Goodbye 2005

I can actually say I am happy to see 2005 go bye-bye. Last night we went to see the comic Alonzo Bodden, from Last Comic Standing, and he pointed this very fact out to us. Normally it would just seem like a joke--but this year has got to go.
So 2006 here we come.
I like New Year's resolutions. Even when you don't keep them, they still signal hope and the possibility of progress to me. So I make lots of resolutions. One resolution I was thinking about today during spinning class is, "get music back into my life".
Music has always helped me. The last two years, however, it has been nowhere to be found. But in 2006.....the noise is back.

Feel like I'm falling

So bike training for Chicago had it's own set of problems. To begin with my original bike was a heavy, all steel Bridgestone Hybrid that I bought in Worcester Mass about 13 years ago. So I was lucky enough to pick up a Felt F 60 with granny gears of course (even though there are no hills in Chicago).
Buying the bike was fine but riding it took what some people call effort. Me no like to give an effort. The biggest problem wa crashing. "Super fast wipeouts while taking curves at high rates of speed", you ask? No repeated falling to the left while stopped at red lights and clipped into the pedals. There is nothing worse than a slow speed crash. Same great pain, no cool story.
The other problem is that I am terrified of riding on the road. Especially since my wife was sick, I was even more cautious. So I often rode on some very nice bike paths we have around here. So now the combination of lots of falling and bike paths means? Correct----Very often I would look up from the ground after crashing to find a 10 year old girl, on a pink bike (with streamers for full effect) looking down at me and saying, "Mister, are you ok" ? So Dave Scott I am not.
But I did persist and also got in some Team in Training rides late in the summer. I was also lucky enough to have my friend Rob invite me on an MS 150 ride. Come race day in Chicago, I had just enough muscle to get up and down Lakeshore drive twice and off the bike. Now onto the run......

Where Was I?

I dropped out of training for St. Anthony's triathlon and my wife had her transplant in April of 2005. A little before that I started secretly training for the Chicago triathlon in August. Three little problems--I can't swim , bike or run. In March of 2005 I did not own a bike, could swim about 37 yards (I timed and measured it) and running---forgit aboud it!!! I practiced swimming late at night, since out pool is open until midnight. I biked mostly on an indoor Revmaster. Running--I never did get to too much running--but hey you can only do so much.
I thought I was doing ok and by July my wife was well enough that I could start going to Team in Training practices. So I headed off for Saturday morning open water swim confident in the knowledge that i could swim more than a mile. First practice I run with the other team members off the beach and into the lake--200 yards later they are moving off into the distance and I am calling 911 on my cellphone. So I had read about open water swimming but I had never DONE open water swimming. Turns out there is a difference.
A quick visit to Dr. Barabara Walker, noted sports psychologist and all around good egg, and I was ready to try again. Who knew I was actually a head case. Ok, everyone but me knew, but give me a break I have three sports to deal with.
I did conquer the swim, sort of. Mostly I practiced at 6am while two guys with those metal detector things trolled the lake depths for lost triathletes with metal body parts. By the way, a wetsuit is a great comedy prop.
I will continue later with the bike and run training.

As I was saying

Let me step away from triathlon for a second and tell you about something I saw yesterday.
My son (age 4), myself (age 43) and my father in law (age 73) all went skiing together. Same slope, same speed and roughly the same skill level. Ok truth be told, I was a little behind the other two.
Now the amazing thing was not the great age differential skiing together. The amazing thing was that this all happened at Perfect North Slopes in INDIANA. Can you believe it? A lot closer than Aspen and fewer Hummer Limos.

Guy Logic

So let's back up a minute first. Why did I decide to do a triathlon in the first place. Well there are two paths to the the truth. The first involves what I cal "guy logic". Guy logic goes like this=="My wife needs help, I'll go ride a bike". Interestingly enough this path makes perfect sense to every guy I have talked and elicits evil laughs from every woman.
The second path follows my own internal rationalization:
1)My wife is getting weaker , so I need to get stronger
2)Our kids need to see something good happening even though a different bad thing is also happening
3)My wife should have a husband worthy of the effort she has to put out
None of these turn out ot be really true but it all makes sense to me at the start.

Back to the story--So I dropped out of St. Anthony's to help my wife. Late in the spring of 2005, however, I knew she was going to get better. By my calculation, she would be in full swing recovery by the time of the Chicago Tri. A great way to celebrate. So I secretly started training with that goal in mind.

I'll tell you about the training later, but let me assure you now--my wife was at that finish line.

How did we get to this point?

Well, I thought I thought I would start out with a little history. You know, explain how I got to this point and also tell you a little about out team and our future plans.
First of all, you need to know that I am a big, fat blob. I have never done anything athletic, ever. My favorite thing to do in the world is to read the New York Times cover to cover on a Friday while drinking Pepsi and eating chips and an Italian sub (minus the condiments--more about that later).
In June 2004 my wife developed Lymphoma. Her initial treatment lasted until the end of that year. While her treatment was finishing, I decided to join Team in Training and complete the St. Anthony's Olympic distance triathlon in April 2005.
Unfortunately my wife relapsed quickly and had to have a bone marrow transplant in 2005. Her transplant was successful and she is now healthy and back to her own athletic training.
When I dropped out of St. Anthony's, my good friend, Bud, dusted off his old cleats and hit the road with Team in Training and completed the Tahoe Century ride in June 2005 (America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride). His gracious efforts gave me the idea for TeamBigWave.
So with the next post I will tell you what happened during my wife's transplant and shortly thereafter......

It's not how you feel, it's how you look

I want the reader to get a first class blogging experience. So I am working overtime to learn how to customize this site. Intuitive it ain't. But we want the first class experience... So I hope to figure out the "links" section and picture uploading pronto.
Hope to plow through the holiday season with no loss in training. Relatives arrive today but I must bike and swim first.

Let's get this party started

It's just about time to kick it into high gear. I have spent the past three months trying to lose weight and gain a little aerobic capacity. I also worked with Total Immersion to develop a swim stroke.
Our main focus is now to point towards St. Anthony's Tri and The Philadelphia Tri in April and June respectively.
Fundraising for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is a major part of our mission. So today, I sent out our first batch of fundraising letters. I will fill you in on the response.
TeamBigWave blog will make the following pledges:

1)Post at least every Monday and Thursday
2)Keep you updated on any on the athletes who particpate with us
3)Give an honest account of the emotional ups and downs
4)Be funny