of the word quit and lives with an intensity and passion for his goals
and ideals. My hat goes off to you and hope to see you victorious in
France this July.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "michaelrivera0619@gmail.com" <michaelrivera0619@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:08:00 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: CNN - Lance Armstrong: I'm cycling to take cancer message worldwide
To: "michaelrivera0619@gmail.com" <michaelrivera0619@gmail.com>
Cc: "michaelrivera0619@gmail.com" <michaelrivera0619@gmail.com>
Sent from michaelrivera0619@gmail.com's mobile device from http://www.cnn.com.
Lance Armstrong: I'm cycling to take cancer message worldwide
Cycling superstar Lance Armstrong stunned the sports world September 9
when he announced that he would come out of a three-year retirement to
attempt to win the Tour de France for a record eighth time.
The 37-year-old Texan said he was returning to raise awareness of
cancer, having survived testicular cancer to triumph in cycling's most
famous race.
Armstrong spoke Wednesday with "American Morning's" Kiran Chetry about
what lies ahead in his return from retirement and the message he hopes
the world will embrace.
Kiran Chetry: A lot of excitement around the fact you that are
returning to cycling. Are you going to race in the Tour de France?
Lance Armstrong: That's the plan. Certainly that's the marquee event
in cycling, the one that draws the most attention and eyeballs. And
with the campaign to take Livestrong global, you want to do the most
high-profile event and reach out to the places that need the message
the most -- France being one, Australia another, South America, South
Africa, Asia -- a lot of places where the global epidemic for cancer
is still prevalent.
Chetry: You were diagnosed and given a 40 percent chance of survival
when you were in your mid-20s, and for you, this has become a passion
perhaps even greater than cycling. Is that the reason you are
returning to the sport?
Armstrong: It's the first reason. I guess if I looked at it from an
athletic standpoint, I don't really need to win another Tour. Seven
Tours for me was a dream, six broke the record, so that eight doesn't
really mean much.
But we had some success in the state of Texas with Livestrong; we had
success in the United States, making it part of the national dialogue.
Now it's time to take the message around the world and erase some of
the stigma that exists with cancer and increase funding not just in
the United States, but all over the world.
Chetry: You can't go anywhere without seeing someone wearing your
bracelet. That's led to $70 million from the bracelets alone. Why did
that message seem to resonate with so many people?
Armstrong: It's very simple. It resonates because the disease affects
everybody. Not that everybody has been diagnosed themselves, but
everybody has a family member or a neighbor or a classmate that dealt
with this disease. So it is literally 100 percent the basis. Everybody
understands that everybody wants to ultimately see this disease go
away in our lifetime.
Chetry: Getting back to cycling, one of your former teammates, Robbie
Ventura, was talking about how difficult it is. He said the hardest
part will be going back to the mental discipline of training --
eating, sleeping with 110 percent commitment and snapping your brain
back to the being perfect all the time. Is it the mental part that is
harder than the physical part?
Armstrong: The mind has snapped back. Mentally, I feel 25 again. I
feel motivated and more inspired than I've ever been to get back to
the bike and work hard to make all the sacrifice it required to be
competitive.
Physically, at 37, I'll be almost 38 when I start the tour next
summer. That's slightly different, but ultimately, I believe that the
mind powers the body, and once the mind says we want to do it, then
the body will follow.
Chetry: On a practical level, what is that type of training like? What
do you do every day?
Armstrong: It goes in phases. Right now, I'm spending half my time in
the gym and half my time on the bike. Come January, all of the gym
work will go away, and really for the rest of the season, all you do
is train on the bike and obviously focus on other things. Focus on
stretching. Focus on the technology of cycling. Focus on diet. Focus
on the team and strategy and all the other elements.
Chetry: I want to ask you about presidential politics right now. I
know you met with and talked and I saw you touring with John McCain,
and he's a cancer survivor himself. What does the president need to be
aware of? What type of action would you like to see happen when either
one of these men makes it to the White House as it relates to cancer
research?
Armstrong: Well, there are a lot of things that the future president
needs to do. I think the president needs to focus on the continuum of
the disease all the way from prevention to end of life.
We need more funding at the federal level both at the National Cancer
Institute and the National Institutes of Health. Both candidates have
pledged to increase funding. Barack Obama has pledged to double
funding at the NCI. I think we should do more about regulating and
controlling tobacco abuse in this country, especially when it comes to
the youth of America. There are a lot of steps here
But I think you have both candidates that are engaged. One is a
survivor himself; the other, Barack Obama, having lost his mother to
this disease. They will enter the White House with this as a priority,
I think.
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