The passion for this two person organization burns still and it burns bright. I f*cking hate cancer. HATE IT.  My hatred for it stirs something within me that I can’t explain. Cancer is a bastard. I am so tired of it ripping people away from me and away from ….. anyone. Right now I have one way to fight back and one way to arm these teens who have had cancer… in their battle to prevent a secondary cancer.

Challenging World Champions to a kick off. Good god it happened again.

I am not sure how we got it started. My homegirl Jen Small and I were conversing on Twitter yesterday and somehow…. with a few others joining in on the conversation I found myself with another challenge on hand. This time…. two time Ironman World Champion Chris McCormack, known to those of us in triathlon world as Macca.

So it’s on. Macca and I will kick off in Kona this October. I will be there coaching and well, for the underpants run. Lifelong dream folks. I know, aim high.

I will be very honest with you. Since the Armstrong kick off ended I was feeling a bit lost. We raised a lot of money but we have more to go. We have more to do, we have more teens to reach. I have this platform and I need to use it. I look at these Teens week after week and I need to keep this ball bouncing, rolling, spreading. I feel an insurmountable … feeling that I need to continue this.

How Mr. Armstrong fared……

Having a bigger purpose is a gift. Having something to work for that is so much more than you gives you drive like none other.Those who don’t understand will think it’s about you. Those who do get it….. you guys….. get that it’s all about Teens Living With Cancer.

Mr. McCormack lost his mother to breast cancer and began a foundation called MaccaNow. It’s amazing. It’s wonderful. What a way to honor the woman who raised you. I identify with him in his experience with cancer just like I did Mr. Armstrong. Just like I do these teens. What if we keep pulling those who are at the forefront in the fight…. what if we keep pulling them together. Keep fighting. Keep challenging, keep kicking….. together you and I ….. we make a difference.

Many more details to come. We have some time. And don’t worry, I ain’t afraid of M. McCormack. He is an Aussie which means he is completely crazy (crazy good as we say ’round here). Hell…… he gave me the secret to getting in his head right in his book. Mr. Armstrong wasn’t easy on me and I sure as hell don’t expect Mr. McCormack to be either. You bring it on brother.

The beautiful thing is this….. I have read your book, I have watched you race. You know nothing about me. I have had good results, I have had bad results. I have had everything in between sir. I have you right where I want you.(insert evil laugh here)

Mr. McCormack though….. is just another example of a professional athlete who is willing to use his platform and his place in this world to make a difference in a positive way.  admire that beyond belief . I am inspired by that. I am inspired to reach as someone like he does. I thank people like him in this world who do something. And for the right reason.

“You did what?” My husband asked me. “Oh my god.”

It’s back to the kickboard I go. Being that those of you who aren’t in the world of triathlon aren’t aware of who he is…. this becomes a bit more intimate, a bit more organic but trust me we have the same focus and the same drive. Details are being worked out as we speak because…. well I didn’t have a plan for this. It started out as a joke between Jen and I and well,Mr. McC. never backs down from a challenge.

I chicked Mr. Armstrong (choke, laugh) …. can I chick Macca? More importantly, how much can we raise? How much awareness can we bring? Can we absolutely kick the sh*t our of Cancer AGAIN?

Maybe these things are my way of giving cancer the middle finger. I have a feeling…. Mr. McC might feel the same way.

Oh and before I forget! Next Wednesday is our final assessment night of TLC Fit…. we have a special guest coming. An Ironman Champion. Stay tuned!

What I didn’t expect was to open a book to read about someone with whom I resonate very deeply with in two areas of life that are not related to multisport. Eating Disorders and our work. As I read her words that detailed her thoughts about what it was like to live in the mind of one with an eating disorder I thought to myself…. exactly, she is articulating it exactly as it is.

I read the thoughts of a woman who has been there like I have and who understands the battle and who understands the shame and the feelings that you have when this is actually the world you live in. It was like she opened my head and read my mind. That battle of perfection, that self-created pressure of competing against yourself, being your own harshest critic and expecting nothing except 110% of yourself. No one in eating disorder world ever speaks of that. And that’s where it is and what is true. Those of us who are fortunate to have found recovery get that, understand that and we feel that we owe it to those who we hurt through it.

As you travel through your life and come into the presence of people who would do anything to have the health you once literally flushed down the toilet, you notice a deep and insurmountable desire to pay it backwards at the same time you pay it forward. Their lack of…. becomes your cause. Because you had so much and chose to treat it badly. Your obsession became your worst enemy and now…… you feel indebted to those who need the help you can give.

You give to them not for accolades. Not to be noticed. Not to become famous. You do it because it’s the right thing to do.

It’s one thing… as Chrissie says… to hand them a pen with your logo on it. It’s an entirely different situation to teach them to do for themselves.

I have always….. always struggled with that. For ten years I threw up and deteriorated my own health. When I was able to gain it back I embarked on this athletic career which has given me more than I deserve. What we do with that….. how we do it…… let me correct myself…. what I do with that and how I do it became extremely important to me.

