Keep on truckin'!

This past Saturday we had our first "brick" ride - whatever that is.  Fortunately, this week I had an actual road bike, padded bike shorts, wind prevention bike pants, windbreaker, biking shoes & clips, and water to boot.  It was only 25 degrees out though, so I thought I'd still give the plastic bag thing a shot - this time I put them over my socks inside my bike shoes.  They actually did an alright job, 'til about the 30 minute mark in ( out of 70 minutes).  From there they started tingling, and by the time I finished the ride, I could tell that they were frost nip or something. I think the sweat from my feet got too cool because of the frigid temperature. Fortunately, once off the bike I put my feet back in some old running shoes and then we went into the Vienna Inn for some post-workout munchies. Overall the bike ride was about 25 miles, from Vienna to Reston and back.

I did find myself about to slack off at times, but I had to remember why I was doing this, and importantly, who I was doing this for.  See -  I'm not just doing a triathlon for me, myself, or I.  I'm training and raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and the money that I raise gives them a chance at living a better if not bearable life.

Our Team-In-Training Honored Teammate is Cris Otepka. This guy's amazing. Not only did he have a rare nasal non-Hodgkin lymphoma and beat it, but he's taking on training and competing in the same triathlon I am, the St. Anthony's Triathlon , and is totally committed to supporting other people who've have had or currently have, and people who've had to deal with it and so on through helping the LLS, which he so thankfully benefitted from.

Here's his story:

Hello Teammates,

My name is Cris Otepka, and a little over 2 years ago, I was diagnosed with a rare nasal type of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma at 28 years old. It manifested itself as a small tumor in my left sinus, and symptoms were painless recurring clots and bloody noses. Even more odd are the statistics--this cancer is prevalent in middle-aged men from Southeast Asian countries, with only 20 cases a year in the US. Being a younger Caucasian male, doctors couldn't explain it, yet believe it is linked to the Epstein-Barr Virus.  

 

Everyone around me, including myself, was shocked that I was going through this at such a young age. Although an aggressive disease, in my case it was fortunately caught early, in Stage I. My ENT who first discovered it referred me to a fabulous lymphoma team right here in the area at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Since I was an otherwise healthy guy, they put me through an aggressive treatment – 4 cycles of chemotherapy followed by 30 radiation treatments.  Thankfully, I tolerated everything very well. And thanks to the incredible support from my then girlfriend (and world's greatest caretaker), family, friends, and the NIH team -- the 6 months of toxins, hair loss, and weight gain really wasn't too terrible – and the positive prognosis didn't hurt the situation, either! 

 

I'm 31 now, and although I have sinus side effects that will remain with me for most of my life, I'm now cancer-free. I've got my hair back, lost the weight, and married my #1 caretaker. As I approach my 2-year remission mark, I'm ready to tackle my next goal: giving back.  I have had Team in Training in my sights for a while, and now I'm more ready than ever to join you all in this adventure. The experience was life-changing; I will never be the same person I was before the diagnosis. One of the things that really made a lasting impression on me was the dedication and support from everyone involved in the research and treatment process. I had the privilege of being treated at NIH, which enabled me to reap the benefits of countless hours of scientific research. This research saved my life, and I want to make sure it not only continues to save more lives, but hopefully one day find that clue that may wipe out blood cancers forever. 

 

I'm so excited to meet all of you, and I want to thank you for participating in this cause that holds so much meaning in my life. We haven't even met yet, but I'm already inspired by you. Whether you're doing this in honor of a specific loved one, or for all of us affected by this disease, your support is crucial. And I know this is going to take both you and me – so I hope I can reciprocate and be your inspiration as well

His story is impressive, but I'll be posting other people's stories as well, as I can with time. I will say that working out twice a day as well as the regular 50hr job doesn't leave me a whole lot of time, because by the time I get home I'm so tired that writing isn't normally first on my priority list. Anyway- if this post inspired, touched, or moved you in anyway, you can help out by making a donation on my fundraising webpage. Not only will your donation help me get to the starting line in St. Petersburg, but it will also help myself and definitely those who have any form of blood cancer get to the finish line.

It was a cold, cold day...

