Today I found out a good friend of mine has lost her fight with cancer.  After battling it for about 2 years I received word she passed away today.  I feel blessed to have known her and that I was able to see her one last time before she passed.  Death always produces strange feelings and emotions.  Last Friday I didn't know what to say when I saw her lying there in the hospital bed weak and lifeless.  So I kept quiet just like everyone else in the room.  However when I left, memories of our high school experiences flashed before me and I told myself to keep her in my thoughts as I knew it would be the last time I saw her.

She passed away from Non Hodgkins Lymphoma. 

Life is strange - the year that I decided to complete a triathlon for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society without a reason I was given one.

TaiWai we'll miss you.

It is official. My finishing time at the NYC Triathlon was 4:43:33. Surprisingly close to what I had projected for my first triathlon. What an experience. The day seemed to come and go so fast but the memories will definitely last forever. How did it go you ask? Here goes...

When I woke up at 3:45am to get the transition area by 5:00 my body was in 'Time to make the donuts~' mode from the old Dunkin Donuts commercials. I knew what I had to do.. just had to do it. I had dropped off my bike the day before and packed all of my transition items. Just picked up my gear and trucked my stuff on the subway to 72nd St on 1,9 line and walked with down to the river. The music was playing and I was just dying to get in the river.... I know I know its the Hudson... but after all this time... all you can think about is getting started... and my wave started at 7:28 so.... how to kill the time till then... So I get to my transition area and setup my gear and exchange some last minute good lucks with a few other people from Team in Training. Time is now 5:30 and transition area closes at 5:45 so I grab my wetsuit and head north on Riverside drive and watch the professionals go at 5:50. Even if you never compete try to go and watch one of these events its well worth it.

So I get my ChampionChip at the swim start area (thats how those of you who signed up were able to get txt msgs of my progress). My wife and a good friend of mine came down and we chatted before they recorded the swim start. As our wave entered the water and started swimming I had no doubt that I was gonna finish this day. The current was moving nicely so it was quite a relaxing swim. I used a mix of freestyle and breaststroke as I waved to my wife's camcorder. So the main question is... How dirty is the Hudson? They told us its safe but it is the Hudson... I was swimming past debris with my newly acquired swim technique. At the end of it I had a time of 28 mins for the swim which is still unbelievable.

My transition times were rather smooth - made sure to take it step by step and not getting any penalies for things like unracking your bike before putting your helmet on. Unfortunately after I got out of transition and turning into a steep climb as I changed gears my chain came off.... all I could think was... FUCK! Panic mode hit but I managed to pull the bike off the road and avoided causing a 15 bike accident on the 'hot corner' slope. I grabbed the chain and put the bike on the links and I was off on my 25 mile bike on the West Side Highway to the Bronx. Here's what I thought of the experience. Manhattan is relatively level and its a pleasant ride but when you get over the Hudson River Bridge and onto the Mosholu Parkway its a much more difficult experience. I've got to say I could have definitely used more hill training. When you're a back of the packer you have a lot of time to think to yourself as you're getting passed on the left. Especially on the hills - Why did I do this to myself? It hurts. Yet at the same time I thought about the speech that was given by Murph the night before- Our Team in Training's honored teammate who is a cancer survivor and was completing the triathlon for the first time. Abridged version - Cancer is bad and it happens to good people. Which is why what we are doing with the Team in Training program - where we fundraise for cancer research - is so important because it lets good people do something bad to cancer. You don't look so crazy when you're saying this to yourself as nobody is around when you're in the back of the pack just grinding the pedals to get up the hill. I just kept on pushing myself and on the way back the craziest thing happened. As I'm riding South on the right lane of the Northbound Westside Highway. Yes its confusing. I hear crashing on the southbound Westside Highway. That side wasn't closed off. I immediately swerved to the middle lane just in case because this was no minor crash - at first I thought this car could flip over to my side of the highway. As I looked to the right the car hit the middle guard and then swerved back right and then flipped over fully!!! On top of it all the guy right behind him was on a motorcycle. Not that we could do anything really but a fellow triathlete and I stopped for a few minutes to make sure everyone was all right and someone had called 911. It was no more than 10 feet from me - sort of like a movie scene. After that it was a long uneventful scenic ride back to the transition area. Quite nice when you're taking the time to enjoy the roads when you're not doing 75 in a 65 to make time.

When you are on the bike for 2.5 hours you are so glad to be on the ground. My run turned into more of a run/walk but all of the cheers from the people kept me going. I had the biggest smile you can imagine when I got to the finish line. It was one of the best experiences of my life and it definitely was worth it. I am just glad I finished and it was under 5 hours. So now what? I guess its time to set a new personal best.... who's with me?