Summer 2008 - My cousin Keri completed the Danskin Triathlon this summer. She is a wonder woman and just had a baby a few months ago! On the back of her shirt she wore a sign that said "I Tri for Dena". That is so awesome!! Mary and Andrea both completed the Lymphoma Luekemia Society Triathalon, in honor of people they know who have battled or are currently fighting cancer. I am one of those people. I am honored that they would do this in my name! Here's what they had to say about their experiences.
Mary: I did it! On Saturday, July 26th I completed my triathlon at the Federal Escape Triathlon in 1 hour 40 minutes. The Sprint distance triathlon involved a 1/4-mile swim, 12-mile bike, and a 3-mile run. Although I did not set any Olympic records, I did raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to help with cancer research. Thank you for your generosity and support. I must admit, the race was tough. I have a shoulder injury and was unable to swim freestyle; therefore I swam the distance on my side. But once I made it to the first buoy in the middle of the lake, I new I could do it. Sink or swim as they say. Out of the water, soaking wet, I throw on my shoes & helmet and off I go. I loved the bike ride ... my strong sport ... probably because you can rest going down hill. I did drop my water bottle (same spot as 3 others), but continued on. Unfortunately, when it was time to dismount my bike, I forgot to take my feet out of the straps. Crash!! What a concerned crowd! (My husband, kids and family). Good thing the adrenalin was pumping. I laughed at myself, brushed myself off, racked my bike and off I ran. Not too much blood, the band-aid can wait. It’s really odd to run when your bottom and legs are numb, but I knew that it will get better after the first mile. There’s the finish line... I made it, my body was a bit dehydrated (hence the dropped water bottle) but I was smiling. Yeah!! What an experience. Despite the minor hurdles, I did enjoy this accomplishment. I finished 8th / 15 for my age group. I wasn’t last!
I know that my story was nowhere near as tough as the years of doctor visits and the months of chemotherapy that cancer patients endure. To the cancer patients, every day is a test of endurance that I cannot imagine. Please continue your prayers for all cancer patients and my loved ones:
Dena (Best Friend)
Jeannie (Sister)
Brad (father-in-law)
Christy (Brad’s Aunt)
Andrea: What an amazing accomplishment. I have finished my first "Team In Training" Triathlon in Maui, Hawaii on June 8th in about 4 hours & 54 minute, .9 mile swim, 25 mile bike, & 6 mile run, and we have one more this weekend in Bellingham, WA, Lake Padden, June 28th. My family is coming to cheer me on, and I am so excited to share this with them. The "Team In Training" teams for Maui where able to raise over 1.2 million dollars for "The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society" It really is a great feeling to be apart of raising this much for such a great cause. Read on to hear of my journey. A huge, huge thank-you to all who have supported me and this cause. Now for the highlights of my Maui race: We flew out friday and for me sitting on a plane for over 5 hours was tough in itself, but made it to Maui and immediately had to head to bike pick-up, which was about 4 miles away. Of course, we had to ride our bikes back to our hotel. Brief relaxation, then dinner then off to bed. Yikes, Saturday 6 am morning wake up to have a pre-race day practice, which meant getting up early to mimick our race for the next day. Back on the bike to ride another 4 miles to our swim location (where our swim will be taking place the next day), swim about a half mile, then back onto the bike for a 12 mile loop of the race course, up death hill, plus many more hills. Not done with biking yet, we still have to pick up our race packets, eat breakfast & lunch and then back on the bike to ride another 4+ miles back to our hotel. Tired, need a nap, no time, small break, but need to go shop for trinkets for the family. Got some! Now we must rush off to our Pasta dinner for carb. loading for race day. Very heart warming to see over 250 other "Team In Training" participants from all over the country. Many participants with Cancer diseases. This is why we are doing it! We are helping them, and they too are racing for the cause. My heart goes out to them and all that face this disease. Awesome dinner, ate way to much. Is it bed time yet???? Way tired, am I really in Maui, or is it just a dream, I think a dream, since time is going by way to quick. Have to pack for race day, get all my numbers on, swim gear, bike gear, run/walk gear, check to all. Bed time finally!!! Race Day!!!! 4am comes way to quick, I think I slept maybe two hours. Tired but