Last night was my first chance to join Team in Training (TNT) for our group / coached swim. First, I was a few minutes late (which I hate) because I got a little lost and had a difficult time finding the place. When I got there, I was happy to see a few familiar faces that I recognized from our group run a few days ago.
I jumped in the pool, did a few warm up laps and we jumped right into the drills. Man these guys (and girls) are fast! I have been swimming on my own for a couple of weeks now, but apparently haven't pushed the pace like I should. By the end of the night we swam just over a mile within an hour! And let me tell you they kicked my butt. I have got to train harder to keep up. Ahh, the benefits of a coach.
At some point during the night I physically hit a low point; a point where I didn't think I was able to swim another lap. I was considering finishing the current lap and quitting for the night. Somehow, while I was struggling to breath I thought about Angela and how she didn't quite (not once!) through any of her chemo cycles. So who am I to quit? With the thought of Angela's inspiration I was able to finish practice without quitting.
After I got home from swim practice I was able to catch the end of The Biggest Loser. Oh cow, those people worked their butt off to lose all that weight. At least one guy lost over 200 POUNDS!
Today, my training schedule tells me to run, 35 minutes to be exact. UGH! The thought of expending any amount of energy right now is overwhelming. But between now and lunch I will have to find the energy.
…until next time keep pushing forward.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
In the begining...
For about 2 years now I have wrestled with desire to run in a marathon. However, for the past several years I have managed to push this goal aside due to other priorities, higher education, work, etc. Over the course of my training, I have alter my dream of pursuing a marathon to completing a triathlon.
Then this year my wife was diagnosed with stage II diffuse large b-cell non-hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in April 2007. See her story at (http://amvictory.blogspot.com)
After watching her struggle for months while going through chemo treatments, dealing with various side effects of the chemo drugs, hospital stays, poked, pricked, and treated like a human pin cushion - I felt helpless. All I could do was sit beside her and hold her hand.
After 6 cycles of chemo I am proud to say that she is on the road to recovery. But I was still wondering how can help? How can I even begin to understand the level of pain, disgust, and the emotionally changing days that she had to endure - short answer: I will never be able to grasp her darkest days and lowest of lows. So, I was still confronted with "What I can I do?"
Lance Armstrong and the Livestrong foundation (www.livestrong.org) states there is not one person in this country that has not been effected by cancer. And as I took a look at the larger influences in my life, I was able to see how true that was. I have long list of close friends, family members, and peers that struggle with this disease everyday.
With all that being said, I began looking for ways I could help others that struggle with Lymphoma. That lead me to the Leukemia and Lymphoma society's webpage (http://www.lls.org/) which lead me to Team in Training's webpage (http://www.teamintraining.org/) .
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training is the world's largest endurance sports training program. Since 1988, more than 300,000 volunteer participants have helped raise more than $700 million. After speaking to a couple friends that went through this program and raved about it, I decided to join
To help raise funds to cure blood cancers on May 28th, I will be participating in the Capital of Texas Triathlon. My goal is to raise over $4000 before the race. Through this blog I will share my experiences.
To support this cause go to (http://www.active.com/donate/tntnca04/tntncaMJandre)
Then this year my wife was diagnosed with stage II diffuse large b-cell non-hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in April 2007. See her story at (http://amvictory.blogspot.com)
After watching her struggle for months while going through chemo treatments, dealing with various side effects of the chemo drugs, hospital stays, poked, pricked, and treated like a human pin cushion - I felt helpless. All I could do was sit beside her and hold her hand.
After 6 cycles of chemo I am proud to say that she is on the road to recovery. But I was still wondering how can help? How can I even begin to understand the level of pain, disgust, and the emotionally changing days that she had to endure - short answer: I will never be able to grasp her darkest days and lowest of lows. So, I was still confronted with "What I can I do?"
Lance Armstrong and the Livestrong foundation (www.livestrong.org) states there is not one person in this country that has not been effected by cancer. And as I took a look at the larger influences in my life, I was able to see how true that was. I have long list of close friends, family members, and peers that struggle with this disease everyday.
With all that being said, I began looking for ways I could help others that struggle with Lymphoma. That lead me to the Leukemia and Lymphoma society's webpage (http://www.lls.org/) which lead me to Team in Training's webpage (http://www.teamintraining.org/) .
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training is the world's largest endurance sports training program. Since 1988, more than 300,000 volunteer participants have helped raise more than $700 million. After speaking to a couple friends that went through this program and raved about it, I decided to join
To help raise funds to cure blood cancers on May 28th, I will be participating in the Capital of Texas Triathlon. My goal is to raise over $4000 before the race. Through this blog I will share my experiences.
To support this cause go to (http://www.active.com/donate/tntnca04/tntncaMJandre)
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