Kathy Quinn
Pain is Temporary, Quitting Lasts Forever
Lance Armstrong
7 Time Tour de France winner, this was written before he did his 5th.
 
 
“Are you sure?” I asked the doctor.
“I’m sure.”
“How sure?”
“I’m very sure.”
“How can you be so sure?
“I’m so sure that I’ve scheduled you for surgery at 7 a.m. tomorrow.”

Mounted on a light table, the X-ray showed my chest. Black meant clear; white meant cancer. My chest looked like a snowstorm.

What I didn’t and couldn’t address at the time was the prospect of life. Once you figure out you’re going to live, you have to decide how to, and that’s not an uncomplicated matter. You ask yourself: now that I know I’m not going to die, what will I do? What’s the highest and best use of my self? These things aren’t linear, they’re a mysterious calculus. For me, the best use of myself has been to race in the Tour de France, the most grueling sporting event in the world.

Every time I win another Tour, I prove that I’m alive—and therefore that others can survive, too. I’ve survived cancer again, and again, and again, and again. I’ve won four Tour titles, and I wouldn’t mind a record-tying five. That would be some good living.

But the fact is that I wouldn’t have won even a single Tour de France without the lesson of illness. What it teaches is this:

PAIN IS TEMPORARY. QUITTING LASTS FOREVER.

Kathy Quinn

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BUT SO WHAT???　

Mike Fitzpatrick– Mentor Captain and Faithful TNT member　

I did it.　 I completed a marathon.　 I could tell you how long I have trained or how early I had to get up on race day to be at the starting line.　 Or I could tell you about the cold rain that started around mile 10 and lasted until mile 13.　 Or how my legs felt like lead around mile 20.　 Or about rounding the corner and finally seeing the finish line after plodding along for 5 hours.

BUT SO WHAT?　

If I told you about all of those things, I wouldn’t be telling you what the marathon meant to me.　 So instead, I’d like to tell you about standing in the starting corral before the sun came up and seeing the picture of a small happy child pinned to a woman’s back with the words “In Memory of Macennah – My Little Angel”.　 Or about the gentleman that I saw at mile 12 with cerebral palsy, putting one foot in front of the other the best way he could.　 Or the courage on a father’s face as he stood in front of a crowed room and read the “Ten Life Lessons” that his daughter, Kimberly Joy Costa (July 17, 1981 – July 24, 2000), had written for her high school graduation.　 Or the thank you note from Kimberly Holmes telling me about her recent blood work and how the doctor said it was great.　 I can type these words, or tell you about each instance, but I’ll never be able to describe to you the feelings associated with each one.　 　

And you know what?　 I’m pretty sure it’s a good thing I can’t.　 I believe there are certain feelings no one should ever be able to capture in words.　 To do so would be an injustice.　 You need to stand there and feel the tears rolling down your cheeks for yourself.　 Then, you’ll understand.

We started at 6:30pm it was dark, rainy and cold snow and ice on the ground. The track was muddy, slippery so we ran to a nearby school to use their paved track probably didn’t make much difference we were all soaked within 5 minutes of starting. Rookies like all of us didn’t have all the right gear but I will next time.

Interesting though I was going to pass on doing this night glad I went. Rain and cold aside nobody complained all trained together supported each other what a fun group can’t wait til next time saturday 6:00am 4 mile run. Just getting started building up the miles.

Please pass my webpage on to your family and friends we need help from everyone. http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/rnr10/bcareyoqmw 

Your support for my Team In Training event for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Your help and encouragement will get me to the finish line. But more importantly, you are helping to accelerate finding cures for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma and bring increased hope to the patients and families who are on the front lines of the battle against these blood cancers. 

You can learn more about my efforts and continue your support of LLS by visiting my web site: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/rnr10/bcareyoqmw 

If you’d like to learn more about joining Team In Training, you can visit http://www.teamintraining.org 

On behalf of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, thank you very much for your support.  I really appreciate your generosity.

Thank you,
Bill Carey
Charlotte, NC