Did You Miss Me? We have raised $30,883 since January!

Well, it's been almost 3 and a half months since my last post. While I have been keeping up my training and racing to raise money for the NOCC, we've had such a busy summer that even a monthly post got away from me.

Julie has now gone almost six months since her last chemo and her ports have all been removed. Her hair is growing back and she no longer wears the wig. Best of all she's been cancer free at each check up. The one year mark for her diagnosis/surgery is just a little under 2 months away.

The financial/fundraising  and emotional/friendship support from our family, friends, patients and colleagues has been amazing. I continue to be humbled by the outpouring of love and the enthusiasm with which people cheer me on for my races, and Julie for her fight agains cancer.

I am 60% towards my fundraising goal with 4 months to go, so it's still doable. Please support and give what you can:  

http://nocc.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?supId=0&ievent=464587&lis=1&kntae464587=3113AF1801654333A445FD2122AA831A&team=

So here's the races completed since May (we've had a couple of schedule changes):


June 4 Playtri swim races 
300m Lake Swim- 4:39
750m Lake Swim - 13:00
1500m Lake Swim- 27:45

June 11 Metroplex Sprint Triathlon 

400m Lake Swim 11 mile Bike 2 mile Run - 1:04:48

July 17  

Disco Olympic Triathlon 

1500m Lake Swim, 23 mile Bike, 6.2 mile Run - 3:14:47

Aug 21  

Take on Heat Sprint Triathlon

350 m Lake Swim, 12 mile Bike – 3.1 mile Run - 1:15:28

Next up, Austin Olympic Distance Triathlon on Labor Day !

What a Great Day for a 10K, a Bagel and a Birthday!

Sunday, May 15, was my 52nd birthday. We couldn't have paid for better weather, and the crowd at the 25th annual JCC Bagel Run was large and ready to help me celebrate. My sister, Julie, walked the short course as part of her healthy survivorship. After all, she's the reason I'm doing all this blogging and fundraising.
And as an added surprise, my office team (Thank you Nancy, Kristen, Inga, Paula, Kristin, Monica, Stefani, Angie, Cheryl and Nechole!) as well as our friends periodontists Dr. Steve Bass & Dr. Ellen Hall, donated generously to the NOCC in support of the fundraiser as a birthday present to me. I was touched, humbled and honored.
 Thanks to Jon Mize at the JCC, and Mark Kreditor, race director, I was able to race on a comped entry fee of $25, which I will donated to the NOCC.
Please keep the good flow going and donate to the NOCC  - Click HERE

The Most Historic Thing About The Historic McKinney Kiwanis Triathlon...

The Most Historic Thing About The Historic McKinney Kiwanis Triathlon...was the weather. As the swim was getting underway at a little after 7:30 am this morning, a storm of near epic proportions blew in - according to the race volunteers the winds were 50 mph. Heavy rain, thunder, lightning and high winds postponed the race after the first 60 or so triathletes started on the swim, and many of those on the course reported short bursts of hail. Fifteen or twenty minutes later we got started again, but the winds were still strong - slowing up both the bike and the run. Ultimately, the late starters were prevented from getting to run at all, as a new storm cell was blowing through the area.
Nevertheless, I finished upright and with no damage to my bike or my body, only my run and bike splits, which weren't as fast as I'd hoped.
Oh well, we're still doing good things raising money for the NOCC and this week actually got our first story published in the print media - you  can see it HERE
And as always, you can donate in support of my races and in honor of Julie's cancer fight by clicking HERE.
Thank you for your continued support!

Something Ironic about Racing the King Tut Triathlon...

...On the eve of Passover, when my ancestors ran like crazy from the Pharoah in the Exodus from Egypt. Fortunately, nowadays, it's symbolic, but I swam, biked and ran like crazy yesterday at the King Tut Sprint Triathlon. It took the Israelites 40 years to reach their destination; it took me 1 hour and 20 minutes to finish my race.

