Training Summary - Week Ending 4/19

My biggest mileage ever! Over 122 in this week. Also, I thought it was over for me. On Sunday, we did a ride commencing in Englewood Cliffs Park in Fort Lee, NJ. It was only a total of 28 miles, but at the end of the outbound, there was a hill that was about a mile long – and straight up! I never rode up a hill like that in my life! It was the type of hill that would make your car want to quit! When I finally reached the top, I figured, “That’s all for me”, but the coach said, “Go do down and do it two more times.” At first I thought, “I’m not doing it!”, but all these people went back down…and I’m no quitter...so I went back down…and did it…two more times! The only thing that kept me going was the fact that I’m carrying a lot of life insurance. Anyhow, I made it! I then did my usual 4-lap Prospect Park morning rides before work on Tuesday and Thursday. But on Thursday, I did a double because I went back out with TnT on Thursday night for another 16 miles. Then on Saturday, I kicked butt with a 48 mile TnT group ride to from the GWB to Rockland Lake State Park. YES! 122 miles this week. I can only imagine one month from now what I’m going to feel like when I ride almost this far in one day. Ugh!

Training Summary - Week Ending 4/12

Did a 6-lap recovery ride on Sunday after the big ride the day before. Took off Monday and Tuesday, but hit the road on Wednesday early with 4 laps around Prospect Park. On Thursday, I did the TnT ride for over 21 miles (mostly after dark in PP). On Saturday I did 5 laps in PP due to inclement weather. The total for the week was 78 miles.

Dad went to the doctor and the results were good. His hemoglobin was up to normal, the swelling in his feet and legs is way down. The doctor thinks that the tumor is shrinking.

Training Summary - Week Ending 4/5

After the big ride on the previous Saturday (53 miles), I was beat. Decided that I needed to do a recovery ride on Sunday. Rode only 9 miles in Prospect Park. It was cold and really windy. That was all I had in me. Took the day off on Monday. On Tuesday AM, the TnT ride in PP was canceled due to rain, so I had to go out on my own again on Wednesday. Got out at 6:00 AM and rode 16 miles before work. On Thursday, I joined the TnT Brooklyn contingent and rode 16 miles into the evening. Then, on Friday I rested for a big ride on Saturday that was planned from the GWB to Nyack -- 36 miles R/T. Unfortnately, the weather was bad again, and the ride was postponed, so I did a 35 mile ride in PP with my buddy, Dan. Total: 4 workouts for 76 miles.

Training Summary - Week Ending 3/29

3 workouts this week. Tuesday morning 5:45 AM Steady Pace training rifde with TnT in Prospect Park. Wednesday AM spin class (it rained). Saturday ride from Brooklyn to Central Park -- 3 laps -- and back totaling approximately 43 miles. Getting the miles where they need to be! About 72 for the week in 3 workouts. Spring is here and I'm on the road!

Spoke with my Dad and Mom earlier in the week. Dad just got a report from the Doctor. It appears that the chemo is having a positive effect on the tumor. It is shrinking, but it's so big, that the effect has been minimal. He's not feeling too bad except he's really tired and he's suffering from Lipidemia -- so his legs and feet are swelling and bothering him.

Training Summary - Week Ending 3/22

Finally got back to working out on Friday 3/21. When I got back from Orlando, had to go to Bristol, CT on Monday, NYC and Hartford, CT on Tuesday-Wednesday, and Boston, MA on Wednesday-Thursday! Drove home from Boston and fell asleep (in my bed -- not the road)! Woke up on Friday to workout. Did almost 12 miles in cold, dark, weather. Saturday, I did the Team in Training ride in Central Park. Rode a total of 36 miles. Back in the SWING!

Training Summary - Week Ending 3/15

No training this week. Bad! But I was sent to Orlando for the Microsoft Convergence Conference. Lots of work, lots of play.

The good news it that my girls came to Orlando and we went to Disney World. What a trip!

Training Summary - Week Ending 3/8

3 workouts this week. 18.2 miles in Prospect Park on Sunday. Standard 45-minute spin class on Wednesday, and over 16 miles in PP on Thursday. This was important because I am leaving on a trip tomorrow and I'll be gone for over one week! I went to Boston for business on Thursday night and Friday. I then flew to West Palm to visit my Dad. He has started chemo and his birthday was on Thursday. My brother Allen and sister Nancy also flew in with their families. We had a great Birthday Party for Dad -- his 69th! His hair has turned all gray and has begun to fall out. I wish it wasn't so, but we're hoping that this treatment will work! It will be worth it.

Training Summary - Week Ending 3/1

Two spin classes on Sunday and Tuesday -- but finally GOT ON THE ROAD ON SUNDAY. The Sunday spin was a killa, again. Tuesday -- so-so, but on Saturday, I got on the ROAD. Only did 11.2 miles, but at least I got out! FINALLY!!

