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2014-Diane's Fight
It was an amazing year for the Running Bipeds. Michele conquered her first 70.3 in her goal time in June and I completed my first marathon in 3 hours and 44 minutes in October . Many firsts happened in 2014 for both of us. We started the year by receiving great support from Core Power. Our workouts were huge at times, comparatively speaking from what we were used to. We spent many hours on our bikes and Michele spent hours on the open water with me right behind in a canoe (I hate swimming). We trained in rain, sleet, snow, and wind and blazing sun all year long. There were many duathlons, sprint and intermediate triathlons along with 10k’s, 5k’s and 10 milers sprinkled in there. The PR’s fell almost every week; I broke the 20 minute barrier in the 5k and Michele beat the 25 minute barrier. The medal displays are overwhelmed with the weight of what we have accomplished, but nothing prepared us for the most difficult thing we would face in December.
On the 3rd of December we got a call from Michele’s Mom that Michele’s sister was having a single cardiac bypass done. Her sister, Diane, is a Corn Fed Spartan athlete and only 40 years old with a 12 year old autistic daughter Emma. She was experiencing chest pain on the 2nd of December and was in surgery that evening when she went into cardiac arrest for approximately 15 minutes. She then had three more bypasses and her chest was left open. They couldn’t get her heart to beat on its own. Michele, being a nurse practitioner suggested that she be placed on a form of bypass that is used on infants. This saved Diane’s life. We hopped in the car and left our kids behind and drove to Louisville, Kentucky overnight. When we got there we found her sister to be gravely ill. She had received nearly 20 units of blood in 12 hours and her chest was left open from the bypass. Over the course of the next 10 days it was decided that Diane’s heart was not capable of circulating blood on its’ own. Her left ventricle, which supplies blood to the body was completely destroyed by the heart attack. Diane was placed on an external heart pump to circulate her blood. Her final destination is a transplant.
We aren’t telling you this story for sympathy, we are telling this story to make everyone aware of the great need for blood and organ donors. We have set up a web store to assist Diane in her search for a new heart and make people aware of the importance of organ and blood donation. We have running apparel available and if there is something else you would like us to add to the store, please send us a message and we will add it to the store. We are asking at the very least that you share this story with friends and family to increase awareness. Any proceeds will be given to Diane and her daughter Emma. Please visit the store TEAM #DianeStrong
70.3....check!!!
Syracuse 70.3 Ironman Recap June 22, 2014
Jamesville Beach, Syracuse, NY
Finally, my long overdue recap of the biggest race I’ve ever done. What took me so long? Mostly, life continued on right after the race, as if I didn’t complete 70.3 miles at all. I’m on vacation this week from work and finally have a chance to write about my race experience. In a way, having 3 weeks pass has given me time to reflect on the whole experience, including race day and the recovery after wards. So, if you’re contemplating doing one of these events, and you’re wondering if you can handle the training, finish the race and survive the recovery, this is the blog to read.
