Living this LIfe I've been Given

Mission Day

2012-02-26T16:47:00.002-08:00

Lyndsay and I trying to stay warm

Loreal speaking

Tiffany telling us about
how our money help research.

Mission Day was yesterday. It was not the best training day. It was cold and very very very windy. The wind was blowing at about 20 mph, with gust up to 35 mph. The temps were in the 30's. Brrrrr. The cycling team was riding 15 miles from N. Cary Park, and returning to be able to be apart of Mission Day. I had already decided earlier in the week that I would run instead of ride on Saturday. Partly because of the low mileage, and partly because I had a friend who needed riding partners on Sunday, I figured it would work out well....and it did. I met one of my teammates from doing Disney, and we did a leisurely 3-ish miles. It was a hard run with the wind. Then we came back and hung out for Mission Day. The only hard thing with Mission Day is that we do it outside in the shelter at the park, the wind was blowing so hard that the papers, signs, and all the testing stuff for bone marrow match were blowing all over the place. Ohh yeah, and it was freezing COLD!!

More of Loreal telling us about
patient services.

The people who spoke were AMAZING. We had the patient services person speak about where our money was going, and what we were helping people in our area with. We also heard about the research that is happening with the money that we raise. We had our honored teammates talk about their stories, and some survivor teammates told their stories. It was AWESOME. I never have dry eyes by the end of Mission Day and yesterday was no exception.

From Spring to Winter in less than 24 hours

2012-02-20T05:00:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I was out riding with the Team in N. Raleigh in temperatures that got into the mid 60's. I believe the high for Saturday was 65. It was sunny and beautiful, and a perfect day for a bike ride, if I do say so myself. We enjoyed a beautiful ride through the countryside and took in some nice climbs to get us trained up for our 100 mile bike ride around Lake Tahoe. The group I rode with did a pretty good job of trying to keep a pace line (there were essentially 4 of us riding together), except for on the hills, were there are some clearly better climbers! It was a gorgeous day. It felt like Spring, in the best sense of what Spring feels like. After the ride I went out and got a burrito with some of my teammates, enjoyed some more time with them.

Then I came home and got ready to hang out with friends who are like family. We had a lovely time visiting with Pahner/Dorff clan and I got to play with my little buddies. (I also ripped my jeans...I sat on a nail and ripped them...hahahaha).

On Sunday I woke up and took Scout for his morning walk, and then went over to a friends house (who has been in the hospital for an accident) and took care of her cat and dog. Then I came home and got ready to go for a run. It was already cold and the forecast said it would just be getting colder throughout the day. It was already wet too, and our rain chances were supposed to get heavier throughout the day. Ahhh, and it's true. It got colder and wetter throughout the day. Chris came over and he and I did a quick wet run through the neighborhood, down to the greenway (I love that we have a greenway in our hood now), and back to the house. 3.29 miles. Not stellar, but not so bad for a cold wet day.

The rest of day was pretty much spent inside. I caught up on some sleep....I didn't realize I was missing. When I woke up I checked the runDisney site to see how the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon was filling out. UH OH... the 1/2 Marathon was filling up quickly, it was already at 93% full. I talked to Jason, did some calculations to see how much airfare, hotel, etc would be....and we just don't have the money for it yet. It was a hard realization that my dream of the Coast to Coast was not in the works for this year. As it turned out the race sold out yesterday. No chance at all now. No worries though, I'll have other years (I hope).

After a little boo hoo fest (yes I shed a tear or two.....I know it's silly), I got myself together. We watched the weather getting colder. Made dinner at home. Went out and got some silly dessert in the rain....that was starting to get mixed with sleet. Once we got home the snow started to come down. It was beautiful and white and had big-ish flakes. It was starting to stick to the cars and the mulch, and even a little to the grass. I took Scout in it for a minute....it was cold. I knew it probably wouldn't still be here in the morning, but it was pretty to see. I

I was right about it not really being here in the morning. No snow on the roadways, barely any on the grass. But it's wild to think that we had a beautiful Spring like day on Saturday and SNOW on Sunday! That's North Carolina weather for you.

Today I'm going to go ride my bicycle (a little later) and see what the day brings me!

Happy Valentines Day....or something.

2012-02-15T05:33:00.000-08:00

So I know today isn't Valentines Day, yesterday was. I don't really celebrate Valentines Day. It's never really been a big day in my world. I think the only time I thought it was cool was in high school, when I got an anonymous valentine, and it was cool...a big balloon a stuffed animal (I'm pretty sure it was a cow...it was a phase I was going through), some chocolates....it was HUGE, and I thought I was the bomb-diggity. Well...as it turns out, it was my Mom who did all that for me. *winks* I'm not sure I ever told anyone else that before...hmmm, it was pretty cool being that girl...with the secret admirer. HAhahahaha. Since then Valentines Day been pretty much ehhh. My husband and I don't really celebrate (we celebrate every day of our lives!!). I don't hate on Valentines Day though, I know people LOVE it. So it makes me happy when I see on facebook that people are posting pictures of the flowers they got, or the candy, cookies, etc. I think it's sweet. I think it's sweeter when it happens unexpectedly, not because of a "holiday". With that being said...I did get a Valentine this year. One of my friends from TNT, who happens to live in California posted that she was making Valentines and if you wanted in on the action you needed to send her your addy. I'm all about getting fun stuff in the mail, so I sent her my home address and yesterday I got a sweet and sparkly Valentine from her! Awwww.

So how did I really spend my Valentines Day?? Well I'm glad you asked. I worked. HA!! Most of don't have a random Tuesday off, and that includes me. I worked at the dental office (the one near downtown) from about 7:15 to about 4:30, then I headed over to the pool (where I was going to swim, but sat in my car and listened to my book on CD instead, because my swim partner had an emergency come up and I just wasn't feeling a swim...boo on me), then I did actually go into the pool and helped run the first practice for our Special Olympics Swim Team!! Then I came home to my husband, who made me a yummy dinner (as he usually does...*smiles*), and my sweet puppy dog (who was overjoyed to see me because I think he thought I had left him forever)....ohh and my Valentine Card from my friend in California! It was an AWESOME day.

So before Valentines Day happened the whole week before it happened...I know that's like totally crazy right? Here's the re-cap:

Wednesday the 8th: Got up, finally pushed myself out the door to go for a run. Did a 5K, cause you know it was something. It was cold, but the run felt good. Went to work, saw 3 patients and came home with terrible stomach issues. Stayed in for the rest of the day

Thursday the 9th: Woke up, thought I was feeling better. Took the puppy dog for his morning walk. Was not feeling better. Called the office to let them know I wouldn't be able to come in. Stomach felt like I had done a million sit ups in the night (and I know I'm not sleep walking doing sit ups). I did venture out to deliver some lunch totes to people, but came right back home as I was spent from just driving, walking a few feet, and driving some more.

Friday the 10th: was feeling much better. Went to work. Did well all day. Went out with the girls from work for dinner and a movie. (The Vow - a total chick flick, fun to see with the girls)

Saturday the 11th: Got out and went for a ride with the Team. We rode up and down Jack Bennett Rd....it was fun! It was a chilly ride that got windy at the end. Hung out with one of my best friends for awhile.

Sunday the 12th: BRRRRRRR!!! Was supposed to meet a friend to run at 9 am, but we pushed it back to 3 pm. It was 23 degrees at 9 am, and it was mega windy. It was still chilly at 3, but not that cold, and still windy, but not 20 mph winds. *smiles* I also went to see my neighbor to give her, her lunch tote and love on my sweet Seven dog.

Monday the 13th: Worked...what, you don't work on Mondays?? Ahhh, but sometimes I do. I worked in the morning for one of the girls at the Wake Forest office, so I was there from about 8-2, and then I grabbed a quick lunch (it wasn't healthy) and then went over to do a cycle study as part of the ear-bud testing group. I love that I get to be involved with helping make this technology come to fruition.

There you go...a quick recap of my last week. It's about to get busy! *smiles* I LOVE IT!!

30 miles = 1st step on the road to a century.

2012-02-04T16:27:00.000-08:00

Tiffany, Elaine, and Jeanne ready for the ride

Just a quick update. Today the team got together to do our first actual workout. While some people on the team have not ridden a bike in many years, and some people are like pro's on the team, it was a fun time had (by all, I think). We met at Harris Lake and the newer riders did a 10 mile ride to get a feel for what it's going to be like, to see what being on a bike is like, and all that good stuff. 10 miles when you are just starting out seems like FOREVER. Those of us who are a little more experienced on the bike did a 30-ish mile bike. We actually did the Raven Rock Ramble 32 mile route. It was really nice, if just a little hilly. Of course hilly is good. I'm going to need hilly. I think it felt hilly mostly because since the marathon I haven't done much. SHOCK!! I know! I was enjoying some time off from training, but now it's time to get back to it. My body says YES....and even ouch a little.

getting bikes ready

This journey is going to be amazing. I've never had the chance to ride with so many people before. I've usually ridden in smaller groups made up of mostly triathletes (we tend to ride a little differently). When everyone gets up to speed and mileage we are going to all be so AWESOME! Our Mission moment (we do one before every group training) was for Brady. Brady is one of my teammates long time friends husband. He has myeloma. He has recurrent myeloma. As in he fought it, had the stem cell transplant, did all the stuff he was supposed to do, made it dormant, but it's back. Today when I was climbing the hills that felt like mountains to me, I was thinking about Brady and how brave he has to be to continue to fight the cancer monster, and if he can continue on, so can I.

cycling apparel doesn't make you look cute.

Our lives are not spoken for. We don't know what's around the corner. We don't know when or why things happen. We can only live in the here and now. In the here and now, YOU can help with fighting cancer. Did you know that:

$50 will register 1 person to be a bone marrow donor

$75 will provide HLA (bone marrow) typing for a family member of a patient with a blood cancer

$100 will pay for the cost of 4 patient's chemotherapy drug prescriptions co-payments

$300 will train 25 peer volunteers who can provide emotional support to newly diagnosed patients

$500 will provide patient aid to a person with a blood cancer for a year

$1000 allows patients to meet with health care specialists to design and discuss their disease, treatment plan, and prepare them with the info they will need during the treatment process.

$2000 provides patients with a one month supply of Gleevec.

The development of Gleevec was funded by LLS. Below is some questions about Gleevec answered simply. But Gleevec isn't just for blood cancers anymore. So raising funds for LLS is helping with cancer research that is helping more than those with blood cancers.

What is Gleevec? Gleevec, also known as STI571, is a new drug that was approved by the the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a cancer of white blood cells and for the treatment of a rare form of stomach cancer called gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST).

Why is Gleevec different from most chemotherapy drugs? Gleevec represents a new class of cancer drugs and a new way of thinking about cancer. These molecularly targeted drugs are different because they target abnormal proteins that are fundamental to the cancer itself.

What were the results of the previous clinical trials with Gleevec? In June 1998, the first clinical trial of Gleevec was launched. This small, initial study sought primarily to determine whether Gleevec is safe in people, not its effectiveness as a cancer drug. However, as the doctors gradually increased the dose of the drug, they noticed dramatic responses in their patients, all of whom were no longer benefitting from previous therapy.

What is chronic myelogenous leukemia, or CML? CML affects the blasts that develop into multiple cell types in the bone marrow, including the white blood cells (granulocytes). The white blood cells do not mature normally and become too numerous. Immature white blood cells are then found in the blood and the bone marrow.

What is GIST? A Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is a type of tumor that usually begins in cells in the wall of the gastrointestinal tract. It can be benign or malignant.

Please take a minute to donate if you can.

Being Sick is no Fun!

2012-01-29T07:29:00.000-08:00

So taking time off training has been good, but I knew I would probably get a little cold when I stopped my normal workout routine. I was prepared to get a little sick, expected it....really expected it right after the marathon. Except it didn't. I didn't have any cold symptoms right after all my training and finishing the marathon. So a couple of weeks into my recovery time, my down time, my I don't have to train for anything time....then I get sick. My hubby had caught something, and I was working hard not get his sickness. Apparently that didn't work for me. I worked through my week, even though I didn't feel great. Seems like everyone at work was getting sick too. So hard to work and be happy around people when you really just aren't feeling that great.

Yesterday I thought I might be starting to feel better, but I didn't want to do to much. I didn't go to my dental hygiene board of trustee's meeting. I did end up going to the kick off meeting for TNT, but it was only for an hour. I immediately came home and went back to bed though. I've slept a 12 hour night, and 3 x 10 hour nights this week. I woke up this morning and thought WOW, I'm finally going to feel better. I could breath through my nose, it was great. I took my dog for a walk and still felt pretty okay. When I got home, it all started getting congested again. I feel like I'm hacking up a lung.....sounds like fun right? I guess getting it all out is a good thing though. Right??

I need to be feeling lot's better by tomorrow. I've got big plans. Like I'm going to work with the earbud testing crew and have a fun mask on my face while I ride my bike for 30-40 minutes on a trainer. Sounds like fun....right?? Well it is fun if you are feeling up to it. (minus the mask...that thing is not fun). I like being able to be apart of testing though. It's been fun.

Ohh, and P.S. - Scout seems to be doing with his meds and keeping him from being to crazy (restricted movement). Hopefully this will get him all better and he'll be 100% soon.

Scout gave us a little scare...

2012-01-25T05:28:00.000-08:00

So anyone who knows me in "real life" knows I love my dog. Scout is an almost 9 year old Chocolate Lab, who has been a part of our family since he was about 13 weeks old. I feel like a rescued him, even though I did get him from a breeder. Needless to say Scout had and has a few issues, mostly though he's just the cutest dog in the whole world (I'm sure I'm not the only person who thinks their dog is the cutest thing ever). With my other friends animals having severe problems lately and my radar on high, Scout "decided" to start limping on Sunday.

Scout at Christmas with his new Hedgie.

Weird thing: I took Scout out for his morning walk on Sunday and he was just fine. I took him out to pee and get ready to go for a car ride to meet the girls and Sophie (Scout's girlfriend) to go for a run, and he's limping. I did not take him for that run, thinking I didn't need to injure him farther or aggravate whatever was going on with him. It was Sunday, he didn't really seem like he was in distress except of the limping, I decided to wait and call the vet on Monday morning to get him in. I had the day off on Monday, I would be able to go in and talk to the vet and see what was happening. Except that when I called, the 2 vets that I prefer to see were out, or booked up for the day. I had to option of taking one of the other vets (there are 4 in the office) 1 who I just don't see eye to eye with (although lot's of other people like her), and one I just didn't know (therefore don't feel comfortable with), dropping Scout off and letting the vet I knew and liked check him when she had time throughout the day (but not in an exam room with us there) and picking him up later in the day (not a good option since he'd be sitting around in a cage/crate all day), or taking an appointment on Tuesday. I took the appointment on Tuesday, well, Jason took the appointment on Tuesday. Scout was still limping throughout the day, but it didn't seem to be getting worse, and he wasn't complaining about it (not that dogs really do).