This whole thing with Mr. Armstrong my main focus was the kids. It meant I had to do a lot of press but as long as we stuck to the issues we were on the good foot. It was inescapable that we had to embrace the star power and how it all happened. At the end of the day I slept well each night knowing that what we were doing and why we were doing it was because of the most authentic intentions. We raised over $61,000 in that experience and while the media hoopla has died down, we have kept on going.

Because we can give a teen a t-shirt and tell them it’s going to be ok. Or we can teach them the tools they need to make their own OK.

I found Chrissie’s book to speak to that passion for this kind of work, that lives inside of me. That feeling that isn’t guilt for what I have and someone else doesn’t, but that feeling that I can use my platform as an athlete and all the things I do to make a difference in my own way. Trust me when you are able to do that your biggest trophy is teeny in comparison.

Mr. Armstrong in his speech reminded us that we have to take care of one another. That we have to look out for each other. That we have to pay it forward. Chrissie emphasizes that as well, and daily I see more and more people embracing it. Some will always do it for the recognition they think it affords them or for personal gain. In my opinion, who cares the reason? If it helps someone then what happens in the end is that it teaches us to do the right thing and to be the right person.

This Sunday I will be walking with our Teens from TLC Fit in the Lilac 5K. When a friend heard I was doing that he asked me….. are you ok with a walk time in print?

I was almost offended at the question. He pointed out my competitiveness. He’s right. Absolutely, I am competitive. That is not a secret. I felt good, really good that the thought had not crossed my mind until he asked me that. This walk isn’t about me it’s realizing a goal that we at TLC Fit set together on my birthday in January. The first night of the program.

That night we said that we would complete the Lilac 5K in May. There are teens who can’t run and trust me they want to. But they can’t. I will be with them. Not because I want to be seen doing that, but because on that evening back in January some of these teens didn’t believe me that they’d be able to do it.

And now they are just days away from it.

That… will be more rewarding than any Ironman finish line I have ever achieved.

Reading Chrissie’s book helped me feel validated in this endeavor. That it’s okay to use what you achieve to catapult something else. That it’s okay to repay what you did to your own health by sharing what you know with others. At the same time it’s okay to feel the passion that you feel for your sport and it’s okay to pursue your goals and dreams simultaneously. In fact do both together and have the most exhausted and rewarded feeling when you collapse into bed each night.

It’s an odd mix of passions but ultimately one that can go hand in hand. My parents have always taught me that when it comes to chasing your dreams that the rules don’t apply. As long as you are good to others and treat people right then the rules of what should be just don’t matter.

I highly recommend the book. Expect to be talked to about heart rates and wattages. Be blown away by the passion for making a difference. My challenge to you then, is to follow through with it.

• Thank you to everyone who came out to the Teens Living With Cancer Hole in One Contest this weekend. It’s still going on, so visit the website for details! Click HERE!
• Because of the above, I wasn’t able to get the donor list yet (Lauren is slightly overwhelmed, can’t imagine why?) but I shall have it soon. I can’t wait to sit down with a PEN and a beautiful Thank You card I had specially made to hand write my thanks to all of you. This may take me some time but they will come.
• Professional Triathlete Jennie Hansen will be presenting a clinic on running injuries and biomechanics. It’s this Tuesday night at 7:15 at fleet Feet Rochester. The girl runs a sub three-hour marathon and a 1:22 half marathon off a 56 mile bike. I’ll be there, and I hope you will too!
• Tuesday mornings have become the new Friday night at Cycledelic Indoor Cycling Studio. We’ve been hitting up Matt’s class at 6am, and we love it. Come join us, if you are a triathlete this will suit you well!
• My other secret obsession is Fusion. A functional strength training class taught by one of Rochester’s best personal trainers, Steve from Midtown Athletic Club. More to come on that class, but it’s the new Saturday night. 6am. You should be there.
• Our Teens Living With Cancer Fit Program will be at the Lilac 5K this weekend! I will be walking with some of our teens, others will be running but THIS was the goal of the program! We’ve got some great sponsors to thank, so stay tuned!

After a weekend like this past one you can’t help waking up Monday morning feeling like the world is at your fingertips. No matter what your situation, what your status, who you are I can promise you this: your life is 100% what you MAKE it to be.

Look at an athlete like Olympic bound Manny Huerta, who at this weekend’s ITU San Diego race earned himself a spot on TEAM USA in triathlon. Look at his story and understand that the United States of America is the field of dreams. I hear a lot of people blame their circumstances for what they fail to achieve in life. They are too poor, too slow, too this… insert your excuse here, and then there are those like the Olympic hopefuls that we watched on Saturday who threw it all aside. Manny isn’t the only underdog story out there, believe me. There are a hundred more, he’s just the easiest to use because of what he accomplished this past weekend.

Photograph from www.slowtwitch.com

You want to talk about a man who had nothing? Manny Huerta started out with the damn shirt on his back. He could have worked the system and stayed in poverty, but he and his family worked hard. It seems they realized the opportunity that is in this country and they worked their asses off. Working your ass off does not mean it comes easy either.

You want to get to the other side…. you have to walk through the damn fire.