But if they hadn't done their job, I'd be building pyramids instead of racing to raise money to combat ovarian cancer. I'll take it.

To be free to do good for others, to be free to help prevent oppression and protect the downtrodden and to appreciate the amazing freedoms we have here in the USA, and for my sister being currently free from cancer - who could run from that?

To those who celebrate, have a joyous and meaningful Passover, and thanks for helping us with our cause - racing to erase ovarian cancer!

First Triathlon of the Year - King Tut Sprint on Sunday and We're Almost to $13K

Today I sent a blast email to all my patients who we have email addresses for - asking for their support for my endurance fundraiser this year. I got the most amazing response - over 25% of the money we've raised so far came in today!

I have the most amazing and supportive patient base. I'll keep racing, y'all keep supporting and together we WILL make a difference!

Tour of Dallas - And We're Over $10K!!

TOUR OF DALLAS APRIL 2, 2011

Friends (l-r) Arlene, Lisa, Lee and me after the Tour of Dallas

Just to make sure I could get in some kind of endurance event in April, (senior prom is the night before the King Tut Sprint on April 17) I decided to ride in the Tour of Dallas this weekend. It was a 30 mile loop from downtown around White Rock Lake and back to downtown. Tack on the extra 15 miles or so each way it took to get to and from downtown, it was right at a 60 mile day.

Most of it was at a pretty easy pace, except for the loop around the lake when I got behind Lee & Lisa on their tandem and we picked up a couple of other folks and had a mini peloton going.

On the ride back to the house, we stopped for lunch at a new place on the Katy Trail called the Katy Trail Ice House. Great outside, shady seating and an atmosphere very Austin - like and reminiscent of an old Dallas favorite hangout called Cardinal Puffs. If I hadn't been on my bike, I'd have definitely hung out for a cold beer or 2.

We're making strides on the fundraising to help detect Ovarian Cancer early at the NOCC: http://nocc.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=464587

Click on the link if you'd like to make a donation and help us continue on our goal of raising $50,000. We're over 20% there. I sure appreciate all the kind words of support and monetary gifts to the NOCC.

Julie has decided to do one more round of chemo and try as best as they can to knock her cancer out for good. She starts that tomorrow so by next week she'll be all done for now.

Chilly, Windy and Cloudy; Perfect Half Rock N Roll Marathon Weather

(l-r)  My son, Adam, My mom sally, My sister Julie, Me, Julie's husband Rob, My Nieces Simone and Marissa, My friend Susy and her son Josh, my godson at the finish line. The kids call me Tio Jefe - Uncle Chief in Spanish

Over 15,000 runners, joggers and walkers set off from Dallas City Hall on the Dallas Rock N Roll Half Marathon yesterday. 13.1 miles later, on a cool, cloudy, damp morning, there was a Brett Michaels concert and lots of food and drink at the Fair Park finish line. All accounts had this to be a well organized and well run race.

I was pretty pleased with my 2 hour 16 minute and 15 second time, as 10 days ago I was sick with a flu bug and unable to get out of bed. My son Adam, sister Julie, her husband and twin girls, our mom and my godson and his mom were all on hand to cheer me on at the finish. This is the first event of the 12 planned in my Race to Erase Ovarian cancer that Julie could attend, because the first 2 came on the heels of her chemotherapy, and she wasn't up to it. Good that she could this time - her birthday was the day before, and we hope she has many more.

Many people were racing in honor and/or memory of their loved ones lost to breast cancer, so it put in perspective how lucky I am to be able to do this fundraiser to help spread awareness and promote healthy survivorship of ovarian cancer in Julie's honor, and that Julie just had a birthday.

Here's a link directly to the fundraising page http://nocc.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=464587 - help us raise awareness to catch ovarian cancer in it's early stages and promote healthy survivorship. Thanks to all for helping with the fundraising efforts - we're almost at $9000 so far - on our way to 50K by the end of the year.