Announcing Tri-ing Harder for Cancer Research

I am happy to announce that I am officially using this year's triathlon season to raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, also known as LIVESTRONG.

As utilized previously here on the blog, I'll be using the press conference style question-and-answer session here to clarify and detail how and why I have chosen to raise money for LIVESTRONG.

I thought you had said you were only raising money for Rev3 Quassy. Why the change?

You are correct to point out that in my December entry, I would only be raising money for Rev3. However, one of the main reasons I had chosen Timberman for my other 70.3 race this year was because it is the closest location for my family, and I believe that the race embodies the spirit of my late father-in-law.

Wait, weren't you going to race via charity entry to Rev3? What gives?

To make a long story short: Rev3 was associated with the V Foundation for cancer research. For this season, though, the charity slots at their races are not associated with the V Foundation, but instead the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults. Although I feel that the Ulman Fund is indeed a worthy cause for many people, it is only designed to help people between the ages of 15-40. That wouldn't have helped out my father-in-law. Therefore, I decided to raise money for a different charity that would.

So how are you entering Rev3 Quassy?

God. Bless. Tax. Refunds.

What are you doing to raise money? How can someone help?

There are two different options to help. A person can decide to contribute to my personal fundraising page. Alternatively, if one wishes to join in by racing this season in triathlon, there is a collective team as well. Please e-mail me if you have questions about joining Tri-ing Harder.

Why LIVESTRONG?

As you are probably more than well aware, LIVESTRONG was founded by Lance Armstrong following his own battle with cancer. It is his enduring spirit to crusade against cancer, to make battles like Peter's, or Jim Valvano's, or anybody else's battles, eventually unnecessary. It drives me to race under their banner.

So what's your next step with this project?

My fundraising pages are linked above. And now it's time to put the nose to the grindstone, and compete to the best of my ability.

Are you racing under Team LIVESTRONG?

No, I will not. As stated previously, I am sponsored by Team Sports Bistro. I will more often than not be seen in The Sustainable Athlete team colors as well, as the embodying spirit of relying on an athlete's intuition, leaving a small footprint on the planet, and striving for your best is one I feel matches with Peter's.

Training updates to give?

Training is going along quite well. In week 4 of my training program. Feeling much faster through the swim, as I feel I have unlocked a big key in swimming. To share bluntly, slow = smooth = fast. I'll leave you to ponder on that for the time being.

I'm also still dialing in the bike fit, as we're changing the stem on Kermit to bring the base bar a little closer to my body. As an aside, if anybody is looking for a 100 mm stem with a 26 mm base bar clamp...let me know. At any rate, I'm definitely feeling strong so far. That sound you hear is me knocking on wood as we chat.

Thank you for your time today. Any parting words?

Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible. And always, tri harder.

Question and Answer Session

As I continue to get some early work in for tri season, which happens to be the last bit of my ski season training, I figured that some people are going to have some questions about me, and why I've decided to venture into the Suffer-fest.

Unlike Bill Simmons, these are not actual questions from actual readers. However, if you have some, feel free to shoot one along to ryanheisler at gmail dot com. (Spelling it out to avoid the dreaded robo-emails.)

1. What is your athletic background?

In a word, non-existent. Although in the previous blog entry, I mentioned how I got my own life going. I've always been kind of a recreational athlete, but nothing more than that.

2. So, then, what are your sports?

Well, I've been skiing for the better part of the last decade. I've been a season passholder the past three years at Sugarloaf. This year, my good friend Josh and I will be passholders over at Saddleback. I've also been running a bit, but with only one true race under my belt: Boston's Run to Remember, in 2008.

3. OK, so what makes you want to enter triathlons?

I can remember, quite vividly, getting excited for the Christmas season when I was younger. And my father and I would always sit down and watch a bunch of the NFL games. (This was back when NBC actually *cough* had honest-to-God football during the afternoon. And no Faith Hill singing some craptastic song to kick it off, either. But I digress.)

