livestrong challenge weekend 2011

as i typed the title to this post i actually listed the year as 2012, which is indicative of my state of mind. one day after the 2011 livestrong challenge weekend drew to a close, and already i am looking forward to next year. we had barely crossed the finish line and buddy was mentioning next year. members of team tough cookie have emailed me with ideas for next year. i'd call this year a wonderful success.

team tough cookie was comprised of 16 members and raised nearly $10,o00 for livestrong. together, i clock our miles on bikes at 240 and on foot at 51 miles. there were early alarms and cups of coffee and drives to montgomery county. there were lots of hugs and high fives. this year marked a great move toward having more people come to future challenges. i hope everyone who participated raves about the event and, in turn, can convince more people to come out. i am sure i am not speaking out of turn when i say the sheer volume of people who come to support this event - from volunteers to runners to walkers to cyclists - is amazing. have you ever seen 2,500 people waiting to take off for a bike ride? that's a lot of bikes!

the run/walk was held saturday morning and the sun was out for us along with some humidity for the start. it was strange to line up at the start and hear the announcement to be underway and not take off running. but, having now walked a 5k, i do think this is the way i should have been doing things for a long time. you can bring bloody marys in sippy-cups, or do the moonwalk, or give the volunteers high-fives and fist bumps. this is all way more fun than running so early in the morning, really. jimnerd and colee were waiting for us, cheering us on as we walked across the line. it was an honor to be out with family and friends on the course. i liked watching dad as he walked, happy to talk to whomever he was next to at the time. and i was so proud of mom, seeing her goal come to fruition - from walking the streets of paris to walking the livestrong 5k. it was a long way to go, but she stuck with it and is now already looking forward to a 5k in november, i think.

saturday night jimnerd and i went to the fundraising dinner, held at the freedom foundation in valley forge. i hate to admit i haven't spent any time in the park, though i live just a half-hour away, and in the late afternoon light the drive to the dinner was beautiful. we arrived to the event, held under a tent at the top of a big hill, and watched as people spent time with teammates or talked amongst themselves. we shared dinner with two other cyclists who were really looking forward to sunday's ride. the stars had aligned and seated me next to someone who had just returned from riding RAGBRAI as part of team livestrong; just a couple of weeks ago i began to think about that ride as a target for next summer - something i am certain i could do, but a bigger challenge for myself. it was reassuring to listen to his stories, both about the riding over the course of the week, but also about the people he met and the stories he heard along the way. as long as i can stay healthy, i've penciled it into the calendar. yes, stay healthy and win a lottery spot - more people register than there are spots for. back to the dinner...

stuart scott from espn was the keynote speaker, a cancer survivor currently going through chemo after his cancer recurred early this year. his story matched the ups and downs of cancer treatment - one minute, tears were readily available, the next, fits of laughter burst out. at one point he mentioned his favorite twitter post to date - he made a comment, during chemo, about having to get up to pee again. not funny to the layman, but to those of us lucky enough to be in cancer's inner circle, worth a laugh. (during some chemo treatments they fill you with fluids and then administer a diuretic to keep you peeing - and cleaning out the kidneys, which are particularly susceptible to damage from platinum based drugs) he echoed so much of what i have been through - and what almost everyone in the room had been through, either as a survivor or as a caregiver. little things matter. so much. and of course, of course, he wants to be here - he plans on being here, for a very long time. but, just in case... his voice trails off. and i know. i know.

and that is the thing. everyone there knows. it is a shitty, terrible club to be a part of but thank gods and goddesses there is a club. won't it be wonderful, lance says, when he can fire the 85 people who work full-time for livestrong and send them all packing because there's no cancer to fight. but now, we are fighting, many of us tirelessly, and to have an evening with a small group in which everyone knows is priceless. it isn't often you walk into a group of strangers and after two hours filled with interesting conversation and mediocre food you find yourself hugging them as you say goodbye. this is what livestrong is.

