Tri-ing to Make a Difference!

While working in the emergency room, I obeyed the request from the loud speaker for a doctor to go to the trauma bay. When the team arrived, we found a young girl lying on the bed taking quick deep breaths. She looked weak and her eyes were yellow. The girl's mother told us that she had been having flu-like symptoms for the past few days (fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, lack of energy, loss of appetite, etc.) and today she looked worse because she was having such a difficult time breathing. While analyzing the initial lab work-up, we realized that she had text book values for Leukemia. It's sad to think about the road that lies ahead of her.

I remember all to well the journey my father went through when he was diagnosed with cancer 18 years ago. Unfortunately, my father did not survive. Even more unfortunate is the fact that if diagnosed today, my father could have been cured with a simple antibiotic. "Cures" are made possible because of research funded by the government as well as non-profit organizations, like The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).

LLS provides millions of money each year for research. Common treatments used today are a direct result of that money provided, such as chemotherapy, bone marrow and stem cell transplantations, and even simple medications (like an antibiotic). More and more people are surviving from cancer every day. People like Hayley Ray, a 6 year-old girl now in remission for almost a year, and Dori White, a young woman my age now in remission for three years. Hayley is someone whom I've grown to know and love, and Dori is someone whom I will get to know really well over the next 5 months.

From now until the end of April, I will be training for a triathlon (swimming, biking, and running) to raise awareness and funds with Team In Training for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. With Team In Training (TNT), I will train 5-6 days a week with coaches and a team of nearly 50 people in exchange for my commitment to raise $4000 for their non-profit organization. I did this same event 2 years ago and the fulfilling experience is something I will never forget. Many of my closest friends today are people I met through TNT and I am excited to take on this challenge once again before I start my residency as a physician. I know I will make many good friends this time too, and I am looking forward to Dori being one of them. Dori will be training alongside me to give back to the very organization that helped her survive her Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. How's that for giving back?

There is one more goal I have set for myself during this five-month period. As if training 6-10 hours a week and raising $4000 isn't enough, right?! I will also be losing 25-30 pounds, which is MUCH harder than you'd think. As a triathlete, we have to consume many calories in order to endure all the training we go through. Not to mention that I will be gaining a lot of muscle and will have to resist the temptation to partake in the ever-so-popular post-workout regimen of drinking beer. Lots of beer!

Please help me in my quest to raise money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Any amount you can donate will be much appreciated. Obviously the more you can give, the less work I will have to do. You can give me a straight-up donation or you can make a pledge to donate a certain amount of money for every pound I lose. I will post regular updates on how training is going, what I've done for fundraising events, and how much weight I am losing. Remember to check back often and think of me on April 25th when I complete the St. Anthony's Triathlon in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Feel free to email me with any questions: HolliC [at] rocketmail [dot] com.

iPod Touch Raffle:

I raised over $800 for this fundraiser. Thanks so much for everyone who participated! The winner of the iPod Touch was Abby Nowakowski. Congratulations Abby!

January 30, 2009:

We had a GREAT workout this morning with 60 minutes of spinning followed by a 3 mile run. The cold weather certainly is bearable as long as you are warmed up and keep on moving!

Unfortunately, the holiday season and my mini-vacations in January didn't do any good for my training or my weight loss. I will basically be starting over from ground zero right now. Argh!

Time to go for a run and possibly a swim!

January 19, 2009:

Wow! This has been one heck of a Holiday season this year! I say it's still the Holidays because I'm not back to my regular routine yet. Right after the New Year, I went to Las Vegas for a week, then spent a few days at my parents' house, and tomorrow I will be going to Los Angeles for 5 days. All this traveling really makes training difficult! I got new running shoes though so I will be running in sunny LA for a few days, which will really boost the morale! Once I finally get back to a group training, I'm afraid I will have forgotten everyone! So if you're on my team and you're reading this, I apologize beforehand if I talk excitedly to you but never use your name ;)

December 21, 2009:

We have reached the end of our base building period. Yikes! That means that all trainings will be more intense and longer now. I still don't feel like I have built a good enough base yet, so I am going to try to spin on my bike 30 minutes a day most days of the week. I will be doing p90x more regularly too so that I build up some strength in my arms, legs, and core, which will help will all disciplines but I'm hoping to really see a difference with swimming! As for the running, I've been taking it REAL easy to nurse my shin splints and hopefully I'll get some new running shoes next week.

Fundaising is going well so far. Raffling off the iPod Touch was a good idea and I have something else in mind to raffle off next. Other fundraising events are in the planning stages and I'll post them here when the details are finalized.

Weight loss for the past 2 weeks has not occurred, but I guess I can't complain about maintaining the numbers through the Holiday season. Maybe I'll see a difference next week if I'm able to keep up with my plans of spinning more and building strength.

December 5, 2009:

Training is now well under way! The first couple of weeks seemed a litle sporadic since we had Thanksgiving in thrown in there. Because of that, we did not have a group training event last weekend, which is a shame because as a result, I didn't work out :O. I know, I know, SHAME on ME!!! But now that we will have a good month before the next Holiday, I know I will get back into the game of training on schedule.

On Wednesday of this week, we had a group swim workout followed by a 30 minute run in the rain. My shin splints have been bothering me lately but I think that problem will be solved as soon as I get some new shoes. I hope!

Today we had a group brick workout, spinning on the bike right before going out for a run. There was a great turn out and I got to know some of my teammates better. This is going to be a GREAT season!

Weight loss for the past 4 weeks is now up to 8.4 lbs! If I can keep this up, I'll be at my goal before you know it!