Photo credit to Paiwei Wei

Here we are 3 months into training and our IronTeam has just come back from our first all team race weekend down in Palm Desert for the International distance Desert Triathlon.  This is my 3^rd time at this race as I have raced the Sprint distance 2 years ago and the International just last year, but for quite a few members of my team this would be their very first official triathlon and putting all three sports together back to back.

Our training has far surpassed the distances of this International race as we have been riding 56 miles the past build weekend and running over 10 miles on top of 3000+ yards in the pool! But this race is about experience and making a personal lesson out of it. For me, I made the race a healthy, friendly completion with my girlfriend, Yolanda!  As it turns out we are both in the same age group and fairly evenly matched as we looked back on last year’s time and she beat me by 3 MINUTES! So my goal was to go ahead and go all out and push myself hard as this race is only 3/4ths mile swim, a 24 mile bike, and a 6 mile run= approximately just 3 hours of hard effort! It is funny that after doing a full Ironman last year I now think of an International distance race as a fun- training race that I can whip out.

Our team first trained on the bike course on Saturday riding for 2 hours total which covered the races bike course and more mileage and then we went straight out for the 6 mile run. We had lunch, picked up race packets and then tested the Lake Cahuilla waters with a 30 minute swim from buoy to shore and back again and again. While it was storming in Los Angeles, we were blessed with clear- only threatening skies that would clear up the next race day to be completely blue. For a few of my teammates this was their first time swimming in open water, or they had only just done so last weekend in the ocean briefly. They were jittered, maybe even freaked out and we all bonded together to ease nerves and share with them support and encouragement. We are in this together!

Race day was perfect weather and the water felt just enough chilly that keeping my bare arms moving in my sleeveless wetsuit would not pose an issue. As it turned out Yolanda exited the water just a minute before me and I passed her running into transition! I managed to strip my wetsuit off with ease I have never experienced before! I was out of T1 before her when I realized my chain had fallen off my bike and was wedged in between the frame and mechanism so I had to flip my bike over and frantically work it back on the chain ring (with help now form a kind and sympathetic witness).. while Yolanda passed! I never caught her on the bike, yet I peddled with great speed and flew by many. My bike felt so good! I knew I could potentially take her in the run as I am faster in that sport… but even with another speedy transition I ran 2 loops at 8:34 min mile average which is outstanding for me and I actually felt great.. I never caught her! She once again came in just MINUTES before me! I did accomplish a personal record of nearly 30 minutes faster than last year!

With my race over it was all about the finishing chute and waiting and cheering for my teammates that would soon be awarded their first triathlon medals! We gathered both sides as we high fived them in chanting “Go team”! Until it came down to one final teammate who was the last person on the course, she had a particularly difficult struggle with the swim and that put her way back behind the masses of athletes. She cried as she passed us on her first run loop, almost having that “I can’t do this”.. attitude- yet with our Coach Brad’s support he ran the 2^nd 3 mile loop side by side with her encouraging her as we all waited for her at the finish knowing TOGETHER WE CAN! We she, Connie- aka “Conster” came trotting to us at the line tears of joy for a far better victory than my mere PR were had by all! This dedicated lady had beat out the infamous hardest sport in Triathlon- it is not the swim, bike or run- it is the battle of the mind! Beating and putting away that “I cannot”… and going anyway- NEVER giving up! Once again, why do we do this as a team for LLS? Because many, FAR too many cannot and are suffering from STUPID FUCKIN CANCER!

Stay tuned for many more team victories, this year’s Ironman journey and to give support! If you need more encouragement than a story of overcoming advisories know that I send a gift with every donation!

Thank you again for your support!

In summary- please enjoy this amazing video montage of my IronTeam's entire season's training days, accomplishmnets, candid moments and the over all feeling of what it is to be on a TEAM with other giving and motiavted indivudsals who want more than to cross a finish line of an Ironman race but to also end cancer!

