Racing to Save Lives

May 31, 2009

I have completed my first week of training! I am excited about training for and swimming, biking, and riding on September 13! There is a great bunch of guys and gals that I am getting to know and am training with. We have already had meetings and training sessions with our coaches...we have a coach for each of the the three phases of the race, which is great.

I am getting my letter and email ready to send out to raise money to help fund finding the cure for these awful diseases!

I have met my honored hero, Lauryn, who will turn 6 years old a few days after the race. Lauryn is currently in remission but has to continue to take maintenance therapy. Compared to what she is going through, I have the easy job...raising funds and training to do the race. I also have the honor of being able to train with her dad Chris, and her mom Dea, who is the team captain!

More to come! I encourage you to participate in this great event by donating today.

June 2, 2009

We are already in our second week of training! I am excited and nervous about the process. I am going to train so that I can swim about a mile in the triathlon...wow! I am enjoying the team atmosphere, especially during our team workouts! It is fun to train with others with the same goal. This week, I have swam and biked and will run tomorrow. It is great cross-training!

It is a lot of work with the training and fundraising, but it is worth it, especially when I think about our honored hero Lauryn and what she has had to go through.

More soon!

June 7, 2009

Hello All!

I just completed a 20-mile bike ride along with a 1.2 mile run right after, to help simulate the transition from bike to the run, which I will do on the day of the event.

What has stood out for me this week is the number of people that I have spoken to already who have been impacted, directly or indirectly by leukemia. I am blown away! These people are ready to donate to the cause. The most important reason for me to do this triathlon is to raise money and awareness of this disease and to help donate to finding a cure.

More to follow soon!

June 14, 2009

I just completed a 75-minute biking session. Two friends of mine rode with me; it was nice to have company. I spoke to a neighbor after I biked; they encouraged me in my efforts and said they would support me financially and emotionally. Another neighbor saw me biking and wished me good luck on my bike ride.

I posted a Team In Training banner in my front yard for all to see. I want everyone to see why I am swimming, biking, and running.

It is about raising money to find a cure for leukemia.

I saw our honor hero Lauryn last Wednesday at our swim training. She is such a cute girl, so full of life and so much to look forward to. I want her to be able to live a full life; that is why I am doing this.

Thank you for your financial, emotional, and spiritual support!

Keep those funds coming! I greatly appreciate it!

June 22, 2009

Well, week 4 is in the books! It has been great training with the other Team In Training members, especially the triathlon team that I train with regularly.

It has been great to see the financial and emotional support come in for LLS and the race! Thank you very much to those of you who have contributed! For those of you who have not contributed, there is still time.

I spoke with Lauryn's mom Dia, about Lauryn's remission. Her "remission" is quite an ordeal, including regular treatments, with bad days and good days. This little girl is a trooper. Hearing the details of what she is going through will keep me going raising funds and training for the Nation's Tri. I have the easy part compared to her.

Vince

June 27, 2009

Today, I competed in a sprint triathlon, my first one in open water. (600-yard swim, 13 mile bike, 3 mile run). Overall, it went well and I ended up doing better than I thought I would time wise. My area to work on is the swim, as I need to get stronger in this area. I did the triathlon with two other Team In Training members, which made it an even better experience!

I am enjoying the training and comaraderie with my triathlon teammates...it's a great group!

Today's triathlon and my fundraising are at half-way points: the distance I swam, biked, and ran is about half of what I will do on race day. As far as fundraising, I am about at the halfway point there too. Thank you again to those of you who have already contributed!

For those of you who have not contributed, there is still time. Help me raise $5100 to help fight this terrible disease!

July 5, 2009

Well, week 6 is complete. Though I was on vacation, there was no vacation from training. Swimming continues to be the challenge for me, though I realize that I am technically a beginner as far as swimming is concerned. Swimming is different from when I was a kid and we 'swimmed' in a pool or lake; this swimming is for distance.