Scout looking through the glass door at Granny J's House

Yesterday: Tuesday. I went to work. Jason took Scout to the vet. Dr Lewis did a great job of checking him over. They ended up taking a couple of x-rays on his left leg to check (no sedative to do that). All his bones and joints look good, no sign of anything else (like cancer) happening. They think it is probably a soft tissue issue a sprain or strain. Or it could be something with his spinal column, but she said that was pretty unlikely. Not sure how he strained or sprained his foot (left) while laying around the house, but it is possible that he did. So for now he's on anti-inflammatory meds, and on restrictive actions, which mean just leash walks, no playing time with jumping or running. So no D-O-G P-A-R-K for him for a couple of weeks.

I slept 12 hours last night, it could be because I needed some serious stress reduction sleep to happen, or I might be getting sick. I'm going to hope that it's the first. And now you know why my stress levels might of been a little high. *smiles*

Look at that sweet face!

The Disney World Marathon (TNT event #6)

2012-01-22T15:59:00.000-08:00

I woke up at 2:45 am. Yep that's early. We were meeting in the hotel lobby at 3:15 am to do a team picture and get on the busses to go to the start. We got our picture taken, we all gathered together, and we walkout out to the busses together. I love my TNT teammates!!

We headed over to the race start. We gathered together outside the bag check and corrals. We hung out for a little bit, ate our breakfasts, tried to stay calm, or tried to wake up. Some of the people in our group were up this early for the second or third day in a row. They were doing the Goofy Challenge (and one doing the unofficial Dopey Challenge). The Goofy Challenge is where you do the 1/2 marathon on Saturday and come back and do the full marathon on Sunday. GOOFY...right?? So as time was getting closer, I made my way to the porta-lets to finish off business one last time. Then back to the group, through bag check (they had a great system for the bag check) and walk to the corrals with our coaches (well they got to come part way). I was lucky enough to be let in to the corral with Sarah and Phil, and Cara (doing the Goofy). See I forgot to put a qualifying race in when I signed up, so I ended up in the last corral (ooopp's). So I went into the corral before the last corral with my friends...I kinda bullied my way in.

We huddled around at the back of the corral waiting for our turn to start. It was a little cold and very dark out still. They had big fireworks at the very beginning start, and then mini-fireworks for all the different corral starts. I was in corral G, the corrals went to H. We slowly made our way to the start line, it took about 40 minutes to get there. We saw the elite runners going by before we even started (to be fair the guy who one the marathon ran a 5 minute mile for the entire race, 2:19). Finally we were crossing the start line and on our way. I stuck to my 4 minute run 1:20 minute walk for the entire race, minus the first interval which I ran the walk (because I was cold) and when I stopped to take pictures with characters, and one bathroom stop. I had an AMAZING time. I had so much fun for the entire race, no joke! Of course my feet were hurting by the end a little, but I was truly enjoying every mile, I really wasn't expecting this! It was like the PERFECT race for me. My time was nothing to write home about 6 hours and 15 minutes, but you know what, I finished it, and I had a blast! I stopped and took lot's of pictures along the way. It was so cool. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story. I just want to add, that I wouldn't of made it through this entire journey without all the love and support of my family and friends, and mostly my TNT peeps! The coaches and support on the course were AMAZING!! The reason for doing this marathon makes my heart so happy. Finding a cure for cancer, and crossing that ultimate finish line....A CURE!

Getting pumped up before the race! (Sarah and Phil)

Yeah, we are totally getting ready...and the moon shines so bright! (Ben and Phil)

Just chillin' at the pre-race area.

Marie my roommate from the weekend, staying warm.

walking to the corrals (with Sarah)

Walking to the corrals and staying warm (Ben)

Walking to the corrals and Phil being Phil!

Alex trying to stay warm on the way to the corrals.

Me with my throw away sweatshirt and $3 blanket walking to the corrals with Coach Peggy

Sarah and Phil, cause they are so adorable!!

Waiting for Cara at the last potty stop before we go into our corrals.

The Start, Fireworks...but not a great picture ( on the other side of the road was all the other corrals)

Cara and I in the corral (she was doing the Goofy)

Heading into Epcot the first time.

Made it to Mile 3! WOO HOO!!

My first Character. One of the Ca bolero's

Briar Bear and Briar Fox

Now at mile 6. YAY!!

The 3 Little Pigs, the Big Bad Wolf was coming out after I went by.

Scotty Mc Duck, Daisy's uncle.

ready to head into the Magic Kingdom....after a little loop around.

Classic Car Show on the run!!

they were cool cars!

This one sorta looks like my father in laws car.

and some trucks too. They had race cars before this, but I didn't they looked as cool as these cars!

at mile 10

in the Magic Kingdom with Cinderella's Castle.

Alice and the Mad Hatter (the girl running did the whole thing dressed like pinochhico)

the back side of the castle

Prince Charming, and the Step Sisters and Step Mom.

Woody

Mary Poppin's and the Chimney Sweepers

Tigger and Pooh

The Evils

Mile 14!! (Over Half Way Done)

This guy looked just like Johnny Depp

Mile 15 and still smiling!

Smee, me, and Captain Hook

John Smith and Meeko

A Screech Owl on our way into the Animal Kingdom

My picture with a different owl

I asked the Macaw if he wanted to run 26.2 miles with me, he said yes!

An endangered tortoise. (they had rabbits too...the tortoise and the hare...hahahaha)

Petting the donkey

Me and Jiminey Cricket

Rafeki and I in the Animal Kingdom

King Louie and Blue from Jungle Book.

Expedition Everest in the distance, I heard a couple got out of the race to ride it and then came back to run the rest.

Mile 17! Chuggin' right along.

The smallest Minnie Mouse I've ever been near!

mile 18

Mickey on the way out of Animal Kingdom.

The signs leading up to this Photo Op where things like "This may be your FINAL REST STOP"

Made it Mile 19!!

Up the hill and into Hollywood Studios I will go... Move it Move it!!

How Incredible! I got to hang with the Incredibles!

Max!

That's right...it's Mile 24!

And here I made it to Mile 25!! Still loving it! Back in Epcot.

Duchess from the Arsticats.

The Beast!

Jasmine

Mushu

Another Ca bolero

Duffy, apparently Mickey's new friend.

Parks were open, and people thought we were crazy (I'm sure). Space Ship Earth behind me.

Mile 26, I got a little choked up at this one.

Right before the finish there was Minnie and Mickey, and I just had to take the Photo Op!

I did it! And I've got the BLING to prove it!

Sometimes, some things....just hurt.

2012-01-17T01:29:00.000-08:00

I'm so sad right now. My heart is heavy.

hanging at our house

found a good place to sleep (on our bed)

Yesterday morning I got a phone call from my neighbor and friend asking about our vet. You see their dog, the one I dog sit all the time has had this on going issue. He doesn't always put all his weight on his front right foot. I've noticed it for awhile and mentioned it to them every time I watch him. This last time I watched him (right before Christmas) I noticed it, and that he really didn't walk his "normal" distances, also that he had a fatty tumor in what looked like an uncomfortable area (under his "armpit"). My neighbor was calling to see who my vet was, why I go to them, etc., because when they called their vet they were amazed by the price to have a "picture" (read x-ray) taken. Something like $400. I don't think $400 is that expensive, and I told her so, and explained that they would probably have to sedate their dog to have the x-ray, and that they probably needed to be ready to do any sort of surgery (if needed) at that time, because why sedate a 110 lb, almost 10 year old dog twice. She thought it was probably just arthritis, because it seems to come and go, and I didn't have anything I could tell her. I gave her all of my vet's info, and told her that they usually explain things really well, and are very nice and have always been helpful for me and Scout (Scout had lot's of issues as a puppy).

staying close to Jason

The rest of my day flew by. My in-laws who were in town, packed up and went home. I saw a friends new house (a friend moved into the neighborhood and is working on slowly unpacking). I did some laundry. I worked on trying to organize a meeting with another friend. I worked on my designing some TNT thank you cards. Jason took Scout out for his evening walk.

chillin' on the stairs

When Jason came back I was babbling on about this or that, and he stopped me to tell me. He told me that our neighbor stopped him while he was walking Scout to let him know that he took his dog to our vet. That Seven has osteocarcinoma. Bone Cancer. That the fatty tumor under his front right leg has been masking it. That they could amputate his leg, but there is not a good chance that they would get it all. That he has about 2 months of life left. I broke down in tears. I love this dog, even though he isn't mine. Even though he's a complete lummox, whose big ol' feet are always stepping on me. He's big sweet face always wants to be right there with you. This 110 lb doberman who thinks he's a lap dog and wants to always be by your side. My heart aches. His family will be having a hard time with all this. There are 6 humans in his family, and they are going to miss him like crazy. Man I love that Seven dog, and this just hurts.

his bed (the guest bed) at our house.

TNT Season #5 (A Look Back)

2012-01-15T18:58:00.000-08:00

I took a year off. I needed a year off. I didn't really take a year off. I still did fundraising, I still trained and participated in endurance events. I did take a year off of fundraising for LLS and doing TNT event. I still raised money for cancer research. I felt like I was still doing good. But it's not like the feeling of doing TNT and doing for LLS. I came back.

My fifth season was supposed to be a repeat of season #3. The Nike Women's Marathon. I signed up to mentor again. I was ready to go conquer the beast! Except I wasn't. I started having some foot and ankle pain right before the start of the season, and decided to switch to a triathlon instead. Well not just any triathlon, a half ironman distance triathlon.

The season was amazing. I actually hired my friend and first TNT coach to coach me, even though we had a great TNT coach for the team. My friend understood my crazy schedule and what my goals for the race were. The TNT coach would of probably been able to do the same, but his workouts had to be grouped towards the whole team, so I didn't feel like I could ask for so many changes. I did get to workout with the team every now and then, but mostly worked out on my own with a really good friend who actually signed up for the race as well (he had a different coach as well). I'm lucky that most of the team were alumni, that I knew already. We all clicked really well and had fun whenever we got together.

Race weekend was AMAZING!! I drove down with my friend and training partner a day earlier than the official team time. We met up with another teammate to hang out and check out the course and do some short training before the big race. We got water, we got food, we got all our stuff together. We did a training ride. We hung out, we ate dinner...we had fun. We moved to the next hotel, we picked up our packets, we hung out with the team. We got ready at the race site, set up our bikes, we got nervous, we got calm, we got nervous again. We ate, we starved, we ate again. All good happy things.

Race morning- got up early about about 4 am. Got down to take the "team" photo, then went over to take the bus. The original plan had us "walking" to the race site (we all said no to that). I chit chatted with others going to the race site. The getting your transition area ready, and tires pumped. Then a bus ride to the actual start area, and the waiting game began. I was in wave 24 out of 25 for the swim. Which means I was waiting around FOREVER!!

The swim was amazing. Wicked FAST. The current in the Savannah River was really fast. The 1.2 mile swim with the run into the transition area took 26 minutes. Not to shabby. I made it through transition, and hoped onto my bike. Ahhhh, my bike ride was fun! Yes 56 miles through Augusta and rural South Carolina was fun. The best part was that it was overcast throughout the whole swim and bike. I made it back to transtion, and felt really good. I was so ready to rock out the run. I was feeling so amazing. Then the skies parted and the sun came out. The sun the crazy hot sun. My run turned into mostly a walk, but I did all of those 13.1 miles of running and walking. I finally got to the finish line....and crossed it. 6 hours and 45 minutes after I started I finished my race. 70.3 miles all together. I did it in under my goal time of 7 hours (or less). If the sun hadn't of come out I'm sure I could of cut some more time off. I'm really proud of what I did though. I had tears streaming down my face at the end. I did it, I really did it! I was a Half Ironman. Who knew this girl could raise this much money for cancer research and patient services and finish a Half Ironman, I didn't know....but I sure did do it!

I FINISHED!!

2012-01-10T02:35:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post. I finished all 26.2 miles of the Disney Marathon on Sunday!! Yep I did it! It was actually kinda fun. It's was hard, no doubt, but I stopped and took lot's of pictures...lot's and lot's of pictures! My goal was to finish...not to finish by...whatever time. So I didn't mind standing in line to get my picture taken with as many characters as I wanted! Believe it or not, I did pass up a few! *smiles* I'll post a full race report soon (after I finish my look backs).

I'll be taking a mini break for now. I'm pretty sore still. Muscles are still recovering, but I'm happy. So HAPPY!! Soon I'll be on my bike again, training for the 100 mile bike ride around Lake Tahoe. Happy for my break, but excited to be getting on my bike more again!

Mickey and Minnie right before the finish line!!

It's about to be here!!

2012-01-04T05:11:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I'm about to cross another milestone off my list! I hope I'm not jinxing myself, but I'm so happy to be almost done with this marathon thing! I love my runner friends, you know the ones who aspire to do 50 mile and 100 mile runs (or have done them already), but I'll NEVER be one of them. You know what....running hurts! Well, not all running....just those stupid long miles. Truly it's a mental game, one that is hard to figure out, and not so much fun to play. Regardless - I am about to embark on my mission to conquer the 26.2 (attempt #2). This is a no holds bar, take no prisoners, act of need. So in order for me to mentally tough it out through this battle of 26.2 miles I will be remembering that 1) I want this!, 2) I never want to train for this again!, 3) All the people in my life touched by cancer who I am doing this in honor of or memory of (this list is way to long!).

I plan on having a great weekend! I'll have fun! I'll take pictures. I'll enjoy being with my team, I'm sure I'll even enjoy a little alone time. I'll also be reflecting. Anyone who has done a TNT event knows that with it comes some heavy duty reflection, if not on your own, then with the "Inspiration Dinner"....which usually makes me cry.

David Brooks - is an amazing young man who is battling Leukemia, and has been for about 2 years now. He's recently been dealing with some kidney issues as well (HUS), and when he was originally diagnosed he had had a stroke as well. This young man is battling through some amazing fights! He has a good attitude and a structure of family and friends to keep him going. David I'm running this race in honor of YOU!

Wendy Gammon - My mom. Diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in 2/2007, stem cell transplant in 10/2007, dealing with all the after effects of chemo and stem cell transplant on a person who is very drug sensitive. Mom I am raising money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of YOU!

Lynn Harris - Uncle, you were a rock to our family. Your passing left a hole that no one can fill. We miss you. I run this race in memory of YOU!

Pat Allen - Aunt Pat- I wish I had known how much you were going through before the end. Your battle was a secret, but you fought the best you could. I run this race in memory of YOU!

Georgi Brunning - Cousin - even though I haven't seen you in years I think of you. Your battle with the cancer monster was amazing and I'm glad you made it through the mine fields to be here with your family. I run this race in honor of YOU!

Vashni DePaz - You my friend are one AMAZING woman! You are totally going to kick some cancer butt...AGAIN!! Keep strong in your diligence! I have faith that you will defeat the cancer monster! I run this race in honor of YOU!

Jane Pahner - You have made my life so much happier. I'm so happy you have fought the cancer battle and won! I run this race in honor of YOU!!

Rob Harris-Cannon - You have given me the strength and determination to keep going so many times you don't even know it. I'm glad to call you friend! I'm so happy you have won your cancer battles. I run this race in honor of YOU!!

there are so many more......but the tears are welling up already and I can't write anymore names right now. I'll try to add to the list before I leave....but know that I am thinking of you all!!

My 4th season of TNT.

