Where has the time gone? It's the eve
of my Last Big Training Ride. And it's a doozy, of course. 110 miles
and 12,000 feet of climbing. Current stats show 2377.9 miles ridden
and 193,886 vertical feet climbed since that first training ride back
in February. Thassalotta chamois butter.
Stretching my training miles end to end
along Interstate 80, I have now reached the northern lip of Indiana.
Currently I'm about a mile shy of the N 500 W exit and nearly to
Michigan. Chicago was hot and humid, as you might imagine for this
time of year. While my miles race across the country, I've more than
doubled the amount of climbing I would have actually done had I
ridden this route instead of going up and down and up and down the
smaller hills and larger hills that ring the Bay Area. There's a lot
of flat between the Rockies and the Appalachians, Poconos and Blue
Ridge Mountains. Not that my training miles will take me that far.
I've learned a lot about my team mates
since February. I've learned a lot about myself. Although my
co-worker indelicately asked me today why, with all the riding I do
am I not as skinny as a rail, I do know that my body is stronger and
my mind is more focused. After all, I'm not training to lose weight,
I'm training to complete the ride. That means feeding my muscles,
lest they consume themselves and I get weaker over the season instead
of stronger.
My ride updates have focused so much on
the riding, almost to the exclusion of the reason I ride. In that,
I've been remiss. The physical and mental challenges I've undertaken
have been completely voluntary. Had I wanted or needed to, I could
have jumped off the merry-go-round at any time and gone back to
lolling about on Saturday mornings, taking my dog to the beach and,
oh, I don't know, getting errands done. Shopping at the Farmers'
Market and brewing beer. (What do people do on Saturdays, anyway?).
Cancer patients don't have the option
of quitting: “This chemo makes me nauseous and exhausted and bald.
I think I'll skip today's treatment.” As the saying goes, cancer
patients are in it to win it. The “choice” was thrust upon each
one--a far cry from me signing a waiver and showing up for the first
training ride. Cancer doesn't quit just because you got a new job and
it's taking up all your time. Or you decide to put your house on the
market and you need your Saturdays. It doesn't quit because you've
lost your job or gotten married. It doesn't quit just because your
partner got pregnant. Or the waiting list for that prize Irish Setter
pup just opened up. Or for your divorce. Cancer patients are fighting
cancer through all of these life events. Families of cancer patients
don't have the option either. One of our team honorees, Becky, talks
about how hard it was to see her family go through the stress of her
cancer. How it affected them, too. Wanting to give support to Becky,
yet needing it as well, and Becky wasn't in any shape to give it
back.
One of the reasons I support the
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is its far reaching web of support.
From a patient's co-pay, a family's hotel room or research grants
which have led to measurable results and effective treatments, LLS
uses at least 75% of every donation dollar directly towards its
mission. I think that's pretty awesome.
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