Copy & Paste this link to a new browser page:

http://vimeo.com/101335947

Please help me to surpass my fundraising goal by August 1st!

Donate today! Cheers!

I have been training with the IronTeam again this year for my 2nd full Ironman distance Triathlon race for the benefit of the Leukemnia & Lymphoma Society so these breakthroughs can become real and even more so0 so that one day articles will share in bold headlines that we have found the CURE!!!

Check this out:

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/blog/health-care/2014/07/penn-gets-fdabreakthrough-designation-for.html?ana=fbk

Please donate and share in the excitement of a bright- Cancer FREE future for all!

Merci' - Tiff-Knee

In my recent Ironman training efforts I have broken my right 3^rd metatarsal bone, which means I have not been running for nearly 6 weeks. This was a random stress fracture and nothing more than a bump in my training. I have been able to still bike, swim and substitute Aqua Jogging for the run, so I am still at it!

This means a usual Saturday for me I start riding my bike at about 7:45 am and I don’t stop until over 6 hours later. That means I get up around 5:30am on a weekend, do not sleep in, do not go to brunch, and do not relax in my pajamas. Instead, I ride 90 miles or more, lonely miles, across counties and many municipalities and up and down hills and canyons and back again- with my toes going numb, neck straining, seat chafing, and legs aching.

I navigated around parked cars, randomly opening car doors, surfboards, traffic, motorcycles, and other cyclists with my helmet on and as safely as possible.

I do not choose to bike these daunting 90+ miles on Saturday’s because they are fun, because many times they are not. It hurts.

On a Sunday morning I also do not sleep in and drive across town to the Santa Monica Swim Center to strap on a water belt and aqua jog for 3+ hours. Aqua jogging is not fun either, it is a slow, slow running in place back and fort slowly from one length of the pool to the other constantly checking your form to ensure I am not cheating the exercise and performing it correctly so that I am not wasting all of the hours I am putting in on staying conditioned. Aqua jogging is done for time not distance and it is a mental endurance exercise. It is extremely dull and 

I do it for the following reasons:

I do it because I can. And there will come a day when for some reason or another I can't do this anymore. And because there are people who would give anything to have the opportunity or physical ability to do something like this.

I do it because it is hard and sometimes scary, but things like chemo and radiation are harder and scarier.

I do it because every mile I ride, or run, or swim or even Aqua Jog right now while my foot is healing… gives hope to people out there with cancer, who know that I am doing this for them. They have hope that people like you will see what I am doing and be inspired to help them.

I spent my recent holiday weekend not at a barbecue, or lounging poolside, but swimming, biking and Aqua Jogging for running so that people right now can have hope for better treatments and cures tomorrow- that they might have another year with their families, that their child might be able to keep fighting if the cancer comes back again. Please help me help them be hopeful for the future.

Donate even $5 to the leukemia and lymphoma society right now to support research grants to find life saving treatments and cures.

I have been putting in the dedicated work this season for sure! As previously stated, this Ironman Mont-Tremblant goal race is not just about crossing the finish line for me, I want to dig deep and perform at a faster pace. I want to truly challenge myself and be a stronger athlete that still has a blast during the race but does not settle for just getting through it.

Doing the work means 6+ days of double work out trainings! Morning strength training and evening runs, rides or swims and giving all of these my best effort.

I am constantly driven to accomplish my goal of the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run in a single day in the gorgeous town of Mont-Tremblant, Quebec by the inspiration of my IronTeam-mates and those mission moments we share together.

I would appreciate your help in my efforts to raise awareness and funds to support the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in honor of both of my Grandmother’s Tish Tryon and Marie Nestingen as well as a dear friend of mine, “King” Dave Melrose”.  I am training with IronTeam in Team In Training along with a couple survivors and hope that these success stories are what our future beholds with the benefits of the LLS and how this research and patient care effects success rates!

Please give generously and share with your friends and family so they may also be a part of the solution.

Thank you! Muchas Gracias! Merci’!

Tiff-Knee