excited to have it be race day. Big smile. Months of training has paid off. I am ready, Wait, we must ride to our race location, back on the bikefor a 4+ mile ride. Oh my we have not even started our race, and I have to get on my bike again. Tired before race, hungry, maybe, but definetly tired! Food? Don't I need to eat something? Yikes, too excited, nervous, whatever to eat, but I force a fig newton bar down, and I think a banana, and a "heed" race drink. OK, I am set, need to get all marked up with a sharpie with my race numbers. #380. Organize bike and gear in a smal spot. The ladies on either side of my gear think they are camping out, as both of them take up a very large space, what do they think this is. Space hogs! Oh well, I am relaxing, meditating, taking it all in, as I know I fly home tomorrow, and want to remember this moment of calm pre-raceness. I AM READY! Picture time with team mates, we are all in our black tri shorts, TNT jerseys or black swim tops, swim cap & goggles in hand. Ready! Hawaiian Blessing. Just beautiful, blowing of the shell, hawaiian women priest gives us a tear jerking prayer and then it is time for the swim. I am in the last heap #6, Have to wait and watch most of my team mates head out for the swim. My turn, I am off, I loved the swim. Though most of my team mates felt like they where in a washing machine ( guess it was pretty rough). It did not bother me at all. Love it, meditated through it. I have a mantra all the way through the swim. I am doing this for Makahala (my daughter-she loves the water), Kurt Gegner my dad who passed away from Leukemia, & Bridgette DeBacker who has Leukemia, & Dena Pinard who has Breast Cancer. This is why I am doing this, so my chant through the swim was these people. Finishedthe swim, onto to bike. My next chant was dedicating my bike ride to: my son Kurt, who loves to ride his bike, My dad, Kurt, Bridgette & Dena. Tough, tough, tough ride, we have to ride the course twice, which means death hill twice. Of course that is not the only hill on the course, oh no, probably about 80% of the course is hills, I mean up hills of some type. But back to death hill. Yikes, made it up with a smile, I am thinking round two, I will need to walk it, but by the time I come around or round two, I have a bit of shot blocks, heed drink & water in me, just maybe I can make it up, Oh, thank goodness for awesome team mates!!! Thank-you Teri!!! I pass Teri, and she gives me a big "Go Team, go Andrea" And that gives me that extra boost to make it up that &%*^%* hill. I hollar...waaaaaaahooooooo, I feel like I am done with the bike, and it is all done hill from here. NOOOOO, really I need to ride at least another 8 miles, OK I can do this. Bike done!!! Last transition, onto my most difficult event the run, or in my case the walk. OK, we are in about 100 degrees plus, it is hot. I really do love myWashington weather. Back to my chant dedicating the run to my dear husband, Jeff, who has always supported me 200%, my dad Kurt, Bridgette & Dena. This keeps me focused! I can do this, it is a mind game for me to try to run and not pass out, so I of course do the whole two loops walking with every once in awhile a run in there. Thank goodness for the cold water, ice sponges and seeing lots of team mates, our coach Lance, mentors, & ANN (our coordinator). Seeing everyone on the course really helps the mind stay focused. I also had a disposable camera in my back pocket, and decided to take some pictures, I felt like a tourist. Silly me, but I have some pictures to prove that I made it through that aweful run/walk. Finally an end in sight. The finish line!!! Oh my goodness, I did it, my team mates where there and i have a great picture of me finishing, wow, what an amazing journey. Message time to get my body a little R& R. Rest....................not yet, may have to wait till I get home tomorrow. Do I finally take a nap or onto to the victory dinner. First, must quickly pack up the bike for its journey back to Washington, then must clean up and prepare for the Victory Dinner. Ahhhhh, we can all relax and try to dance and eat and maybe go for a midnight swim......ha, ha, ha. Love that water. Will miss Maui and its water, wish I could have stayed and absorbed the beautiful Hawaiian islands, but back to reality and onto my next triathlon trianing with the better half of the team. The "Lake Padden" Diehards- You all rock and we will all have a new venture to write about after this weekend. I AM A TRIATHLETE! and I accomplished it while helping a great cause "The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society". Thank-you to all for your support, and all of my awesome teammates who helped me accomplish this! See some of you in Bellingham for round two of the Triathlon world.