sunday was the ride and we had signed up for the 100-mile course. the day mirrored last year, weather-wise. grey clouds hung low in the morning, it was already above 70 degrees when i got into the car at 5:30am, and it was so humid i almost needed the windshield wipers even though it wasn't raining. the organizers had pushed the cutoff for the 70/100 mile split to 10:00. we didn't start until about 7:50am. this left us two hours and change to cover 33 miles, instead of three. nonetheless, we set out and for the first 15 miles or so i'd call the pace blistering, and buddy will agree that i was the one setting it - he always lets me call the shots. we pulled into the 20-mile rest stop and filled bottles. i ran into a friend and he was shocked (i'll call it that, by the look on his face) i was there already. luckily, buddy and i had gotten lined up in the first 20 or so people to get out on course. they were letting people out in 500-bike increments. so we had a head start. still, i was moving at a good pace. we also ran into one of the guys from dinner the night before, and by the look of his bike, and his friends', we wouldn't be seeing them the rest of the day. still, it lifted my spirits to see them and be off to such a great pace. we'd make the cut for sure, with time to spare.

the hills set in big-time after this stop, and the average pace fell drastically - and it is either up or down here, except for a nice flat stretch along the green lane reservoir. i noticed buddy would check his watch now and again, and i wondered how we were faring. i knew it would be close. we were within a mile or so of the cutoff when we were stopped to let traffic through on a major highway. this was going to be a bummer and everyone in our group on the road knew it. we climbed the hill to the cutoff, and we had missed it by minutes. with no other choice but to reroute to the 70-mile course, my pride was left smarting a bit, wishing i could go up the hills faster, if only i had more lung, if only... but, the realization that the rest of the day would now be virtually stress-free was a good one. i said outloud that "it had better freaking storm" and we rolled on.

we met a couple from rhode island who were riding on team m-power, the team who had raised the most money for this challenge. i congratulated them and we all settled in for a stretch. they mentioned they had been up on mount washington last weekend and of course buddy wanted to hear about the trip, so as we climbed a bit of a hill i was glad to have them to listen to as we rode along. buddy is a great lieutenant for me on this ride, because he can talk the whole time, and he offers little "good job liz" or "come on liz" as we go up the tough stuff. i was just happy, at that moment, that he had someone who could respond to him as we went uphill. i am not much of a conversationalist when grinding upward. but man, do i love the downhills. and there are some stellar ones out on the course.

mom, dad, jim, colee, and their dog mr. jones, met us at the rest stop with 20 miles to go, beer for buddy and coke for me. i was so happy to see them out there - last year we kept missing each other all day - and it made my day. it was tough to get back on the bike after a longer break, but with only 20 miles left i knew i can do that easily so my spirits were up. the climbs can be so difficult, because i am so slow, but i refused to get off my bike. in five years and 350 miles on livestrong rides, i have never walked, not a single hill. and i know the people getting off their bikes probably have both their lungs and probably didn't pop pills for their lung cancer that morning. so, that is what i remind myself when i hear the sound of them popping out of their pedals, and i want to do it, so bad, i want to, but i refuse. i'm not walking a single fucking hill.

with five miles to go i heard a rumble of thunder and then it started pouring a la 2010, and i felt some vindication in missing the split for the 100. we were totally soaked as we crossed the finish, but man, it felt great, and i felt great. mom and dad made it to see us finish and it was awesome to be picking up my rose as i heard the announcer say buddy's name and "team tough cookie" as he crossed the line. freaking awesome.

we decided to skip the free food and michelob ultra because the sky was looking beyond ominous. we got to a little pub down the street just as the first drops fell and soon enough there was more than enough thunder and lightning to go around. i savored all the salt in a bowl of french onion soup and ate a grilled cheese sandwich, hard-earned. i'd like to say i'd been starving, but i ate so much clif shot and honey stinger out on course that my stomach was a little wary of real food. i came home and napped a bit, and was more than happy to go to bed early, but this morning i woke up, it was a beautiful day, and the first though in my head was about wanting to ride my bike! i held off, but that is a good sign, i think.

year after year i rave about the livestrong challenge, and this year is no different. it is the highlight of the summer, and of most of the year. it is amazing to be a part of a group of people that are all committed to helping those who have cancer or who have had cancer, those who are helping someone in their fight or who have lost someone to the disease; livestrong does not tout one cancer over another - we are all survivors and cancer is a terrible thing no matter which flavor you are facing. it takes an army to fight it - doctors, nurses, parents, siblings, friends, and coworkers. today was the worst possible day for someone - they found out they have cancer. but there is a huge family out there, waiting to let you lean on them. it is amazing, and i am fortunate to be here to be a part of it.

thanks to everyone who showed their support this year, even if you couldn't make a donation.

we'll be rolling again next year.