Tom Wharton's "Team In Training" Sponsorship Site for LLS
Racing to Save Lives in Support of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
(The 2008 event is concluded, but a few more dollars are still needed to fullfill my pledge, please help finish the fund raising for me if you can - For race results see below)
For all you visitors, friends and family members, and for anyone contemplating a donation to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), you have just landed on Tom Wharton’s “Team In Training” sponsorship fundraising page. I am raising $5,000.00 for LLS by having you sponsor me for a 100 mile cycling race on June 1, 2008. I am asking you to make a direct donation to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, as my sponsor in this LLS/Team In Training athletic event. There is more information below – and I am prepared and already commenced the hard work required to prepare for a 100 mile high altitude cycling race. Please give your support and sponsor me by making your donation to LLS right on this web page. Together we will raise $5,000 for this important cause.
You Sponsor My Hard Work and LLS WINS
I am training for and then participating in a 100 mile (century) cycling endurance event on June 1, 2008 in Tahoe as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training. Team In Training is a comprehensive endurance training program for runners, walkers, cyclists and triathletes to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
On February 1, 2008, I commenced a grueling training schedule to prepare myself for this event along with a large group of Team In Training participants that are working hard to raise funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I'm completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers – and for one special Honoree, my mother-in-law, Judy DiGiacomo who continues to battle Red Cell Leukemia with daily oral chemotherapy. I am also honoring Justin Nealon, an avid athlete, runner and LLS supporter, who died unexpectedly over 4 years ago when he was struck by a car while running home during the night. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure that will save lives.
Make Your Donation Now
Please make your donation to support LLS by sponsoring me for this 100 mile cycling event and you will help all of those children and adults with leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma. I am doing the hard work, of preparing for this 100 mile event that takes over 6 hours to complete. I appreciate your individual or corporate sponsorship, your spiritual support, and I ask you to contact at least one other person you know that would help support LLS through a sponsored donation, large or small. Please note that corporate matching contributions are also accepted. Together we will help advance the Society's mission.
Please come and visit my web site to review progress on my training and my fundraising efforts. My goal, with your help, is to raise $5,000 for LLS through my participation in this Team In Training cycling event. This cycle race occurs on June 1, 2008, and I need to have the sponsorship funds collected by June 1st. As of March 31, 2008 I have had to guarantee any uncollected funds, in order to participate in the race, so I appreciate getting any commitments or new donations completed by June 1st. I don’t have much time left, so please make your donation today.
YOUR DONATION IS GOING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Please make your donation directly through the links on the upper left hand corner of this web page and thank you for your support! It is appreciated by me and the thousands of individuals, children and adults that suffer from leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma.
Team In Training Practice Sessions
In addition to our individual 3 to 4 day per week work out regimens, our Cycling Team gets together every Saturday for a team cycling event of at least 20 miles. The goal is to increase our weekly distance in a combination of indoor spinning and group cycling sessions as we approach race day.
On Saturday, February 23rd the Team completed 20 miles on a very hilly Bennington area course, and then on Saturday, March 1st followed up with a 24 mile ride in the same hilly and windy area. My bike seems to be holding together. For the training and the race I had to invest in a road bike, a 2006 Specialized Tri-Cross.
Unfortunately we had exceptionally cold temperatures on March 8, 2008 and we were not able to complete an outside team training ride. I will have to make it up in the gym. As of the week of March 10th we are up to 80 miles per week total training miles.
On March 15th the team completed a 30 mile race in high winds on another hilly course. We have been told by our trainer that hills and wind are our friend, and will prepare us for the 100 mile race. Since I am working in Casper, Wyoming during the week I am able to train at a higher altitude which also enhances my training. In combination with my training, I have started a strict diet to reduce any excess body weight. Starting the week of March 17, 2008 we are training at about 86 miles a week, or about 8 hours of training time. This is critical for full preparation for the event. More updates to come.
For Saturday March 22, 2008 there was no team training session, so everyone had to get motivated to get out on their own and put in the miles. I decided to knock off a 50 mile ride on the Omaha area bike trails. I took advantage of this opportunity to bring along a Boy Scout, Dillon Kroll, that was working on his Cycling merit badge and needed a 50 mile ride to complete the badge. We started south on the Big Papio bike trail at Old Mill on 110th & West Dodge Road and then road until we connected to the South Keystone trail at 68th & Harrison Street. We then continued on the Keystone south until we connected to the Bellevue loop of the Keystone and followed that to the end of the trail at Hayworth Park on the Missouri River. Of course we had to turn around and return to our car at Old Mill and each way of the trip is 25 miles, so in total we managed to get in a full 50 mile ride for the day. The hail started to come down during the ride, but nothing hard enough to stop us from completing the ride. We were definitely dressed for cold weather which ranged between 30 and 40 degrees for the ride along with heavy head winds on the return ride. This week calls for a very heavy training schedule, including 2 hour workout sessions at least four days for the week. I am looking forward to this weekend’s team session.
This was a grueling training week as I completed three one hour spin classes combined with another six hours of elliptical and running exercises. I managed to burn quit a few calories and my weight is showing the improvement. For Saturday March 29th we managed to get seven team members to participate in a 40 mile team ride. It was quite a day as we started at 10:00am at Omaha’s NP Dodge Park and cycled to Blair, Nebraska and back again. Not a bad ride there, but on the way back we had 30 mile an hour winds. It felt like I had to peddle hard just to go down hills against the wind. During the return trip from Blair we implemented a pace line, which was helpful in fighting the wind and keeping the team together. A pace line keeps all of the riders in a line with tires between 6 and 12 inches apart. The person leading the line takes all the wind for about 1.5 minutes and then drops off to the back of the line. This breaks up the work of fighting the wind evenly between all the riders. It was a great workout and a great week.
