To Family and Friends...
Below is an email I sent out recently to family and friends. Hopefully my mission serves as an inspiration to many.
Hello everyone. I apologize in advance for the mass email, but I wanted to take an opportunity to share an important upcoming day in my life with you. As some of you may already know, on July 22, I will be competing in the Ironman Triathlon in Lake Placid, New York. For those of you not familiar with the Ironman, it consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a marathon. The cut-off time to finish the race is 17 hours.
To give you a better sense of why I would take on such a huge challenge, I should take a step back and give you some context. After graduating from college, I was very burned out from a long career as a Division I swimmer. As I began my professional career, my focus turned away from my health. Before I knew it I had gained about 30 pounds. When Silvia and I moved from Boston to Philadelphia, I was not in good health.
June 1, 2005 is a day I’ll never forget. It was my first day living in Pennsylvania. I decided that my fresh start would also mean a fresh start for my health as well. I decided to go for my first run in years. I had no goal for how long I wanted to run, I just wanted to see how far I could go. I ran for 4 minutes before I could run no further. The day turned out to be a total failure. But if you know anything about me, you know that I’ve never let failure define my future actions and goals. On June 1, 2005, I decided to make sweeping changes in my life. I started to eat better and exercised more. However I’ve never been the type of person who just exercised for the good of my health. I’ve always had an external motivation such as a race to train for. Just light jogging was not going to cut it if I really wanted to make major changes. Enter the sport of triathlon.
In 2006, I completed my first sprint triathlon with a minimal amount of swim, bike and run training. It was a huge deal for me just to cross the line. After the sprint triathlon, I decided I needed an even bigger challenge. Enter the Ironman Triathlon.
On the day I signed up for the Ironman, I began a year-long training plan which included finishing both the Philadelphia Distance Run (half-marathon) and the Philadelphia Marathon. For the past year, I have been swimming, biking and running more than I ever would’ve imagined in June of 2005, and I have lost approximately 30 pounds during this process.
With all that said, this journey is not just about me at all. As part of my Ironman and in the spirit of achieving my revitalized health, I have decided to raise money for a charitable cause that is near and dear to my heart: The National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund.
This cause is so important to me because in October of 1994 my mom, Janice Lisnoff, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Between October 1994 and September 1995, my mom faced the biggest challenge of her life, which included chemotherapy, radiation, a double mastectomy and a bone marrow transplant. The bone marrow transplant in the summer of 1995 nearly killed her because of a rare infection caused by the transplant. Through her will to live and courage to fight, my mom fought for her life and was fortunate enough to survive her endeavor. However, many women do not survive this horrible disease. It is a disease that knows no cause or cure. Breast Cancer is the most common form of cancer among women in the United States. The National Breast Cancer Coalition is a grassroots advocacy effort that works to increase federal funding for breast cancer research and collaboration within the scientific community to implement new models of research, to improve access to high-quality health care and breast cancer clinical trials for all women, and to expand the influence of breast cancer advocates in all aspects of the breast cancer decision-making process.Between October 6, 1994 (the day my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer) and July 22, 2007 (the day of my Ironman), Janice Lisnoff will have lived 4,673 days. In honor of my mom and all other breast cancer survivors, my goal is to raise $4,673 to support the mission of the National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund.
If you are interested in joining my cause, I would be honored to have you to visit my personal donation website where you can pledge your support: http://januscharitychallenge.kintera.org/lp07/jeremylisnoff
If you are interested in reading more about my mother’s battle with cancer, I have written a much more detailed post about her ordeal on my training blog at http://jeremylisnoff.blogspot.com/2006/09/from-bottom-of-my-heart.html.
I would like to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to read this letter. In closing, if you have any family, friends or co-workers who you believe would also be interested in pledging their support, I would be truly honored to have you to forward this email along to anyone. Every penny helps.
Thank you so much.
