A week of business travel was a bit of a setback as far as my exercise “routine” so the weather this weekend was exactly what I needed. Yesterday was one of our typical fall marching band days where we’re on the go with the band from early in the morning and into the evening.
But today I managed to get out for the 30-mile ride I wanted to do 2 weekends ago. I totally enjoyed the 30.75 mile ride and I managed to complete it in exactly 2 hours. Ordinarily speed/pace is the last thing that I make any note of, however, in this case I’m viewing this as a gauge of my fitness level and in that regard today’s ride has me feeling pretty good.
I even had the opportunity to see an “All Jacked Up” jersey flash by today! Jim Grassi was riding the Pumpkin Patch Pedal event and passed me, going in the opposite direction, as we were riding through Roosevelt, NJ. We yelled hello to each other without stopping. Just another of those “Hey, butt wipe!” moments (an observation for all you cavemen out there, LOL). It was a nice surprise and very cool to see Jim wearing the Team Mentschen jersey.
For all of the Mentschen that are approaching their final month of fundraising and training please know that I’m continuing to think of you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, and keep Living STRONG. As Dan Nies mentioned in a recent email please remember the real reason we’re doing this and send out another email blast or two to try and attract some more donations. The Mintz’s Mentschen TEAM is at a combined total of $44,000 raised so far. How impressive is that!?!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Feeling great
Hello. I’m sorry that I don’t have an updated fuzz picture to post but since I do have some other info to pass along I’m not going to wait for the picture. I do promise to get a new pic posted as soon as I can.
Bottom line is that I’m feeling great. The 34-mile bike ride two weekends ago sort of kicked things off for me. I squeezed in a quick 24-mile ride last weekend and returned to the gym this past week to try and regain my strength by going to the spin classes that I really do enjoy very much. Since it’s been in the ballpark of 10 months or so since I had been to a spin class it was all kind of weird for me.
And although there’s a healthy crop of fuzz on my head I’m still dealing with unexpected and funny scenarios. On Wednesday morning when I arrived at the gym and the girl at the desk swiped my ID she stopped me from going in so that she could take a real close look at me and my picture as it appeared on her computer screen. She asked, “is this you?”. I assured her that it really was me. She clearly thought that I had simply shaved my moustache and cut my hair VERY short as she made no mention that the coiffure changes may have been involuntary. Guess that means I’m looking healthier and that the fuzz isn’t looking all that bad. LOL!!
My visit to Dr. Richards on Wednesday was uneventful. Since I hadn’t seen him in a few weeks we had a good old time catching up. It actually was nice to see him with things right now in a very positive light. My hemoglobin level is a bit low but improving and the INR test showed that my blood is a bit on the “thick” side. However, we’re going to keep the coumadin dosage unchanged and in two weeks I come off of it completely. I will see him next on October 9th and we’ll schedule the CT scan to be very soon after that. Obviously THAT will be a biggie…
Bottom line is that I’m feeling great. The 34-mile bike ride two weekends ago sort of kicked things off for me. I squeezed in a quick 24-mile ride last weekend and returned to the gym this past week to try and regain my strength by going to the spin classes that I really do enjoy very much. Since it’s been in the ballpark of 10 months or so since I had been to a spin class it was all kind of weird for me.
And although there’s a healthy crop of fuzz on my head I’m still dealing with unexpected and funny scenarios. On Wednesday morning when I arrived at the gym and the girl at the desk swiped my ID she stopped me from going in so that she could take a real close look at me and my picture as it appeared on her computer screen. She asked, “is this you?”. I assured her that it really was me. She clearly thought that I had simply shaved my moustache and cut my hair VERY short as she made no mention that the coiffure changes may have been involuntary. Guess that means I’m looking healthier and that the fuzz isn’t looking all that bad. LOL!!
My visit to Dr. Richards on Wednesday was uneventful. Since I hadn’t seen him in a few weeks we had a good old time catching up. It actually was nice to see him with things right now in a very positive light. My hemoglobin level is a bit low but improving and the INR test showed that my blood is a bit on the “thick” side. However, we’re going to keep the coumadin dosage unchanged and in two weeks I come off of it completely. I will see him next on October 9th and we’ll schedule the CT scan to be very soon after that. Obviously THAT will be a biggie…
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Wednesday, September 3rd
Hello again. I have a few minutes and have been wanting to get you all some feedback for how the Philly LiveSTRONG weekend was so here goes…
Simply said the weekend was extraordinary. The entire package of what it was like to have the Philly Mintz’s Mentschen team there wearing “All Jacked Up” cycling jerseys, that our team collectively raised over $31,300 for LAF, that the weather was absolutely perfect, that Amy, Erin, and Bailey were there to enjoy the weekend with me (Sasha was at band camp...), and most of all that I was able to rejoice personally in my health and the opportunity to soak in all the love and good karma of the day…. well what more can I say? It was beyond words and I don’t know if I’ve come completely down to earth yet.
