Shanna Pentico

Here at Lake Placid. Final tune-up's are complete. As mentioned, I had no intention of blogging while here. I'm so focused now, I can barely carry on a conversation not related to nutrition, pacing or race execution. However, several days ago I received this note below. What an amazing birthday gift having a complete stranger send out a note like this to me! If people like Shana and her passion for living life deeply is not a source of energy and validation that humanity is good, I don't know what else could.
I'll be thinking of you Shana on Sunday!!!


Re-posted with permission.
"While I do not personally know you, Mark...I do know you from your blogs and from your FB and Twitter accounts. You are an amazing inspiration to the everyday-run-of-the-mill athlete such as myself. Your heart, your soul, and your goal are all laid on the line every day that you train. It will be laid on the line on Sunday and you will have family members, friends, and perfect strangers from social networking sites cheering you on from near and far. I admire you. You inspire me to train harder, to get up earlier, to care a little bit more, but most of all to appreciate all of those who have been touched by cancer. I am a cancer survivor. And my battle is not over I suspect. But I get up daily and train for my Olympic distance and 70.3 races. I look in the mirror and see my scars from the 37 stitches that it took to sew up my face from removing a large portion of my cheek due to skin cancer. I know that I have a greater appreciation for life, for determination, for dedication, for survival than most people. But you have taken it to another level. You race for your mother and for the battle that she didn't win. But you can win it for her. I won my initial battle but there will be more to come. What I endured was just a pre-cursor for more bouts of cancer. I know this. I hope it isn't true. I seem to have no one fighting for me...because skin cancer, especially basal cell, is the "kind of cancer that you want to have". Really? Seems like an oxymoron to me. I don't want ANY kind of cancer. Yet many people told me that I was lucky that it was only basal cell. Little did they, or I, know it was infilltrating basal cell...it had roots. It was much larger than anyone thought under the skin. We all rely on our looks in so many ways each day and now my face has a large scar. An "S" shaped scar. It stands for "swim" for me since that is the part of the tri that I dislike the most. I hate cancer and I dislike the swim.

Anyhow, I write this note to tell you that I wish you the best of luck at Lake Placid. I admire what you are doing and why. I understand your committment and your dedication and I think it is superb! YOU ROCK! And you WILL dominate this weekend! Your mother is so very proud of you! Leave it all out there Mark!

Race hard!
Shanna Pentico"

Go Deep in all that you do!
Mark