Mighty Mason Nerfed Cancer!

I attended the worlds largest nerf party  on March 20, to celebrate the end of Mason's relaspe cancer treatment.

I first met Mason and his Mother, Catherine at the Team in Training kickoff in May 2008.

Catherine is training for her 3rd Team in Training event in honor of Mason.  Please click here if you would like to make a donation in honor of Mason and to help find a cure for blood cancers.

I am a big fan of Catherine's blog. Please check it out and see what shoe's Catherine is wearing.

I love this picture of Mason flushing his last oral cancer treatment down the toilet.  A fitting way to treat cancer.

Rock on Mighty Mason!!!

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Smorgasboard

Labor Day weekend has come and gone far too fast.

I left work Friday afternoon and headed over to Dekeovend Park for the Arapahoe Invitational High school cross country meet. One of my co-workers has a daughter that runs on the cross country team for Columbine High school.

Jenna is a sophmore this year and is running with the varsity team!

This meet has a great location, and features a bit of everything, running in open fields, on trail and even a quick dash across a shallow stream.

Watching these kids run the last 100 meters served as a reminder why I never have and never will be a sprinter.

1. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I simply do not have the fast twitch muscles that are required.

2. It hurts.

Being a mid to the back of the pack runner is fine with me.

Kudos to these kids for putting it all out on the line. Some of the sprints were amazing to watch.

Saturday after finally overcoming a mental obstacle, found me back on my bike for the first time in 20 days. I either had to get on the bike or give up on doing the TNT century ride in Moab in two weeks.

Much to my surprise, I had a good day on the bike. No silly accidents, no encounters with any irate drivers. I even had a couple of people smile at me and wait for me to get out of their way.

I went over to Runner's Roost to pick up my race package for the Park to Park 10 mile run on Monday.

I saw one of the former TNT running coaches who is on of the race directors for this event. Maureen asked me how Kelly was doing. She was shocked when I told her that Kelly had passed away almost 18 months ago.

I had sent her one of Kelly and Adam's pictures from prom weekend in 2006. Like many of us, Maureen thought there was no way her cancer could return.

Sunday night, Sue and I went with Laura to visit a church she recently started to visit. The church has an interesting name, "Scum of the Earth".

The church that Sue and I have been attending meets in a movie theatre. Keegan calls it "movie church". Lol.

Monday, I ran in the Park to Park 10 mile race. This race hits four very beautiful parks in the Denver area. It is a great tour of the city, run along tree lined, beautiful homes. This is one of my favorite races to run.

Before the race I saw three of my TNT cycling teammates right before the start. We were joking as we had all signed up under the "it sounded like a good idea at the time". We were debating the wisdom of our decision and agreed we would probably file it under the "what was I thinking" category.

I saw Catherine(Mighty Mason's Mom) and we chatted for a few moments as well. She said her goal for the Nike Marathon on October 18, was to be less injured than she was for the Denver marathon last year.

Staying injury free when training for a marathon is a huge challenge. I am just amazed that Catherine can train around the hospital visits, planned and unplanned around Mason's treatment.

Mason started first grade a couple of weeks ago. He looks great. They have twenty six weeks to go to complete his relapse therapy. Catherine and family take nothing for granted. They know things can change on the flip of a dime.

Catherine motored past me shortly after the one mile mark. I tried to "grab her wheel" as we say in cycling lingo. I wanted to try and get a picture of her running, but I couldn't catch her. These cancer Mom's are strong!

I dedicated my run this morning to Melina Elizabeth Wachter who earned her angel wings five years ago today at the age of ten months. Melina's family hosts a golf tournament every year and donate the proceeds to the Bone marrow transplant unit to help other families and children that are fighting for their lives. Take that, cancer!

I didn't run as well as I had hoped. I picked what I thought was a realistic time goal, but I guess I was overly optimistic on what I could do. I only hit my goal pace a couple of times during the ten miles, felt some unwanted aches and pains in different places. I ran on as best as I was able to for Melina.

I ran a personal worst at this distance. I added over 7 minutes this year. I really wasn't physically prepared to run this far at any sort of pace.

I had been clinging to the hope that I could still somehow run the Denver marathon in 6 weeks. Today was a reality check. It just isn't going to happen. I can let go of that now.

We had lunch with my parents at Macoroni Grill and then headed off to Coors Field with Keegan for the Rockies Game.

The Rockies came from behind to win 4-3! Keegan for the most part did really well at the game today.

I was surprised that during the 7th inning stretch they played God Bless America. I was even more suprised by my reaction. I don't know if it is because we are 4 days away from another anniversary of 9/11. I couldn't sing the words, I was overcome with emotion.