2012-01-02T16:04:00.000-08:00

For my 4th time doing a Team in Training event I went back to what I started with, and what I love...Triathlons.

It was 2009. My Mom was in recovery/remission. She seemed to be doing pretty well, despite the set backs of treatment. My mom is very drug sensitive and the high dosages of steroids and neurotoxins caused some pretty severe side effects. Mom was/is unfortunately in pain most of the time now. She can't feel her feet most of the time, and when she does they hurt (pins and needles...that don't just go away). Her arm/hand shakes uncontrollably and it's beyond frustrating. Her back has developed arthritis, in part because of the multiple fusions. In spite of all these things, Mom puts on a brave face and seems to be learning to except her new limits with a thread of happiness.

I decided I would try training for the next distance of triathlon. The international/olympic distance. This distance consists of a .9 mile swim, a 25 mile bike, and a 6.2 mile (10K) run. A little more to train for than my previous sprints, but I was determined. I decided to just be a part of the team, and I was. I had a great mentor, whose positivity was AMAZING. Julie made everything seem possible. My friend (the one who originally got me hooked on TNT) became the assistant coach for this tri group, and I got to be coached by Bruce - one of the most dedicated TNT coaches around. It was a really fun summer of training. I felt strong on my bike, and felt like my run was making slight improvements (after the never wanting to run again, after Nike...Months). Swimming still came easily and was one high spot for me as I was able to help others with their swimming during our swim times.

swimming at Falls Lake

The race I choose was Nations Tri, taking place in Washington, D.C. The only part I wasn't looking forward to was the swim. It was in the Potomac River. Yep, that one. But you know what?? It wasn't bad. The water was clearer than any of the lakes around here.

perfect race food...right??

We were good and wore our helmets!

Listening well!

my sweet spot in transition

getting ready for the race!!

My Buddy Jenn!!

Me coming out of the water!

Run Chrissy Run

Looking Strong

Race weekend was AMAZING!! And even though our little group from NC (there were 4 of us) got grouped into "the national team", with unknown coaches and staff people, we were lucky enough to have both our Coaches (Bruce and Ruth) come up on their own to cheer us on! It was pretty spectacular! Julie, Michelle and I drove up together. It made sense to do that since we would all be together anyways. Annika had her family coming with her, so she drove up on her own. We had a great time hanging out in DC and doing a little (very little) sightseeing before getting ready for the big day.

we look awesome in our wetsuits and caps!!

Coaches and Team!!

The race: Having been my first Olympic/International Distance race, I'd say it was pretty overwhelming. There were 6,000 people registered. The transition area was gi-normous. I was really lucky to have been assigned a spot on the end of the bike rack (all spots were numbered to match your bib number). Anxious butterflies happened before the swim while we were waiting to be corralled up. Once the race got going though, it went fairly smoothly. Well smoothly through the water (minus that last double turn where everyone tried to climb all over each other....ewwwww, get off me), and smoothly on the bike (except that part where it didn't look like I was going up a hill, and I thought I had a flat, so I asked the girl behind me to look and see, but apparently I was just going up a hill....ohh and the many many potholes), and smoothly on the run (except that part where the girl told me to keep going, and I explained my run/walk routine, in which she let me know it would be faster if I just ran the whole thing...thanks, I didn't train for this or anything), or at least mostly smoothly on the run. Because at about mile 3 I really had to use the potty (just tee tee). BUT, there were NO potty's anywhere. And you couldn't go in the bushes, because...well it's downtown DC, there just wasn't anywhere to go hide in a bush at. It was so bad that I ended up walking for a bit, and yelling and all the water stop people to see if they had a port-a-john near by. Finally someone told me this big circular building was a potty, and I crossed my fingers that the doors would be unlocked. And they were. Relief. However, getting back into running was hard for me. So I walked, and ran a little and walked some more. I had a great time talking to people and kept moving. My weird injuries were flaring up, but I just kept moving, and finally got to running again....in time to come across the finish line. I'm positive I could of been faster....but I wasn't, and it's okay because I finished. I hung out with the girls after, and Julie and I drove home together (Michelle was meeting one of her friends in D.C.).

We trained (the four of us who did Nation's Tri) with a bigger group while in Raleigh. The other group did the Wilmington YMCA Sprint Tri. It was a fun group of people to train with. Team in Training in our area was changing, and not quick enough. I truly believe in what LLS does and how TNT helps, but I think that there are many ways to make the program more effective, and more accessible to many more people. I was lucky enough to be a part of a focus group to think out different ideas (specifically for our area). By the end of this season I was a little burnt out on TNT. I was frustrated with the current powers that be. Although I still believed in the mission, I needed a year away from the cause, and I took it.

Happy New Year!!

2012-01-01T07:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a great day!! I got up and did my last long run with the team.....it was "just" 10 miles. Don't you love it when you get to the point in training when your previously long long runs are "just" runs. I love it!!

Disney Team after the 10 mile run.

I brought my camera on my fuel belt so I could practice being ready for pictures at Disney. I did pretty good with it, but I won't post all those crazy pictures (including the one of the little dog, of whom I called Mickey, who was running free). I did the crew that stuck around to get together and have our picture taken! Funny thing that happened was that one of my teammates was given a set of my coasters as a gift (was purchased at the Trek Store). She really liked them and that made me happy!!

I hung out with some of the team afterwards for a late breakfast (recovery meal) at Bruggers Bagels. It was an interesting experience. *smiles* It was crazy busy, but we all got to hang out and talk a little about our holidays and our upcoming exciting trip to Disney.

Fun times

Lot's of Characters

I came home and took a nap....cause I'm good like that!! *smiles* Then got up and helped Jason (a little) get ready for the party happening at our house. We had a Murder Mystery Party with friends for New Years. Jason (my husband) and Kim (my friend) came up with this idea a week or so ago, and I thought...GREAT, lets do it!! So we did. Kim had a boxed game set. We set up an evite, we set up the characters, and sent out special emails out to those who would play parts (the only people who showed for the dinner) and set up the meal plan. It turned out to be AWESOME!! Everyone who came seemed to have a GREAT time, and really got into Character...and a bunch of Characters we were!! *smiles*

Fun Food and Friends

Yay, for Friends!!

The midnight hour came and we toasted with our bubbly and watched the ball and acorn drop on television. Then everyone packed up and headed home. We were in bed by 1:30!!

New Years Resolutions....I usually don't do them, however I will be trying to do some this year. One of my biggest resolutions is to drink less soda. Ideally to stop drinking soda at all. However as I know I'll be drinking soda in Disney, and probably after every race I do (it's just super satisfying), and it's one of the only things that helps with the onset of migraines. My other resolution is to eat less fast food, limited to only 1 x week (or less). My other resolutions are more personal, and somewhat private.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T05:39:00.000-08:00

I am enjoying the holiday season this year with my family...well my husbands family. We made it to Virginia on Thursday night, and have been enjoying the holiday spirit while here. We've been baking and wrapping, and arranging, and visiting, and all manner of things.

I went for a short run on Friday. Waynesboro is in the valley, but it's fairly hilly here. I got up and got on mapmyrun, and and mapped out a route (that I could recognize landmarks), it was about 2.5 miles, and I ended up doing it twice. I could of gone longer but I didn't want to spend more than an hour away. It was a nice run, and the sun was out and the people were out walking. It was lovely.

The tree here is beautiful, and it's wild how many gifts there are under it. Scout has been sniffing around a little under it, but to be fair there are gifts for him under there, and I think he knows!! *smiles* He hasn't gotten into anything yet. *fingers crossed* He has had his moments in years past (remembering the year he ate half the cookie tray, and the top half of a chocolate cake), but he's been really good in years past as well.

I really love this time of year, even with the craziness and hustle and bustle of everything, I love being able to spend time with the ones we (I) love and remember how lucky we are to have each other, to live this life, and be a part of this world.

Merry Christmas, or whatever Holiday you Celebrate.

20 miler!!

2011-12-18T07:34:00.000-08:00

Tis' the Season, Fa La La La La La La La La!! So Friday I worked til 5-ish, then I went and ate dinner and went to the wine club holiday party. I only drank 1 small glass of wine though, as I knew I had to get up early and do my 20 miler the next day.

I woke up at 5:15 on Saturday and took the dogs (my friend was spending the night after the wine club party- she and Jason stayed later and came back home to sleep), for a walk. I got all my stuff together and headed out the door. It was chilly but not COLD out. The air was moist but it wasn't raining. I was dressed in a long sleeve compression-ish shirt, a short sleeve wicking shirt, and one of my running jackets on top, and my cwx compression capris on bottom, along with socks and the new-ish brooks running shoes, also a knit hat and gloves (which got shed pretty quickly into the run).

I got to the meet up spot, and hung out in my car until the group formed. No need to get cold before I need to. *smiles* I got out and hung out with the group for a bit, we had our instructions, and our mission moment. I asked Wilford to take a group pic of us doing the 20 miler (he nicely did and put it up on facebook :) ). And off we went.

I had been dreading this run all week. I really didn't want to do it. I knew I needed to, but I didn't want to do it. Our team is small, and I usually am out running by myself for a good chunk of the time. We have some great coaches, but we also have people who need more encouragement, or instruction than I do. When I trained for Nike, our team was HUGE, and there were always people around, even if we didn't run the same pace we could talk for awhile and then move on. I'm the middle girl. Runners faster and runner's slower than I am, but I'm pretty much in the middle of the group on most runs. Which means I usually get to hang with a coach for a little bit at the beginning and a little bit at the end of my runs. 20 miles is a really long way....boring, boring, boring running. TNT policy says we aren't allowed to use headphones during group training for safety reasons. I get it, and I actually think I run faster without music (I listen to my foot falls better), but I miss the distraction of music. Ohhh, but I'm such a lucky girl to have good friends, of whom I sent out pleas of you could come run some of this run with me, or ride beside me for a little bit, or just come cheer me on at my hard points! A few friends wanted to come out, but schedules and what not got in the way. One friend said she would try to come and ride beside me, but it was early on a Saturday morning (trust me, I totally understand not wanting to get out of a warm bed on a cold morning). My good friend Ruth made it out to ride beside me (very slow riding in cold temps) for a good chunk of my run. It was nice to chat and catch up, and keep my mind distracted through all those miles!! I felt good, I felt really strong, and HAPPY, so HAPPY!! Ruth headed back when I had about 4 more miles to go, she was cold, and had to get back to her car which was closer to the half way point of my run (it was an out and back). I kept running, feeling pretty good, but also feeling that last honey stinger chew sitting in my stomach just turning into a hard knot. Eating while running can be tricky at times. Figuring out the right combo of "food" is always interesting. I've been doing endurance sports for awhile, and just when I think I've got it all figured out, something throws me for a loop. It's okay though, because you learn from these things. I ended up walking for the last 2.5 miles, but I tried to keep my walk going strong. Walking is hard. Your feet hurt more (really they do), and you just want to be done, but it takes longer, because you are walking instead of running. Yeah...walking isn't fun, but since I do run walk combo's throughout my run, it wasn't torture either. I finished...I made it. I ran/walked my 20 miles. It took me 4 hours and 15 minutes. I found the porta john, thank you ATT for having that there, and afterwards felt amazing! I walked across the street, talked with the coaches, signed out, and headed home for my ice bath.

Yes, you read that right, ice bath. Brrrrrrr. Actually the cold water bath is pretty hard in and of itself, so I sit in the cold water for about 7 minutes and then add the ice in, for another 7 minutes. It's terrible. I HATE IT!! Jason made me some hot chocolate to try and keep me warm. This is one bath I wear clothes in, I should of had Jason take a picture of me in the ice bath. I wore some old tri shorts, and on top I had on a long sleeve cotton tee, and a sweatshirt, I forgot my knit hat. I had a book, but Jason talked to me, so that was good. Ohh and I had my phone. Smart-phones, I lover youse.

Yep, then it was shower time, and get ready for the first of 3 parties I had to go to. I actually only made it to two parties, because I did crash (I was just so tired). I felt pretty good all day though. I ate yummy food, and had lot's of water, and coke's cause ummm yeah. I'm sorry I missed the last party, but sleep was so AWESOME!

Part III of Looking back at TNT

2011-11-22T15:20:00.001-08:00

2008. That was the year. Mom had had her stem cell transplant, and was alive and kicking. Her spirit was good, even if her body wasn't cooperating. Treatment had left Mom was some nagging, and painful side effects.

I had (so it seemed) fully recovered from having my knee surgeries. I was really starting to like running. It didn't hurt like it did before. Before having knee surgeries, running really sucked, and was very painful. After the surgeries, it was kinda fun. For what ever reason I decided since it didn't suck to run I would go after the big kahuna. I would do a FULL MARATHON! Not only would I do a full marathon, I would do it in Hilly San Francisco. I would raise money for LLS, and I would get my Tiffany's necklace (the finisher's medal for the Nike Women's Marathon). I have to admit that the necklace was a big reason for picking that particular race. However, the ENTIRE race benefited the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and TNT's presence there is awe-inspiring.

I decided to to the season as a mentor again. Mostly because I loved the cause, and wanted other's to love it as much as I did. Mentors actually get a break in fundraising (because they are helping everyone else fundraise...and it's like another job to keep on top of it all), however I never take advantage of that discount. I always raise the original minimum amount or more. I had never mentored a marathon group before. I thought it would interesting.

Because I'm an over-achiever, and because I knew this would be a big challenge for me, I set up my training plan and started slowly building my miles up before the season started. I also started my fundraising plan way in advance as well. I ran and ran and ran. My friend and I planned and planned and planned (she was doing Nation's Tri, and raising money for LLS just like me).

Official training started. I met the team. I had a BLAST!! I ran and ran. I mostly ran my long runs on Fridays and came out to the team training's on Saturday and ran some more. I met some new friends! We ran up and down hills. Always up and down hills. We added lot's and lot's of miles.

My husband was gone that summer. He was in school and was doing an internship in NYC. So when Mom and Dad came to visit, it was for a full month (JULY). They came to the fundraiser that my friend and I put on. We did a wine tasting and silent auction. We raised about $4,000 that day! It was great! However it was a wicked hot summer, to be training in, and for my parents who are from the Pacific NW (much cooler summer temps) to be here. Although it was AWESOME to have them come and hang out with me for a month. My dog got spoiled, and I think they had a good time (minus the heat).

To JUST DO IT...the Nike Women's Marathon was HARD. I learned a lot of lessons that day. First and for most, don't do a marathon as your first running event. STUPID! Second, marathons are really boring for people to watch (when you aren't participating), don't ask non-endurance athlete people to come cheer you on. Third, remember it's all mental (or it gets really mental). Forth....marathons are stupid hard, Fifth....it's really good to listen to your body. I made it mile 17, and was over the whole thing. I had run the first 12 miles or so, I mean I ran...just ran, instead of doing my normal run walk intervals. (I did stop to take pictures, but not like how I trained). At mile 17 I called my friend back in Raleigh (yes I had my phone with me) and told her I was done, I was over this stupid race and wanted it to be over, she calmly told me that I was getting there, that I was almost to the lake and then I would be in the home stretch. Except I could see the people in the home stretch across the highway divider, and all I wanted was to be there! Also my feet and ankles were killing me. I hurt so much I could barely think straight. One of the coaches found me, and we walked to the aid station, where they gave me a tylenol. I kept going for a bit, but decided to sweep myself off the course (which really just means I just didn't do about 2 miles - around the lake- of the course). I walked back to the finish line, happy that it was getting closer, but sad that I would not be able to say I was a marathoner. I did run across the finish line (hey, don't judge me, I had to get the right pictures). I got my necklace and shirt and blah blah blah. I went to the TNT tent and found my parents, got a massage at the free massage tent, and we headed back to the hotel. I took an ice bath and a shower, and then got in a car to drive a few hours to my parent's friends house for dinner.

