ICanTri for ICanServe Update

I did it! It was not pretty, but I am now a 2 time IRONMAN finisher, and with your support, we are very close to our target of raising P226,000 for Breast Cancer.

Here's some kwento:

The race had been going pretty smoothly, and I was chugging along rather nonchalantly, feeling strong, until about 9 hours into my race, when my stomach had shutdown, and was resisting any form of nutrition. With more than 26 kilometers left to run, I was dead tired, dizzy, and somewhat incoherent. I gutted it out, put one foot in front of the other, and finished, in spectacular fashion - at the finish line, before entering the medical tent, I hurled in Linda Blair Exorcist style, like I had done several times on the course.

A few moments later, I was lying inside the medical tent, with an IV in my arm. My BP was at 100/70 (rather low they say), and I was a bit out of it. As I lay there, I really got to feel the reason I was there - To raise money for Breast Cancer. Ironic that I ended up (for a few hours), feeling like one - tired, dizzy and puking. I guess that had to be part of the entire experience.

Despite all of that, I was still able to improve my personal best by 30 minutes, finishing in 13 hours and 27minutes, on what they are now calling the toughest Ironman Course.

Thank you for your continued support, a lot of women will be benefiting from this. I am looking forward to doing this all over again someday - but I guess I might have to find something crazier?

For those who are still asking HOW to donate, please email me.

I've been asked a few times whether I would do it again. The answer is DEFINITELY.

Let me leave you with something from Theodore Roosevelt:

'It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.'

Til next time...

Javy Olives
Ironman Survivor, Breast Cancer Advocate

Update: ICanTri for ICanServe

Dear Friends and Family,

I guess you know what they say about the best laid plans.

First The bad news: the Ironman event in China originally scheduled for this
weekend has been called off. Just weeks before the event was to take
place the organizers encountered problems with the local government. Repairs
being done in the area where we were to swim would apparently not be ready in
time.

Now for some good news. The organizers have been kind enough to give
the participants a full refund and a chance to join an Ironman event in another
destination. I am registered to swim, bike and run on July 3 in Jeju, Korea. More
importantly, I am determined more than ever to raise funds for the ICanServe
foundation. NOTHING WOULD MAKE ME PROUDER THAN to do this in honor
of the brave women that bravely fight breast cancer. Nothing would make me
humbler than having you help me realize this goal.

Donations and pledges can be sent or emailed to: javy.olives@gmail.com. For your convenience we can arrange to pick these
up too.

Thank you again.

Javy Olives

ICanTri for ICanServe

Dear Friends and Family,

This will confirm what you probably already knew. I am crazy. Last year's Ironman left me wanting more, so I'm doing it all over again in China come May 29. Those gruelling thirteen hours stripped me down to my core. I learned about pain, patience, sacrifice, hope and the power of the human spirit. Best of all, I learned that nothing is IMpossible. This time around, I am psyched to swim 4 kilometers, cycle 180 kilometers and run 42.2 kilometers not just for myself, but for something much, much bigger.

Twelve years ago, my sister was diagnosed with an advanced stage of breast cancer. She helped start a breast cancer foundation and made one vow: that women diagnosed should not go through it alone, in the dark or in shame. Today, the ICanServe Foundation provides hope and help for women with breast cancer. It promotes early breast cancer detection through high impact information campaigns and early detection programs.

In the time it will take me to complete the Ironman, 240 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and 60 of them will die because of it.

I'd like to TRI and make a change in any little way I can, and I would love for you to help me. Here are some ways you can:

1. Donate a flat amount that feels comfortable for you and your wallet.
2. Pledge any peso amount for every kilometer I complete. (The Ironman is a 226 kilometer event)

If there are cancer survivors you would like to honor, let me know. I will gladly scribble their names on my jersey to remind me why I am out there that day.

Through your generous pledges and donations, every stroke, step and stride I take will help chemotherapy patients on treatment and help subsidize community-based screening programs. Like I said, no one should be helpless or clueless when it comes to cancer.

So there..maybe I'm not so crazy after all.

PS: Below is the pledge form, or you can download it from here. Please disregard my mobile number, as I am in the middle of changing numbers. I may be reached thru javy.olives@gmail.com

IM Proud

Let me start from something from my sister's blog:

---000------000------000------000------000---

He wasn't what I initially hoped for but I soon learned a little brother wasn't half bad. He was cute as a button and I loved teasing him until he cried, or bossing him around until he squealed. Then one day. Boom! He grew up. And I couldn't push him around anymore. No one could.

with LilBro and BigBro

Yesterday, I was up at six. The boys and I bought playing cards the day before. I promised to teach them Go Fish and Crazy Eight first thing in the morning. By 6:30 I had shuffled and dealt the cards. And then the mechanics. Tato argued that if he turned the card upside down the spade could be a heart. When did he turn into such a wise ass? I guess I didn't take into account little hands couldn't possibly hold the cards together. Or that four year olds look at everyone else's cards except their own. We did breakfast, moved on to puzzles then did a little TV when I needed to catch up on some work. Lunch followed then we were off to do what felt like a million and one errands. With the sun still up we managed more puzzles, more card games, then dinner. With MacDaddy away for the week , a slumber party for three in my room seemed like a good idea. We all piled in and called it a day thirteen or so hours later.

