Monday, June 7, 2010

LIVESTRONG Challenge

I haven't been posting much lately (who knows if anyone is even reading this . . .) but I thought I'd let you know about a cause that's pretty important to me and that's the LIVESTRONG foundation.

My husband Mark is an avid cyclist and way back in our pre-marriage days we took a trip to France in 1999. We looked at some castles, drank a lot of wine, met some cool French peeps but mainly we watched cyclists whizzing by. That's right, we were lucky enough to follow the Tour the first year Lance won! It was pretty exciting. We started out in the mountain stages (which frankly were the best to watch because you can watch them coming up the hill for a while and not just whizzing by in a split second). The col du Tourmalet in the French Pyrenees was my absolute favorite. We camped out on a great spot overlooking some switchbacks. We got some good swag pre-race on that stage too. It was a really fun trip and really exciting to see the Lance momentum build as we followed along to Paris.

In 2005 (4 months before our son was born) Mark was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He was 44. Two weeks after I gave birth he had surgery to remove his prostate. Needless to say it was a stressful time for all of us. He's been fighting the disease ever since and on June 20th he will ride 100 miles in the LIVESTRONG Challenge (he did it last year too - don't worry, he was insane like that prior to the diagnosis). I will be attempting 45 miles - and if you know me that's a lot!

Last year Logan wore LIVESTRONG bracelets constantly - and insisted on calling them his rings. So this year we formed the team "Logan's Rings". It's not too late to join! If you're in Seattle consider doing the run or walk (no fundraising minimum) or heck, cycle with us ($250 minimum). Join us!


4 comments:

katy said...

That is so cool! I hope your husband is doing well. Bryce's dad went through prostate cancer a few years ago.

Just for fun, here is a short video Bryce took last week of Lance riding in Luxembourg. He was here for the Tour de Luxembourg. Yes, there is such a thing.

Tour of Lux info: http://www.aotdl.com/

Video: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24813922@N04/4676478478/

Monkey's Mama said...

Thanks Katy! I know all about the Tour of Lux :) I know about all the Tours!! Thanks for the vid! Mark was on hormone treatment and went off (considered intermittent) but his PSA is rising again so we'll find out next week when he goes back on it.

ksjjpalmer said...

Oh, I still check your blog everyday! My son has become the ultimate cycling fan. If I could figure out how to share a video I would share one with him naming all of his cars the cyclists names. He had about 15 of them. Cheers to you and Mark on the big bicylce ride. You can count on a donation from the Palmers!

RMM said...

Good luck and have FUN!!! And I check your blog at least every other day. But I don't check my hotmail. :)

XOXO