As you know from my previous post, my mother lost her life 16 years ago after battling breast cancer. Cancer is cruel and its taken the lives of too many people. I've participated in many events to help raise money in order to help fund the work that is needed to find a way of defeating cancer.
During the July 4th weekend, I learned about the American Cancer Society's "15 Mile Swim Challenge" fundraiser event. I've participated in other ACS events, and my mother-in-law is an active volunteer and advocate for ACS, so it seemed like a great way for me to get into the pool for lap time and raise money for a good cause.
Every swim was usually about 2,000 yards, which is roughly about 1.14 miles, so I was hoping to complete this challenge in less that fourteen different pool times. I calculated that if I was 3-4 sessions a week, I would be able to complete it before the end of the month. The wrench in the work was unseen.
I soon discovered that our pool, the only public pool in our city, had cut their lap swim times due to a shortage of lifeguards. The lap pool was now closed from 1pm-4:30pm, so now we had the regular swimmers with only half of the available pool time. That meant that there were too many days that I couldn't swim, even though my schedule was clear. It became clear that I wasn't going to be able to get the pool time in order to get about 14 swim sessions completed before the end of the month. In the end, I got in seven swim sessions for a total of 8.09 miles. I will keep logging my swims, as many I can get in until I get my 15 miles completed.
At the end of the event, I had raised $300 for ACS, which ultimately is what this is all about. I have so many great friends and family that donated to my effort, and for that I am very grateful.
If the little contribution helps to someday spare somebody from losing a loved to cancer or spare someone from the pain of fighting it, it will be worth it.
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