Why I do this

Last Wednesday at Ironteam track practice, Frank our honoree captain asked me to write my personal story as to my connections to Leukemia and why I joined Team in Training back in 2003. That night when I got home I jumped on my computer with the intent on banging out a two paragraph summary of my two connections. Christy, a childhood friend of mine who was diagnosed with Leukemia in 1978. She fought the disease for 3 years before she went into remission, but ultimately passed away from her recurrence of the disease just before she graduated from High School in 1988. And then I wrote about my Uncle Ken and how he was diagnosed with Lymphoma and went through a year of treatments including a bone marrow transplant which involved 40 days in an isolation tent, and is now healthy and has 9 plus years of remission under his belt. I ended the summary by saying:

"I have seen life with Leukemia before and after LLS. I have seen the profound effect Team in Training and LLS has had in the world. This is why I do it and I am very proud to be a part of the good work that they do."

The next day I went to track practice for the Peninsula Run Team where I coach when I learned that an honoree on a previous team, Travis Wallace, who not only was 8 years into his own remission from Leukemia but also became a father for the first time in February, was diagnosed once again with Leukemia at the age of 29. This hit me pretty hard because I got to know Travis and I liked him and his wife Amy a lot. When I started posting this blog I thought it might help me feel better somehow if I put all this down, but it really hasn't had any effect. Then I thought that maybe if I posted this as a reminder to everyone that there is still work to do until a cure is found, but just about everyone who reads this fully understands that. I guess this has been inside of me since Thursday and I haven't said a word and I needed to vent it somewhere. Why not here?

If I lived to be 1000 years old, I'll be damned if I ever understand things like why men flew planes into the World Trade Center in the name of God, or why good people who live the right way become gravely ill. I am OK with not knowing why these things happen, partly because doing things like TnT helps me believe that I might be part of the solution. And partly because a higher power has a plan for everything and I have absolutely no control over that.

Sorry about being so somber, sometimes I have to vent, that's just how I roll. I promise to lighten it up next week.

And now for something completely different.....

This post goes out to all of you who are tired of reading about Ironteam. I actually had some free time to myself this weekend and I took advantage of it by watching my 5 year old niece Kaley play T-ball. When I was a kid we had one girl on our team and she was like Jackie Robinson. Back then very few girls played baseball and we weren't too thrilled to have her on our team early on. But over time she grew on us and as we would play games, players from other teams would talk trash to her and we would get mad and yell back. It was definitely a watershed moment for the womens movement at the time. Now it seems that 1/3 of the players at this age group are girls.

It was a sun splashed day at the ball park, 73 degrees with no wind, a great day for baseball. That is Kaley on the left with her hand extended, palm up, probably talking back to her father on the right.
Once the game is in play she is all business. Baggy pants and low stirrups with the shirt un-tucked. This damn near drew a tear to my eye...
Here she is in action, fielding a ground ball in the gap with her bare hand, eyes on the ball all the way. I can't adequately express how proud I am of her!!!
This shot features Kaley's little sister, Lindsey running through the picture. Two more years and she'll be out there!!!

BOOT CAMP

This weekend was boot camp which made everyone nervous leading into it. The coaches generally don't make a big deal out of working us hard, so when they went out of their way to call this weekend "BOOT CAMP", you just knew you were in for a serious ass kicking. This is what the weekend consisted of:

Saturday (San Francisco)

Open water swim at Aquatic Park.
Out and back swims from the shore to buoy's with strength exercises in between.


Afterwards we packed up and headed to Sports Basement in the Presidio and proceeded to do a 15 mile ride with lots of hills. Upon returning we were ordered to put on our running shoes and to run a little over one mile to the Lyon Street Steps.
Once there the beautiful yet evil Elaine was there to have us run the 293 steps hitting every one and then back down. Then she sent us back up, this time skipping every other step. Once back she sent us up doing bunny hops (feet together) hitting each step to the top and back, then it was repeating that move with only your right leg, and when you got back it was your left leg's turn. That took over one hour. On the way up you would suffer while your teammates would come back down and cheer you on. On your way down you would watch them suffer. It was surreal.
After 5 laps around the culdesac doing the lunge walk, it was back to SportsBasement where we did a 45 minute spin, then a 3 mile run, another 45 minute spin, then a 2 mile run to the monkey bars where once again, Elaine was there to have us do strength for 30 minutes. After the 2 mile run back we were finished. 8 hours total.

Sunday (San Jose)

We met at Gunderson High School, one hour swim, one hour run, one hour bike, strength/run for 30 minutes, spin for 30 minutes, strength/run for 30 minutes, spin for 30 minutes. Done. 6 1/2 hours.

Afterwards about 5 of us tore off our shirts and jumped into the pool, cycling shorts and all. It wasn't long before the rest of the team, coaches included jumped in to cool off and celebrate this massive accomplishment. As crazy as it all sounds, it was such a great feeling to know that you were capable of doing all that, it was absolute elation when it was over. Everyone was laughing and goading those who didn't want to jump into the pool until they finally did. Some were diving into the pool while chewing food, it was hilarious.

There were several times where I didn't know how I was going to finish something, or times when I wanted to stop. Waking up Sunday morning with aching legs knowing I had to swim within the hour, and not sure how I was going to get through that much less everything else. Somehow I would end up going to some other place in my mind and eventually I would get through it every time. For a while I thought the Ironteam was changing me or turning me into someone else that way. Creating a steel resolve that would suddenly be available when these tests became overwhelming. But now I feel like it hasn't changed me at all, instead it has released something inside of me that was always there. Call it survival skills, determination, or basic instinct, but whenever life has challenged me in a major way, that strength has always been there to save my ass. Now it's getting me closer to Louisville.

What's new you ask???

Nick from the UK, and me from the U.S.A.

Absolutely nothing. I work and then I workout. Sometimes I workout, then work, then workout again. And sometimes I don't work at all but only workout. Such is my life these days on the Ironteam. For those of you who are sick and tired of reading about my workouts or seeing pictures of me on the bike or in my wetsuit, I apologise. It's just the simple fact that this is all I do these days. When I have days off or extra time for myself, I do things like buy food, do laundry, call my mom and dad. And that's about it. So I guess it's a really good thing that I love this team, I love the workouts and I love hanging out with these people so damn much.

As hard as it is and as much time as it takes, I find that I am literally having the time of my life right now. This weekend we had a 57 mile ride on the Calaveras loop. Who knew the east bay could be so beautiful?
The next day it was off to Santa Cruz for a beautiful day of sun and fun at Cowell Beach. We swam the length of the Pier and back (1 mile) and then ran 12 miles. Afterwards we went to Kim's house on the beach for a potluck BBQ.
I can't believe I get to do this for six more months. How lucky can a guy get in one lifetime?

Tune in next week when I get to tell you all about boot camp weekend. I hear Elaine, the core strength woman from hell is making a cameo!