Well, one of those afternoons there was no 4 PM football. Instead, coverage of some crazy event in Hawaii had me transfixed to the TV for the next two hours. They swam how far? In the ocean? And then...biked over a hundred miles? In 100 degree heat? And then RUN A MARATHON?!?!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!?

I was hooked. Talk about in awe of people. How could they do this? Well, that memory has stuck in the back of my head. And now it's time to go ahead and open up that can of worms. I'm fond of a quote, that's become part of my motto:

Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible.

4. Why now?

Why not?

Outside of the snark, there really is no better time for me to get into the sport. Triathlon, as you may have heard, is not a cheap sport. You have equipment to buy for three sports, really: swimming, biking, and running. None of the equipment carries over between them. Nor does that equipment really translate over onto snow. So...part of it came down to affordability.

5. Only part of it? What's the rest of it?

This will probably be the hardest section of the blog I'll write.

I learned one hell of a hard lesson this summer: do not take a single day you have on this Earth for granted, for it may be your last. I know it's a well played out phrase, but there really isn't a better way to put it. My father-in-law had a brief, intense battle with a rare kind of sarcoma, which itself is a rare type of cancer. He fought like hell. Yet this was one beast his body could not take.

(Brief aside: He, too, embodied one of the key components of Jimmy V's 1993 ESPY speech: It could not take his mind, his soul, or his heart. It ravaged the vessel that those things were harbored in, but it never, EVER touched that.)

Every single day was a gift. And you never truly appreciate those gifts till they're gone. Or, maybe you do appreciate them, but you never realize how much.

At any rate, it was this kind of appreciation for life that got me going. It's the appreciation of the things around you...like, is there anything better than a ride in late fall, when the trees are ablaze in color as you continue to grind out the miles? Or a run where you get to see the sunset over the ocean? It's those kinds of moments in training, too, that fuel me.

6. Wow. So where are you racing next year?

I haven't decided on yet my tune-up races are looking like in full. My race schedule so far:

May 14, 2011: Waldoboro County YMCA Family Triathlon (sprint race)

June 5, 2011: Revolution 3 Quassy, Middlebury, CT (70.3)

August 21, 2011: Ironman 70.3 Timberman, Gilford, NH (70.3)

7. So how will we know who you are if we're watching you race?

I'll be the really tall skinny dude.

Oh, you mean that describes more than just me? OK, fine: I will be rocking the colors of Team Sports Bistro for 2011. Sports Bistro is an online sports nutrition retailer and educator, helping figure out what will help fuel you to a better performance. Considering my own nutrition story, it seemed like a perfect fit. (Shameless mid-thought thank you to Ton, Mike, and the rest of the team for agreeing to sponsor somebody with essentially no experience in one of the two sports I'll performing in this year...)

I'll also be the guy on the bike course rocking a 2011 Felt B16 named Kermit.

8. The bike has a name? Say what?

Yep, the bike is named Kermit. It's not quite Trogdor the Burninator (Jordan Rapp's name for his bike), but it has a ring to it.

9. Erm...why?

Well, there's the patently obvious: the bike has a flat black carbon weave finish to it, except for splashes of frog green on it.

It's also another tribute to my father-in-law. Muppets Christmas Carol AND Muppets Family Christmas remain staples in this household.

And, of course: it's not easy being green.

10. So when does your training begin?

Well, right now I'm in base training mode (follow me on Twitter for the latest updates). I've done all 3 sports to the distance I am racing at for 2011. I've also done a 1.2 mile swim, backed up by a sprint-distance bike and run.

Training officially begins on January 17th for Rev3. I'll be mixing up my plan with some ski days as well. I'll post more details on the training plan as it becomes finalized.

Whew! Hope that helps out quite a bit in terms of where I am headed with this whole venture. And I hope you stick around for the entire ride.

--Ryan