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.

It's like riding a bike, once you learn you never forget...

I will never forget my first time back in the saddle again! It started off as a great day, I got to Santa Monica and found my group. They gave us a piece of paper with entirely too many streets and turns on it and I immediately thought,
"Nobody told me I had to get a clip for my helmet to hang directions so I can read them hands-free?!"
"They don't expect me to let go of the handlebars, grab this out of my pocket, and read it while I'm trying to balance?!
"Wait! We are going to be riding on Sunset Blvd.?! with cars?!"

Coach Rad, who should be named Coach Awesome, gave us newbies some tips:
"Don't brake with only the front brake - you'll flip!"
"Watch out for the crap in the road from the windstorms last night, those little palm things can take you out!"
I started to feel cocky that I wouldn't make THAT mistake (as I'd already made it when I was 9 - OUCH!).
We slowly got on the road and started our first downhill of the ride.

There are some people that don't like uphill, others that don't like downhill. I'm of the first breed. I don't mind the downhill because I figure the faster I go a) the workout will end sooner b) the uphill side may be easier if I get farther up the hill before I have to pedal c) I feel like Lance Armstrong even though he's pedaling at his 90rpm while I'm sitting there with my feet out at both sides, streamers fluttering off my handlebars, and my pedals rotating faster than I could ever keep up. Not quite, but that's how it feels.

At the bottom of the hill, and after a successful unclip and reclip while crossing a street, we regrouped. "This, Team, is the first hill! You should be in the middle gear, in the front, the easiest in the back (which one is that?!)" Another mentor mentioned that we should try to avoid the "Granny Gear" because we'll regret it. Since I don't know what it is, I figure I won't be using it. The first hill was fairly gradual going up a hill until the veeeeery last turn. We had to go wide and then drastically ascend the last bit. I was ready for a break so thankfully, we regrouped at the top of the first hill. Again, I successfully unclipped and put my foot on the curb.

Guess what folks, hill #2 is a fairly steep descent and then a really sharp ascent and you want to be pedaling on the descent because if you all of a sudden start on the ascent you can either throw or break your chain! My awesome mentor Carlos gave us some amazing words of wisdom, which I totally appreciated and promptly forgot after he said them because I was back in my "Roll forward, pedal at 3pm, toes flip over the pedal, keep moving, clip in front, don't slow down, then press to click in the rest" mode.

We rode to the end of the street and I was excited to see that on Ironteam, we don't just use chalk writing on the street to mark our path, we have authentic yellow film production signs with arrows to guide us! Yah, we're the Ironteam, that's right!! Again, I rode down that hill, hoping that if I flew down the hill, that I could coast almost all the way to the top (like I did in 7th grade riding through Hillcrest in San Diego to go to Jr. High). Well, we're playing with the big boys now. That hill was so steep that all my speed was sucked into the ground by about 1/3 of the way up. I seriously didn't know how I was going to get up that hill, my speed was being taken from me with every rotation of the pedals BUT my alternative would be to stop on the hill and somehow unclip while trying not to fall, NO THANKS! I pushed with my whole body with each leg stroke and somehow got to the top of that hill. When we regrouped again, my heart was pumping big time - I'd beaten Chainbreak Hill!

This next part is part truth, part speculation because I don't remember the whole accident. We regrouped again and after yet another successful unclipping, I was resting comfortably against the curb, we were chatting about how we are going to go a little bit farther up, very gradually this time, then leave the neighborhood as we head out to Sunset where we cannot ride any more than 2 next to each other and really we should go single file. While it's downhill, we shouldn't go to fast because we'll have a turn at the bottom of the hill. When the coaches finished talking, a CA earthquake with a seismic measurement of 8.0 happened knocking me off my feet and... OK, fine, really I somehow lost my balance slightly and started falling away from the side that had a free foot to catch me so I was done in, and hit two other people on the way down, but they didn't get knocked over. The rest of the group took off, I got up and back on the bike, Coach Rad, fixed my bent brakes and I was off! I caught up to the pack as quickly as I could on the downhill.

Turns out Sunset wasn't the scariest part. After one more uphill that either they forgot to mention, or I forgot to listen, we hit San Vicente. We had to worry about a) moving cars, in or on the side of the street, b) car doors, c) those palm things, d) other bikers, e) turn lanes (where the heck to the bikers go?), and f) a bike lane about 18" wide. Still it was the home stretch, so it felt great!

We got there, regrouped again and they said "Congratulations, you're going again!" Not just once but twice! The cool thing was that despite the hills, at least we knew we could make it, what to expect, etc. In addition to our increasing confidence, I felt tough because by then, my knees looked as you saw above.

The second time around, there were a few changes a) they encouraged us to keep going after the hills, no panting on the side of the road because it's bad for our hearts to go from pumping so fast and then stop, b) I noticed that we were riding right by Shanna Moakler and Travis Barker's old house (Even Irongirls have a reality show weakness), c) I actually stood up and pedaled, despite thinking there was no way I'd be able to do that at all, but the alternative is falling over flat, d) I got up to 22 mph on the downhill (while pedaling, not just free-falling), e) I had a moment where I couldn't unclip and was slowing down to a stop, but when the bike threatened to topple, my instinct kicked in and pedaled me forward so I had more time to release my foot - YAY! VICTORY!

This time I headed back to get my jacket because I figured I was done, gotta get back to the kids and onto our afternoon obligations when "Oh crap, I do have time to go around again." I stalled a bit to wait for Meghan. I was whining to Coach Paul that "This is only the 2nd time that I've ridden the bike, sort of" and he flat out said "Well you should have been riding more!" which is exactly what I needed to hear. Irongirls aren't whiners! Meghan came around and was a great motivator, but I warned her, I could be cursing for the duration of the ride.

The third time around, we got up the first hill, got half of the way up Chainbreak Hill, and I did successfully unclip and walk it up the rest of the hill. Then we got back on the bikes and I noticed that my bike was rattling - FLAT TIRE! I immediately hopped off, pulled out my tools (which I'd thankfully walked back to my car, in my awkward bike shoes, to retrieve that morning), I successfully got the back and more complicated wheel off the chain and bike, as I pulled out my handy-dandy tire remover piece, it wasn't working. Thankfully at that moment, shining hero Mike pulled up! He had the right tools and the kindness to help me out.

We had some difficulties with the tire still, and thankfully, Ironteam has a SAG vehicle which came to rescue us as well. The tire got changed, we were on our way back to the group! All of the patient support staff were waiting for us, smiling, when we got back, they're so awesome!

After the ride, it was time for the team to go to tacos, and I rushed home to get Carson to a birthday party. Lauren and I went to get our nails done, she got black paint with glowing polka dots, me - I just wanted the foot massage.

Later this week, I set up my bike trainer so that I could ride in my apt when the kids are asleep, and it turned out to be louder than I thought. So I wrote my neighbors the option that I could ride in the late evening, crack of dawn, or for a sizeable donation - none of the above. They were very understanding, but we'll see after they hear it!