While we all may not have escaped a communist country to do that….. you and I have crossed our own fires before and we continue to do that today. In my life I refused to be a victim, refused to play victim, and when I was down and out I bucked the hell up and got myself to a place where I wanted to be. I have had plenty of chances  to sit down, quit and complain. But my parents taught me otherwise. And they did so without any handouts. They taught me what work meant. They taught me what being responsible for oneself meant.

It’s all in your own hands.

I love what I saw this past weekend from athletes on all levels and in all races.

On Saturday morning I had the opportunity to take part in an indoor triathlon (actually, it was outside, as the pool is outside!) at my gym. I never do short races like this and I haven’t done a relay since I was pregnant (I did three tris as the swimmer while carrying Luc). A team needed a swimmer and I fit the bill. Was it hard to not do the whole thing? No not at all. It was awesome to be a part of something.

We ended up winning the division and a bottle of Chardonnay! Is that like pink wine? And one of my athletes turns out some wicked time trial stats in his last-minute jump into the race!

I got to watch the beautiful group of Moms in Motion here in Rochester, many doing their first, the husband of one of my friends did his first. The man sidestroked that entire swim but damn he did it. I was so honored and proud to see all of the athletes there reaching for a dream. It was amazing.

While I was racing one of my athletes Jennie was out racing in a short duathlon in the next town over. It was the end of a recovery week and I like to give her some zone 3 when possible. I spent the winter slowing her down in training (99% of my job is not to kick your ass, it’s to slow you down) so when the chance arises to give her some speed….. I like to. It’s like giving a kid chocolate.

Not only did she execute, she took the prize money from the race and donated it right back to the foundation the race was raising money for, Two Smiles One Hope. The ability for someone to look at the bigger picture like she did, and use her position as a professional triathlete to set the example, shows what a class act she is. I am more proud of that act than I am of her physical performance.

At the same time that all of this was happening, Ken (another athlete of mine) was racing his season opener in Virginia at the Kinetic Half. His work and consistency over the past 3 years came shining through with one of his best performances and equally best execution ever for him. At the same time Steve up in NH throws down a near PR half marathon in a training race. Really? Awesome. Saturday night I announced the Fly By Night Duathlon down at Watkins Glenn where Greg rips 11 minutes off his time from 2011, Don executes a kick ass race. This weekend it came from all around. Positive people doing positive things with themselves and their talents.

In the San Diego race our QT2 Teammate Ethan Brown turned out the performance of his life, setting the stage for a future olympic bid. This kid has worked long and hard to get where he is and is one of the truest examples of what hard work can do for someone. The stories in San Diego are many and they are all unbelievable. Olympic dreams were realized for some and lost for others. It seems that the ones that were lost though…… the ability to even toe that line was cherished and appreciated.

Mornings like this make you walk outside, take the deepest breath of fresh air that you can, and motivate you to make something of the day and of yourself.

My thought process is this….. when I am 95 years old I will not look back at my life and say…  I could have, should have, ought to have done…… I am going to be sitting in my power lift rocking chair with a carbon fiber walker (that I will have cracked eight times) telling my grandchildren stories of my life. I will tell them of the races, the adventures, the jumps out of airplanes. I will tell them of my near death experiences, of how I raced Lance Armstrong and of all the insane things I got to do. I will teach them how to grab life by the balls and make the most out of every single day. I will encourage them to live hard and to fall into bed every night exhausted. I will teach them to never settle, never allow themselves to be a victim of circumstance. I will teach them to be passionate and to fight for what they believe in, but to fight the right way. I will teach them to take the high road and if you have conflict with a person to be the better example.

I hope that is what I am teaching our son right now. Trust me it’s not easy. But I don’t like things that are easy anyway.

Then I will sit back in that power lift rocking chair, my body will be weary and bruised to the bone, and I will smile.

The Manny Huerta story is the true American dream type of story. One that we should listen to. One that we should hold tight.

There is nothing better than an Olympic year. Get your American flags out and prepare to stay up late. Prepare to jump when Phelps dives in the water and to scream at our triathletes as they run down the medals.

And realize this……. your life is what you make of it. So make something of it.

I’m not sure if it’s specific to swimmers, but it’s what I have known for over 30 years now. It’s been with me through some amazing times in my life…. and some really horrible times.

I am talking about the black line. Up there, that runs the length of the pool. It’s one of my longest standing friends and at times my fiercest enemies. Wherever I go in my life, I always find it. I always look for it. It provides me with a sense of comfort. No matter what city I am in, what time of day, no matter what is happening in the world around me, the minute I push-off the wall in a streamline….. it’s there. It’s the common denominator of so many things in my life.

As a kid I followed it. In swim team we circled around it, and then in meets had to remember to stay on it. Through those years I cried in my goggles more times than I will ever admit to you, but I laughed just as much. I remember when my grandmother died, I was 12. My first experience with death and the beginning of my hatred for that f*cking disease we call cancer. I have a slight issue with cancer as you might have noticed.

I remember getting into the pool and looking down at that black line. My coach said …. just follow the line tonight.” And that’s what I did. That’s what I have always done.

When I went to college in a strange city with strange people it was the one thing familiar to me.

