almost there

It's seven days and counting until the triathlon. This past week, all the TNT triathletes gathered in the 60th floor of the Chase building for an official send off. It was a fantastic sight to see hundreds of people, healthy, well-trained, and eager to hear about the logistical details of the coming weeks. Each one had also raised over two thousand dollars. Fundraising is still continuing, but so far our group has raised nearly $700,000 (!!) for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society.

The coaches lectured the athletes on the do's and don'ts of the days until the triathlon. Don't overtrain (better to have the cookie slightly undercooked than burnt, as it was eloquently put). Don't overeat (the days of 5000 calorie/day activities are on hold as we rest up for the big day). And the big one ... don't change anything. Now would be a really bad time to buy a new bike or break in that super new pair of running shoes. Do stay healthy, and active (I drew a few looks on this one, since I was the only person at the meeting w/ crutches).

Now it's one last week of light training before the big day. Well, for most of us. As for me, I'm on 3x weekly physical therapy and making a strong recovery. I will be crutch free in time to watch Kristin leap into the hudson and kick butt in the tri.

On the mend

Last friday morning, I hopped up on the operating table, and while the nurses were strapping me in, the anesthesiologist told me to think of something nice and relaxing. I thought of the nice sunny beaches in Mexico--there are no sunburns in your daydreams. After a nice relaxing nap, I woke up as the surgical team wheeled me into recovery. My doctor informed me that the surgery had been a success, and he would stop by and see me in recovery. Apparently he fixes knees, like I run regressions. (wait... progress don't regress ... like I run simulations!) Just before he scrubbed in to renew another patient's athletic career, he informed me that he had been able to stitch the cartiledge back together, without removing any. This is good news for down the road. After looking inside me knee he was also pleased that we did the surgery right away: if I had continuted to run on the knee, within a year or so, he informed me, my athletic days would be over .

Armed with the relief of a successful surgery, having made the right decision, and the comfortable buzz of the lingering anesthesia, it was time to go home. My sister picked me up from recovery, brought me home, and was a tremendous help. I settled in for some serious couch time with Peter Kennedy's Guide to Econometrics. Without boring you with more details of me weekend, I'll just say that I've been following the doctor's orders, and I'm on the mend. The surgical stocking came off on Sunday, followed by a garbage bag covered leg in the shower. Last night, I removed the dressing, and put some band-aids on the tiny wounds. I thought I'd include some nice gross pictures. You can see that the knee is still pretty swolen, but the three wounds are pretty small and healing nicely. In the garbage is the surgical dressing and bandage; much better there than wrapped around my leg.

I meet with the doctor tomorrow for the post-op inspection, and we'll formulate a strategy for the rest of my recovery. I'm told that I can expect four to six weeks of physical therapy before resuming normal activities. Plenty of time to train for the Chicago marathon.

Thank you again to all of my supporters. I'm really disappointed that I can't compete this summer, but hopefully, I'll be in good shape for next year. I'm also still accepting contributions for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Their work is extremely important, and I hope I can continue to help them raise money, even if I can't compete this summer. If you know anyone who would like to help support the society, please pass this link along.

Ugh!!!

You might guess where this one is going ...

A few weeks ago while moving apartments, I noticed a strange feeling in my right knee. Midway through the move it felt as if my knee might buckle whenever the joint locked. This was pretty unsettling, but I finished the move anyway, and the knee just got worse.

The next morning when it didn’t improve I limped to the orthopedist’s and had it checked out. He took some x-rays and later an MRI. I really just wanted some peace of mind so I could start running when the knee felt better. Instead of peace of mind my results indicated I had a radial tear on the inside of my medial meniscus. I’m told that it resembles this picture.

This is a “permanent injury” according to the orthopod because of its lack of blood supply and as such it requires surgical repair before the tear gets any worse. I’m going in for arthroscopic surgery this Friday. Four to six weeks of PT later, I should be back to normal activity. Unfortunately, this puts the triathlon pretty much out of reach. Ugh.