While I trained hard all week, I was unable to make the 42 mile team ride on Saturday April 5th because of a commitment to a Christian’s Encounter Christ weekend retreat. I managed to get a 2 hour workout in on the Friday morning before flying back to Omaha and then got back on my training schedule with a 16 mile (1 hour) outdoor brick ride with Dan Nealon, one of our Team mentors, on Monday night and then another 1 hour spin class on Tuesday morning. I am back on a minimum 2 hour per day workout schedule starting Wednesday April 9th, 2008.
For Saturday April 12th we had an excellent team ride at just over 45 miles. There was a lot of directional wind so we were able to fight the wind for the first 25 miles but had a fast return ride with the wind mostly at our backs. I hope to have a good workout week this week and with the weather starting to warm up should be able to get outdoors and ride almost every day, except for the days I am in Casper, WY. The spin classes are going well and having a good impact on my endurance and strength. My weight has come down about 15 lbs. which is also starting to help me increase my hill climbing speed. My team mates are arguing that I need to move to a slimmer tire which will have less rolling resistance and also enhance my time. I will probably make a tire change some time before the race. June 1st is rapidly coming upon us, and I am hoping the remaining fund raising will be done soon.
I was out of town to see the Pope in NY City for the weekend of April 19th so I missed the team ride, but was able to still get in a daily workout or spin class almost every day of the prior week. With my wedding anniversary and my youngest sons birthday on April 23rd I headed back to Omaha from Casper. I also managed to get in a good workout almost every day in the gym.
It seems like the cold weather just doesn’t want to let go of its grip. For the weekend of April 26th I focused on speed rides and workouts to increase my heart rate and recovery endurance. These workouts allow me to burn over 1000 calories per hour with peek heart rates of 160 bpm and resting heart rates at about 120, usually in 2 minute intervals. This really wipes you out and leaves you winded for the duration of the workout, but dramatically reduces recovery time from peak work outs. I also switched out my tires this week to reduce rolling resistance. This week I am going to focus on mid body exercises and give my knees a break.
For the weekend of May 17th, Our final GTS is 78 miles. This ride is called the "Graduation Ride". Once you've completed this distance you will undoubtedly be ready for Lake Tahoe - So says the coach. Well the ride started at Dodge park, going North on Highway 75 which passes through the towns of Nashville, Fort Calhoun, DeSoto, Blair, Herman, then Tekamah, yes then we have to go back to Dodge park the way we came. I had a great day and pushed the ride out hard to the end. I started having a few leg muscles cramps on the way back at about mile 60 where my coach caught up to me and gave me some electrolyte capsules that seemed to do the trick after about 10 minutes – just in time for two big hells before the last few miles of downhill ride to Dodge park. What a great confidence builder for the 100 mile ride.
Special Note: Dan Nealon, our Tahoe teammate and mentor, suffered a heart attack while in North Platte this Sunday April 27th after completing the North Platte Triathlon. Dan was transported to the Good Samaritan hospital in Kearney and is in stable condition. It appears Dan had some blockage in an artery, but they were able to put in a stint and Dan is expected to make a full recovery. Please keep Dan, Shannon and their entire family in your prayers.
Race Results: Thanks to all of you again for your support!!
The June 1st 100 mile (century) bike race was excellent and of course Lake Tahoe was beautiful for the very few moments you could take a look at it while pedaling like crazy. The 18 people from Omaha raised $75k, and the entire team in training group from all over the USA (1800 riders) raised $7.5 million for LLS blood cancer research.
The ride course started in South Lake Tahoe north east on highway 89 (you can see the switch backs up the mountain, then stay on 89 to Truckee, then turn around and when you hit the lake again go north on highway 28 to Kings beach and then back south again on 28 all the way around the lake until you hit highway 50 going south back to our starting point at South Lake Tahoe. Google Maps with a search for South lake Tahoe gives you the starting point and you can easily navigate the map around the course.
The course was very intense. I managed to finish in about 6.5 hours with about 4 stops for food, water and bathroom totaling about 30 minutes of stop time. So it took me about 7 hours in total. On our team I came in 3rd out of 18, so I was moving right along. The most painful spot is at about mile 85 they have a 11 mile 2000 foot hill climb just before getting to highway 50 called Spooner Hill (I guess because Spooner lake is at the top), that seems to go on forever (thanks for the water stop at the top). As you can then imagine, this giant hill is followed by a fast long downhill run that you can hit about 60 miles an hour on when you first enter highway 50 going south. After the big downhill ride, you still end up with about 5 miles of up and down hills to the finish line. At this point you start to wonder when the hills will end. The race starts in south Tahoe just on the Nevada side of the border of California, then goes up the east side of the lake with a warm up until a 2 mile quick rise with about four switch backs. Then there is a lot of the same ups and downs until about mile 45 when you take a turn off of the lake for 12 miles and on a small path to a town called Truckee. Then you turn around and come back uphill 12 miles on the road back to the lake and then more of the same around the lake until you hit the huge 11 mile hill climb called Spooner Hill.
I lost weight for about 3 days after the race during recovery time. I was wiped out for the same amount of time. But it was great fun and there was 3000 people total in the race. The race started in flights so I don't know how I did overall, but I know we past a lot of people from earlier flights - though there was also people passing me after about mile 75 on Spooner Hill.
Thanks to all of you for your sponsorship it was very much appreciated, and a great benefit for the LLS blood cancer research.
The History of Team in Training
The concept of Team in Training was born in 1986 with a woman named Lucy Duffy. Lucy ran the New York City Marathon that year after soliciting donations for each mile she completed, in honor of her husband, who was battling leukemia. Her husband died two months later, but the $30,000 Lucy raised was the start of the program that is playing the major role in funding the research that will soon find the cure for most forms of leukemia.