When I began triathlon in 1996 …. the Edinboro Triathlon…. it was the one thing I was missing. Open water was new territory for me and my black line was gone.

When I was pregnant with our son it was the one thing that never changed. I stared at it the day I delivered for 4,000 yards feeling like I was about to take an exam I hadn’t studied for. Wondering what motherhood would feel like, just a few hours away. Was I ready, would I know what to do? Who would this little boy who had been swimming with me for 9 months be when he grew up?

That black line has never had an answer for me but at the same time it’s had every answer.

Every decision I have ever had to make…. except the answer to “will you marry me” (I knew that one right away) I have swam over. I have contemplated by staring at that black line.

I don’t know if this feeling, this experience is specific to swimmers….  it’s just what I know.

When I train it dares me. When I race I want to kill it. It’s never abandoned me and I have taken it for granted.

It’s just a line on the bottom of the pool… that’s what you will tell me.

But it’s so much more than that. To me it’s a representation of my life in a way. You see me swim back and forth but the yards and miles I have swam with that line are too many to count or even comprehend. That line knows where I have been. It knows what I have dreamt. It knows how many tears I have cried in those swedes.

(It’s even been with me when I raced Mr. Armstrong)

My coffin will have to have a black line painted down the inside of the damn lid.

Every morning as I sip my coffee I take a minute and I look down the lane. I think about the journey we have been on all these years together.

And we are not even halfway done yet.

Right now we sit at $60K. We raised that in just 6 weeks. By the way I will get the donor list on Tuesday, you plan on receiving a handwritten mailed thank you note from me (hopefully you included an address!). It almost feels like a wedding…. I had some special thank you cards made for all of you. Words can not express our thanks. And again no worries, we aren’t done yet.

As I have accepted that life won’t ever return to normal….. I have also understood that this new level of normal is amazing. Getting in there and making an actual difference. A real plan going forward, amazing things are on the way and I can’t wait to share. We have a lot to do. Instead of me waiting for life to calm down, I simply have to reorganize myself, and as Mr. A taught me…. MSH (make sh*t happen).

Training is going well, I have finally settled on my race schedule for the season (see side column). I had hoped to get out to the Presque Isle Time Trial Sunday, but am without my racing bike… again. Thanks to the kind folks at Quarq my new powermeter is on the way, and my bike is in a few pieces. It had been broken during a transfer from bike to bike. One year and three days to the warranty…. they so kindly are honoring the replacement!!!! One of these days I will get to ride than darn bike.

My former bike, being rebuilt… leaves me to the mountain bike and spinning bike. (I am always amazed of the misconceptions people have about Spinning, as I have expressed before. I can do an entire spinning class in my aerobic HR zone and still do all of the things you do in a spinning class.)

No worries, I still GSD (get sh*t done).

I am pretty excited to really begin getting ready for Vegas. I have time, I have a great plan thanks to QT2 as always. Our training is pretty simple, do the work… get results. We don’t have magic training, we have concise training, and if you are consistent and you follow it….. things happen. Simple.

Starting today I am beginning  work with one of our other talented dietitians here at QT2. I have always worked with Jesse on the nutrition front, he’s awesome. I wanted to experience what our athletes experience. I wanted to be able to tell them and write about it from a different standpoint.  Rachel G, who is returning to QT2 after a stint away is my girl. Her background in sports nutrition is extensive, and she ironically has experience in oncology. I am pretty excited to be able to bring you that experience from different side. I have already confessed my coffee addiction to her.

Full. freaking. Disclosure.

It’s time to get to Vegas fighting weight, and I am pretty psyched to work with her to help me do it.

As race season is upon us the whirlwind of summer is about to begin. This weekend I will be announcing at the Fly By Night Duathlon (and I will have Duel in the Pool T shirts with me….. $20!!!!!). I am also taking part in the MidTown Triathlon this Sat….. two people in spinning class were seeking a swimmer, so I thought it’d be fun!

Stay tuned this week for some Teens living With Cancer Fit updates. We have some good stuff up our sleeves!

I have many many more pictures from the kick off as well. Enjoy!

My bud Charlie and I

Getting a hug from two time cancer survivor and amazing woman, Heather Swift. Woman we couldn’t have done this without you.

My family, we are all looking at different cameras!

Luc and Lance

Entering the pool with Mr. Armstrong. Lauren made me a fight robe with my name on the back, and the Teens signed the inside!

Only two athletes in the world have this trophy. Me and Lance Freaking Armstrong!

Think about it this way. Ryan Hall, Olympic marathoner runs what…. a 5 min mile (or should I say he walks it)? Let’s just say he does for a round number. Let’s also say that the fastest I could run a mile is a 7 min mile. For two round numbers. What happened at the kick off was like Ryan Hall running next to me at a 6:59 pace. Easy for him, but pushing me to the point where I feel like I am going to puke. As if to say…… while I will “Let” you have this win….. I am going to make you earn it.