Nike was an AWESOME experience, in which I learned a lot, mostly: do some smaller race before attempting the big kahuna!

finishing

running up a hill

my name in the sea of names on the Nike Wall

working my way up another hill

looking back, the hills were big!!

Chrissy at Crissy Field!

the expo tent

the Golden Gate bridge in the background!

TNT look back part II

2011-11-19T04:27:00.001-08:00

The next year for me was a little more difficult.

I had somewhat overdone it on my first season of triathlon (really my first season of trying to get back into shape), and both of my knees were hurting pretty bad. I ended up having surgery on both of them (at different times during the year) to have some rough tissue taken out of my knee space. Originally the ortho told me that I would never be able to run again (of which I secretly jumped for joy....an excuse to not run), but after all was said and done he gave me the okay to get back at it. And I did.

I decided that since I had had such a wonderful first experience with TNT that I would come back and do the same race, with the same coach, and even a few of the same teammates, but I would be a mentor. Being a mentor meant that I would be the go to person for my group of teammates for fundraising advice. I felt like I could accomplish this task fairly easily, as I didn't find fundraising to difficult the first year. I also really wanted to have good contact with my mentee's especially the ones brand new to this experience (as I did not experience that with my mentor....not that I blame him, I really didn't need a lot of help). One of my friends from the first season was the other mentor, and I was excited that we were going to be able to help more people through this experience.

The season started...and I knew from the beginning that I would miss a few workouts because my parents were coming to visit and we were going to go on a 10 day Caribbean Cruise. My parents arrived in Raleigh from Portland, Oregon and immediately I knew something wasn't okay with my Mom. My Mom who always has energy, always super happy to see me, always ready to get off a plane and get going, was struggling a little. The plane ride(s) were a little choppy and she was sore. After we get settled it comes out that Mom had surgery to have an Ovarian Cyst taken out about a month before coming out. (My parents have never been great about communicating what's happening with them, and my Mom is the worst....she doesn't want to burden anyone else). She had been cleared to do this trip, but she was a little worried. My Mom's pain threshold (back then at least) was high. It took a lot to get her to see anyone about something, she almost never took any kind of pain relief medication, she was a "I'll tough it out, and it'll get better" kinda a gal.

Mom and Dad were just visiting here for a little bit before the cruise, so Jason (my husband) and I just went about our normal routine, with going to work and then coming home to hang out with my parents. One time while we were at work my Mom and Dad went to the emergency room because the pain was so much my Mom couldn't stand it. That's a big deal people, my parents, especially my Mom don't like to go the doctor (at all). At the emergency room she was told she had a bladder infection. Ummmm No.

My parents looked up doctors that they could see that would be in network (insurance, you gotta love it), and then called around to see who would be working (it was getting pretty close to Christmas, as in 12/23). We (I got to come on this trip) went to see a doctor who is actually a sports medicine, but also does "normal" doctor stuff as well that would see my Mom. She explained the pain, and her surgery. The doc examined her, wasn't sure, but thought the pain might be related to the previous surgery and that travel may have aggravated it. He gave her some pain meds and put her on some steroids to help hopefully subside the pain. He told my Mom that if it wasn't getting better to come back to check if it was something else more serious.

Mom didn't want to miss this cruise. Mom was in a lot of pain and the meds were not helping. Mom didn't say anything to anyone (except maybe Dad). We flew to Miami, and boarded the ship....took off for a great vacation. Except Mom was drugged the whole time, and when she wasn't drugged she was in pain. Mom doesn't remember most of that cruise. We flew back to Raleigh, and the pain just getting worse. We went back to the practice, to see a doctor, mostly so Mom could make it back home to Portland so she could see her doctor. She was in so much pain that she really wasn't sleeping, no position she put herself in was comfortable. The heating pad wasn't helping, nothing was helping. When she saw the doctor he wanted to do some x-rays, but Mom just wanted pain meds to get back home. He obliged, and Mom and Dad went home to Portland (with me too).

I was going to Portland to be there for my Grandmother's memorial service, she had passed away the year before and we were doing a remembrance dinner....which got cancelled due to weather. It snowed like crazy, and my Great Uncle got very very very sick. And the whole trip was a mess.

Mom spoke to her doctor while she was in Raleigh, and her doctor decided that she needed to go see a PT as soon as she got back (and made the arrangements). She didn't want her to have any x-rays because she said that insurance wouldn't cover it because she had already had them done for her surgery. My Mom went to 1 PT appointment and left in more pain than when she went in. So much pain she could barely walk. I ended up coming back to Raleigh, leaving my parents to figure out what was happening. Mom assured me she would be fine, and that she had a follow up appointment in the next few days with her surgeon. On that follow up appointment she told the surgeon about all the pain, and he immediately sent her for an x-ray, the film showed 6 broken vertebrae, and he sent her to get an MRI, when that came back it showed another broken vertebrae and something that my Mom said looked like cottage cheese (CANCER). They didn't know what type, or if it had metastasized from somewhere else, but it was the big C.

Mom was officially diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in February 2007. My pretty little world came crushing down. My super strong Mom has cancer, a blood cancer at that. Research showed me that survival rates looked grim, and treatment wasn't going to be happy. Luckily I was connected. Team in Training raisies money for the the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (blood cancers). I got lot's of information. Lot's and lot's of information, better than internet information. I felt buoyed by the research. My teammates were AMAZING! I continued to train, and be the best mentor I could be. I had a new purpose, a better resolve, another reason to be doing all this. My MOM!

I completed my second season of Team in Training doing the Azalea Festival Triathlon with the words 4 MY MOM written in sharpie down my leg. My second team will never be forgotten, it's the team that got me through some really tough times. I am still very good friends with many people from that team and get to hang out with them fairly often!

A look back on my TNT experience...

2011-11-16T07:57:00.001-08:00

This is the first installment of a look back on my TNT experience. This is the beginning of my journey. Enjoy the read....and look for the next one coming up in future.

My friend saw me swim for the first time. She invited me to join her and anotherfriend from the dog-park to join her for a swim at the local pool. I had to take my sweet puppy boy home,and get my swim gear out (buried in some hole in my closet) and get to thepool, but I said sure. She didn’tknow I was a swimmer. Surely Ididn’t look like I could swim. Ilooked like an inactive person who probably didn’t know how to do much. She offered to bring me googles, but Ideclined, knowing that I would be able to find my own. So I went to the pool, and I WOWed themwith my swimming skills. HA!!

After that first swim, my friend and I had a conversationthat went something like this:

Her: Hey I think you should do a triathlon, they are sooomuch fun.

Me: ahhhh, I don’t think so I can’t run.

Her: But you are an AWESOME swimmer and that is everyone’shardest part.

Me: but I juststarted riding a bike again, the last time was when I was 10.

Her: Triathlons are AWESOME!

Me: ummmmm, yeah, you’ve said, but…

Her: And you can raise money for cancer research too….it’slot’s of fun with great people and coaches! You should totally do it!

Me: well, okay…I’ll go check it out.

So in November of 2005 I went to my first TNT informationsession with my neighbor and friend (not the same friend that convinced me todo this). I sat in a room with adozen other people and watched the “join the team” video. I was hooked. I’m such a sucker for emotional stuff. I knew I was going to do that season,and that I was going to be a triathlete. My neighbor and I were on the sameteam, my original friend who talked me into it was on a differentteam….although we were all on “The Team”. I was training for Azalea Festival Sprint Triathlon, my first Triathlon(as it turned out my second), and my friend was training for St. Anthony’sOlympic Distance Triathlon.

My first season with Team In Training was AMAZING!! I met some of the most wonderfulpeople, many of who are still in my life. We were mostly all beginners, maybe not at everything, but at least atsomething. I was just learning toride my bike again and gain endurance (distance), I had to really get myrunning in gear as well. Swimmingwas the only thing that was easy for me, and therefore the only thing that wasfun. It was season of learning,and enjoying the newness of everything. My teammates were encouraging, and mycoach was FANTASTIC. I couldn’t ofasked for anything better. Theseason progressed, we all got better. We signed up for Super Sprint as a “warm-up” race. It was the Hillsborough Super Sprint(250 yd swim, 9 mile bike, and 2 mile run). It was in March, and it’s cold…and I got passed by a 12 yearold on the bike, and I had to struggle through the 2 mile run. I hated every minute of it, I didn’tenjoy it at all…..but then…then….I crossed the finish line, and I washooked! It was the best feelingEVER! I did it, I pushed throughall my fears, and my doubts, and I finished my first triathlon. It was the BEST feeling EVER!! (well, almost the best feeling).

The Team kept training and we traveled down to Wilmington,NC for our “Big Race”. The swimwas in the UNC Wilmington Pool (indoors), the 14 mile bike was on flat smoothroads, and 5 K (3.1 mile) run was through the UNC-W campus. Because we were all novices, we allstarted close to each other….at the end of the race. My swim time netted me a little earlier swim start, but thatdidn’t gain me much as many people were more proficient on their bikes and at running. The best moment was at the end, when Ihad already finished my race and was sitting around with the team. One teammate was still out there. She was our cheerleader. She had never swam before, rode a bikebefore, or really run before this season of training. She had gotten through the swim, had made it through thebike, and had started out on her run. A phone call came in to the coach from this teammates husband (who wasrunning along side her), saying she didn’t think she could make it, that shewanted to quit. As soon as thesewords came out of the coaches mouth, 2 of our speedy runner teammates zoomedoff to find her. A little later acouple more people went, and so on and so on, until the entire team was runningwith this teammate…..(they were announcing the awards, when we all came aroundthe corner and they stopped to have the entire crowd cheer for ourteammate)….and she crossed that finish line! It was such an AMAZING time, our entire team was SO CLOSE! It felt so good to be part of somethingSO GREAT!

As a side note Team in Training is a major fundraiser forThe Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Each person raises a certain amount (depending on what race and wherethey were going) of money. Thisproved to be fairly easy for me, because I believe the cause, and I’m notafraid to ask people for help and money for the right thing.

http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/ambbr12/dentalfriend

5 K this morning.

2011-11-16T07:29:00.001-08:00

I ran this morning in the neighborhood. It's probably the last day that it'll be warm for awhile. It's supposed to rain most of the day (it hasn't started yet, but it feels like it's going to any minute now). It was 67 degrees outside at 7:30 am, with 95 % humidity. UGGGGHHHH! I say that but I think I would loved that during the summer, but I've already acclimated to the fall weather. It's going to get cold again, as in tomorrow the high will be 53 and the low will be 28! Brrrr.

Anyway, it was another time trial for me. I mapped out my 5 K in the neighborhood. I went out, and I did it. I was having a hard time breathing through part of it, possibly because of the humidity or all the wet leaves, or who knows. I did it in 28:15, which is pretty good. I sent the time to my coach and I will have a new set of speed and tempo workouts to do come next week.

This weekend will bring a 90 min timed run, I haven't decided if I'll try to get up early and run before work on Friday or just wait till Saturday while I'm visiting with my in-laws in Virginia. Hmmmm. I guess it depends on how my days go! *smiles*

I meant to take a picture of myself after the run...but I forgot. Bummer. So here's a screen shot of the weather channel app, so you can see what the weather was like this morning.

It was my BIRTHDAY!!

2011-11-14T16:34:00.001-08:00

HOLY COW...I'm getting OLD!! Saturday was my birthday!! It was pretty darn AWESOME! I have some pretty AMAZING people in my life, lot's of people to make me feel super special....thank god for that! *smiles*

I started my day with a 16 mile (OMG, I HATE RUNNING AFTER 10 MILES) run through some of the hills of Raleigh. I met up with the team and ran through N. Cary Park into Umstead through Umstead and down to Edwards Mill Rd...ohh and then back. The best part of that run?? CUPCAKES at the end! Yep one of the coaches made me cupcakes for my birthday!! They were super yummy, white cake with chocolate frosting, with a little extra chocolate in the middle! Perfect way to end the run!

On my way home I stopped at Harris Teeter (grocery store), and grabbed a bag of ice. Then I got home and ran a bath of cold water while I sat in the tub and then added the said bag of ice. Yep it's ice bath season. I do a ice bath after every run over 15 miles. They are so painful, but they make life so much better. Joints get less inflamed when iced down. It makes it so I can walk again! YAY, walking!! (key to successful ice baths are having something warm on, on the part of your body is not in the tub, and drinking a warm beverage, and having something to distract you, ie: magazine, iPhone, book, conversation with the one you love)

After the ice bath my sweet hubby made me lunch. Yummo grilled cheese and soup, perfect after the cold run. Then it was nap time. Ahhhh I love a good nap after a long run.

After waking up I had a bunch of birthday cards that had come in the mail to open. Fun to get birthday cards...I love it!! Then I got ready for dinner. Dinner was AWESOME! I met a bunch of my friends at Taverna Agora (FAB Greek Restaurant). We had a lovely dinner with more fun birthday cards. After that some of us went and got some frozen yogurt at Yogurt Mountain and chit chatted. Perfect fun night for me.

I cut my hair again...

2011-11-09T17:58:00.000-08:00

Whew, I can't stop cutting my hair it seems. This time it's a little too short in the front, but it's perfect in back. Ohh well. It'll grow!! I snapped a picture yesterday before I went to swim. It's probably the last time it'll be straight.

Speed Work

2011-11-07T15:29:00.000-08:00

I've been working on trying to get faster, and my coach (from TNT) said he could make me faster...so I'm doing what he tells me to do. It's hard, like really really hard. I dread the workouts, but they are relatively short, which means they are over before you know it. I'm always thinking of ways to cheat my way out of the workouts, but then I go ahead and do them anyways. I'm not helping myself by not doing the workouts. So today it was run 3 x 1 miles at a 8:40 pace (which is wicked fast for me), then a 1/4 mile recovery walk between each mile. Whew, it was hard, but I mostly did it. My mile times were 8:38, 8:41, and 8:45. On the way back I saw a really cool spider web and had to take a picture.

Saturday's Run...

2011-11-07T04:57:00.000-08:00

hanging out before the start.

getting ready to start.

So Saturday I got up and went out and ran with the team. I haven't been to team runs the last couple of weeks because of doing the day of the dead 5 K, and then cheering on the girls at B2B. So I was excited to come out and see everyone out there training for the cause. Our group is training for 3 marathons or halves this season. Kiawah, Disney, and PF. Changs. It's a small group, and most of the team was doing the City of Oaks half marathon as a warm up. Ohh yeah, and we were doing a staggered start...depending on what your workout called for. I had an hour run to do, so I got there at 8 am. Some people had 90 min, and some people had 2 hours, so yep we staggered it so we could all end together. Fun times!!