Mary: I did it! On Saturday, July 26th I completed my triathlon at the Federal Escape Triathlon in 1 hour 40 minutes. The Sprint distance triathlon involved a 1/4-mile swim, 12-mile bike, and a 3-mile run. Although I did not set any Olympic records, I did raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to help with cancer research. Thank you for your generosity and support. I must admit, the race was tough. I have a shoulder injury and was unable to swim freestyle; therefore I swam the distance on my side. But once I made it to the first buoy in the middle of the lake, I new I could do it. Sink or swim as they say. Out of the water, soaking wet, I throw on my shoes & helmet and off I go. I loved the bike ride ... my strong sport ... probably because you can rest going down hill. I did drop my water bottle (same spot as 3 others), but continued on. Unfortunately, when it was time to dismount my bike, I forgot to take my feet out of the straps. Crash!! What a concerned crowd! (My husband, kids and family). Good thing the adrenalin was pumping. I laughed at myself, brushed myself off, racked my bike and off I ran. Not too much blood, the band-aid can wait. It’s really odd to run when your bottom and legs are numb, but I knew that it will get better after the first mile. There’s the finish line... I made it, my body was a bit dehydrated (hence the dropped water bottle) but I was smiling. Yeah!! What an experience. Despite the minor hurdles, I did enjoy this accomplishment. I finished 8th / 15 for my age group. I wasn’t last!
I know that my story was nowhere near as tough as the years of doctor visits and the months of chemotherapy that cancer patients endure. To the cancer patients, every day is a test of endurance that I cannot imagine. Please continue your prayers for all cancer patients and my loved ones:
Dena (Best Friend)
Jeannie (Sister)
Brad (father-in-law)
Christy (Brad’s Aunt)
Andrea: What an amazing accomplishment. I have finished my first "Team In Training" Triathlon in Maui, Hawaii on June 8th in about 4 hours & 54 minute, .9 mile swim, 25 mile bike, & 6 mile run, and we have one more this weekend in Bellingham, WA, Lake Padden, June 28th. My family is coming to cheer me on, and I am so excited to share this with them. The "Team In Training" teams for Maui where able to raise over 1.2 million dollars for "The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society" It really is a great feeling to be apart of raising this much for such a great cause. Read on to hear of my journey. A huge, huge thank-you to all who have supported me and this cause. Now for the highlights of my Maui race: We flew out friday and for me sitting on a plane for over 5 hours was tough in itself, but made it to Maui and immediately had to head to bike pick-up, which was about 4 miles away. Of course, we had to ride our bikes back to our hotel. Brief relaxation, then dinner then off to bed. Yikes, Saturday 6 am morning wake up to have a pre-race day practice, which meant getting up early to mimick our race for the next day. Back on the bike to ride another 4 miles to our swim location (where our swim will be taking place the next day), swim about a half mile, then back onto the bike for a 12 mile loop of the race course, up death hill, plus many more hills. Not done with biking yet, we still have to pick up our race packets, eat breakfast & lunch and then back on the bike to ride another 4+ miles back to our hotel. Tired, need a nap, no time, small break, but need to go shop for trinkets for the family. Got some! Now we must rush off to our Pasta dinner for carb. loading for race day. Very heart warming to see over 250 other "Team In Training" participants from all over the country. Many participants with Cancer diseases. This is why we are doing it! We are helping them, and they too are racing for the cause. My heart goes out to them and all that face this disease. Awesome dinner, ate way to much. Is it bed time yet???? Way tired, am I really in Maui, or is it just a dream, I think a dream, since time is going by way to quick. Have to pack for race day, get all my numbers on, swim gear, bike gear, run/walk gear, check to all. Bed time finally!!! Race Day!!!! 4am comes way to quick, I think I slept maybe two hours. Tired but excited to have it be race day. Big smile. Months of training has paid off. I am ready, Wait, we must ride to our race location, back on the bikefor a 4+ mile ride. Oh my we have not even started our race, and I have to get on my bike again. Tired before race, hungry, maybe, but definetly tired! Food? Don't I need to