Photography by Steve Morse

What I learned from Mr. Armstrong is that he sets the bar high. Without saying a word he dares you to rise to the occasion. A lot of people ask  him for things with this attitude of…. dude you are rich… give me a ride on your plane. Mr. Armstrong might give you a ride on his plane, but you’d better believe you are going to earn that ride. There are no free rides in life and he’s worked his ass off just like you and I have. Maybe his circumstances were different and that allowed him to make a pretty good living, but the man still earned it.

So do you and I.

When we initially set the fundraising goal, he set it higher.

When we started the race, he set the pace.

He did it without saying a word. He just did it. I admire that kind of coaching, that kind of challenge. He never said…. if you don’t hit the fundraising goal it I am not showing up. He simply took our bar and raised it higher as if to say… show me that you are serious about what you believe in. . Today I am happy to report that our tally is at $59,000 and counting. But we aren’t done yet. We promised $100K and we will hit it by October. We’ve got some surprise events up our sleeves.

Photography by Steve Morse

I’ve learned a lot through this experience. If I had to share my three biggest lessons here is what they’d be:

1. Have thick skin: If you are going to put yourself out there, be prepared to take a beating. I was fortunate to only have four people contact me …. being complete a**holes. You will learn that people will attack everything from your hair to your hat to your family. In these situations you have two choices:  (as these are people who have never met you)  let it bother you, or delete it. Personally I chose to delete them. But if you can’t handle a little criticism… get out of the fire.

I cared about the opinions of the following people and the following people only: my family, Mr. Armstrong and the Teens. Every single day I looked at the name Melissa, and I used her as my compass. That doesn’t mean I am perfect, or that I didn’t get a little excited and overzealous at times….. but as long as I remained true to what we were doing, then that was fine with me.

Haters are gonna hate, I notice that the people who criticize are the ones who sit around and bitch, instead of being part of the solution. I have no use for that. Delete.

I am passionate about them. (Steve Morse Photography)

2. Be passionate about what you believe in: Piggybacking on the above, to my critics I say this: I hope a loved one of yours NEVER has to go through what these teens have. But if you find yourself in this situation, then you call me and I will fight just as hard for you anyways.

If you have something that you believe with in your heart and in your soul…. then you have to run with it. If that means getting on TV in a damn bathing suit (oh god) then it won’t even matter. Your passion is bigger than anything that comes before you. Do you believe in it enough to move heaven and earth? Then let nothing hold you back.

I looked at these teens that I work with and I watch their videos every day…..  this age group fares the worst when it comes to cancer. This age group is the age group we have made the least amount of progress with. As a nurse I have watched them fight, watched some die and watched some defeat odds bigger than you can imagine. It angers me that this group is the forgotten group. Get to know these teens like I have and you will feel a fire in your belly that nothing can squash. Get to know these teens and you’d do anything in the world for them.

If you are truly…. and I mean truly passionate about what you believe in….. let nothing hold you back.

Handshake between survivors

3. The brick walls are there to keep the others out: (Thank you Randy Pausch for that little nugget) 100K is a lot of money. I don’t even make 100K. . That itself was a brick wall. But as we learned from Mr. Pausch, the brick walls in life are to keep the others out. If it’s too hard others back out, back down and quit.

Mr. Armstrong’s strategy was genius. He gave us his name, he gave us a few plugs but he put up that brick wall. And we are climbing over. he knew he was going to let me touch that wall first but he made me work for it. That’s good coaching. Ironically that’s the kind of coach I respond to. Like Jesse, he isn’t afraid to stand in my face and dare me.

That sh*t fires me up. Raise the bar and I will reach higher.

While Mr. Armstrong and I were walking down the hall together and I reported on how much we had raised he was astounded. Not because he didn’t think we could do it, but we raised almost $60K in five weeks. He understood the significance of that. He understood it takes others years to raise the amount that we have.

We did that and we did it together. You and I.

From the beginning there were brick walls to an event like this that you can’t even imagine. Put a celebrity in the mix of this and things can get contentious. We had the stroke of luck that the forest through the trees was seen and now we have this chapter of Teens living with Cancer being brought to Roswell Park. You can read more about that here.

A Cancer Center in BUFFALO has reached out to bring us into their program and their hospital with funding and support. For the record…… NO HOSPITAL IN ROCHESTER can say that. Just as an aside. So talk about brick walls, that’s one right there that we climbed.

So there is my advice. When I sent that Tweet I had no plan because I had no clue he would actually accept the challenge. Thanks to a great team… Lauren and Leah, the only two who work for TLC, we created a game plan and thanks to all of you….. we raised one hell of a lot of money.

We are going to hit 100K, we are still accepting donations and I have T Shirts in my car for sale. The T Shirts are limited edition, we only have so many, they are $20 and 100% of the proceeds go to us. We did have a donor for them and those thank you’s are on the way.

To donate click here www.teenslivingwithcancer.org

For  a T shirt give me a shout.

Don’t be afraid to go after what you believe in.

Did you know that as a group….. adolescent cancer is the group we have made the least amount of progress with? That means this….. if you are 4, 14, 44 and you are diagnosed with cancer… any kind….. the 14-year-old automatically had the worst prognosis. I am being very very general here but look it up. Ask around. We have made great advances in all other age groups.