Oh yeah...I'm working more now!

2011-11-06T13:47:00.000-08:00

I think part of the reason I'm feeling a little more tired and not wanting to do as many of my workouts (I'm slacking a little and need to step it up a bit), is because I'm more busy work wise. I had been working for almost the last 3 years on Tuesday and Thursdays at one dental office. For 2 years this has been my only solid source of income. I had been working at a different office on Mondays and Wednesdays, but then I wasn't. I had been looking for the right office to fill in my other days since I left my M/W office. 2 years I've worked on Tu/Th with some fill in days here and there at some of my favorite offices. I had interviewed at an office in Wake Forest a while ago, but we couldn't work out the days. I stayed on with them as fill in for them, because I really like the office. Well, they offered me a position when one of their hygienists had to leave because of a move. They worked out the days and have me working Wednesdays and Fridays. It's official I'm working 4 days a week (that's full time in the dental world), and still doing a little fill in on Mondays for my favorite offices. YAY!! I'm re-learning how to get all my stuff done now. This summer I was lucky to have to work as much and to be able to dedicate my time to training. Now I have to be "normal" and try to fit it all in. This I can do. Just gotta work on my time management, which really means I can't stay on facebook for hours! HA!

The seasons are changing.

Just thought I'd share my good news! Yay, for having jobs that I like. Both offices are different from each other, but I'm happy at both!

Dreaming of this...

2011-11-06T08:39:00.000-08:00

I'll be needing one of these after the marathon.....just saying! Dole Whip Float! YUM!!

Halloween

2011-11-06T08:32:00.000-08:00

This year was the second year we decided to go trick or treating with my friend Jenn and Jimmy and her boys. I love Halloween, and I usually dress up, I mean who doesn't?? *smiles* Since I missed all the "adult" parties because I was down being a good friend cheering on my girls doing their Ironman.

Me as Mary Poppins

Nate as a firefighter, Jenn as a Chef, Pete as a duck, and me.

I had decide which costume to wear. It was between the hippie flower child, Cinderella, or Mary Poppins, (I might of chosen Aragorn from Lord of the Rings, but part of that costume seems to be missing...hmmmm). In the end I decided on Mary Poppins, since it was raining and the little ones might actually know who I was...with a little singing.

B2B 140.6 for friends!

2011-11-06T08:13:00.000-08:00

WOO HOO!! Watching friends complete their goals is AMAZING!!

The girls were surprized by our purple supporter shirts

Jenn running to the bike from the swim

Jenn getting ready to bike 112 miles

Avril going out on the bike.

The girls finally found each other on the ride

Jess and Avril at the rest stop

Me and Jenn at the rest stop

Jenn and Dar at the rest stop

Avril and her Mom at the finish

Neal and Avril at the finish

Jenn and her family at the finish

Dar and I at the end.

Jenn and I at the finish

Lora, Marcus and Jenn at the finish.

Jenn and Avril the next morning.

I went down to Wilmington to cheer on my friends Jenn and Avril who were competing in their first 140.6 mile race (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run). Spectating is a sport, let me tell you!! *smiles* It was great watching them accomplish their goals! So Amazing to see all the people who were able to fight the winds and cold of that day. 15-25 mph headwinds for the first 75 miles of the bike. Chilly conditions for the run. But the swim was quick with a nice current! YAY!!

Small Pumpkin Carving...

2011-11-06T07:52:00.000-08:00

Kim (in black and white) carving pumpkins.

Michael (in black and white) carving pumpkins.

So we didn't actually have our annual pumpkin carving party. We went our friends house to have a pumpkin beer and wine party. It wasn't pumpkin wine, but it was a fun night. We added the ability to carve pumpkins if people wanted. So my friend Kim brought pumpkins and Michael brought pumpkins as well. I carved one of Kim's pumpkins (of which it went to her parents house). It was fun hanging out and getting our cute pumpkins carved.

the pumpkins

Day of the Dead 5 K

2011-11-06T07:34:00.000-08:00

I had a great time doing this 5 K!! I needed to do a 5 K to check my time, so I can figure out my training. My coach is trying to get me faster. I'm not sure how fast that will be, but faster than I am now would be good! *smiles*

Bill and I after the race, notice my lovely sweat.

I met my friend Bill downtown around the start line. We waiting in line FOREVER to get our faces painted (we were 4th and 5th in line), and barely got them painted before the race started. One guy was painting elaborate designs on people faces (people who were not running), and the girl was doing a much quicker job, with equally cute designs on peoples faces. I got the quick girl, Bill got the guy and made him stop painting on his face so he could go run! *smiles*

Downtown is hilly but it's always fun to run around with people. I had a great time! I ran hard, and I did my 4 minute run and 1:20 min walk. I finished in about 27 minutes. WHOA!! That's FAST...for me. I'm not sure that it was a true 5 K, pretty sure it was a little short. Anywho...it was an AWESOME race, and I had a great time!!

me after I got home. nice shot of the shirt and face.

Neuse River Greenway

2011-11-06T06:59:00.000-08:00

YAY!! The new greenway is open, well mostly. It's so fun being able to run down about a mile to the start of the greenway and go run and run and run. So apparently now the greenway goes for about 26 miles, or it will when it's all finished. Right now it goes about to mile 6 (the soccer complex). So I've been going down and running my Yasso's and my tempo runs at the greenway. It's been wild, 1/4 mile markers are all over the place, makes running fun and lets me keep up it all. So yay GREENWAY!!

NC State Fair

2011-11-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

my buddy holding Dad's hand

my extra little buddy and Mom

Looks like Pete is running from the law.

Nate waiting for NC State Ice Cream

Me waiting in line for Ice Cream

Last Sunday I went to the State Fair with my good friends. I only go to the fair with them, it's become tradition. They actually go to the fair a couple of times, but reserve one time to "go with Chrissy". I'm not the typical fair person. I don't ride the rides....I mean anything you can pack up and take away does not seem safe enough for me to ride on. I don't eat most of the food, what a lot of my friends go to the fair for (deep fried EVERYTHING). I go to see the exhibits, check out the animals, people watch, and hang out with my friends and their little ones now. I love seeing the boys faces light up to the animals and when we walk through all the food vendors and by the rides. I told Jenn that when the boys get old enough, and start wanting to ride the rides, will be when I stop coming to the fair with them.

It's starting to get cooler out....

2011-10-16T07:36:00.000-07:00

It's funny how when it gets cooler out how much I remember I don't like the cold. I'm not sure I'd do so well in a really cold weather environment. I mean really...I'm no snow bunny. It's no where close to that here, and let me tell you having the humidity go out of the air has been fantastic. It's cool in the morning (maybe a little cold), and nice and sunny (warm) in the afternoon. However, I don't like the cool mornings when I'm marathon training....I like running in the cool, that's for sure. I just get COLD after I run, for like a couple of days....maybe a little bit of an exaggeration. I'm excited about the cooler weather though, it means Halloween is almost here, and the State Fair! WOO HOO!!

(not a good picture of the run)

I've been training for the marathon! I've been working on getting faster. I don't know if the training is making me a little faster or the cooler weather is making me a little faster...but either way I seem to be moving a little faster during this training. See not having oppressive summer heat beating on you is a nice thing. Bob, one of the Team In Training coaches who was also on the Augusta Half Iron team, told me he thought he could make me faster. So I'm following his plan for me. Which consists of a speed workout, a tempo run, and a long run every week. The speed workout consists of 1/2 mile sprints with 1/4 mile recovery. The tempo run is a longer consistent run trying to keep my pace at a certain pace throughout. It's not always easy, but it's fun to keep working on it. The long run is usually with the team, and it means a long run. This week it was a 12 mile run. It was a 12 mile run that was actually fun. It was a good run with the team, at the American Tobacco Trail, from the South entrance. It was a beautiful morning with cool overtones.

My view for Light the Night.

Last night I got to Volunteer for Light the Night, which is an annual fundraiser for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society that involves raising money and getting together for a walk at night with lighted balloons. The balloons are different colors to represent, survivors, supporters, and those remembered. It's a wonderful time that is peaceful and beautiful. However this year I didn't see any of it. I was there, but I saw none of it. Hmmm. I helped out in the accounting area, which was guarded by a police officer and which there was ton's of protocols. All to make sure the money turned it goes to the right place. It was fun though and I'm glad I got to help out.

Halloween is just around the corner. When I took Scout out for a few walks I took some pictures of our neighbors decorations. Some of our neighbors go all out. It's pretty cool!!

cheese and spinach dip and yumminess!

I had a wine raffle party as a fundraiser. It was good party, I had fun, I drank wine, I ate food. It wasn't as big as other years wine raffle parties. I planned out this fundraiser in advance, and had people excited about it, but then lot's of stuff came up with people and I ended up with about 10 people at the party. Ahhh, but they were 10 FUN people! So FUN was had! My friend Jenn Mayfield (who wasn't at the party, but donated wine and bought raffle tickets) won the big prize....all the bottles of wine donated. 13 bottles of wine are coming her way!! YAY!

Some friends enjoying the party

Mushroom caps and pizza

Jenn's Haul!

spiral yumminess, more cheese

more fun hanging out.

I am only one,

But still I am one.

I cannot do everything,

But still I can do something;

And because I cannot do everything

I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.

- Edward Everett Hale

If you want to support me in doing something I can do, feel free to donate to my fundraising page.

http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/wdw12/dentalfriend

Coming off my high...

2011-10-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

Coming off my high from finishing my first half ironman. I was warned I might have some post race blues. I'm not really sure that's what I have, but I am definately feeling a little low. I started marathon training though....well I've picked up where the rest of the team is at. Lucky for me, I was already trained up for my other race and could jump right in.

I thought jumping into the next thing would keep me going and keep the low from happening. I didn't really think about how tired I am. I mean I'm tired. It could be that I had a crazy busy week last week. Lot's of work, lot's of extra activities, lot's of things to keep in check for planning, lot's of fundraising....just lot's of lot's! Stress doesn't work well with me, but I feel like I've been living with stress for so long I'm sorta immune. I try to keep it at bay as much as possible. I talk...a lot...but I talk to make sure I don't hold everything inside. I don't ever want to be THAT PERSON, you know...the one who gets mad and someone, or about something, but never tells the person, or works on the situation and then just stays mad. (I think I just had a little ramble there). Anywho, I'm tired. Fall allergies have set in, so I'm tired and a little snotty too. It's all kinda "fun".

I missed a swim/bike (hey it's cross training for the marathon) this morning with a friend who is training for IMFL (Ironman Florida), because my stomach wasn't feeling great. Which meant I got to go to the dog park with my sweet boy. Scout had a blast. I feel bad for bailing, but think it was the best thing. Of course I'm trying to figure out what I can do to workout today. I think I might end up swimming after all (my stomach settled out). There is a group going to swim at Falls Lake (yes it's a little chilly in the water...that's what wet suits are for!!). Or I could go for a bike ride and see where the rest of the greenway trail takes me. Hmmmm.

I'm trying to get all my ducks in a row so my next few months go smoothly! We like smooth flowing times, especially with the holidays coming up (everyone's STRESSFUL time). Wish me luck.

Pictures from the Race!

2011-10-02T16:58:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to go out on the bike!

Going out on the bike course!

Running to the finish!! Happy Smile to be almost done!!

Happy to be on the bike...having fun!!

Riding on the bike course

more riding on the bike course

Finishing!!

Crossed the finish line!!

All Done!!

"Quick" Race Report from Augusta 70.3

2011-09-28T06:41:00.000-07:00

Wake up: 4:45 from an actually really good sleep.

Meet the “Team” at 5:15 at the front lobby

Pictures with the “TEAM” at 5:30

On the shuttle bus by 5:50

At transition by 6:05

All set up by 6:20 (with lot’s of double checking)

Over to Swim Start by 6:40

Swim Start: 8:57 – rough sea weed, grabbing at you, butsmooth swimming down the middle of the Savannah River with a beautifulcurrent! Yellow buoys lined thestraight point to point course with two orange buoys marking the turn into theramp out of the water. Cheeringfrom coach Bruce on my right, and Stephanie up ahead on the bank. Wetsuit strippers ROCK! Finally overthe timing mat into transition.

T1- Wipe off feet, stick in socks and shoes, put on helmet,glasses, race number….off we go.

Bike: AMAZING! Fun course. Some flat, somerollers, a couple little hills and one grinder that was like 2 miles long butnot very steep. Couldn’t spreadout, very congested, but everyone was friendly, and HAPPY (except the guy in SCwho waved his sign for us all to go home, and get off the road). Some hairpinturns, all executed nicely. Waterbottle handoff’s were GREAT. Funtimes! Beautiful overcast skieskept it feeling amazing in the Georgia heat.

T2 – Rack bike, take off helmet, and shoes (socks), put onvisor, socks and running shoes. Put on fuel belt and get frozen bottles out of the cooler and drop themin their spots, turn race number around….run out.

Run: HARD! HOT, the sun came blazing out and my bodycouldn’t handle all the heat. Ikept taking salt tabs, and drinking water, and taking in nutrition, and pouringwater on my head, and putting ice chips in my bra….nothing would keep me cool. Goosebumps all over, fingerstingling…slowing down. Walkingmore. Still moving. Finally some relief in the form of athunderstorm with beautiful rain, but my muscles were already stiff fromwalking so much. Lot’s ofstradegies to keep moving, run a block, walk a block, try to catch up to thatperson, walk here, run there….just keep moving. Clock is ticking, 3 miles left, is this run ever going toend? One hour to make it to mygoal time. Can I do it? Just keep moving, one foot in front ofthe other, just keep moving. IWANT THIS!

Finish: 6 hours, 45 minutes and 57 seconds from the start Ifinished my first Half Ironman. 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run,completed. I DID IT!! Me, the girl who never wanted to do anIron distance. The girl who WASthe lazy endurance athlete, took a season of training and worked really hard,and accomplished her goals! Yeah,THIS GIRL DID IT!!

It's Official!!

2011-09-26T02:49:00.000-07:00

I am half CRAZY!! *smiles* I finished my (1st) Half Ironman. I did it in under my goal time, which was a pretty big window. I had a great swim, and a great bike, but I ended up walking most of the run. Ahh, but I knew this could happen to me. More to come later. Just happy to be finished!!

It's getting closer...

2011-09-14T09:54:00.000-07:00

This week was AMAZING! Of course, I almost always think that. I mean, it's pretty amazing what our bodies can do...right? I'm not heavy on my miles, but that's mostly because I had less cycling this week.

I actually was fighting a sinus infection and some low back pain at the beginning of the week. It was a little (read a lot) bit humid out at the beginning of the week, with the hurricanes and tropical storms coming through. It was wicked humid and body was not happy after already adjusting to our fall like weather from the last few weeks. Cool morning with warm/hot afternoons with less humidity.

By Thursday I was feeling better, but I'm sure that was mostly to do with the weather. I worked all this week (Tue-Thurs) at my "normal" dental office, because my co-worker was on vacation in London. My dentist doesn't believe in cooling the office when the humidity is up for some reason. I was sweating all day long. Nothing like having wet hands under your gloves while working. My Thursday workout was an intensity bike, and I felt great doing it. Tuesday and Wednesday I had to force myself out the door to get my workouts in. Friday was a rest day...Thank Goodness.