I hope my contributors are not dismayed to learn that I will not be able to compete. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society will serve its important mission whether I complete the triathlon in 2006 or 2007. Thank you again for your support! I’m incredibly disappointed that I won’t be able to race this summer, but I’m proud of the training that we’ve all accomplished so far, and the fundraising to date.

I hope you’ll join me on the sidelines cheering for Kristin on July 16^th. I’ll save you a spot!

HELP BEN AND KRISTIN!!

With Ben and Kristin out of town, I suddenly find that I have a lot of free time in the middle of the day!

I am their "honored teammate" in Team in Training. In early October I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, and I am about eight weeks out of chemotherapy. I wanted to write a few words on the fundraising blog to thank Ben and Kristin for all their support and hard work. These two are training very hard, and are eating a lot of cottage cheese! I don't think a day goes by without some kind of intense training activity that would leave most of us dead. Kristin, helpfully, keeps a calendar with stickers so that all can know her activities; Ben is unsurprisingly a little more stealthy!

And they're working for a good cause. The money they raise will help ease the suffering of those who have cancer and will, hopefully -- in fact, surely -- contribute to the end of all suffering caused by blood cancers. Of course, the doctors can't do research without money, so give money!

Cancer is a nasty business on all fronts. In addition to raising money to treat the body, the very act of raising money inspires hope in the souls of the sick. They feel, quite correctly, as if their community is supporting them and trying to do things to help them. This, for the people who currently have cancer, is probably the most important contribution that those who give donations make.

Of course, no one would have anything to donate to unless people like Ben and Kristin generously give of their time and efforts to run and swim long distances for money. To them, and to the other participants of the Team in Training, many thanks are owed. Ben and Kristin are two extraordinary people in their kindness, thoughtfulness, compassion, and generosity, and it comes as no surprise to me and all who know them that they would devote so much time to helping people, most of whom they have never and will never meet. It is, to a large part, because of people like them that people who are sick have hope. They are easily two of the nicest people in New York City! (A harder feat to accomplish in my native Kansas, but impressive nonetheless!)

So you should give money to support cancer research, you should give money to support cancer patients, and you should give money to support Ben and Kristin!

philly century

A few saturday morning's ago, I set out with three friends, our bicycles, and a mission: Philadelphia or bust. We equipped ourselves with gatorade, cliff bars, various fruit-esque products, and water. It was about 85 degrees when we left New York, and it only got hotter. It was a bit of an impromptu mission. Ryan, Jodi, and Jacob wanted to go to Swarthmore for graduation, and I was happy to log some miles in good company.

We cheated and took the PATH train to Newark Penn Station and then started our odyssey guided by a mysterious cue sheet of questionable integrity The street names were mostly right, the mileage was off (unfortunately not proportionally), and as we would soon find out, some of the legs were no longer passable.


Things started strong out of the gate. We were on our way, mostly oriented, and soaking up the blue skies and bright sun. Our attempt at a paceline really only worked for about 10 miles, but we were having fun. We rolled into the first rest stop at 25 miles, feeling good about our mission. Sure, it was a bit later than we wanted, but we still had plenty of daylight left to finish our journey. That's us here, after some tasty lunch.

I'm not sure that Yeats had our century in mind when he wrote The Second Coming, but after lunch, things--well--started to fall apart. Besides setting a slightly too ambitious pace, the first bad omen was a bridge in the cue sheet that was now closed. It had been shut down for a complete rehabilitation. No matter, we found another route, and returned to the bridge from the other side just to rub in our savvy maneuvering. This as it turns out was not the only bridge that was out. Perhaps in response to our taunting, the bridge gods delivered a new challenge. As we approached our next leg in the cue sheet, which read, "turn right at steel bridge" we discovered a completely closed and impassible skeleton of a bridge. Determined to triumph, and too tired to bike back over some big hills to get to the detour, we did what any other red blooded american would do: we forded the river! This turned out to be a somewhat tricky task. The riverbed was really rocky and as you might expect, terribly slippery. I think Jodi and Jake got the worst of it as they lugged their 30 lbs bikes to the other shore.