We can’t lose these kids.

Lots more pictures on my facebook page

As Mr. Armstrong says in the videos I am about to link we are at a time in our country where Federal funding is being cut. So we do have to be creative in how we keep the movement going forward. It’s supporting movements like proposition 29 out on California, or finding a way to bridge the gap…. like we did.

I look at these kids I get to work with and I feel protective of them. I can’t lose these kids. How can I help them? Fitness and nutrition is a big way that I can contribute. It’s one of the best defenses against developing a secondary cancer, which they are at risk for. Does that mean if it comes back then they could have prevented it? No. God no. It just means that we have a small way to try to help prevent it. And if we have a small way to help fight it then we are still in the game.

And as long as we are breathing we are still in the game.

This past weekend gave us a voice. When we say we are a small grassroots foundation … trust me I mean we are a small grass-roots foundation. TWO people work at the center. Lauren (Melissa’s mom)  and Leah (two time cancer survivor). There is no administrative staff, there is no…. payroll….. there is no….. nothing. I am the volunteer along with my friends Andy and Katie. And the teens.

That’s it. That’s all she wrote.

Which is why it was so funny that I was asked what my strategic marketing plan was in regards to the fundraising. It was Lauren, Leah, Andy and I sitting in a room with donated furniture at 9:00 at night. There was no plan. There was no strategy, except to ask.

It doesn’t get more grassroots than us here people.

Right now we are sitting at $55K and donations are still rolling in. This is not over. Our goal was $100,000 and we are more than halfway there. You can be rest assured that your donation goes to the Teens Living With Cancer program.

To donate…. click here

To buy a T shirt… click here.

100% goes to TLC

Thank you to the University at Buffalo production team for this wonderful video:

Here is the full uncut version, thank you to Donald Felice of www.wnypapers.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQodB_V_9yA&feature=related

And here is the press conference, again thanks to Donald Felice of www.wnypapers.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQodB_V_9yA&feature=related

(thanks for the picture Andy!)

The Race

I don’t have much to say about the details of the race. It’s really well documented as many of you have seen and read. Click here for some of the video coverage and click here for Lisa Barnes’ play by play. She captured every single moment of the actual race. Also try googling “Eggers vs. Armstrong”, we seem to be hitting the CNN airwaves!

Mr. Armstrong and I after I touched him out Photo by Steve Morse

First things first….. we need to be honest…. Mr. Armstrong was gracious in this competition. He had very good reason to come here and kick my ass. I have done a lot of trash talking. Now I won’t say he threw the race.  He might have eased up slightly… but he made me work for that win. With all due respect he’s much more talented than I, he is a swimmer as he’s come back to triathlon, and he could have absolutely destroyed me. I am not even a good kicker.

During the actual race he was talking to me…. saying come on Mary! Come on Mary!!! Had I been able to breathe much less shout something to him it would have been  along the lines of shut the hell up Armstrong. Since I was kicking at about 900 times my lactate threshold however, I couldn’t. Let’s give proper credit here, he knew why he was here and it was much more important than a 50 kick. I knew that whatever game he brought, I had to bring my A game. You don’t dare a 7 time Tour de France winner and bring a B game. (My A game might be his D game, but that’s life).

So a big kudos to Mr. Armstrong for having the graciousness to make it fun, and for making me work for it. Believe me I did.

What was it like to Meet Lance Armstrong?

Believe it or not I wasn’t that nervous. We’ve been in contact over the last 5 weeks and even that morning. The amount of people who were there in the lounge we were waiting in made me nervous. As soon as he walked in, he shook my hand… I think he gave me a hug but my memory is not clear…. and I felt at ease.

I have always been mindful to not be that fan who rushes up to him screaming “Oh my gawd I am your biggest fan..” and rattle off his stats. I am sure he knows his stats and if he doesn’t…. well then there is always Google. I was careful to give him space, because everyone wanted his attention, wanted him to do this and that….. so I backed off as much as possible. I did have the opportunity to talk to him and I kept it about the event and I made sure to let him know we have raised $51,000 as of an hour before the event. He was really happy about. THAT was speaking his language.

I found him to be very kind, gracious and  very interested to meet the teens. He shook all of their hands and took this gorgeous photo with them after the race. They were totally over the moon. They had a poolside spot for the whole thing. One of the girls said to me… I just hugged Lance Amstrong. That’s how it should be.

(Photo by Jeff Tracy)

The Money

Mr. Armstrong talked about the obligation of the cured. He told the story of the doctor who on the day of his discharge told him that there were two exits from the hospital. The private one, where no one knows you were here, no one knows you had cancer, and you quietly go on about your life. The other door is the public door. Where there are people waiting for you and you share your story, listen to others and essentially “pay it forward” when it comes to cancer.

He chose the public door. Thank God. Thank God he did.

We have so much power as a human race, especially today…… to help one another.

We raised $51,000 without the help of any local running store, bike store….. no one. To be fair I am sure everyone comes to stores asking for donations. There are budgets and economies and each does their own thing for charity. So I totally understand. I just want to make this point….. we did it on small donations.