eat something? Yikes, too excited, nervous, whatever to eat, but I force a fig newton bar down, and I think a banana, and a "heed" race drink. OK, I am set, need to get all marked up with a sharpie with my race numbers. #380. Organize bike and gear in a smal spot. The ladies on either side of my gear think they are camping out, as both of them take up a very large space, what do they think this is. Space hogs! Oh well, I am relaxing, meditating, taking it all in, as I know I fly home tomorrow, and want to remember this moment of calm pre-raceness. I AM READY! Picture time with team mates, we are all in our black tri shorts, TNT jerseys or black swim tops, swim cap & goggles in hand. Ready! Hawaiian Blessing. Just beautiful, blowing of the shell, hawaiian women priest gives us a tear jerking prayer and then it is time for the swim. I am in the last heap #6, Have to wait and watch most of my team mates head out for the swim. My turn, I am off, I loved the swim. Though most of my team mates felt like they where in a washing machine ( guess it was pretty rough). It did not bother me at all. Love it, meditated through it. I have a mantra all the way through the swim. I am doing this for Makahala (my daughter-she loves the water), Kurt Gegner my dad who passed away from Leukemia, & Bridgette DeBacker who has Leukemia, & Dena Pinard who has Breast Cancer. This is why I am doing this, so my chant through the swim was these people. Finishedthe swim, onto to bike. My next chant was dedicating my bike ride to: my son Kurt, who loves to ride his bike, My dad, Kurt, Bridgette & Dena. Tough, tough, tough ride, we have to ride the course twice, which means death hill twice. Of course that is not the only hill on the course, oh no, probably about 80% of the course is hills, I mean up hills of some type. But back to death hill. Yikes, made it up with a smile, I am thinking round two, I will need to walk it, but by the time I come around or round two, I have a bit of shot blocks, heed drink & water in me, just maybe I can make it up, Oh, thank goodness for awesome team mates!!! Thank-you Teri!!! I pass Teri, and she gives me a big "Go Team, go Andrea" And that gives me that extra boost to make it up that &%*^%* hill. I hollar...waaaaaaahooooooo, I feel like I am done with the bike, and it is all done hill from here. NOOOOO, really I need to ride at least another 8 miles, OK I can do this. Bike done!!! Last transition, onto my most difficult event the run, or in my case the walk. OK, we are in about 100 degrees plus, it is hot. I really do love myWashington weather. Back to my chant dedicating the run to my dear husband, Jeff, who has always supported me 200%, my dad Kurt, Bridgette & Dena. This keeps me focused! I can do this, it is a mind game for me to try to run and not pass out, so I of course do the whole two loops walking with every once in awhile a run in there. Thank goodness for the cold water, ice sponges and seeing lots of team mates, our coach Lance, mentors, & ANN (our coordinator). Seeing everyone on the course really helps the mind stay focused. I also had a disposable camera in my back pocket, and decided to take some pictures, I felt like a tourist. Silly me, but I have some pictures to prove that I made it through that aweful run/walk. Finally an end in sight. The finish line!!! Oh my goodness, I did it, my team mates where there and i have a great picture of me finishing, wow, what an amazing journey. Message time to get my body a little R& R. Rest....................not yet, may have to wait till I get home tomorrow. Do I finally take a nap or onto to the victory dinner. First, must quickly pack up the bike for its journey back to Washington, then must clean up and prepare for the Victory Dinner. Ahhhhh, we can all relax and try to dance and eat and maybe go for a midnight swim......ha, ha, ha. Love that water. Will miss Maui and its water, wish I could have stayed and absorbed the beautiful Hawaiian islands, but back to reality and onto my next triathlon trianing with the better half of the team. The "Lake Padden" Diehards- You all rock and we will all have a new venture to write about after this weekend. I AM A TRIATHLETE! and I accomplished it while helping a great cause "The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society". Thank-you to all for your support, and all of my awesome teammates who helped me accomplish this! See some of you in Bellingham for round two of the Triathlon world.
1 comment:
gr8 post...interesting read and lovely fqamily pics :)
god bless :)
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