By the time we arrived at our second rest stop, we'd lost a bit of time. In fact the general store at the rest stop was just about to close down for the afternoon. We nourished and hydrated our tired bodies and set off again. Determined to make it to Philly before dark. This had seemed like a silly concern at the onset of our trip, but it was starting to look non-trivial.

Somewhere around Lambertville NJ, the wheels came off the wagon. The rolling hills had crushed any spirit left, and we plotted an alternative course. It seemed that we could take a tow path that runs along the Deleware river. This FLAT course we thought would take us right into philly. All we wanted to do was top off Jake and Jody's tires with a bit of air to make the riding more efficient, and we'd be on our way. And then ...

The sound of the tube exploding was deafining: especially to Jody who had his head next to it. You might also want to zoom in to observe the bolt on wheels. Now we were in serious trouble. By some stroke of luck, we eventually found an open bike shop in New Hope, PA that was able to fix the wheel, but time had mostly run out.

We ended up on the tow path, which brought us to Trenton, NJ--still 30 miles from philly. But by now it was dark and it was time to call in for backup. Ryan's girlfriend picked the three of them up, and I hopped on NJ Transit for a long and tired ride back to NY Penn Station. I rode back from the train station, but I was pretty whooped.

Total mileage: 90.

For the "goal oriented" this might be considered a miserable failure. However, we had a great time, certainly got some exercise, and made it pretty close. I think Jake and Jody should be especially commended for sticking it out on their 1970's era tanks. Ryan of course also rode valiantly, but I'm still secretly jealous of his carbon superbike.

sink or swim

Last week David Blaine failed to hold his breath for 9 minutes and break the current world record (8:58). Wetsuit clad divers jumped into his giant fishbowl to free him from his ankle shackles as he started to lose it. In the end, he had held his breath for something just over 7 minutes. He did manage to set a world record for the most amount of time any human being has remained submerged in water. So what does this have to do with fundraising or training? Not much, but Blaine's failure, happens to coincide with my own aquatic success: I think I might actually be learning how to swim freestyle. In case you're not already aware, I am a very bad swimmer. Or I should say, I was a very bad swimmer.

Now I am merely a bad swimmer. You might think this bit of progress is inconsequential, but I can only assure you that it is not. I've spent the last two weeks swimming nearly every day. I practiced kicking on my side, sculling, and various drills intended to improve your stroke. My main obstacle (or at least the most salient one) was breathing correctly. Overall, things seem to be coming together. I'm getting the breathing down, and I feel a lot more balanced in the water. I've still got a long way to go before I'm ready for the swim in the Hudson, but I'm not nearly as discouraged as I was a few weeks ago. Last night, I completed a 1/2 mile time trial--no stopping, no touching the ground, and no touching the walls. This was a big accomplishment for me, since around length #7 (it's a 50m pool), I wanted to stop and quit.

I --- LOVE --- TO --- SWIM. It's not really true yet, but that's my mantra, which is what you say to yourself to slow your strokes down and stretch out your body fully. More swimming tonight. I think I'm going to time trial again and see if I get any better,

my first half-marathon

Last week a colleague reminded me that the Queen's half-marathon would be this saturday. Well, Kristin and I have been doing all this training, so I figured why not. Of course, I've never really run 13.1 miles before, well I've never even really come close, maybe 8 miles, if we're rounding up. Anyway, I figured it was worth a shot. So this Friday night, I resisted the many temptations of bountiful libations, and after a big dinner with Kristin and our friend Mike, I made off in search of some sleep--not really sure what would happen today. This morning, at some ungodly hour, I headed out to queens for the big event. Well, I did it. And it wasn't really that bad at all. Somewhere around mile 6 I just fell into a good groove and the rest was gravy. I finished with a respectable 1:53 time. It was a beautiful day... 50 degrees, low humidity, and a nice breeze. What a day to go running!