Racing to Save Lives

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I'm training to participate in a very special endurance event: the Vineman Full Ironman. It is special because it is going to be more grueling than anything I have done so far: 2.4 miles swim, 112 miles ride, and 26.2 miles run, all this in one "day"...

It is also special because it will take place on July 31st, 2010, i.e., the day I turn 60...

And of course it is special because I will do it as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) - Team In Training (TnT).

All of us on the Team 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 the 2010 Vineman Ironman 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!

(B)Log

"My Journey To Becoming An Ironman"

Feb '09: After running 13 marathons in 6 and a half year, I start a whole new sport. I join the Triathlon Team of the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society. Never swam (just scubadiving... with fins and air bottles...), never rode (beside Shoreline with the kids...) in my life.

May '09: It's my first triathlon, the Wildflower Long Course,:eliminated on the bike because of 10' past cut off, I run anyway and complete the half marathon in 2:23...

Sep 12th: Second triathlon, Pacific Grove in Monterey, olympic distance.

Oct 25th: Third triathlon: the Big Kahuna long course "Duathlon" in Santa Cruz (Swim was canceled due to excess fog...).

Oct 28th: Today, I officially register to the LLS-TnT Iron Team. In other words, I think I am going to be able to do an Ironman. in 9 months...

Nov 8th: That's it: this morning was the season kick-off. Met the coaches, my mentor, the staff, and the other participants. I am officially part of the TnT - Iron Team 2010 - Silicon Valley Chapter.

The Honoree speaker, who is also our Honoree Captain, shared with us that after her diagnosis in 2005 of Acute Leukemia, she was saved by a drug just approved by the FDA that changed the survival odds for her type of Leukemia from 15% to 85%... That's where your $$ go, folks... and I do the leg work...

We wrote a letter to ourselves, and handed it to the Team Mgr: it will be given back to us the morning of the event. After the event, I will post it on this blog... Stay tuned...

Dec 19th: Silence for a month and a half... just wanted to make sure that the fish bit the bait... or that I was really pregnant... whichever analogy works best!

We are now at the end of the 6th week of training... 32 to go... and all systems "Go!", so far...

A weird journey, training 6 days a week for 10 to 12 hours weekly total, easing off on the throttle when the body doesn't recover fast enough, but keeping on going. The endurance metaphore for cancer treatment begins to take a whole new meaning, with the difference that I can quit whenever I want to.

Last week, 90' riding under the rain... This week 80' in the fog... plus 15' run.

Dec 25th: Holiday season... Our coach says Goodbye for the year on Wednesday, after swim training, and recommendes that we spend some quality time with the family and the loved ones during the holidays, because, as he says, "...after that... you're mine..." You should have seen the grin on his face... and lately he started growing a goatee... That's it! I'm calling him Mephisto-Dan...

So, I took an extra day off today.

Dec 26th: This morning before the rain: riding up Kings Mountain Road in Woodside. Fourth time this year/ever I reach Skyline...

Jan 1st: I trained yesterday. I trained today. I will train tomorrow. This is the year of the Ironman. Happy New Year! And a big, big "Thank You" to all my 2009 supporters!

Feb 9th: Another month plus gone by... We enter Week 14. Still hanging in there. We clearly are in a new phase. Last week was the 1st week of the "Build" phase. And it felt "different" (read "much, much, much harder..."). My current nightmare (they get updated and evolve as I conquer each one...): in 2 weeks, we have our 1st "Boot Camp"... Two days (Sat & Sun) of intense 8 hrs training... I don't know if I should be thinking too much about it...

So far, so good. The body is working hard but 6 hrs of rest + snooze on Sat afternoon, not withstanding the 8 hr night afterward..., made the rest of the weekend (2 hrs swim + 10 mi run on Sun) feel "OK", and yesterday was Monday, *THE* rest day of the week...

3 weeks ago I was tired, overdid it on Tuesday, got a little under the weather and stayed off training for 4 days. Beside that glitch, all systems are still "Go!" And we still have 20+ weeks to go...

March 26th: I injure my left knee with a poorly adjusted new saddle (my doing...) and feel some pain in the evening.

March 27th: I try to run, but end up cutting a 13 mile run short to 6 miles, because of the knee pain.

For two month, I keep trying but cut rides and runs short.

June 3rd: Finally, after 1 month of physical therapy and very little improvement, I decide to pull out and postpone to next year.

It was a very difficult decision to make. I am not used to quitting big things.