Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Michelle Bailey, program coordinator at the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce, is training for an upcoming triathalon to help raise money for leukemia.
'Iron Woman' gears up
Local resident readies for triathalon to cure leukemia
By Melissa Matchak
Six days a week, Michelle Bailey gets up before 6 a.m. to run, swim, or ride a bicycle. She soon plans to get her own bike so she can ride from her home in Los Gatos to her job at the Chamber of Commerce in Sunnyvale.
This intense exercise schedule is not just for Bailey's health, but to help improve the health of others. She is training for the Wildflower Triathlon, which will be held on May 6, at Lake San Antonio in Monterey County.
Bailey recently signed up to join the Team in Training program, a fundraising group dedicated to finding a cure for leukemia and other blood-related cancers, such as lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma. Bailey must raise a minimum of $2,700, but said her goal is to raise a total of $5,000 through sponsors. Seventy-five percent of the money raised by each participant goes to leukemia research and the remaining 25 percent offsets the cost of participating in the event.
Bailey got involved in the triathlon through a friend who has been involved with Team in Training and brought Bailey to a general information meeting in early January. At the meeting, members spoke about the year's fundraising events, including the Wildflower Triathlon, and others spoke about their experiences with leukemia. Bailey said she was hooked.
"It was heartbreaking; I signed up right away," Bailey said. "It makes me feel good to do things like this to help other people."
Sheer dedication drives Bailey to swim a mile two mornings a week, participate in group and individual track training for the run, and ride a borrowed bike, up to 16 miles a week as of press time. Bailey said she has always been a runner, but she is concerned about completing the bicycle part of the triathlon, since she hasn't done much bicycling until now, and doesn't yet own a bike.
Bailey said her training team, made up of 10 to 15 Los Gatos residents, meets Thursdays for group track training, Saturdays for a long run, and Sundays for a back-to-back swim and bike ride. The team is led by three coaches, one of whom is an eight-time participant in the Ironman competition.
"You have to work yourself up to it," Bailey said. "Eventually we will go to the triathlon site and do the course. You want your body to get a feel for the actual race."
Shortly before the May triathlon, Bailey said she and the other participants will slow down their training routine, in order to give their bodies a rest before the race.
The Wildflower Triathlon includes a swim just short of a mile, followed by a 26.5-mile bike race and a 6.2-mile run. Bailey said the annual race fills up each year, with more than 2,000 people participating.
Through Team in Training, each training team is matched with a group of honorees, people from the Bay Area whose lives have been affected by blood-related cancers. Each participant is provided with a hospital bracelet with an honoree's name on it to wear throughout his or her training. Bailey said she would be participating in the triathlon on behalf of three Bay Area honorees, two of which are children. Participants are encouraged to meet or at least contact their honorees by phone. Bailey said, although she has not met her honorees yet, she intends to do so.
Bailey will be accepting donations until April 15, and can be reached by email at michellerbailey@aol.com. For more information about Team in Training, go to www.teamintraining.com.
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