Keegan is really attached to Laura(La La) and Adam(Amu) as he calls them.  Both of my kids are so devoted to Keegan.  They spoil him so much you would think they were grandparents :)

Keegan doesn't have a father figure. I wonder if our niece has any idea how much Keegan loves Adam. Adam is so good with Keegan. After the game, he was really tired. He loves to sit on Adam's shoulders and he leaned over and rested his head on top of Adam's and gave him a hug. It was such a sweet moment.

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TNT Group ride-Elephant Rock Metric Century course

TNT training ride on Saturday followed the Elephant Rock Metric Century ride course.

We did some pace line training. It is really cool if you can grab the wheel of the rider in front of you. Saves so much energy as you can draft is you stay close enough. Requires constant communication and trust with the people you are riding with. It is very powerful and also a bit unnerving. To do this correctly the front wheel of the bike you are riding should be right next to the rear wheel of the bike in front of you. This was our first pace line ride of the year so the gaps are a bit too far apart to get the benefit.


Rode up and down some rolling hills towards Palmer Lake.


Made sure that everyone was properly hydrated including Brian(Our sag wagging support :)


Andres got up after taking a nasty fall in the gravel. Andres is a board member for the Rocky Mountain chapter. Andres cut his leg, will have a good case of road rash, hurt his elbow and wrist on the fall. It is always unsettling to see a rider go down. Hope he is okay today.

We had our largest group ride of the season. 27 cyclists!

We have three cancer survivors riding on the team. One of the survivors is the Colorado Springs coach! Very cool to have them out providing additional inspiration to us.

The ride this week was not nearly as hard as last weeks ride. My legs did not feel very good again today. I had not been on my bike since Monday so I took it fairly easy today. My heart rate skyrocketed during the first climb of the day. I backed off the intensity and spent a lot more time trying to relax on the bike and spin at a higher cadence to try and keep my legs fresher.

I actually felt pretty good during the last climb of the day. I was pleasantly surprised when I got to the top of Tomah Road and started to descend. I even managed to enjoy the descent. I remembered a tip my cycling coach from the 2003 season gave me and it really helped me feel like I had better control. Thanks, Gary!

2 weeks from Saturday is the Copper Triangle. 3 mountain passes, 78 miles and 5,900 feet of climbing.

9 weeks to the Moab Century and the encounter with the Big Nasty. 30 miles of climbing right out of the start....

I hope I will be ready. I am very nervous about the first part of the race. I have plenty of inspiration and reasons to ride. My heroes and my angels will pull me to the top.

For all of us involved in this fight to find a cure, the truth is that it will not happen soon enough.

I found out when I got home on Saturday that another angel had earned his wings. Please keep the Lindgren family in your thoughts and prayers.

"When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight".- Kahlil Gibran

My heart breaks again for some I don't know. The battle rages on.

For now I will continue to pedal. I wish I could do more...

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Thoughts on 7-11 Day

I drove down to Colorado Springs on Saturday to ride with the group of people that trains out of that area for the Moab Century ride on September 19, 2009.

It was an amazing day, great scenery, with some very challenging climbs. Coach Dale told me that some of the climbs we did today were harder than what the Big Nasty climb in Moab will be.

We started off doing a few miles on a bike trail before heading towards the west side of town.

I stopped and took this picture during the first really descent of the day. A lot of times when I ride I don't take the time to notice my surroundings.

A few climbs later and we headed towards Garden of the Gods. Pikes Peak is in the background which was the inspiration for America the Beautiful...

We started the climb up the Garden of the Gods road and were treated to some amazing scenery. The rock on the left of the photo seems to be suspended in mid air. Gorgeous.We continued down the road, enjoying some awesome scenery. I wish I could have taken more pictures. It was just amazing.

We headed off towards Seven Falls and Dale told us this next part of the ride would be a nice steady climb. He told me to go on ahead as he was going to do the ascent with Bonnie and Jetta. Just keep going up to you get to a dirt road and then you just turn around. Sounded easy enough.

NOT!

Parts of this climb were so steep that I almost fell off my bike into a ditch. I could barely stay upright.

I saw a parking lot in the distance and hoped that this was where I would find the dirt road and be able to turn around. I was sorely disappointed as I passed the parking lot the road turned up into some steep switchbacks.

The sun was absolutely beating down mercilessly at this point. I looked at my Garmin watch and thought I could run faster than I am riding. I was mashing the pedals, not spinning. Oh my gosh this is hard. How much longer to the top? The hairpin turns continued and finally I saw what appeared to be another parking lot. Straight up for another quarter of a mile and I see a dirt path. I was at the top. HOORAY!!!

I got off my bike to wait for the others to join me and my legs were shaking. I felt like I was about to fall over my legs felt so rubbery.

I saw Coach Dale. Jetta and Bonnie had stopped at the parking lot by the waterfall at Seven Falls and he had rode up to join me.