I continue to receive notes/letters from people who have contributed, telling me how a family member or friend was affected by leukemia. The stories bring a tear to your eyes and confirms the importance of raising money and awareness to find a cure for blood cancers.

I feel blessed that so many people have contributed financially so far towards my goal of $5,100. When the latest contributions show on the website, I will be 75% to my goal. Keep those contributions coming in.

Thank you so much for your financial and emotional support!

July 12, 2009

I just completed an 8-mile run this morning, which felt good! It is amazing how my endurance is improving based on the swimming and biking, which has improved my running.

We had a group training yesterday, where we ran a 5K (3.1 miles), biked 2-10K (12.2 miles) and then ran another 5K. Awesome! Afterwards, we went out for breakfast and ate and got to spend some time with our honored hero Lauryn. I ran with Lauryn's mom Dea, she told me about some levels for Lauryn were in the alert zone this past week. Fortunately, they have come down. Again, with Lauryn in "remission", it can still be very nerve-wracking with her various levels of her immune system. Lauryn's parents (Dea and Chris) have to almost become doctors, knowing details about the immune system that the average person takes for granted.

If you were to look at this beautiful girl, you would never know she has anything wrong. It breaks my heart that she has to go through this ordeal, but she is tough. Being able to hear and see the family deal with this blood cancer just reinforces even more why I am raising funds for LLS and Team in Training!

Thank you to those of you who have contributed, I am grateful!

For those of you who have not contributed, there is still time. Please help me raise funds so that a cure can be found for blood cancers!

July 19, 2009

We're halfway through our training for the Nation's Triathlon! Wow! How time flies!

A few of us completed the Eagle Creek Sprint Triathlon yesterday (500 meter swim, 10 mile bike, 3 mile run). Overall, the race went well, even though the air temperature was 55 degrees at the start. I am still working on my swimming, as that is the area where I have the least amount of experience.

Last night, we had a TNT event, a beer-tasting, at a friend's house. It was a good time and funds were raised for LLS!

As I look back at where I have come, I am proud of what I have accomplished so far. I am almost at my goal. Thank you to all of you for your donations! I really appreciate it! I also appreciate all of your encouragement, whether in person or phone, or through letters or notes.

I feel I am building my endurance and performance, which I will need on race day, as well as practicing the three sports I will be doing on race day. Thank you to those of you who have trained and helped me with my technique!

I have met a lot of great people during this time, many of which I am training with. I have met the true hero, Lauryn, who is still battling this disease. My hope is that she will be able to do a triathlon some day because she wants to and is able to.

The sooner that a cure can be found for blood cancers (and all cancers for that matter), the better. That is why we need to keep raising funds.

I want to thank my wife Ellen, for all of her support and encouragement. She has picked up the slack during this time of fundraising and training. You're awesome! Thank you to my girls for their support too! I love you all!

I ask that you contribute if you have been considering it and have not done so. There is still plenty of time to contribute.

Thank you everyone! I encourage you to keep following my blog and keeping up to date with my experience with Team in Training!

July 26, 2009

I just completed a 26-mile bike ride this morning on a beautiful day! Another week of training is complete!

Through all of your financial support, I have reached the fundraising minimum! And for that, I thank you!

My actual goal is to raise $5,500, as I like to go above and beyond, especially for this very important cause!

The training has taken considerable time away from my family, and to them I am thankful for their support. I think of them as I swim, bike, and run. I am grateful to have team members to share the experience with. I also think of our honored hero Lauryn, who keeps me going , as I think about what she has and will go through.

We are seven weeks away from the Nation's Triathlon! It is exciting and scary at the same time! I am going to continue to work hard to improve my swimming technique and endurance; please pray for that for me.

Again, thank you for your financial and emotional support during this journey!