Today we had another team training, as we do almost every Saturday morning. Originally, we were scheduled to do a 60 minute bike ride. I spent the week looking on Craigslist looking for affordable used bikes that would fit me as well as pedals and biking shoes. I had no idea that biking was such an expensive hobby! I did find a great deal on some clip-less pedals and some used bike shoes, saving me something close to $50 from retail! Thank goodness for Craigslist:)

A generous soul offered me to borrow his Bianchi road bike and we got it all set up for riding-- and then the weather decided to put it's say in the matter. It's been steadily colder each day this week in the Metropolitan DC area- Thursday 25, Friday 19, and today it was 11 degrees out! That's colder than it's been here in a long time! In light of the sub-freezing temperatures, our Team-In-Training coaches decided to change the workout to a run. With the wind, riding bikes would have been unbearable.

We had an injury prevention clinic today before the run though. It was a good idea. Somewhere along the hour long session, I was called up to be the trainer's model. To be brief, let's just say that the few people that were there this morning got to see more of me than they were expecting to, certainly more than I had expected for sure! But everyone got a good laugh from it, and one girl I didn't even know said she felt like she knew me already. HAH! Thank goodness I've been blessed with a sense of humor.

The run went well, but I am really stiff and tight now. Good thing I learned a few new stretches today. I'm gonna need it!

Follow My Journey to the St. Anthony's Triathlon!

OK Folks, I'm going to make another attempt at blogging here. I spend a lot of time looking at blogs- now its time to write my own so that others can see what I'm up to.

So, like the title implies, I'm training for a triathlon. My first triathlon to be exact. I kind of just jumped into it to be honest, but here's a little background story for you...

It was mid- November 2008. Thanksgiving had just past. We had a get-together event with almost all of my mom's side of the family for Thanksgiving. There were about 24 of us in all, staying at my mom's house for the week. Thank goodness it's a huge house- I don't see how we could have managed it in a smaller one. A Thanksgiving tradition that my mom started with us kids about eight years ago was to run the Virginia Run 5k Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day. I'm usually able to manage alright- my best years were when I was in college, as I trained vigorously with an ROTC unit. This year, I expected to be in pain- I had not been working out for a few months, and had not been training for a running event. Sure enough, I had to walk for 5 minutes during the race. But I still finished within 34 minutes, which was surprising to me. (Then I looked up my best time and found I was 13 minutes off from it.) It felt good to have been out again, and it felt really good having done the event with people that I knew, loved, and cared about.

I realized I wanted to get back on the training circuit, but when there was no reason or goal to keep me going, I didn't have a whole lot of staying power with the regime. Then I started thinking big. I started thinking, "You know Sean, I don't know how long you're going to have the opportunity in life to do athletic things. Life is shorter than you think." It was time to start knocking things off my life's "To-Do" list.

Then I got a phone call from a friend who was up to something big. She sought my advice on how I had gone about a project and knew that there was fundraising involved, which was part of her goal as well. She then told me the idea and I was immediately enrolled in the possibility of it. She said that she was thinking of putting a team together to compete in the Nation's Triathlon in September 2009, here in our nation's capital, as a venue for her project. I thought, "Wow- I don't know how to do a triathlon, but I'm up to participating for the cause." But seeing as that's a whole 8 months from now, and at the time it was 9 1/2 months away, I wanted to do some training before hand.
She reccomended the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team-In-Training program. She had participated in it before and had a good time. So I went to an interest meeting. At this meeting there were other people like me, who had never participated or trained for marathons and triathlons. There were also some people who had.

As well, there was an Honored Teammate who not only had had lymphoma, gone through chemo and radiation, and survived, but had also participated in a LLS triathlon as well. I was moved, impressed, and inspired. I remember hearing a quote from Lance Armstrong about enduring the pains and trials of training for an endurance event didn't even compare to what it's like to go through chemo and fight cancer. But to me, its a way to fight for all the people who had it "sprung" up on them. I couldn't leave that night without registering. The fundraising goal was daunting, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't give it a fighting chance. I have all the availability in the world to live my life, when others don't. I wanted to give back and give that availability to others by helping the cause.

So, that's my story of how I chose to participate in a triathlon training program. I'll continue with updates during my journey.

Check out my fundraising page for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team-In-Traing Program-- I'll be competing in the St. Anthony's Olympic Triathlon on April 26, 2009 in St. Petersburg, FL!!
http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/anttry09/shoar