What is your motivation?? (Page 2)

Team in Training - My mother is a lymphoma survivor thanks to a stem cell transplant at Johns Hopkins (6 1/2 years & counting {fingers crossed}), and a guy I train with had his son die from leukemia last week 1 day after his 20th birthday.  Whenever I feel like skipping a training session or taking it easy, I just remind myself of the people that endure much worse pain fighting for their lives.  Whenever I have a TNT race on the calendar, it keeps me going to raise money for research in hopes that more people can benefit from the science like my mother, and fewer experience what my friend and his family have gone through.

That's the deep serious motivation.  The shallower motivation comes from a desire to not have moobs, have the kick left coming down the finish chute to pass that one last person ahead of me, and experience the high that hits when I cross the finish line.

a. all the cool people do triathlons. I wanted to be a part of the cool kids crowd.

b. because I'm tired of being overwieght. i want to be fit.

c. I've wanted to do an ironman since, since FOREVER

d. I love swimming, wanted to get into cycling, want to learn to love/appreciate running

e. I couldn't run consistently for long periods of time. I need something to break it up

f. I love the look on people's faces when I tell them what I do or the next race I do

Getting healthly/losing weight.  I am down about 40lbs from 1 year ago when I started training for a duathlon.

Like TriMyBest - Team In Training got me into triathlons.  I lost a distant family member to leukemia a few years ago and now my uncle is battling lymphoma.  I have seen so many people be suffer with cancer that I just couldn't sit around and not at least try to be a part of something bigger than myself. 

 So, I (a) wanted to help raise awareness and money for cancer research & (b) I was a college athlete and I have let myself get out of shape (marriage, kids, work) so I wanted to challenge myself to get back in shape.

jess

aquagirl - 2008-09-10 9:06 PM I love to train...simple as that. Love all three sports and love (slowly) improving. Funny thing is I don't love to race!! I do it any way to meet my goals but I would train even if I never signed up for another race. S/B/R just makes me happy!

 Man, you are creeping me out. 

Chris

Less than two years ago, I had a double transplant (Kidney and Pancreas) that saved my life, all because a 16 year old girl was wise enough to know that she could save lives by donating her organs and told her family about her decision after she got her drivers license.  Because of her, I am able to do triathlons (actually, because of her I am able to do anything I can do). 

Today - at this very moment, there are 99, 503 people in the United States that are awaiting an organ transplant.  In Jamuary, there were 13,812 transplants done from the graciouseness of 6,987 heroes.  There are currently 18 deaths a day in the US of patients awaiting transplants.  Most of these deaths come from Heart, Lung and Liver patients, since the majority of Kidney patients can live on dialysis while they wait, though it is a brutal existance.  Each year there are between 12,000 and 25,000 brain dead deaths in the U.S. (this is the most common deceased donor cause of death).  If 1/4 of the lowest number of deaths over the last 12 years (12,130) would donate organs, that would be enough (3032) to handle all of those on the Heart list (2644), the Lung list (2128) and 6064 from the liver list (16,139), since the liver is a unique organ that has the ability to regenerate itself, so a donated liver is divided into two parts. 

Did you know any of this?  Probably not.  You probably did not understand how easy it would be to take the number of deaths per day awaiting transplant in the U.S. from 18 to 4 or less.  I know that I didn't until it affected me.  I know that I approached the question that I was asked when getting my driver's license renewed as kind of an inconvenience.  "Just give me my license and let me get out of here". 

That is my motivation.  Through racing for and founding Triathlons For Transplants, I and my friends have taken our message to the healthiest individuals in the world.  We need your help. 

I do not race for me.  The last person I think about when I race is me.  When I start to whine and moan about being tired, my training partner only has to ask me one question.  He, without missing a beat, says to me, "I forget, why are we out her again?  Did you forget too."  Then I HTFU and keep going. 

It is because of Vanesa that I tri.

(Vanesa.jpg)

I don't know who wrote it - but Teddy Roosevelt said it.