http://overcode.yak.net/1, it comes with the disclaimer that it is not for the faint of heart (but a must read).
The combination of my reflecting mood over the last week and reading through John's blog I think came together. I feel like I suddenly "got it". Cancer is no joke (duh right?) but I feel I suddenly viscerally understand exactly what cancer means...and I appreciate the value of my own health and that of others all that much more because of it.
Ok...now here is where I might get excessively philosophical so...bare with me! I cannot help myself sometimes (I have a small obsession with philosophy) and while the following may be grasping at straws I feel a need to at least attempt to put it in writing...here goes nothing. The final message that I take from Louie, Jim, John, and other cancer victims...starts with a question.
Why in the hell does one person get to be born in a time when their cancer is "treatable" and others don't?
http://xkcd.com/931/
Some people survive cancer and some people don't. More people in the future will beat cancer because treatments will improve. Why didn't those that have already died get to have those treatments? Why...the message is that this is not the right question to ask. Nobody really knows why one person gets to be born in a time when their cancer is treatable and others don't...this is a question that I suspect will always be unanswered.
The message I get is that every moment in life is precious, and we simply never know when life will end (from cancer or anything for that matter). Jim, Louie, and John can inspire us to live every second of our lives to their fullest, at the end that is what they leave us all with. The inspiration to live a little more aware of each moment. Their torch may have gone out earlier than expected, but they burned so bright in the end that they left an afterglow on the rest of us that is eternal. I swear I will fight to make my life and the life of others better until it kills me, as they did.
Through my training I have met some of the most inspiring and amazing people I have ever known. Between both LA and the Silicon Valley chapters they are full of welcoming, caring, ambitious...simply incredible people. As one of my coaches said once..."to single any one person out is like trying to find a gem among diamonds". I don't think I could state it better myself.
Life is possible because of human choices. Life begets life. Someone beats cancer because another person chose to develop a treatment for that cancer, someone else chose to provide funding to develop that treatment, someone chose to compete in an Ironman to raise funds for research (...for example...:-), and someone else chose to share the fruits of there life by making a small donation...
But I understand that the human capacity to collect resources is finite, and there are many great causes in the world. If choose to donate. Thank you. If you choose not to donate. Thank you for reading this far :-) I hope you have been inspired.
Cheers!
Mike