Team Tri Tri Again

White Lake.

Friday I drove down to White Lake to race in a Relay with my girlfriends! It was a fun race (International Distance on Saturday), that I wanted to do (the whole thing), but we just don't have the finances to add this race to my schedule. When Dar and Jenn let me know they were switching their entries into a relay and wanted to know if I could swim for them, and that I could crash with them....I was in! I had a bunch of friends who were down racing! It was fun to hang out with everyone and see them before/during/after the race.

I just did the swim for our relay (which got 4th place by 16 seconds). After I swam and passed the chip on to Dar to bike, and went back to the room to change and go out for a 14 mile run! That is 2 loops around White Lake. My first loop around the lake felt AWESOME! The second loop was wicked hot. I can't believe how different the loops felt. The first loop I was going along at a decent pace, I actually felt like I could go faster, but I felt really comfortable and wanted to be able to keep it going through the whole run. Once I made it to mile 10 I had to walk to mile 11. I had given out all my salt tabs to other people on the actual race course (when I was on it) because they were cramping up and I felt bad for them. I didn't mean to give them ALL of my tabs, but that's how it worked out. I could feel the sun baking into me, but there was nothing I could do. There was NO SHADE on the route. The last 3 miles were tough, and I was happy to hear comments on my runmeter from friends on facebook...made me smile a few times. When I was less than a mile away from the finish I kept getting texts and messages asking me where I am. And friends trying to find me to encourage me the rest of the way in. Somehow I missed Jenn M, who was looking for me, and Chris U who was out on a golf cart looking for me. Ohh well...I finished the run. I was crusted in salt (residue of sweat) and super sun burnt. After sitting and waiting for the relay awards (we came in 4th) I went up and packed up my gear and then hopped in the lake for a nice cool off swim. Then back to the room (P.S. I love staying right at the race site...in the lodge) to take a shower and hang out till Jenn M came to pick me up and take me back to Raleigh.

My Sunburn.

Scout on the pool deck.

Sunday was an early morning of volunteering for the Friesen 5K (run with the Carolina Hurricanes), I was at the race site (RBC Center) at 6 am. I helped set up, keep things running, and break down the race. I had some awesome friends who came out and volunteered as well (note: volunteers fundraising credit towards fundraising for Team In Training). Amazing. After the race I went home and met up with my friend Kim for a bike ride through the neighborhood (recovery ride). Sunday evening I took Scout out to Cary for the Pooch Plunge. Scout had a blast swimming in the pool and trying to show all the other dogs how awesome he is at swimming.

Monday came with another crazy headache, and me feeling lucky that I have such a wacky schedule and was able to go back to bed and try to rid myself of the headache. I finally felt well enough to go swim, and I did. Of course the neighborhood pool is closed for the season so I had to head over to the city pool, which I had to get a new punch card for. It was actually a great swim, even for a form swim. I don't usually like doing drills.

Tuesday was a work day, and I was doing fine until I wasn't. My stomach was feeling sick, and I was feeling a little dizzy. Not the best feeling while working on my patients. I took a little break between patients to try and evaluate what was going on. I'm pretty sure I have a sinus infection. My face is sore, and my stomach is gross from all the drainage from my sinuses. It makes me feel bad, but hopefully I can beat this little infection in no time flat. I ended up coming home and resting, and not doing my workout. Sometimes a body needs some rest.

Today - Wednesday, I'm still not 100%. I did do a short run at the Human Performance Lab (testing new earbuds that monitor heart rate). I need to do a bike ride, but I'm not sure my head and stomach are going to be able to handle it. But I'm going to give it a try in just a little bit. I have a big fundraiser tonight at Cary Wine and Design, that I need to be feeling okay for. We'll see how it all turns out.

Another Week in the Books!

2011-09-05T03:49:00.000-07:00

106 miles of Training this week. WOW that's a lot, like a whole lot of active moving. Guess what though....I'll be doing 70.3 in one day....a day not to far from now. Eeeeeeeeeeee!!

The View from my Trainer

Monday was AWESOME, I got called to work at one of my favorite dental offices. I love the staff, and I finally got to meet the Dental Hygienist that I usually fill in for at that office. Her patients LOVE her, and I have to say, she's a pretty neat person. After work I had a swim on my schedule to do, but there was a big thunderstorm (or two) moving across the area, so instead of swimming I set up my trainer on the screened in porch and did my form bike workout. It was tough! I don't actually like riding on my trainer (as it doesn't have the feel of your bike on the actual rode), but this was what it was. Lot's of one legged drills in this workout....lot's to think about.

Tuesday was back to my "normal" office to work with all the "normal" stuff going on there. When I got home I wanted to knock my swim out, but had promised to get my butt over to Wine 101 to pick out wines for the fundraiser coming up in a couple of weeks with the owner Joe. So Jason and I drove over (Jason said he would pour the wine for me, so he wanted to know about the wines he was pouring). Unfortunately Joe was not the store when I got there. Because of Hurricane Irene, things got jumbled around a bit and he had to go and make deliveries or some such thing....it's like he owns his own business or something! He did leave us some wines (a case), and we switched out 3 bottles, but it's AWESOME to have someone believe in you and do something great for you! The wine, btw, is for the Wine and Design Painting and Wine Tasting Event that is happening on September 14th. After going out to Wine 101, I headed to the pool, in fact I had Jason drop me off...I swam, and walked home.

At Shelly Lake....pretty sunrise

After 13. miles and still smiling.

Wednesday I was up early, to do my 13 mile run. WOO HOO!! I haven't done 13 in awhile, and I was excited to have friends who wanted to come run parts with me. However one friend had to back out due to childcare conflicts, and another friend met me for 3 miles in the middle, but had to bail because of some injuries and such acting up. So 13.36 miles of mostly just me....and my music (which I will not have in the race). I started early because my one friend needed to get to work after the run, so I headed onto the greenway with my headlamp and a lot of courage. It's dark and a little scary on the greenway in the dark. Thankfully there are actually lot's of us crazy runners out there in early early....so I was only "alone" for a short bit. Plus the sun started to come up...YAY, so the darkness went away and scary was mostly gone. I had lot's of plans to do lot's of things after that run, but I can honestly say I didn't do very many of them. I did go have lunch with my friend Jenn, and I did make it to the bank. Everything else was lost.

Thursday was another "normal" day at my "normal" office. Exciting because of the long weekend, and the other hygienist leaving to go on a trip to London. I got home, and had to convince myself to go swim. I wasn't feeling it at all. I got to the pool and started my speed swim workout, with no one else in the pool. It was break time for the kids (10 minutes of every hour all the kids have to get out of the pool and the lifeguards come down, I think it's for the kids to have a potty break [not in the pool], and for them to eat something). When the guard came back up I was still the only one in the "lap" pool and so she ended up sitting on the edge of the pool "watching/stalking" me. A little bit later a family came in (Mom/Dad/Kids/Grandparents/Cousins....the whole shabang) and were in the lap pool (there are only 2 lanes actually set up). They were all speaking German, so it felt like I was on vacation. HA! Ohh and yes, of course everyone felt the need to swim through the lanes right in front of me. I'm consistently swimming back and forth across the pool. You can't wait until I'm not going to be in the spot, or better yet use the ladder at the other side?? Ohh and one of the teenage boys thought it would be fun to "race" me. As I'm swimming my 8 200's he decides he's going to swim next to me (on the other side of the lane) and see if he can beat me. Luckily it was one of the fast 200's (they were alternating between easy and fast), so I smoked him. Of course I did a flip turn and kept on going, where he did all of 25 meters. It was an annoying swim.....but it got done.

My Buddy...he's getting so big!

Jenn and the boys

Friday is usually a day off for me, and it was a day off for training, but I worked at my other office in Wake Forest. That dental office is faster pace, but I really like the people there. I found out that one of the doctor's is pregnant (I literally hadn't seen her in months). There are always (at least when I'm there) 4 hygienists working there, so it's fun to catch up with everyone. After work we had made plans to meet up with our friends for dinner. I hadn't seen my little buddy in awhile, and I heard tell he was missing me too. We went to Moe's, a kid friendly place and enjoyed our time together.

Another brick done! My eyes are a little wind burned!

Saturday I was up early and ready to go for my last long ride before the race. I tried to find peeps to ride with me, but only one person was willing to ride part of the ride with me. HEY, I'll take what I can get, and DzB is an AWESOME get. I started at the White Oak Church entrance to the American Tobacco Trail, and rode out to meet DzB around Jean's strawberry patch/ Martha's Chapel. We met up and went down the road to Pea Ridge, and then to Corinth, then to 42, and Christians Chapel, and finally onto Old US 1, where DzB left me to go back home, and finished up the rest of ride....to Sharon Harris, New Hill Holeman, back to US 1, up Daisy and Beaver Creek which turns into Farrington, and the onto Hollands Chapel where I hit a big headwind, onto 751 and back up Lewter Shop....with another big headwind (the flag and Jean's Strawberry patch was flying right at me). But I finished out the ride 60.18 miles, and got my running shoes on to go for my run. The plan was to descend my pace every 5 minutes so by the end I would be running a 5 K race pace. Only that my legs felt really peppy off the bike, and I happened to be running on a slight downhill when I started, which meant I probably went out to fast. I felt good though, even though I had to walk a bit more in the middle of my 30 min run than expected. I did sprint out the end. YAY! After my great workout, I came home to go get my car back from the shop and let Jason have his car to go out to UNC. I ate some lunch (it's crazy because I went and got lunch, and then I kinda forgot to eat it). I rested a little, took a shower...you know all the good stuff. My friend texted me to say another friend was in town (she lives in Atlanta for now....) and if I wanted to get dinner to tonight with them.....ahhh YEAH! We all went to dinner and got to catch up, and then we went to Yogurt Mountain for some yummy frozen yogurt.

Jeanne and I after the OWS

Sunday morning came too early! Up and at the lake by 7am, for another Open Water Swim...with the team. Then back in the hood, and waiting for Jason to wake up, then a one hour "Recovery" bike ride with Jason. Our neighborhood is hilly, but you can make it so it's not so hard and you don't have to climb the big hills, but I let Jason lead and he didn't get the memo that this was a recovery ride for me. Needless to say my legs were tired, although by the end of the ride they had finally started to feel a little better! *smiles* The rest of Sunday was lazy....lazy...lazy. With a couple of dog walks (taking care of my neighbors sweet dog while they were away for an all day soccer meet), a nap, and some lounging time.

Angela, Bruce, Jeanne, and Tripp at the Lake

Now it's Monday...LABOR DAY. I've been up since 5 am, as I think I may have my first sinus infection of the season and the amount of post nasal drip has me not able to breath well, or sleep well. I was waiting for there to be light so I can go get my run in. I did take Scout for a walk while it was still dark out. He uses his nose anyways. It's light out now, but I haven't decided if I'm going back to bed for a bit, or just going to go knock out that run. Hmmmmm.

Feeling Lucky

2011-08-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

Chris U and I after the run/bike/run!

I am so lucky to have people around me who like me and want to hang out with me. So lucky to live in a community that wants my opinion. So lucky to have friends that are into the same things I'm into. Just so lucky.

Today I had a run/bike/run. I met my friend Chris at the American Tobacco Trail, we ran 10 min, we rode about 46 miles, and then ran 20 more min. It was awesome that I got to spend time with my friend. Vicky came out too, and we rode with her for the first 15 miles. Ruth was out to and she rode with us for the first 5 miles, and then headed on her own ride (80 miles). I also saw my friends Jenn and Avril who were out on a 110 mile ride.

Also my neighbors sent over someone who was new to the area and is a dental hygienist. I offered her some advice, and promised to let her know more info once my brain re-engages. Run/Bike/Running can make you a little foggy.

Today is a good day.

Training/ Fundraising/ Hurricanes/ and misc.

2011-08-27T14:59:00.000-07:00

On the Beach at Duck

Sunset at the Coast

Sunrise at the Coast

Jason and I in the Ocean!

Deer in our backyard

Clean Bike

How my bike got clean

Results from my 12 mile run/ on Wednesday

Drawing for the $1,000 raffle

And the Winner is....

Coming off a Recovery week from last week, where I was lucky enough to spend the weekend in Duck, NC with my husband and in-laws, and going into a build week this week has been fun.

Recovery week, just less intense workouts. I did workout while I was in Duck, however I forgot my running bra. I would of gone out and bought another one, however I only had a 20 min run to do, so I just skipped the run (it's recovery week). I figured I did a lot of walking on the sand, so I did get a good workout in. On Saturday I did a 30 mile bike, which consisted of me riding from my house to the end of the road and back (30.38 miles). I also had a 1 hour open water swim, which I didn't do because there were so many jellyfish, and they scare me.

Once I got back from Duck it's been GAME ON! Training has been intense, but fun! I however did get today off, which works out pretty good since Hurricane Irene has been hitting our area with lot's of wind and rain. So tomorrow is by big weekend training day. Today however was a big weekend day for all my fundraising. Today I went to the LLS office and had Emily Roland (LLS staff person/ Light the Night coordinator) draw a name for the $1,000 raffle. Rob and Cathy Harris-Cannon won the $1,000! Rob and Cathy are amazing people that I feel lucky to have know for about 6 years. Rob was on my first TNT tri team. He and Cathy are RELENTLESS for a CURE! I sent them an email to let them know they had won! They sent me back an email letting me know that they are donating all of the $1,000 back to my fundraising campaign! AWESOME!!

2011-08-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

Train. Endure. Achieve. Matter.

These four words, the mantra of TEAM in Training, have become my mission statement. My personal goals, with the help of TEAM in training are to compete in the Augusta Half Ironman Triathlon and the Disney World full Marathon and raise $15,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society- and I need your help.

You, too, can be a part of the TEAM.

You can be a part of my team and help me reach my goal.

I am reaching out to you because I know you will not sit back and do nothing; because you realize that even the smallest contribution can make a monumental difference.

What can your donation do:

$5 will cover the costs to send a packet to a newly diagnosed patient, which includes information on support and their specific disease.

$20 will help pay for 1 round trip per day for 5 days of treatment at a facility for an urban patient.

$30 allows 1 patient to make a First Connection with a trained peer volunteer.

$42 will pay for 1 anti-nausea pill for a person in treatment.

$100 will pay for 1 round trip per day for 5 days for a patient living in rural NC to drive to treatment.

$200 will pay for 1 lab test co-pay.

$300 will assist with 1 round of radiation treatment co-pays.

Just $5 can help. Not to mention, that they would be 5 tax deductable dollars- so what have you got to lose? Nothing at all, but it could mean the world to a patient diagnosed with Leukemia, Lymphoma or Myeloma.

Please take a moment, right now, to donate.

Do not wait to do this later.

Please donate now. Now is when your help is needed; not yesterday, not tomorrow, right now as you read this. Please support me, the researchers working for the cure, and for those people who have to fight this disease every day.

Do you know someone else who would be interested in supporting this cause?

Please forward this information to them.

Do you think that your company would be willing to donate?

Please pass this information on to them.