Ever hear the story of the optimist and the pessimist? While the optimist and the pessimist were arguing whether the glass is half full or half empty, the opportunist snuck in and drank the water. While people are out there debating on the value of social media…. we snuck in there and used it to stage one of the greatest fundraising coups ever seen. We had one anonymous donor give us $5,000. Our teammates pooled together their money at Qt2 and donated another 5. The Zimmet group matched total donations for a total I believe that was $2500. (More on some of the things that some of our local companies did this week). One woman donated $10 five times over the past 5 weeks. Most donations were $5-250. This money came from your pockets.

To me that demonstrated again, the power of people. Regular people. You and I kind of people.

While I was at the reception last night a woman grabbed me by the arm. She was elegantly dressed to a T. She wanted to know how I managed to raise that kind of money in 5 weeks, what was my strategic plan?

I looked at her. Here I was standing in a 10-year-old black dress, clip in hair (That’s my pool to party secret… shhhhh) and I was half the woman this lady was. I smiled. “We did it by asking.” And that is the God’s honest truth.

I begged, you shared. Teens Living With Cancer raises $51,000 PLUS.

The speech

During his speech Mr. Armstrong stated that the highlight of his trip was the Duel in the Pool. As I said above it was not because of the race. He explained that his and my paths crossed on Twitter and because of that we not only raised all this money, but we are expanding Teens Living With Cancer to Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, filling a much-needed hole in what I consider to be the forgotten age group of cancer victims (age 13-19). He, like we were… was astounded at the power of social media. How it has shrunk the world and connected us all.

Photo by Jeff Tracy

He gave me one of the highest compliments I have ever been given. His words have had me in tears most of the day. He said that I was authentic and that I was passionate about Teens Living With Cancer. My initial reaction was to disagree, but I understand that there are times when a thank you is appropriate.

I struggle with being called a hero. I struggle with being called an inspiration. When people say something like that I interpret it to mean WE. The Teens. The teens are the heroes and they are the inspiration. I didn’t do anything inspirational or heroic. They did. They stared down the barrel of the gun we call cancer. They fought the fight, they survived.

When I think of authenticity….. I think you are or you are not. It’s not something I aim to be. I am or am not. When this all began my only worry is that Mr. Armstrong would think I was some crazed fan who was out for personal gain. His saying those words allowed me to finally relax about it. I felt like he got it, he got me. Through however he came to that conclusion, I felt very honored to be given that compliment in that setting. Thank you for that Mr. Armstrong. I will always remember that, and I will always hold myself to that standard.

Mr. Armstrong quoted Muhammad Ali  “Service to others is the rent you  pay for your room here on earth”. He talked about how we need to take care of one another, look out for each other. It doesn’t take a lot of money. Sometimes it takes hitting share on Facebook, sitting down on the couch and listening, sometimes just a smile and a hug. That’s how we can take care of one another, that’s how we can make this world a better place.

A young lady asked him what his greatest accomplishments were. He said Father, Cancer crusader  / Livestrong / and cycling. It was important to him to communicate that while he was grateful for what cycling has done for him and given him…… his priorities have shifted his goals have changed.

A young girl the age of 12 asked him what it was like to not be able to have kids and then be able to. I can’t recreate the scenario but it was possibly the most hilarious scene ever as Mr. Armstrong apologized to her for swearing in his book, as she told him she was reading it. He asked if her parents were there as he delicately walked through the experience of being deemed infertile and then fertile again. Best Q & A ever in my opinion.

The Teens

At the end of the speech they rolled the film of the Duel in the Pool, although Mr. Armstrong had already revealed the winner on twitter.

(The teens are the real heroes)

When it came to the part of the video that pictures of Melissa were shown (Lauren and Doug’s daughter, who died at age 19 and inspired Melissa’s Living Legacy) I watched as her father looked down, and her mother put her face in her hands. They were sitting in front of my father and I. In front of 4,500 people her story was told, and how Teens Living With Cancer was born and where it is going was explained.

The teens sitting around us all looked at one another. One turned around and looked at me. This was the defining moment of this journey, at least for me.

We are not a big corporate foundation. Some places have $100K to use to organize a fundraiser. I am a volunteer, this is Lauren and Leah. Melissa’s father and brother made the awards, her brother did all the website design and Duel in the Pool logos. Lauren and Leah worked tirelessly for five weeks for this endeavor. We are grassroots, like real grassroots. This event and Mr. Armstrong helped to shine a spotlight on this foundation and the programs we can offer through Teens Living With Cancer. That was their moment. That was our moment. It was like….. wow…. we have this voice.

Second Place

What’s next

We have no idea. Everything throughout the past 5 weeks has led to this point. We had no idea we would wake up this morning to messages from friends in New Orleans and California and Georgia that we were on CNN, and other news channels. Will it raise more awareness? More money? Will it open doors? We don’t know.

For me….. I will continue my work with these Teens. This is what I am passionate about, this is our crusade and what we have done if nothing else is shown ourselves that anything is possible in this world with a little hard work.

