This weekend I was blessed with the opportunity to motivate all the people who participated in the LLS Team In Training for the Detroit Free Press Marathon. I spoke directly to the mission of Team and Training and while giving my motivational speech, it hit home that there is a lot for us all in our own cancer journey to learn from.
The talk might as well have been titled, “Team + Training =
Cure”. As I worked on my speech, I
reflected back on the last four years with cancer and The Team, The Team, The
Team (as Bo Schembechler would say) is a key part of keeping the hope alive. It’s
been the meals delivered to our doors, the support of our family, friends and
church. It’s my medical staff, the other cancer patients and the countless
others who have made an effort to say keep on keeping on!
Along with My Team (to left are a few who have been big supporters throughout my journey after first connecting on the BMT floor of UMHS), training to get my body back in shape
has been crucial. It’s easy to tell myself that I should take a nap, or sleep
in. No one would ever question an extra long nap on Sunday. But, I think there
has been a direct correlation in 2012 between my overall health and the amount of time
I spend exercising…imagine that! So training for a 5k, 10k or half marathon has
been so critical to a healthy well being, physically, emotionally and
spiritually.
When you combine the support of community (aka The Team) and
physical training, I think this improves the result for a cure. I am still very
focused on beating Myeloma for good, not just for a little period. We are on
that path and through the support of The Team and the continued Training, I
think we will get there.
Thanks to the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society TNT for helping me
see that this weekend!
Go Team!!!
-Phil
