Andi's Movement Towards Change

Five weeks from now, I will be in one of the most beautiful countries in the world. I'll be surrounded by smiling faces, the greenest of grasses, and beer galore. No, I won't be visiting Michigan State University's campus. I'll be in Dublin, Ireland competing in my first ever marathon. (It all sounds great up to the marathon part with exception of running past the Guinness Brewery.) The Dublin Marathon will be the third event that I have done with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program. I am getting excited for this trip, but I'm even more excited to know that I am nearing another goal that is near and dear to my heart. Since I started with the Team in Training program in May of 2007, I've finished two Olympic distance triathlons with the team. When this event is over, I will have raised over $15,000 for this incredible cause. Think about that for just a moment. To side track for a moment, here are some examples of where this money is i...

This week, I've felt my body slowly take a turn for the worse as it has combated a slow-moving chest cold. Usually for me, a cold comes on quick, and it doesn't last long. This time, however, it settled in the chest from the beginning and has hung on for dear life. I've felt it for four or five days now, and it doesn't seem to want to leave anytime soon. Because of this, I haven't gone out of my way to run because of it. It sounds like another exuse, but I'm considering a word from the wise; my coach Anne (from last season). She always said that if the cold is above the shoulders, it's okay to run. If it's below, be careful. It could only make things worse. I want to go out and run today. I'm behind on my training again and I'm getting ancy. I have my 20 mile run next weekend, and in only 6 weeks, the marathon that I've been dreading will be upon me. Maybe I'll start slow with a couple of miles, and decide from that point if I should move...

This was a challenging week for me with regards to training. Though I was able squeek in three miles before work one day, after work board meetings, networking events, or cherished family time kept me back from any other runs. Friday night was our Automation Alley gala awards, a black tie affair. It was an amazing event as always, and provided a first for me as I was able to experience it for the first time as an Alley employee, and not simply as a member. I stayed until the very end to help clean everything up, and that made for a late night. Saturday morning, I woke up at 6:30 to rain, and realized that I wouldn't make practice in Royal Oak (a scheduled 18 mile run at 7:30). My decided to get some miles in later. I went back to sleep until 11am (which probably is the first time in this millenium that I've slept in that late, and I'm not exagerating). Saturday night, I had another black tie affair I had to attend. I went with my prior boss, Scott, who chose to be the desig...

Nothing like a unique experience at the local pit-stop. ------------- This weekend, I had the option of going to the MSU/Eastern Michigan football game. I also had an offer for U-M football tickets too. Both offers were tempting. After all, each choice would result in me missing yet another Team in Training group run. Guilt and reality, however, have pretty much set in. I'm WAY behind on my training, as you know. So I passed on both sets of tickets, and met my team bright and early on Saturday morning in Royal Oak. The weather was awesome. It was a brisk 63 degrees, perfect running weather. Our task for the morning? Run 16 miles. *gulp* I knew that was what I would have to do, though there was a lot of doubt. I had never ran over 13.1, and that was when I had raced my half Ironman all the way back in May. The only mental trick I could play on myself was that I had done that distance after a 1.2 mile swim and a 56 mile bike. I certainly could have enough energy today to go a meager ...

Though it seems as though sometimes my posts focus on the things that I'm going through, my overall mission isn't about me. This whole blog is about the bigger picture -- the hope and dream to one day walk in a cancer-free world. Wouldn't that be unbelievable? No more watching loved ones suffer as they fight their battles. No more health care costs that rise so quickly due to doctors' visits, medicines and chemotherapy. It would be an amazing thing to witness. Until then, though, we are all faced with reality that cancer does exist. We all know people who have fought this, I'm sure. One of my dearest honored heroes, Vesna Dublic, is still putting up an incredible fight after finding out just a year ago that she had stage-4 non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Her strength is amazing, and it is a reflection of her inner being, unshakable positive attitude and her love of life. She is indeed one of the most amazing people I know I will ever meet, and I'm truly blessed to know h...