The New York City Triathlon is two weeks from today and I'm on track to jump from never being an athlete to being a triathlete.

Training over the past five months has been an amazing experience for me. I was careful when I asked for donations way back when to ask for support of my training efforts in case I didn't actually make it to the Triathlon. At the time, I could only swim one lap at a time with a rest at the other end of the pool, had never biked more than a couple of miles, and could run maybe a mile and a half on the treadmill. I really couldn't see how I could do a triathlon.

But with two weeks left to the race, I can now swim the full mile, bike 40 miles in one go (14 more than we'll need to bike), and have completed several 6-mile runs. I can say with certainty that none of this would have been possible without the professional training of Team in Training, and that would not have been possible without many generous donations. While the donations go straight to the Leukemia & Lymphoma society to support research efforts, my ability to raise $3,000+ is what qualified me for the training. So THANK YOU again for making this possible.

I have continued to train during the heat wave and just pray that it will be over on race day, August 7th. Equally important - I hope they have the Hudson River cleaned by that day as well. As if it wasn't already cringe-inducing to be swimming in the Hudson, ther river was deemed temporarily unfit for recreational activities earlier this week due to a sewage problem: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/22/nyregion/sewage-spill-renders-new-york-harbor-unfit.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=hudson%20river&st=cse . Oh boy.

We are supposed to report to the race start at 5am on Sunday the 7th but I will probably not hit the water until around 7-7:30. I'm not concerned this time around with speed - just with completion - so I hope to be finished 3-4 hours from the time I start and before the noonday sun arrives.

Thanks again to those who have already made donations. If you are still interested in making one, please feel free to do so!

Michael

Racing to Save Lives

Welcome to my Team In Training home page. Can you believe I am training for a Triathlon? I can't really believe it either. But I am now 7-weeks into training and enjoying myself. Can you believe I am going to swim in the Hudson River? Oh boy.

I'm training to participate in the New York City Triathlon in August as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I am completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission.

I hope you will visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thanks for your support!