Words of Inspiration from Gordie...

The training is building again, hence I've been so busy I haven't posted much recently. We've had two weekends in a row with 50+ bike rides, 10+ mile runs, and 2000+ yard swims. We conquered such hills as Latigo (I missed that workout but kudos to my teammates), Encinal, Mulholland/Los Virgines - training where Lance Armstrong has trained! I have to admit that this is the part of the season where my ADD kicks in and I look forward to the end and getting back to "normal" weekends. I can tell that this time, it's not going to be as easy to lose the habits of swimming, running and cycling - although I may ditch steep hills, rolling hills are ok.

I'm just an ordinary person trying to accomplish and extraordinary goal - to help find provide valuable funds to find a cure for blood cancers - and any advancements in the field of blood cancers can only mean a few steps forward in other cancer treatments - and to finish a half-ironman triathlon. I don't know why, i've been saying it all season, but suddenly, the size of the task is really starting to hit me!

Every Team has honored teammates, people from the community who are in remission from or going through treatment for blood cancers, but this season, having 2 honored teammates on our team - the IRONteam - is beyond inspirational. Kudos to Meghan and Gordie for being such Rock Stars! For the rest of this entry, I want to give the "stage" to one of the honored teammates, Gordie Lat. Here is just one of the many posts that he sends out to the team to keep us motivated and focused on the goal to find a cure! I chose a goofy shot because besides his inspirational words and his presence on the team, Gordie's best feature is his smile!

“The most important things are the hardest to say, because words diminish them.”
— Stephen King

Many have heard me thank you and tell you what SUPERHEROES I think you are and how I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for people like you (countless of times). And I often feel that it sometimes diminishes theTRUE, DEEP feelings of gratitude I have for what you all do (just as the quote says) because to many of you, it may be just words. So I want to share with you a few things that you might already know. Now, I’m a bit STUPID-stitious about talking about my health condition, I think it’s bad luck to do so…much like coach Paul is superstitious about wearing his tri event shirt BEFORE the actual triathlon…lol. Anyway, it’s time for me to get rid of this STUPID-stition that I have so I’m changing it now.

In June 2005, I was diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia that has no medical cure except for that of a perfect bone marrow match transplant. (What this means is that the only cure is a perfect match bone marrow transplant) And unfortunately, searches in the worldwide database have resulted in no usable match for me. (not even my 3 sisters who seemed sure to be a match) So, NO CURE FOR ME! My bone marrow continues to produce the DNA that produces cancer.

However, breakthroughs in medical research and technology have come up with a miracle drug named Gleevec that makes my disease “manageable” as opposed to fatal. And in fact, I reached the “manageable” state of the disease after only a year of treatment. So, I went ahead and told the world how happy I was that I was FINALLY in the “manageable” state and I was sure that I would follow in Virginia Garner’s footsteps and remain in the “manageable” state for as long as her (more than 10 years now). But soon after I sent the message out (like one month soon…) I became resistant to Gleevec, that very same drug that was saving my life. (which is what actually started the whole STUPID-stition of mine) So I was in a precarious position because I had no bone marrow match and the new drug I was taking wasn’t working. What is even worse is the Research Doctors couldn’t find a reason why I became resistant to Gleevec in the first place. And that could mean that there’s something about me that has the propensity to become resistant to the drugs that are saving my life.

But after many ups and downs, I am now taking a drug called Sprycel that seems to be working. But the fear of becoming resistant to this drug will always be present in the back of my mind. Despite this predicament, my family and friends continue to assist me in my fight for life as I strive to maintain my health and be there for my wife and 2 daughters. By looking at me, it’s difficult to see the struggles I go through. But the struggles are there and fear demands its presence in my daily life as I evaluate every pain, cough, and breath I take…but I continue to press on.

So all of the verbose rhetoric I write is an attempt to expound on the simple words you hear me so often say…THANK YOU, SUPERHEROES, WHAT YOU DO IS SAVING MY LIFE!!! I hope you never get sick of my thanks to you as this message is merely the tip of the overwhelming gratitude I feel for what you are doing.

Holy Sheet, I'm a Triathlete!

On a stormy and windy day in the small, quiet town of La Quinta, CA, I swam 3/4 of a mile (28min), biked 24 miles (1hr, 49 min) and ran 6 miles (1hr, 22 min) in one day to officially become an International-distance Triathlete! It was a challenge going through the day without knowing what to expect or if I'd even finish, but now that the anxiety of the day has subsided, and I didn't have nagging sore muscles, I'm excited at the possibility of doing more! The idea that I only have 6 weeks left til I do one twice as big freaks the padded tri pants off me, but I'm excited to do more of the same size on the other end of this Ironteam experience.

I will have a full Triathlon experience email (which may take you as long to read as it took me to do!) with TONS of photos coming soon!

We are now in the final stages of training where things are speeding up and stacking up! Every day except Friday, the day before our long workouts, we are working out with not one, but two sports a day! You're probably thinking "Hey, at least you get Friday to relax and party with friends!" Nope, Fridays are my day to stay up and worry about Saturday's workout - as if the worrying I already did since Wed or Thurs of the week wasn't quite enough. "Saturday night?!" Nope, I'm usually so exhausted that I fall into a sleep coma by 9pm.

Last week when I was working a Century bicycle ride, I did hear a tip that if you do one shot of Tequila Friday night then it takes the edge off enough so ou can sleep but not drain your energy the next day. Problem is... Who can stop at just 1?

So I'm a Triathlete! I never til last year even considered the possibility and now look what I've done! It feels amazing to have helped myself get to this point but even more amazing to be helping others with m fundraising! I'm still a ways away from my goal so for any of you with that Jog-a-thon mentality that will only donate after I do my "laps" - I did it!! Every single dollar helps, so please donate!

If you want me to do the triathlon in someone's honor I will put their name on my body for race day!! Thanks all!!