The weekend started with our packet pick-up and a team luncheon on Saturday afternoon. This served as a first step into the excitement of what was a very yellow weekend… LOL. I had the chance to meet some of the Austin-based Lance Armstrong Foundation staff that I had been in touch with via email and that had helped our Mentschen team in advance of the weekend. We gave out the Mintz’s Mentschen jerseys and t-shirts at the luncheon and the excitement began to build.
Because our team was so spread out geographically this was the first time that some people were meeting each other and it was also an opportunity for me to sync back up with the many friends that were coming together to honor me as well as other friends and loved ones, and to raise money to fight cancer. Bobby Wiener, a friend of mine from high school, was there for the luncheon with his wife and son. It had been a while since I had seen Bobby and that he so enthusiastically joined our team when he heard of my diagnosis has touched me deeply. “Friends helping Friends” as it says on our Mentschen jerseys…. that couldn’t be more true.
I could continue with the mushy stuff but I think you already get the point for how the weekend went overall. On Saturday night there was a fundraising appreciation dinner in downtown Philly at the National Constitution Center that I was lucky enough to be invited to (well… I guess I did earn it by raising over $5,900). The dinner was fun since my fundraising also earned me two extra tickets so Erin and Bailey were able to join me. Yep, Lance spoke at the dinner and great fun was had by all. Dan Nies and his wife Kathy, Bobby Wiener with his wife Stacey and son Aron, as well as Helen Ihde and Cheri Drysdale were all there from the Mentschen team.
Simply said the weekend was extraordinary. The entire package of what it was like to have the Philly Mintz’s Mentschen team there wearing “All Jacked Up” cycling jerseys, that our team collectively raised over $31,300 for LAF, that the weather was absolutely perfect, that Amy, Erin, and Bailey were there to enjoy the weekend with me (Sasha was at band camp...), and most of all that I was able to rejoice personally in my health and the opportunity to soak in all the love and good karma of the day…. well what more can I say? It was beyond words and I don’t know if I’ve come completely down to earth yet.
The weekend started with our packet pick-up and a team luncheon on Saturday afternoon. This served as a first step into the excitement of what was a very yellow weekend… LOL. I had the chance to meet some of the Austin-based Lance Armstrong Foundation staff that I had been in touch with via email and that had helped our Mentschen team in advance of the weekend. We gave out the Mintz’s Mentschen jerseys and t-shirts at the luncheon and the excitement began to build.
Because our team was so spread out geographically this was the first time that some people were meeting each other and it was also an opportunity for me to sync back up with the many friends that were coming together to honor me as well as other friends and loved ones, and to raise money to fight cancer. Bobby Wiener, a friend of mine from high school, was there for the luncheon with his wife and son. It had been a while since I had seen Bobby and that he so enthusiastically joined our team when he heard of my diagnosis has touched me deeply. “Friends helping Friends” as it says on our Mentschen jerseys…. that couldn’t be more true.
I could continue with the mushy stuff but I think you already get the point for how the weekend went overall. On Saturday night there was a fundraising appreciation dinner in downtown Philly at the National Constitution Center that I was lucky enough to be invited to (well… I guess I did earn it by raising over $5,900). The dinner was fun since my fundraising also earned me two extra tickets so Erin and Bailey were able to join me. Yep, Lance spoke at the dinner and great fun was had by all. Dan Nies and his wife Kathy, Bobby Wiener with his wife Stacey and son Aron, as well as Helen Ihde and Cheri Drysdale were all there from the Mentschen team.
And the ride? Well the ride was simply icing on the cake. I had a Mentschen posse to escort me on the 10-mile route and I couldn't be more thankful that Joanne Vencius, Stephanie Tobler, Robin Harrell, and Ron and Heather Minsky rode with me.
Following are some pictures from the weekend.
Oh, and before wrapping up this blog entry I need to tell you all that I joined the team for a ride this past weekend and actually was able to handle a ride of 34 miles! Cool, huh!? And let's not forget that approximately half of the Mentschen team, around 30 people, are still fundraising and training for their LiveStrong event in Austin that is in late October. I will be riding with them as much as I can.
I visit Dr. Richards next Wednesday for a blood test so will try to have another blog entry then to let you know how that went. And the fuzz on my head is actually starting to look like something so I'll also try to get some new pics of that.
I visit Dr. Richards next Wednesday for a blood test so will try to have another blog entry then to let you know how that went. And the fuzz on my head is actually starting to look like something so I'll also try to get some new pics of that.
The Philly Mintz's Mentschen team
Me finishing the ride
Erin and I posing by the LAF Mission wall (see my survivor sign between us?)
My buddy Lance and I
Friends helping Friends...
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