In my dream situation I would love a position where I could continue to develop fitness programs for teens who are post chemotherapy or in treatment. I feel that’s a place I can contribute best. It allows me to combine my experience as a Nurse, Fitness consultant, coach, etc. (I don’t need a 6 figure salary. Just enough to cover my family and a good dental plan mouth reconstruction so stinks).

I will continue of course to do that right here too. But just in case the folks at Livestrong are reading! I have a lot of passion for Teens Living With Cancer, for this age group, and to try to help them through something I know something about.

Thank you

Thank you to so many people for so many things. Thank you to Lauren, Leah, Doug and Matt for all of your hard work. To the families of Teens Living With Cancer for the support. To the University at Buffalo for allowing us to crash the party and helping us make this event a reality, to Roswell Park Cancer institute for expanding TLC.

To our Teens….. for being the true heroes and the true inspiration behind everything. You guys are what this is for, and what you had to go through to be part of this is not fair, not right. Together we fight back and together we raised the middle finger to cancer yesterday.

To my Mom, Dad, Aunt, Husband, Son. For teaching me to dream and keeping my feet on the ground. Curt Eggers…… you said from the beginning that he would say yes, that we would hit 50K and that this would open doors for Teens Living With Cancer. You have that intuition and I thank you for that.

To each and every one of YOU. Who shared, retweeted, donated pennies, helped spread the word.

To Mr. Armstrong…. for answering that tweet. You said in your speech that you were so glad that you did, and trust me so are we.

More thanks are on the way as well as more pictures. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Together we did this. Power of the people.

You can still donate by the way…… www.teenslivingwithcancer.org

Once in a lifetime. Podium with Mr. Armstrong.

Photo by Jeff Tracy

photo by Andy Flemming

photo by andy flemming

We are at $51,000 and you CAN STILL DONATE! www.teenslivingwithcancer.org

THANK YOU!

Teens Living With Cancer... THE CHAMP!

Today my father will be on deck with me as my “on deck coach”. He will be one of the very few people allowed to be on the deck in fact. I am pretty lucky that I still have both of my parents and that I live an hour away from them.

My Dad has always said….. with everything that could happen in this world. The fact that my parents and their children have made it this far through our lives without any catastrophe (or the fact that us kids didn’t harm one another!) is a miracle in itself. He’s right. I look at Melissa’s family…. I got to meet her brother too (He’s done all the website stuff and design for our logo and is running his first 1/2 marathon in Rochester on Sunday)….. I am in awe of them. Absolute awe. As I am with so many families.

I met an amazing woman who lost her son to a brain tumor last August. I don’t think he was even 2 yet. I got to see Charlies mom and dad…… he has since died. We looked at the wall at Teens Living With Cancer and Lauren told a journalist “I am not even going to tell you how many of those teens have died.”

In the face of great horror this woman, this family… have inspired us to still stand up and to still have hope. To not only live another day but to do it with faith and love and strength.I wish beyond anything I could fill that hole in their hearts….. I can’t. But what I can do is what we are doing.

We are less than $2,000 away from hitting $50,000. Thank you all for your generosity, support, retweeting, sharing. Together, you and I have used social media to raise some relay big cash. In a time when people are not sure what to make of Facebook and Twitter…… we made something really good come out of it. While you were debating whether it’s good or bad, we snuck in and used it to our advantage.

Because of it we were featured on two more Buffalo news stations and we even made the Wall Street Journal.

The power of the people.

Last night our send off party was wonderful. Thank you for coming. And congrats to all of our winners. One of our TLC Fit Teens, won the Cait Snow helmet!

If that’s not just plain awesome…. I don’t know what is.

I will notify winners who weren’t there and the folks who donated…… Monday or Tuesday. I am slightly booked today.

Because it’s race day.

I awoke from two more nervous tweets from Mr. Armstrong:

Like I said…. I am used to this type of psychological warfare. First it’s Homegirl, then it’s the old  “I am running 15 miles” excuse. I told him I was running 30…. 15 is for cyclists. And don’t worry….. homegirl is one of the oldest tricks in the book. By they way… 1980 called, they want their lingo back.

Last night I was presented with this, Lauren made it (because she had nothing else to do, NOT)

I got to pick out the song Mr. Armstrong will be introduced to. You will have to wait to find out what it is. Leah picked out my song, and won’t tell me.

The University of Buffalo has now opened the event to the media, they were all notified and there will be coverage of some sort. I don’t know what but as soon as I know….. you will know.

Charlie, our PR guy from Qt2 Systems will be here and he will be providing LIVE coverage of the event via Twitter. Follow him at @charlesabrahams and me at @maryeggers and use the hash tag #tlckickoff (I know…. if you read that fast…..) for play by play action beginning at about 1:15 when I pick him up for coffee.

The words THANK YOU, aren’t enough, but I have no other words. Look at what we… you and I …. have been able to do. FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS. I have a feeling we are going to go further today.

It’s race day. It’s time for me to take a little rest. I will be teaching at Breathe this morning at 10:30 and I will be bringing my lounge chair (think I am kidding).

After that it’s Buffalo time.

Armstrong can throw whatever tweets he wants to. I am ready for him.