Stephen Gerber's Team In Training Page
Racing to Save Lives
Last year I spent a very strenuous and exhausting afternoon at the St. Anthony's Triathlon in Florida... spectating. Ha Ha. This year I am on board to actually participate. Together, with my wife, we are committed to do our part in taking up the fight against blood cancers. Our goal is to raise $8400!!! I know we can do it with your help!
One night I was swimming with my Team in Training group. It wasn't a particularly hard swim I did maybe 1600 yards not counting the warm up and warm down but at one point I was struggling really bad. I felt like I had nothing left and the thought went through my head "I'm dying out here" and that's when it hit me.
I am doing the triathlon to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. So what hit me in the middle of swimming that lap was that the people I am doing this for actually are fighting for their lives. I realized that tomorrow I will wake up sore from training but many of them might not wake up at all if I don't keep fighting to finish. No matter how tired I am there has to be some more left in the tank because I am still alive. I am still able to fight. If these people can fight to hang on and go through the difficulty of their treatment and their suffering with their condition than I can hang on and go through the pain and exhaustion of the training. With your contribution to the Society fewer and fewer people will have to actually go through this struggle.
I had an aunt that died of leukemia when she was in her late 30's. She was way too young to die. She left a husband and two kids behind. I never did get to say goodbye to her. Anyway, it turns out that soon after she died a treatment was found that they speculate would have had positive results for her particular type of cancer. I think of all the people out there that benefited from that treatment afterwards, how many people didn't have to lose their mom or their wife, or their aunt. I realize now that funding for treatments like that one are a direct result of people like us, the Team in Training, busting our humps to raise donations. So this is why I do this. This is why I train in the cold, the rain, the snow, early mornings, late nights, after a long day at the office, two workouts per day, six days a week. I am doing my part. The fund raising is my way of helping. The training, the sore muscles, the aching joints, the exhaustion is my way of connecting with the struggle that the victims of this horrible affliction have to go through.
This is my way of saying the good-bye I never got to say to my Aunt. This is my way of giving others the hope that they won't have to say good-bye to someone they love.
The people struggling to survive are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure! Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training. EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS! Thanks for your support! If you'd like to donate by cash or check, please email me at Stephengerber@gmail.com