Training Summary - Week Ending 2/23

Again, suffered thru spin classes. Had an OK training week. Did only 3 sessions. Sunday's was again a killa. Can't wait to get it back and get on the ROAD!

Training Summary - Week Ending 2/16

Had an OK training week. Did only 3 sessions -- all Spin classes -- due to demands from work. Sunday's was again a killa. Did another one on Wednesday and then again on Friday at 6:30 at New York Sports Club. I wanted to go to a Team in Training group ride on Saturday AM, but my bike is in the shop. Can't wait to get it back and get on the ROAD!

Training Summary - Week ending 2/9

This week, I had 4 workouts. On Sunday, I did a killa spin class with the best spin instructor I ever met -- A.C. -- in the Park Slope New York Sports Club. On Tuesday, I did another workout at NYSC. On Friday, I did another spin class at NYSC, and on Saturday, I did a spin class at New York Health and Raquet Club. This is nothing compared to what's coming.

One of the bravest people I've ever seen...

Tonight, I went to the Kick-Off meeting at Team In Training. Picture hundreds of people who will be running marathons, doing triathalons, and riding Centuries -- training for many months -- sweating and feeling pain and working really hard -- for a cause -- to raise money to fight cancer. Fantastic! I felt proud to be one of them. Now, picture this: A young woman stands up in front of the entire group and tells her personal story of how she was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma and how she underwent months of chemotherapy. Then, after it went into remission and she got better -- it came back a year later! She had to have stem cell transplants. She said she was in a bubble like the kid in Seinfeld for months and she said that it was painful. When someone that goes through something like that tells you it was painful -- you just know it was. She talked about how she was scared and how her parents and her friends and family were afffected. You know, she and people like her are amazing. I'm just a guy who's afraid of losing someone I love. It made me appreciate how lucky I am -- and made me feel like there's hope for my Dad. She talked about the fact that she had a 50/50 chance of surviving. She said that she's happy that she's here now -- but that she thinks of the others who were not so lucky.

Un-Official start of training today!

Today was my "un-official" start of training. Officially, it begins this coming Thursday at a TNT spin class, but I decided to get a head-start. I did a really difficult spin class at New York Sports Club in Park Slope. It was not easy!

Last night, my wife Tatiana and I went out with our friends -- Nikka and Lou. Nikka lives in London and is here for a few days visiting. Lou is a friend of mine for over 10 years but we kind of fell out of touch. Nikka is Tatiana's friend who coincidentally happens to be a friend of Lou's. We hooked up last night to party with Nikka. We partied pretty hard and this morning, our heads kind-of hurt. I told Tatiana that I was going to do a spin class this morning so that I could start my heavy training -- and she told me that one was taking place inside her head. She went back to sleep.

I shocked her -- I went -- and I rocked that class. I sweated out all the toxins and felt great! I felt really good that I started and that I kept my commitment.

My dad is fighting this thing

I always remember my Dad as being this huge, strong guy. I could probably count the number of days I can remember him being sick on one hand! Anyhow, three years ago he was diagnosed with cancer. He was 66. Up until that time, he looked so much younger! A pillar of strength. When they opened him up to remove the tumor, we hoped that would be the end of it. The surgeon was sure he got it all. Afterward, he kept going back every 6 months for Cat-Scans. There was nothing. Until this past June. It was back. In August, he flew up to Sloan Kettering from Lake Worth, FL. The doctor opened him up to remove the newly developed tumor. He said that he couldn't do anything. He said that is was too close to his aorta. He sent him home. We were scared and worried. It so weird that when something like this happens, the Doctors all have different opinions! You'd think that they know what to do! They don't! He started a drug trial because there is no known cure for this type of cancer. He was on the trial until this past December. The doctors said that it wasn't working for him. Yesterday, I got word that the tumor is growing rapidly again. He's got to go on chemo. He asks my Mom if she thinks he's going to make it. She says, "Absolutely!".

I'm gonna do something about it!

I decided that I'm not going to just sit around and let cancer kick our butts. My Dad needs a cure. Maybe I ought to be committed, but I have just agreed to ride my bicycle 100 miles on May 18 to raise money for cancer research.

The longest I have ridden at one time in my 4 year cycling career has been 35 miles. Last year, I rode about 1,500 miles in total, averaging about 15-20 miles per ride. I remember what it felt like the two or three time that I rode 35 miles...my knees really hurt, my feet were sore, and I was completely exhausted. This is going to be a completely different thing. It really hasn’t hit me yet, but I know it will when I start training next week. I expect to be training 4 to 5 times per week. Initially, with the weather being what it is, we'll be doing spinning indoors, but come March 1, weather permitting or not -- I'll be riding outside. I usually ride 4 times per week in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. I wake up at 5:30 AM and get on the road by 6:00 AM. I ride about 15 to 18 miles and get home by 7:15. I then have breakfast with the family when they wake up...and then it's off to work. I've been hibernating since January 1 -- not riding -- just a few spin classes -- but starting next week -- the race is on!