My goal is to raise $15,000.

Thank you for taking the time to read my fundraising page

and thank you for your support!

All Donations are 100% Tax Deductable
Each donation helps accelerate finding a cure for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.
You can make a secure online tax-deductible donation (and track my progress) by visiting my site: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/wdw12/dentalfriend
You will receive a confirmation of your donation by email and I will be notified as soon as you make your donation.
If you wish to donate by check- it can be made out to the LLS and sent to my address (please message me for the address)
Please send me the name of the person you are donating in honor of- I would like to honor them or their memory during the race.

What's been happening??

2011-08-14T15:21:00.000-07:00

(The Sky on our Thursday night dog walk)

Well...I can tell you this. My bike(s), and helmet, plus I'm sure a few other items, really need a good washing! I need to review the Delta Tri blog to see how to clean my helmet! It's so gross from all this summer heat, and my sweat.

According to Dailymile I logged 80 miles in last week, and 76 this week. Admittedly I skipped one workout this week. I just didn't have it in me to do my Interval Bike after a long day at work on Thursday. I switched my workouts around a little this week, because I had an all day scrapbooking day with my girlfriends on Saturday. I got to hang out with Megan and Joanie at Archiver's (the paper crafting mega store). Joanie is my friend whose son has leukemia, and who I am dedicating this season to training for.

(Ebony brought over his GIANT hedgehog, and I had to line them all up)

On Friday I went to the dog park in the morning with Scout. He had a great time. I brought his furminator (worlds best pet brush) to de-fur him while I was there. Well somehow I forgot it on the table (the picnic table in the dog park) when I left. Luckily for me one of the regulars picked it up. Friday night I picked up my friend Kim's dog Ebony. Kim was going to Philly to do her first 100 mile bike ride. I realized that I didn't have my furminator when Ebony came over, and I thought he'd do good with a good furnimation. So for the first Saturday morning in a really long time I took Scout and Ebony to the dog park. It's pretty quite at extra early in the morning (when I go). The boys were enjoying meeting new dogs and old friends. I went to follow Scout into the woods to pick up after him, when one of the other dogs in the dog park almost catches a squirrel (stupid squirrel). As soon as I start picking up after Scout I hear someone yell to me that Ebony seems to be limping. Hmmm...I come check him out, check his pads and look him over. He seems fine, but is limping, and won't put any weight on his back right leg. I thought...hmmm...maybe he'll walk that off. But as time went on he didn't walk it off and it seemed to not get any better at all. Needless to say I did not get my furminator back on Saturday. I went and dropped Scout at home, and took Ebony to his vet! Bad news from the vet is that he probably tore is ACL. He's on pain meds and anti-inflammatory right now. He's still not able to put any weight on that back leg, and it seems that surgery is going to be needed. *sigh*

(Ebony)

(Ebony's back right leg - ouch)

Today, I met my friends Chris and Vicky for a run/bike/run (they just did a brick- bike/run). The weather was uncertain and I thought we might end up on the trails (on mountain bikes) instead of on the road (tri bike). However in the end, we rode on the road. In the middle of the ride we met up with DZB, and I saw a bunch of peeps out on the road including my good friend Ruth (who I haven't seen in like ages!!). So Awesome to be out in overcast skies and no real rain....at least for us. It seems we just got out of where the rain fell because when we came back the roads were soaking wet. It was a great ride, and an okay run afterwards. Turns out I didn't take enough electrolytes in during my ride, so I was cramping a little and getting some side stitches on my last run. It worked itself out though, and I was fine....just slower than I wanted to be. No worries, at least I made it!

(Chris and I after the workout...all sweaty, but still smiling)

2011-08-09T18:17:00.000-07:00

"The best day of your life is the one on which you decided your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift of life is yours; it is an amazing journey; and you alone are responsible for the quality of it."

Gimme 5!

2011-08-07T15:30:00.001-07:00

I am training for a half ironman triathlon and a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, it's my fifth and sixth events, and I could use some help! So I am asking you to Gimme 5!

1. Gimme 5 minutes of your time- go to my website at http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/wdw12/dentalfriend and read about what I am doing.

2. Gimme $5 bucks - just donate online: five dollars for a great cause - and hey if you want to donate more, that's fantastic!

3. Gimme 5 friends - send this to five friends and help spread the word!

Every 5 minutes someone new is diagnosed with a blood cancer - money for research is desperately needed - so donate now.

Dog Sitting...

2011-08-05T05:56:00.000-07:00

I really love my neighbor's dog. He super sweet. He's HUGE. He's a doby. He looks intimidating. Lot's of times people cross to the other side of the street when I walk him. His name is Seven. Scout (my choc. lab) used to love to play with Seven (the doby) but now they are older and they pretty much lay around.

Seven is sweet, but being an older doby means there are some health issues too. He's got a thyroid issue that he takes meds for. I give him a pill in the morning and evening. He's also gotten so he can't hold his bladder for longer of 3-4 hours. So that means someone has to be there to take him out all the time. If I can't or if Jason can't take him out because of work etc then we take him back to his house and have to put pee pads out. I know he probably hates this, but we have to keep things clean.

Seven has always been kinda an oaf. He's big, he wants to be right next to you. And he steps on your feet...ALL THE TIME! I've had him since Thursday last week, and I take him back to his house on Monday morning. I hope my feet can make it till the end of this visit. Doby's nails are on top of their feet, not tucked inside like labs. Ohh and they are BIG NAILS. They really hurt when they dig into your feet

Some Words to Live by...even though we all make mistakes.

2011-08-05T03:41:00.001-07:00

I got this off facebook.....I'm not supposed to be on facebook for this month (for those of you who are my friends on facebook, I posted this on 8/1). Since my experiment I've been on facebook every day. Arrrggghhh. What's the addiction to facebook? Why do I need to know what's happening in everyone else's lives? Hmmm. Probably because of these little nuggets of inspiration that I'm reminded of. I've seen this little saying a bunch of times before...but thought it worth sharing...again.

There are 5 things in life you can not recover:

A stone...after it's thrown.

A word...after it is said.

An occasion...after it's missed.

The time...after it's gone.

A person...after they die.

Life is short.

Break the rules.

Forgive quickly.

Kiss slowly.

Love truly.

Laugh uncontrollably.

And never regret anything that made you smile, Enjoy Life ...

It's all gone!!

2011-08-03T10:22:00.000-07:00

My Hair that is: I've been struggling with the weight of my hair this whole summer. I've been to sweaty, and thus my head/ hair has been to sweaty. I decided that it was time to go back to SHORT hair. Hopefully I'll continue to be happy for awhile, cause it's such a pain to grow out. Here are the Before and After Pics.

How my hair looked most of the time, front and back.

What my hair looks like (kinda) when it's down...yes that is natural curl/wave

Now (with the help of straightening tools) what it looks like after the cut (front and side view). I'll put a pic up later after I wash it, and we'll see what it looks like without it being all straight.

Rest Week and Washington Olympic Tri...

2011-07-31T15:22:00.001-07:00

This past week has been ahhhh EASY! Workout wise anyways. Monday- Mountain Bike ride (which didn't happen because of storms so I did a Yoga workout instead), Tuesday - 30 min Easy Run (which I did with Scout in the morning), Wednesday- 45 min Endurance swim, Thursday- 30 min Easy Run (I took Scout again, but it was hotter and he didn't like it so much), Friday was a 20 min easy spin. Then of course the main event - Washington Olympic Distance Tri.

I drove down to Washington, NC on Friday. I stayed at the Day Inn, it was a motel. I shared the room with two friends, and it was kinda fun to hang out once they got there. We grabbed dinner, which is always hard to find in that little town, especially when they have an influx of people coming in. We did find something though, on the third try.

Saturday morning we got up at 4:30 (alarms all sounded), and of course I'm a up and at em girl, while the other two just laid there and slowly woke up. No worries, just got all my stuff in order, and headed down to the race site. We had to park about 1/4 mile away from the start. We all drove separately so we could leave at the end to go our separate ways.

Got my transition area all set up, chatted with some people around me, found my friends again, and hung out. Checked out the water. They were just putting the buoys out. So I came back and chatted some more. Then I decided to brave the porta potties and was happy to do everything that needed to be done.

The swim was good. Minus the fear of getting my toe clamped off by a crab (yes there were crabs in the water). The water was shallow, they say it wasn't more than 5 feet deep for the entire swim (I didn't test it though, because I was swimming). I did however swim over a stump or branch, that almost snagged me. I had a good swim, it wasn't to crazy, I had a little drifting in on the straight away between the turns, but it wasn't to bad. The water was salty, which is usually a good thing because it makes you more buoyant. The sun was coming up, and that made it a little hard to sight on the wiggly man on the shore. My swim time is 27 minutes and 26 seconds (for 1500 meters).

Transition 1 was not to bad. I stripped off my swim cap and goggles, wiped the sand off my feet, put on my sunglasses, helmet, socks and bike shoes...grabbed my bike and headed out of transition. My T1 time was 1 minute 43 seconds

I mounted my bike, and went out for my ride. It was a good ride. The roads were all pretty good, with one section being FANTASTIC - in that it was newly paved. I enjoyed the ride, it was pretty flat, I got down into my aero bars and felt like I was flying (until a few people flew past me). There were some WICKED fast people out for the race. There was some head wind, but I pretty much expect that at the coast so I hunkered down and got through it all. My bike time was 1 hour 8 minutes and 2 seconds. (for 23.5 miles)

Transition 2 was....well it was. I made sure I transferred my salt pills into the run pouch that my friend let me borrow, ohh yeah and a gel too. I had to wrap my head around that it was so wicked hot and I had 6.2 miles to get through. My T2 time was 1 minute and 50 seconds.

Off I went on the run, I stopped at the first water station and got water. Then I adjusted my shoe lace. Then I rolled my right foot, it hurt...and apparently was noticeable to have the people behind me ask if I was okay. Yeah, just can't seem to put one foot in front of the other. I walked a little to get through the pain and assess if my ankle was okay...it was. Glad my ankles are strong enough to deal with my mis-steps. It was a 2 loop course, I'm not a big fan of double loop courses but that's just they way it is. Up a little hill and over a little bridge (the hottest part of the race) and over the railroad tracks, around the corner, slightly up a small hill, around another corner....YAY water again, down the road, almost no shade, to the turn around with water and ice towels....then back, and then all over again. I walked a bunch of this run. I got chills, my fingers went numb, moments of goosebumps then my skin would smooth out. I wasn't the only one walking though...because it was WICKED HOT out. My run time was 1 hour 18 minutes and 43 seconds (for a 6.2 miles).

I waited after the race for the awards because I knew I was getting first in my category. I race in Athena. Athena is any age, but you have to be female and weigh 150 lbs or more. I easily fit that description, as I weighed 150 lbs in high school when I wore a size 2 and was a competitive swimmer. It's kinda silly, as anyone triathlete that has some height on them could probably race Athena, however it's known as the "Big Girl Group". The medal was cool. It's a crab. Mine was GOLD because I got first, the second place was silver, and the third place was bronze.

(Me with my medal...my 1st place award)

Casey is a AMAZING! She fell off her bike right at the end, and got some pretty brutal road rash on her right elbow and left hand, plus some nice bumps and bruises all over. Even after her fall, she still went on to complete the run! That's AWESOME!! I'm so PROUD of her. Above all that, she did in under her goal time! WOO HOO!!

Steve did awesome too! He had a great race, and was smiling every time I saw him! He and Casey are training for the Patriots Half Ironman at the beginning of September.

Here is me after the race, just hanging out and waiting for the awards! I was so ready to be done, and to go back and take a shower. The Pamlico River is super dirty (everyone who had white on, had brown on after the swim).

Not Quite 100 miles this week.

2011-07-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

(the temp out when I took Scout for a walk on Saturday..It's warm at 5 am)

So this week I should of had 100 miles to share with you, however I had a wardrobe malfunction on my bike ride yesterday (nothing Janet Jackson-ish) that caused me to stop at the half way point. My ride yesterday was for the MS society, it was the Cup N Cone ride. If you live in the area, and your a cyclist you've probably heard of it, if not: this ride is HARD. It's goes up a legendary hill (Lystra) of which many many horror stories are told, and then just when you think you conquered that hill, it goes up a few more hills just to laugh in your face. To add insult to this hilly course the temperatures yesterday were high, as in heat index of 105 +. Climbing Lystra (for my very first time) was a challenge (when I looked at my bike computer and it said I was going 4 mph, I almost got off my bike and walked it....but I didn't), but I felt really good for the ride.....except for my malfunction. So when you go on long bike rides with skinny little bike seats your silly looking spandex shorts need to have some padding in them, and mine do. I actually wear tri shorts for most of my rides instead of bike shorts. The difference is the chamois that is inside (the padding). On tri shorts they are thinner because you actually wear the shorts for all three sports (the swim, the bike, and the run) for bike shorts they are usually a little bulkier. My tri shorts have been great, until this ride. I got the start of the dreaded saddle sores. So I decided to get sagged (the SAG vehicle assists riders with what they need) back to the start, rather than have to heal for 2 weeks off the saddle sores (I'm not good at dealing with pain in certain areas). Once back to the start, I waited for 2.5 hours in the heat for my friends to finish their ride (I drove over with one of my good friends). Needless to say it was a hot Saturday ride for all the cyclist out there. The cool thing is that I got to meet Ray...who is a cyclist and the guy who drove me back to the start. He will be riding with my friend Kim who has been riding with a group in N. Raleigh for most of the summer. And once I finish my Half Ironman training I'll get to come ride with them too! Ray's wife Karen rides with the group now. Ray is actually recovering from a heart attack that he had at the Gears and Cheers ride earlier this year.

(Ray- the guy who brought me back)

(notice the feels like temp on the right hand side...this is while waiting for everyone else to finish)

(So at least I found a shady spot to wait)

So total miles this week were 66. 11 miles of running on Wednesday (yes all in a row). I started my run at 6 am and it was already hot out. I met Jess at about the half way point and she ran back with me. Just our "normal" Wednesday routine. I'm kinda sad I'm working this week on Wednesday it changes up our routine. P

The North Carolina heat is making training tough, but I'm "tri-ing" to make it through all my workouts. (I made a funny). On Tuesday I did the Ladies mountain bike ride at Lake Crabtree Park. It was good and I only officially fell twice. With some near falls happening multiple times. I can still count 5 bruises on my body from the ride. It was a warm evening on that Tuesday.

(notice the 58% humidity)

Next weekend I'll be doing a triathlon, an Olympic distance race in Washington, NC (they call it the original Washington). I did a big biking weekend there a few years ago, and it'll be flat flat flat. I'm hoping everything will go well for the race and the weather will try to calm down a little (I mean, it's miserable in this heat). I going down on Friday and coming back after the race on Saturday. I have a couple of friends who are coming too, so it should be FUN!! Not sure if I'll get any pics, but I'll tri! (look I'm being cute again)

Fund-raising is going really well. I've gotten my first donation for the Disney marathon - and that makes me happy! Augusta fund-raising is complete. So a big thank you again to everyone who has donated! You make me happy to be able to do this, and I'll make you proud of what this body can do.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

While I am fortunate to have been blessed with good health, one person in the United States is diagnosed with a blood cancer approximately every four minutes. That is ONE parent, child, sibling, or friend since you began reading this page. I am asking for your help in reaching my fundraising goal for this cause. I am taking on this daunting physical feat to show my support for finding a cure, and what I am asking you to do now is to give a small donation in support of this great cause.