We stopped and took a couple of pictures and started back down. Naturally the sun went behind a cloud. It was now cool, overcast. I would have given anything for that during the last three miles. Dale told us later that we had climbed 2,000 feet over the last 3 miles which is even steeper than the climb of the Big Nasty in Moab.

We were back down where Bonnie and Jetta has stopped in the blink of an eye. It was kind of a scary descent for me. The switchbacks are so sharp you have to be really careful not to overshoot and end up flying off the edge of the road or veering to far to the left into the path of a car coming up the other side.

Dale cajoled Bonnie and Jetta to finish the climb. Somewhat reluctantly, but being good sports they accepted the challenge. I decided to ride back up with them and off we went.

It was Deja Vu all over again as I struggled up the steepest switchback. I made it to the top in time to be able to snap a picture of Jetta and Bonnie as they launched up the road to the finish.
Back down we went towards the waterfall and being in tourist mode and wanting to capture the day, I stopped and took a picture. Gorgeous. I love waterfalls and the sound of water!


During the last part of the descent, it began to rain to add to the challenge as now the roads were wet making braking even more difficult.

We continued on our tour and headed off towards the Broadmoor Hotel where at a very busy intersection we watched a deer wait patiently at a 4 way stop sign where she safely crossed the road and scampered into the trees.

We continued past the historic Broadmoor East course, build by Donald Ross where Jack Nicklaus won the 1958 U.S. Amateur and arrived at the roundabout entrance to the famous Broadmoor Hotel where we were eyed suspiciously by the security guards.

We turned and headed back to the bike shop where we had started the ride from.

Total distance today was only 46.4 miles which included over 3,000 feet of climbing.

I began the day thinking about Megan Dickey and Patti Kaufman who both passed away on 7-11 day one year apart. Meagan in 2007 at the age of 13, Patti last year.

I remember during one stretch of a hard section of climbing, thinking of all the people I was riding for, why I am riding. How many times did I lean on Kelly to get me through a bad patch of running or get me to the top of a climb? I miss her so much and I cry for just a moment.

I am grateful that I can ride for her and keep her memory and my love for her alive. I am grateful for the love I feel for Laiken and the people that she has brought into my life, Shanya, Stacey, Donna, people I have not met, but people I care about. I am grateful that I can ride for Brittany, Trista, Mason, Brandan and my latest little hero, Alyson in the hopes that a cure for all cancers will be found someday soon.

Till that day, I will keep pedaling, keep running, for my heroes and for my angels.

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Comfy Cupboard

I took the day off from yesterday so I could attend a ribbon cutting ceremony in the Bone Marrow transplant unit at Children's Hospital.

When I ran the Denver marathon last fall, I had dedicated one of my miles to baby Melina, who died from Leukemia when she was ten months old. Ten months. Out of all the stories I have heard since I started with Team in Training 10 years ago, that is one of the most heart wrenching stories I have heard.

The Comfy Cupboard supplies items to families who have forgotten to bring something along on their hospital stay. It will have toothpaste, deoderant, cameras, journals, games, etc. The money that was raised at Melina's golf tournament was used to fund this project.

Melina's Mom cut the ribbon at the ceremony yesterday. It was a really special moment to see the spirit of Angel Melina at work.

Afterwards I was able to go visit Mighty Mason who happened to be at Children's Hospital. He had to go to hospital last weekend due to a fever. Mason was the team hero for the fall season. I had a nice visit with Mason's parents and enjoyed seeing Mason set his parents straight on a few issues. Mason is 6 years old.

Someday I hope the Comfy Cupboard has no use.

Until that day comes, this will provide comfort to a family that didn't have the time to pack everything as they rushed to the hospital with their child.

Angel Melina at work :)

Take that, Cancer!

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Meet Mighty Mason

I have a favor to ask to everyone that is reading my blog.

Mason Bernard is our team hero for the Denver marathon this fall. Mason is six years old and has A.L.L. Mason is pictured directly in front of me. His Mother Catherine is seated next to him on the right side of the picture.

Please check out his website and leave Mason and his Mom, Catherine a word of encouragement or please pray for them.

http://mightymason.wordpress.com/2008/08/26/chemo-fever

Catherine is one of my teammates that I will be running with in the Denver marathon this fall.

Does Catherine want to run a marathon and spend time away from her Mason and her family? I would think that would not be her first choice. Does Catherine want to do everything possible as a Mother for her son? I have no doubt as to the answer to that question.

Mason just started kindergarten and is already missing school. This disease is so relentless, the toll on those we love and their families can't be measured.

I will be honored to be running with Catherine this fall, running for Mason, running to honor Kelly, Laiken and Patti's lives, running ever closer to a cure.

Catherine-I know you feel alone at times, you are not.

Mighty Mason, you rock!

Kelly-I love you, miss you so much. You will always be my hero!

Relentless for a cure!

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