Jeremy
Hello everyone. I apologize in advance for the mass email, but I wanted to take an opportunity to share an important upcoming day in my life with you. As some of you may already know, on July 22, I will be competing in the Ironman Triathlon in Lake Placid, New York. For those of you not familiar with the Ironman, it consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a marathon. The cut-off time to finish the race is 17 hours.
To give you a better sense of why I would take on such a huge challenge, I should take a step back and give you some context. After graduating from college, I was very burned out from a long career as a Division I swimmer. As I began my professional career, my focus turned away from my health. Before I knew it I had gained about 30 pounds. When Silvia and I moved from Boston to Philadelphia, I was not in good health.
June 1, 2005 is a day I’ll never forget. It was my first day living in Pennsylvania. I decided that my fresh start would also mean a fresh start for my health as well. I decided to go for my first run in years. I had no goal for how long I wanted to run, I just wanted to see how far I could go. I ran for 4 minutes before I could run no further. The day turned out to be a total failure. But if you know anything about me, you know that I’ve never let failure define my future actions and goals. On June 1, 2005, I decided to make sweeping changes in my life. I started to eat better and exercised more. However I’ve never been the type of person who just exercised for the good of my health. I’ve always had an external motivation such as a race to train for. Just light jogging was not going to cut it if I really wanted to make major changes. Enter the sport of triathlon.
In 2006, I completed my first sprint triathlon with a minimal amount of swim, bike and run training. It was a huge deal for me just to cross the line. After the sprint triathlon, I decided I needed an even bigger challenge. Enter the Ironman Triathlon.
On the day I signed up for the Ironman, I began a year-long training plan which included finishing both the Philadelphia Distance Run (half-marathon) and the Philadelphia Marathon. For the past year, I have been swimming, biking and running more than I ever would’ve imagined in June of 2005, and I have lost approximately 30 pounds during this process.
With all that said, this journey is not just about me at all. As part of my Ironman and in the spirit of achieving my revitalized health, I have decided to raise money for a charitable cause that is near and dear to my heart: The National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund.
This cause is so important to me because in October of 1994 my mom, Janice Lisnoff, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Between October 1994 and September 1995, my mom faced the biggest challenge of her life, which included chemotherapy, radiation, a double mastectomy and a bone marrow transplant. The bone marrow transplant in the summer of 1995 nearly killed her because of a rare infection caused by the transplant. Through her will to live and courage to fight, my mom fought for her life and was fortunate enough to survive her endeavor. However, many women do not survive this horrible disease. It is a disease that knows no cause or cure. Breast Cancer is the most common form of cancer among women in the United States. The National Breast Cancer Coalition is a grassroots advocacy effort that works to increase federal funding for breast cancer research and collaboration within the scientific community to implement new models of research, to improve access to high-quality health care and breast cancer clinical trials for all women, and to expand the influence of breast cancer advocates in all aspects of the breast cancer decision-making process.Between October 6, 1994 (the day my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer) and July 22, 2007 (the day of my Ironman), Janice Lisnoff will have lived 4,673 days. In honor of my mom and all other breast cancer survivors, my goal is to raise $4,673 to support the mission of the National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund.
If you are interested in joining my cause, I would be honored to have you to visit my personal donation website where you can pledge your support: http://januscharitychallenge.kintera.org/lp07/jeremylisnoff
If you are interested in reading more about my mother’s battle with cancer, I have written a much more detailed post about her ordeal on my training blog at http://jeremylisnoff.blogspot.com/2006/09/from-bottom-of-my-heart.html.
I would like to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to read this letter. In closing, if you have any family, friends or co-workers who you believe would also be interested in pledging their support, I would be truly honored to have you to forward this email along to anyone. Every penny helps.
Thank you so much.
Jeremy
posted by Jeremy at 11:34 AM
2 Comments:
Right on Jeremy! This is a great cause. Proud to support. Can you believe it's less than two weeks away??
Happy to support J!
Taper safely and we'll be rooting for you on 7/22!!!!!!
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