Questions and Answers About Team in Training

NOTE: this was my fund raising and update message of August 6, 2007

I like to send out periodic updates about how I am doing with Team in Training as I prepare for the Arizona marathon in January. In this one, I discuss some questions I get about Team in Training and cancer.

First, thanks to the 26 people who have joined my “Cancer Kickin’ Team” by making a donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. You can get detailed information about what I am doing and make a donation if you so choose by going to my TNT web page:

http://www.active.com/donate/tntva/tntvaARitter2007

I appreciate donations of any amount, and will gladly add the name of someone you want to honor with your donation to my web page and race singlet.

Now, to those questions that I sometimes get asked.

How many days will it take you to do the marathon? A lady on a trolley asked me this last year in San Diego, and my answer was that I would be very disappointed if I didn’t finish the same day. A world-class male distance runner can run 26.2 miles in 2 and 15 minutes or less. This means that the winner of a marathon is finishing about the same time as I am getting out of the first porta-potty line. The top 10 males finishers in Boston in 2007 were all under 2:18:07, meaning they averaged a mile every five and quarter minutes. For me to even qualify in the Boston Marathon, I would need to complete a marathon in less than three hours and 45 minutes. Being a generous guy, I am going to let someone have my spot in Boston next year. My goal is to do the Arizona marathon in five hours 55 minutes and 55 seconds or less. The winner of the race will have time to shower up, watch a movie, and have a few beers before I get done.

Which is harder, fund raising or marathon training? Believe it or not, fund raising is, because it is out of my control while training is mostly in my control. If I put in the sacrifices to train, don’t get hurt, and am very determined on race day, I will finish the marathon. With fund raising, I can do everything in my power but whether I succeed or not is mostly up to lots of people deciding whether or not to donate. Plus, it often feels uncomfortable asking people for money, even though it is not for me. On the other hand, I never have to get up at 4AM to fund raise.

Which is harder, chemotherapy, fund raising or marathon training? Duh!

If I want to donate but don’t want to use the web page, how can I do a check? Simply make a check out to “Leukemia and Lymphoma Society”, or even just LLS, and get in touch with me via e-mail, and I’ll make arrangements to get it.

Did you lose your hair during chemotherapy? Yes, just about all of it. But thank goodness, one special area still had plenty of hair – my ears! I could look at myself in the mirror and see hardly any head hair, and very thin eyelashes and eyebrows, but my ears looked like a small rain forest was growing in them. Every day, I would give thanks that I had not lost my ear hair. If that had ever happened, I don’t think I would have had the courage to go on, and would have crawled up in a ball in a corner, sobbing and whimpering. A man can only take so much, and losing my ear hair would have pushed me over the edge.

I get asked to donate to a lot of charities. Why should I pick this one? If you are like me, you get several charitable solicitations every week. We donate to a wide variety of these throughout the year. But you can’t give to them all, so how to choose? One criteria might be “does the solicitor have a personal commitment to their cause?” Anyone doing fund raising for a cause by way of an endurance event, be it a marathon, long bike ride, or triathlon certainly does. We put our heart and soul into this (not to say our legs and feet)! In addition to many “ordinary” charities, we regularly donate to many folks doing endurance events or even short walks for good causes. I hope you will consider my cause as well, if you have not already made a donation. You can donate online or with a check, and all donations are 100% tax deductible:

http://www.active.com/donate/tntva/tntvaARitter2007

What does LLS do with the money? The mission of LLS is to cure blood cancers, and to improve the quality of life for patients and their families. The LLS has programs in three major areas: (1) donations to cancer research ($61 million annually in support of over 200 researchers) (2) patient services, and (3) advocacy. For more information go to http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/. LLS is a very highly rated charity, but any charity has to spend some money that does not go directly to their mission. In the case of LLS, about 25% of their revenues goes to administrative and fund-ra ising expenses, and about 75% goes to their mission.

Why do you keep doing this? I participate in TNT for a lot of reasons: to make a difference, to raise money for a great cause, for the camaraderie of the team, and to continue to improve my conditioning. But I also wanted to make a personal statement that cancer patients can survive and be strong. If, as a cancer survivor who is now also a two-time marathoner and going for three, I can in some way inspire someone else who is currently ill to keep their chin up, fight to get better, stay positive, and maybe someday be motivated to do something to make a difference in the world, then I can ask for no better outcome fr om my experience.

I really appreciate your time to read my message. Thanks for your interest and support. Training is starting to get underway in earnest, and I will continue with periodic updates as my efforts progress.
Enjoy the day!
Art