Although my bike ride this morning was only an hour long, I had a rough ride. Physically, mentally and emotionally, it was just rough all around.
I returned from a four-day-long business trip to Bah-stahn (otherwise known as Boston). Since I am not a Yankees fan, I can say that it happens to be a beautiful city; well, at least the five square block radius around my hotel was beautiful. I was a good boy and made sure to train for an hour a day, while I was away, doing running and weight workouts. But, for some reason, when I got on my bike this morning, things didn’t click physically.While I have the luxury of having a great group of training partners, this morning, I spent my first twenty minutes of my ride riding alone, which was fine. The alone time gave me time to think and reflect upon the fact that this weekend is the one year anniversary of the passing of a very good friend of mine. It seems like a long time ago and yet it seems like no time has passed since I last saw my good friend. I thought about the fact that my friend battled cancer for a year, in a fashion that I could only describe as godly. He never complained, always smiled and joked around; he worked through chemo treatments and somehow looked like he was doing better than everyone else, despite the realities of his situation. He was a mountain of a man—physically, mentally and emotionally—and he whipped cancer, getting a clean bill of health, with nary a complaint and without an ounce of self-pity. Unfortunately, a tragic accident took him from us all too early.
I thought about the fact that when I wake up at 5:30am to train, I sometimes wonder whether I should just avoid the pain and struggle of training and go back to bed. I thought about the fact that cancer victims, like my friend, have no choice but to wake up and fight each and every day, if they want to have a chance of living. They have no snooze button. I know that my friend got up every day ready to fight, embracing his battle without complaint. In fact, he encouraged others and raised us up with him. I thought about how he would be an amazing mentor and training partner, if he were training for this triathlon with me. I also realized that each and every person that the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is fighting for has a circle of friends and family who probably feel the same way about them as I felt about my friend; these people wake up every morning, not just five or six days a week, and fight, battle and persevere. I have the luxury of getting off of my bike. They don’t. The only way that they can get off of their bike to rest and relax will be as a result of dollars and cents spent on cancer research.
So, I ask you, please donate. Please donate generously to this all-important cause. Please donate so that more and more people can wake up in the morning and hit the snooze button in their lives, or have the energy and ability to actually train for a triathlon or marathon, as opposed to battling illness. If LLS is not your charity of choice, please write a check or donate to your favorite charity. If you don’t have a favorite charity, or you are looking for a second or third-favorite charity, please consider donating to LLS, and supporting my triathlon bid. Thank you.