August 2, 2009

Today's training was to be focused on our "weakest link". For me, that has been swimming. It is amazing how I can run and not be winded, but have not been able to say that for the swim. I have been battling fear and self-doubt with the swim and am now starting to feel more confident as I swim! It is a great feeling! I never thought I could complete over 2000 yards of swimming in one practice session! I did it!

We are six weeks away from the race! Wow! Has time flown! I have really enjoyed the group workouts, as it has been a time of fun, hard work, challenges, and success! It's a great group of people working together to raise awareness, donations, and support for a great cause!

Thanks again to those of you who have contributed financially to my fundraising...I greatly appreciate it! Since I have raised the minimum I needed to, I am able to focus on training for the race as well as helping others raise money.

More next week!

August 9, 2009

Only FIVE weeks until The Nation's Triathlon! Wow, has time flown! I can't believe it is almost here!

I am still training hard for the event. We had a great group training yesterday, as Coach Sean took us through the paces of learning how to climb hills on the bike. I felt a little bit like Lance Armstrong.

Although the training has made me tired at the end of the day at times, I know the hard work and efforts will pay off on race day. We will start to taper, meaning the duration of some of our training will decrease, but the intensity will remain the same.

I am still working on my swimming skills. I feel I am gradually getting better as time goes on. My endurance is increasing, which I will definitely need on race day.

I found out from Lauryn's mom Dea that Lauryn had treatments this week. Although she is in remission, the battle does not take a rest. Last Wednesday, I did not feel like going to swimming practice. I was tired and had no ambition. I thought of Lauryn and realized that she could not take a treatment off, so I said "neither can I" and I went to swimming practice. I am glad that I did, as it was a tough but good workout that helps my confidence in swimming.

For those of you who have thought about donating but have not done so, I encourage you to give. Although I have made the minimum amount required for fundraising, blood cancers knows no minimums at this point.

More to follow next week!

August 15, 2009

Another week of training is complete! We actually have an extra day of rest this week, which is nice.

We rode bikes for two hours this morning, followed by a 2-mile run. We were able to ride over 30 miles, which was the purpose of today's training. By training more than the race distance, it helps our confidence for race day. Today was a great workout!

After the workout, we went out for breakfast as a team and got to spend time with our honored hero Lauryn. She is such a cute girl, so full of life! I pray often that she will be healed completely from this awful disease.

It is hard to believe, but we are four weeks away from the Nation's Triathlon! I am excited and nervous at the same time! I have put a lot of effort into getting ready for this event, including all of the training and fundraising. It has been a great experience so far.

Next week, we begin our tapering, meaning the amount of training we will be doing is less but the intensity is still there. I continue to work on my swimming endurance, which is my area of focus to improve heading into the race. For the most part, I am a beginning swimmer. I have seen the benefits of cross-training like this, as it has helped my running and biking endurance.

There are still funds being donated and I really appreciate it! Thank you for your generous support! There is still time to contribute to this very worthy cause.

August 25, 2009

We are less than three weeks away from the event! Wow! I feel I have come a long way since starting training. Our team did a sprint distance triathlon over the weekend. We did well, gained experience, and had fun!

We have our team "practice triathlon" this weekend (1000 meter swim, 16 mile bike and 4 mile run). That covers a significant distance that we will do on race day. I am excited about doing that this weekend.

August 30, 2009

We completed our practice triathlon today! (1000 meter swim, 14 mile bike, 4 mile run). I feel I am ready to do the Nation's Triathlon in two weeks! I am proud of my efforts and the hard work I have put in to train for this race.

September 7, 2009

We are less than a week away from race day! I am nervous and excited! I feel I have prepared well and am ready to successfully complete the race. I will be thinking of you as I swim, bike, and run on Sunday! Thank you for your prayers and support, I really appreciate it! I will update you on how the race went next week.

September 15, 2009

I did it! I successfully completed the event yesterday! What an awesome experience! I finished it in a time even faster than I had hoped! Our team all completed the race! The entire experience was worth it!

Thank you for your support! I appreciate it so much!

Vince