Somewhere under the scorching heat in Langkawi, Malaysia on this very day and in the time we managed to do all of that, the LilBro had one hell of a day. And I'm sure his began way before ours did. He must have played the scene over and over in his head. Oh and the hours he put in! Unbelievable. I kept tabs through his little cyber corner over here. That little boy we used to bribe to take his shirt off while dancing to Village People was hell bent on being an Ironman. I thought he was crazy when he told me he wanted to do this. But I also know something about people and dreams. And know you'd be crazier not to chase after a dream. And so like that package from Shopbop you can't wait to get your hands on, I tracked him down on the website like a mad woman.

keeping track

Swim? Check. Sigh of relief. Bike? Done. Can exhale now. Run? All done. I could finally sleep easy. Thirteen hours and fifty five minutes later he was officially an Ironman. Amazing. And really. He is.

For my brother, who makes me want to push harder.

---000------000------000------000---

My comment in her blog reads:

'Thanks Sann. Its the thought of you guys which really kept me going. There's an Australian Pro (Amanda Balding) who, like you is a breast cancer survivor. I met her before the race, and during the race, every time we crossed paths, we egged each other on. I thought of you and what you went thru every single time. You are the original IRONWOMAN Sann :) Luvya Guys!'

What most people don't know was that I had orginally planned to do an Ironman to raise some funds for my sister's iCanServe foundation. Not that they need any, or that I would raise much, but I wanted to race for something bigger than myself.

As for the race, well it was tough. The gun shot off at 7:45 am, with U2 playing, almost unexpectedly. The swim was out and back 3.8km along the coast. It was tough as we faced a current heading out, but took advantage of it coming back. I came out of the water pretty relaxed and ready for the bike leg. This is where I slowly began to realize why they call this race THE TOUGHEST SHOW ON EARTH. The sun was starting to come up, and the hills just kept on coming. There were 2 hills in each loop wherein I was on my last gear, standing up, grinding at 30 cadence, barely moving. Most of the age groupers preferred to walk their bikes up the hill. Those hills would be on my mind the entire bike portion.

At around KM120 into the bike, I was starting to gas out. My body was rejecting calories, and so I decided to pace down and eat less, hoping my stomach would settle. I persevered thru the heat and headwinds, and came off the bike in pretty decent shape (or so I thought).

Hot Hot Hot!!!

The run portion consisted of a 5 lap 8km loop, plus 2km to and fro the transition/finish line. Coming out of the crazy-hot transition tent, I began shuffling the first kilometer. About 2km in, there was a short and steep bridge, which I decided to walk. On the downhill portion, I had resumed my jog. However, I kept thinking how good that walk felt. The blisters I had on my feet were not helping matters -- I named them Titleist and Precept since they were the size of golf balls.

I stopped in every aid station, and showered myself with sponges and water. I could still take no calories, so I relied on water and some electrolytes. I made the first loop in just over an hour. The walk-jog then started turning into more of a walk as my energy dropped to a low. Soon after that's all it was. With more than 21km left in the race, I had given up. The race had won. It was then that I had resigned myself to just finishing the race.

This journey started with a silly 5k. I call it silly because back then, that's all it really was. As the story goes, I egged Hannah into joining a 5k race, and to make the decision easier for her I told her I would run with her. And so we ran (or jogged) the Mizuno Infinity 5k, and finished in a decent 32:30. Two weeks later, I found a reason to quit smoking - triathlon. I borrowed a bike, learned how to swim, and joined the AAV Sprint Tri. This journey started with a silly 5k, and ended with an even sillier 9k.

Hannah began walking with me, in what would be the final 9km of my Ironman journey. While walking, she read text messages from friends and family. It was then when I started to realize how important this was not only to me, but to my friends and family. I had swallowed my pride, slowed down to a walk, but I held my head up high. I ran the final km, thru the chute, straight into Hannah's arms. I had failed, yet I had triumphed.

Finally Over!

In my eyes I had failed utterly, but in others' eyes, I had done something quite extraordinary. I guess what I could take from this experience, I quoted in my last blog entry -- '...at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.'

I guess there really is no shame in walking...for as long as it is towards the finish line.

For my family and friends, who have taught me how to triumph in defeat.

'And if you say to me tomorrow
Oh, what fun it all would be
then what's to stop us, pretty baby
but what is and what should never be'
From Led Zeppelin's 'What Is And What Should Never Be'