I'm an Asteroid Fighter

Friday night was our local Relay for Life event in Kitsap County, WA. This is the second time my family has participated in a Relay for Life event and I know it won't be our last. It began in the early evening, continued all night long, and finished late morning. It isn't just walking (or running or in our case, lunging) around a track all night, there are also some fun events sprinkled into the mix which usually provides something for everyone.

Our team was "Lauriel's Asteroid Fighters". Since her diagnosis she has viewed her brain cancer as asteroids which need to be destroyed. We are her asteroid fighters (we = family, friends, doctors, everybody who supports her). We will continue to fight asteroids together. All of us. Forever.

Our event began at 6pm with the survivor lap. This is where cancer survivors open the relay with one lap around the track. It was inspirational to see so many people on the track at this time. It gave me hope that we're making progress in our battle against this disease. The second lap of the event was dedicated to care givers. It was even more amazing to witness all the family members and friends who joined their survivor for this lap. In our case, Shawn and Lauriel walked half of this lap together. He has been there with her since her diagnosis and every step along the way. I was completely honored to be asked to join them on the second half of this lap. Lauriel says that I've been a virtual care giver and pray-er since the beginning. So we walked this lap together at a moderate pace and when it was over, we realized that we completely left the rest of the group behind us... guess CrossFit makes us fast walkers too?  :)

Lauriel and Shawn

As you can see from the picture above, it was typical Seattle weather. Sigh. It pretty much poured rain for the entire event. That didn't stop us though. People of all ages were on the track all night long and soaking wet. In a weird way, it was kinda fun. There wasn't much any of us could do about it so we just embraced it (we CrossFitters tend to embrace things that suck and make the best out of what we've got). We had someone on the track walking or running for our team from 6pm on Friday evening till 11am on Saturday morning. We ended up totaling 428 laps (107 miles!)! Kudos to our team member, Jordan Sonora, who ended up running 52 of those laps in the middle of the night! Of course at least one of those laps had to be done in true CrossFit fashion... A few days before the event, I challenged my buddy, Dave (AKA: D-Lo), to one lap which had to be completed via walking lunges. That's taking a big step forward with knee directly over ankle while the back knee touches the track. Of course he accepted this challenge and when he showed up at 11pm, it was time to execute! Just before midnight, 4 others decided to join us. Times for our 400m walking lunge challenge varied between 13 minutes and 15:26 (my time!). More importantly we ended up raising $1,260 to help fight cancer!

400m lunges... 3-2-1-GO! Greg, Dan, Amy, Tim D, me, D-Lo.

For those of you with children, this is a family friendly event. My entire family (9 year old and 7 year old) spent the night in a tent on the foot ball field. The kids had a blast. It was great to introduce them to cancer and to have them begin to understand the effects of this horrible disease. They realize this is something serious but to have this topic discussed in a positive environment was a blessing. There were also many booths set up with items which catered to children. For a donation of any amount, people were very giving to the kids. There was a bounce house and numerous kids activities set up for them to enjoy. There were also various groups doing demonstrations (hula, Zumba, hip-hop, and Jazzercise). I got so much joy out of seeing my kids participate with these groups which welcomed them!

Beyer and Sarah getting on their Jazzercise!

More photos of the evening...

Amy and Hal, asteroid fighters. 

Catherine, Lauriel, and Hal. 

Heartbroken

I am completely heartbroken this morning as I read the status of a friend on Facebook. He said,

"Leah is in Palliative Care at MCV. Shortly after Kathy and I made it to Richmond, our immediate family and Johnny sat by her side as she was taken off life support yesterday afternoon so that she could be "most comfortable". We feel the prayers and love you all have sent our way!!! She has stayed with us through the night. She is NOT in pain and will soon be in a better place. We will let you know how she is doing and any arrangements being made."

If you could do your pull-ups today for Leah and her family, I would greatly appreciate it. Nobody should have to go through this.

National Brain Tumor Awareness Month

As you know, we've been doing pull-ups every day this month to bring attention to National Brain Tumor Awareness month. But.... did you know:

• There are over 600,000 people in the US living with a primary brain tumor diagnosis.

• More than 60,000 adults and children will be newly diagnosed this year.   This year alone!

• Brain tumors are the leading cause of death from solid tumors in children under the age of 20, and are the third leading cause of death from cancer in young adults ages 20-39.   Leading cause of death in children…  No child should have to experience this.  Third leading cause of death from cancer in young adults…  Third.

• Brain tumors may be either malignant or non-malignant (“benign”), but can be life-threatening in either case.  Depending on the location in the brain, even benign tumors can be life-threatening.

So pull-ups are great and we're definitely getting stronger but let's remember why we're doing them. Think of Sarah, think of Lauriel, and think of the 600,000 people in the US living with this diagnosis when you're doing them. That's a lot of people who's lives have been changed forever.

Prior to this month, I could string together four dead hang pull-ups in a row without coming off of the bar. Twenty-four days into this challenge, my new max rep dead hang pull-ups sits at NINE! Before this month, my weighted dead hang pull-ups was at 5# plus a chain. Yesterday I pulled myself up twice with an additional 23# plus a chain! AND.... the month isn't over! As a group, we're sitting at 2,000 pull-ups for the month of May! If you've jumped in and done a few pull-ups this month for brain tumor awareness (even if you're not a member of Kitsap CrossFit), PLEASE add your name and number to our spreadsheet! It would mean a lot to us and, well, you've already done the work - let us know about it! Thank you to everyone who has read this post. As Lauriel said in the very beginning, "There are plenty of times where I was down and relied on others to lift me up. This isn't a fund raiser, it's about raising awareness and lifting up people when they get down." Just being aware is one step closer to lifting up someone in need. 

Lauriel and I pulling for a cure...

... after a brutal WOD with a lot of pull-ups in it.

We didn't have much in us that day...

... But we gave it everything we had and did it together.

Pull-ups Yesterday

This photo is from the noon class yesterday at Kitsap CrossFit. I'm pretty sure the entire class was "in" and getting stronger doing their pull-ups. Love these people!

Pull-ups

Don't forget to do your pull-ups!

Lauriel doing what Lauriel does! She's known to also do these around downtown Seattle... trees, construction equipment, anywhere she can get a grip for a pull-up. Learn more about National Brain Tumor Awareness month and do your pull-ups!

FU Cancer