I'm taking this 2011 plan one step further. My New Year's Resolution this year is to do my first triathlon. I have already signed up for the Olathe Woman's Triathlon on September 10th, 2011. Shelling out 75 bucks is definitely a motivator for me. But then an idea came to me last week. Why not train for a cause? Each lap I swim, every mile I pedal and run, would be for a reason bigger than myself.
Finding a cause came easy for me. In 2005, Jon "Blazeman" Blaise became the only person to race an Ironman triathlon with ALS. Blazeman not only did an Ironman race 5 months after his devastating diagnosis, but he did THE Ironman race, in Hawaii. ALS is short for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gherig's disease. People diagnosed with ALS typically live 2-5 years post diagnosis. Jon passed away from the disease two years after his last race. The Blazeman Foundation, founded by his family, supports research for an ALS cure at Northwestern University.
I was first made aware of this foundation when I had dinner with World Triathlon Champion, Chrissie Wellington. Chrissie, a lovable Brit, has won the Hawaii Ironman World Championship three times and set numerous world records in races around the globe. Her enthusiasm for life is infectious. One of my first memories of Chrissie is watching her run through the half-marathon turn around at Ironman Kansas 70.3, already 60-some miles into the race, on a scorching hot Midwest morning. She ran effortlessly around the orange cones, smiling at the cheering spectators, and gave a special small wave to my 4 year old son and 2 year old daughter. Naturally, she went on to win the women's half of the race. She then stayed at the finish line to help pass out medals to each athlete that crossed the finish line, my triathlete husband included. Chrissie is known worldwide for not only her speed, but her smile.
Chrissie told the Blazeman story at a pre-race fundraiser dinner before the 2010 Kansas Ironman 70.3. Members of Team Blazeman invoke his memory after each race by log rolling across the finish line, like he did after his last race in 2007. Patrick, my husband, and I were particularly affected by her commitment to the war on ALS and thanked her profusely for everything she'd done when we got to talk to her after dinner.
ALS has affected my family not once, but twice in recent years. My mom's dad, Grandpa Meier, was diagnosed with ALS in the late 1990's. ALS is a disease that attacks the motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. This weakens muscles all over the body and makes voluntary muscle movements increasingly difficult. The thinking center of the brain is totally intact, so a person with ALS tends to feel trapped inside a progressively weakening body.
I often think about Grandpa Meier when I run. His calves were like tree trunks, and in my head I thank him frequently for the Meier legs that can power me through just about anything. He was a loving grandpa with a wide smile and a boisterous laugh.
More recently, my dad lost his oldest brother to ALS, too. Uncle Steve was the oldest of eight kids, and the patriarch of the entire Schumacher clan after Grandpa Schumacher passed away. I can't even picture him without a smile on his face. His kids and grandkids adored him, his nieces and nephews enjoyed his stories and jokes, and his brothers and sisters respected him.
So I am doing my own small race this year for Grandpa Meier and Uncle Steve. When training gets old and the triathlon idea seems out of reach, I'll just remember their fight.
Me, Patrick, and Chrissie Wellington.
(also titled: Patrick with the Roundest and the Skinniest Women in the Room)
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