Please take a moment, right now, to donate. Do not wait to do this later.

I am reaching out to you because I know you will not sit back and do nothing; because you realize that even the smallest contribution can make

a monumental difference.

Do you know someone else who would be interested in supporting this cause?

Please forward this information to them.

Do you think that your company would be willing to donate?

Please pass this information on to them.

My goal is to raise $11,500.

Thank you for taking the time to read my fundraising page

and thank you for your support!

All Donations are 100% Tax Deductable
Each donation helps accelerate finding a cure for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.
You can make a secure online tax-deductible donation (and track my progress) by visiting my site: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/wdw12/dentalfriend
You will receive a confirmation of your donation by email and I will be notified as soon as you make your donation.
If you wish to donate by check- it can be made out to the LLS and sent to my address (please message me for the address)
Please send me the name of the person you are donating in honor of- I would like to honor them or their memory during the race.

I still have raffle tickets! The drawing is in 1 month! August 27th. You do not have to be present to win! Tickets are 1 for $10 and 3 for $25. The prize......$1,000! Who couldn't use that? Let me know if you are interested in buying tickets. Your odds are good to win!

Plans are in the works for some painting, wine, and bowling "fun"d-raisers for you local peeps. I'll let you know the details when I get everything worked out.

Saturday is BONK day??

2011-07-17T17:58:00.000-07:00

So I guess I should start with Friday. Friday I had a swim on my schedule, and I met a teammate from TNT at the neighborhood pool. The Swim Gods were not with me. I just wasn't feeling the swim and after swimming about 1500 meters I gave it up. I was told that was the right thing to do. Sometimes if it just isn't right it's okay to just stop...for now.

Saturday I had a 60 mile bike and a 15 min. run on my schedule. I had a great ride! I rode the first 15 miles on my own and then I met a couple of my friends for the rest of the ride. We ended up doing some over-gearing, and some hill repeats, and some pick-ups. So by the end of the ride with only 3 miles left to the end I BONKED! I hit a wall. I apparently didn't eat enough, or drink enough, or both...on the ride. During the ride down Martha's Chapel Rd my shoulder and hip were really bugging me. I wasn't loving how my body was feeling. When we stopped at the stop sign at the end of the road, I just felt wonky. I was shaky and light-headed and felt a little nauseous. My friend Chris ended up riding back to the car and getting his car to come pick me and my bike up. Vicky stayed with me while he went back. It was a really weird feeling that lasted most of the rest of the day. Needless to say I didn't run after my 59.49 mile bike ride (I missed 3 miles at the end).

When I got home Jason had made me some food and chocolate milk. I sat in the hot tub for a little bit, to hopefully help ease some of my crazy muscle pain. And then I took a shower and a HUGE NAP!

I had already planned a night out with the girls. Jason made dinner for Kim and I (Yummy Steak Salad). We went to a new place called Wine & Design where we brought our own wine and they helped us paint a beautiful beach scene. It was SOO MUCH FUN!! Our friend Gayle met us there. We had such a great time.

Another Wednesday 10 miler!

2011-07-17T17:22:00.000-07:00

My long runs have been on wednesdays the last few weeks. It's been nice. I haven't had work on wednesdays, so I've been going out early and getting my run done in the morning. I usually start at 6:30 am, and run until I'm done. Just to let you know, it had been a pretty toasty week. In fact on Tuesday 7/12, the heat index was 110 in the heat of the day, it was 101 at 7 pm. It didn't cool down much between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

Jess met me at the half way point again. I a little bit before our meet up spot is a McDonalds which I usually stop at to use the facilities and fill up my water bottles with cold water. I'm so THANKFUL that they let me do that there. We had a pretty enjoyable run back, but it was so DANG HOT, and we ended up taking more walk breaks. It took longer than I wanted, but it got done. Next week will be 11 miles (wish me luck). At the end we remembered to get a pic of the both of us together. YAY! I also took some pics of my sweaty gross legs at the end of the run! I tend to pick up a bunch of debris by the end of the run! It was another run where my shoes were wet from the sweat rolling down my legs! YAY!!

Jess and I at the end of the run!

What my legs look like at the end of the run!

The Duke Multiple Myeloma Ride

2011-07-17T13:54:00.000-07:00

My Back and # for the ride.

It was another Great Year for the Duke Multiple Myeloma Ride. I've done this ride every year since the beginning! (this is year 4) I did the 50 K this year....that's about 33 miles. The 50 K route is all the hills, but minus the middle 50 K of countryside that the 100 K has. After my bike ride I ran 20 minutes, as I am still training for my Half Ironman!

I got to the bone marrow center a little early to pick up my packet. I met up with one of the doctors who helps put on this ride...Dr G, she is awesome and super sweet. We talked for a minute and I broke down into tears (as happens when I get to close to the subject of my Mom's cancer). After I composed myself I hung out with a few of my friends Jenn and Nancy who were riding the 100K, and waited for my friend Bill who was riding the 50 K "with me". One of my TNT Augusta teammates also came and did this ride (Kim), and I also saw a few of my TNT Alumni pals (Rob and Cathy), ohh and my neighbor and dog walk friend was there as well.

The actual ride was tough, but really good! The hills were hard and long. The company was GREAT! I had a fantastic ride with a pretty good pace of 17.2 mph on those hills. Of course I was thinking about all the patients who were going through so much more than what I was going through on those hills....so it made it seem "easy".

After the ride I brought Dr. G a Multiple Myeloma bracelet (Angel of Grace), because I think she is AWESOME! She then bought a couple of more bracelets from me, and a couple of the other ladies (doctor's wives and nurses) also bought some bracelets. So I made some fundraising dollars at the ride. The after event is very nice for this ride....there is watermelon (I'm allergic, but most people really love it), burgers, hot dogs, chips, cookies, sodas, water, oranges....everything yummy!

Kim and I hanging out afterwards

I hung out after my ride and run, and waited for my friends Jenn and Nancy. They had a hard ride, Jenn doesn't really love hills, and it was a hard ride for her especially. While waiting I hung out with Bill, and Kim. I got stretched out by Dr Ahart which was nice. I ate. I rested. It was a beautiful day.

Jenn after her 100 K

Nancy enjoying the watermelon!

Lip Gloss Fundraiser.

2011-07-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

So something new...I'm selling this cool lip gloss that comes in 3 colors (nude, pink, or red). The tube has a mirror and a light (which is perfect when you are trying to apply on your way to somewhere special at night....low light). I'll be selling them for a minimum donation of $15. Let me know if you are interested, or would like to see in person!

You better check yourself...

2011-07-10T14:10:00.000-07:00

So...I had a great weekend. Lot's to talk about....but first a little story from my trip to the frozen yogurt place. I LOVE frozen yogurt, and am so HAPPY that it's made a come back. My favorite place in the triangle is Yogurt Mountain (on Creedmoor Rd). Their froyo is the bomb-diggity! So I met my friend at Yogurt Mountain and had an enjoyable time eating our yogurt (we ate outside because we are fools and enjoy the crazy hot weather...I guess), even though it melted fairly quickly. After eating I had some items in the car for my friend and we went over to get them for her. We then stood around in the hot beating sun chit chatting for a little bit. Now we are in a parking lot where you can see the cars from the froyo shop and the burger place next store. So we are standing there between my car and the SUV beside me, and the SUV beeps like 5 times....so we look around to see where the people are. There are no people coming. We laugh a little, and joke with each other that maybe we are standing to close to their SUV (I mean, it's a parking lot). So after a few more minutes a couple comes out of the froyo store and comes bursting towards us. The girl/women has a sour look on her face and blurts out "Excuse me" in a rough get out of my way voice. Of course, we are actually closer to my car, but move over a little more. She stares at us (I mouth *witch* to my friend), and they pull out of the parking spot with the girl/woman still scowling at us. I scowled/funny faced her back....I mean...for real...is your life that bad that you are upset that people are talking near your car? HA!! I should told her to check herself....life is too good to be in such a bad mood. I just got a chuckle out of it.

4th of July

2011-07-06T17:55:00.000-07:00

We had a great time celebrating the 4th of July in Virginia with Family!

Scout loved being the center of attention for a bit.

Scout has his buddy McKenzie to keep him company

I love this pic!

Danielle made an AWESOME dessert for us to eat! YUM!!

It's been a fun trip so far...but no rest for the weary.

2011-07-04T08:51:00.000-07:00

We made it to Virginia with no problems. I drove up (standard deal I drive up and J drives back). We saw 5 police officers on the way up (it's my new game to see how many are on the road), last visit was 12. There was a truck on the way up that I thought was funny...and I made J take a picture of it.

(Senior Moving Service and Estate Shoppe...hmmm does that mean they take the moving stuff and put it in their shoppe??)

We've had a pretty laid back visit so far, with most of my training fit in. It works better when it's laid back to fit training in. We had planned on hiking a little bit, but the heat is to much for some folks around here (gives J the look of "come on, please"). I did get my brick done on Saturday (it was a little short, but I was riding with J and let him make the bike route). I told him when we he said he was going to make the route that it needed to be about 30-35 miles....but he made it out for 24 miles because google maps told him it would take 2:15 min to complete. Ummm so 1:21 minutes later I was done with the bike and got going on my run. After I got back and took a shower we headed over to Roanoke to go visit J's brother and sister in law. We had a great trip exploring and hanging out. We got to see the house they bought and remodeled, and I can say...We Approve! They did a great job! Ohh and of course when we got back (I drove to and from Roanoke...4 police officers), we got some Willy's!! This girl was HAPPY!!

(Perfect temps....a little high on the humidity!)

(Bedazled Car...yep we saw that...in Roanoke)

(the HUGE stuffed animal (bear) at a shop in Roanoke)

(the line at Willy's)

(the reward from Willy's)

Sunday was a swim, and I wasn't feeling it but I did it anyways. I rode out to the Augusta Health Lifetime Center with my father in law so we could both workout. It cost $12 for me to go in as a guest! Geeesh!! That won't happen again. The pool was a salt/chlorine pool and a little sluggish. It got crowded after I started swimming, and for reals people learn how to share a lane. So this older gentleman had pulled up a chair to wait for a lane, and I offered to split the lane with him. That worked out fine. People are a little crazy. So the swim wasn't great partly because of the pool, and mostly because my neck and shoulders are tight, probably from driving and doing hills on my tri bike. We had a fab dinner of steak, corn on the cobb, salad, and then dessert of WILLY'S!!

(Sunrise in the 'boro)

(pretty flowers on the morning walk with Scout)

(Scout loves laying in the grass....don't make me come in...please!!)

Monday (today) I got up and did my 45 min run....the directions were to run out of my comfort zone, and I did good for the first 3 laps (.86 mile per loop), then I started to get a bit tired. It was a hilly route...up and down, but then running around here is always like this! I was sweaty by the end, mostly because it was HUMID out again. Now we are just hanging out and waiting for family to come over to do a cookout! Afterwards, we'll probably be heading home.

(the Big Hill at the start/finish...I would make to about half way and then walk the rest)

Getting ready for a holiday weekend!!

2011-07-01T06:40:00.000-07:00

(Morning in the neighborhood)

So this week has been fun! Really it has been. I can't say that it's really that much different than any other week...well a few differences, but you know attitude makes all the difference. So at work the office is closed next week, so everyone was in a good mood...looking forward to some time off. Maybe some of us more than others. *smiles* I thought I had a job lined up for next week, but it fell through, so I guess I'll just be training....and probably cleaning the house! (uuggghhhh).

I did a mountain bike ride on Monday after I worked at one of my favorite fill in offices in Wake Forest, and YES I still am a terrible mountain bike riders. I get really nervous going over all the rocks and roots...it's my INSANE desire to WANT TO STAY ON MY BIKE AND NOT FALL, that makes me such a spaz! So during that ride I managed to bruise up my knee pretty good while I was (it's a little fuzzy what I was trying to do) maybe unclip. So somehow I banged my knee into the stem of my bike. It's like when you hit your funny bone in your elbow, except it was knee. Ohhhh it was crazy painful. I literally had to just stop and stand there....I thought I was going to puke, but I didn't. Luckily Pryde (the ride leader) was pretty awesome and fairly easy on me. I was the only follower on Monday night.

Tuesday I was supposed to swim, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays I always save my workouts for after work...something to look forward to or just don't want to get up any earlier than the normal 5:15 am. So after work the weather was TERRIBLE. I had planned to meet 3 friends at the Lake and do my Endurance Swim workout there. However, there was a big storm coming through and there was no swimming to be done. Should I have done something else....perhaps strength training?? Possibly, did I....NOPE.

(Scout patiently waiting for his walk in the morning)

Wednesday was a no work day....and a long run day. I got up and ran 10.25 miles before it got to hot! It was super humid out, but that's par for the course here in North Carolina. I arranged to meet my friend Jess at the halfway point and run back to the beginning together (than I drove her back to her car...it's the least I can do for someone getting up and running with me). I started at a little after 6:30, and was feeling pretty good on the first 5. I had frozen my water bottles so I would have cold water to drink along the way (I have a fuel belt that I wear on all my long runs...and some of the short ones too...that carries water and food around my waist). Coming back got a little harder as the sun started to beat down. By the end I was DRENCHED...as in I looked like I had gone for a swim....FOR REALS!!

(my very WET HAIR...after the 10 mile run)

(Jess and I after the 10 mile run)

Later on on Wednesday I met up with Jess and her husband Steve at the lake and made up my swim, even though my Awesome Coach let me know I didn't have to make it up, but I could if I wanted to. It was a beautiful swim at the lake, but the fish they were a nibbling. They only get ya if you stay still for to long. *winks* Ohh and they just tickle, but it's a weird feeling for sure. The surface of the water was crazy warm, and it made it an interesting swim! We all swam out to the rock (.5 miles) and back (another .5 miles) and got out.

(little slice of Heaven....Falls Lake)

(Jess swimming in)

(What my car told me the temp was after the swim)

Thursday (yesterday) was a timed 1000 yd swim. I went to Pullen pool...and it was HEAVEN. I mean really I haven't been cool water in so long! The pool felt GREAT! A little chilly when you first got in. I'm sure people who weren't lap swimming didn't love it, but they can go to the outdoor pools then. I did a warm up swam my 1000...or was that only 950, I guess I'll do another 50...so I either swam 950, 1000, or 1050....my time was either 15:13, or 15:57. Then I did a cool down and came home.

This morning I took the little monster to the dog park to get some energy out, before we take a road trip up to Virginia to visit the family. It's going to be a weekend of swim/bike/run/hike/dog walk/playing games/hanging out/ eating Willy's/enjoying time together GOODNESS.

(Scout at the dog park, so proud of getting the "cool" toy)

Car is almost packed...and we are about to be on our way!

(Car getting packed up)

(Bikes and pump to go on next)

Another week...

2011-06-24T14:32:00.000-07:00

Blogging is becoming less and less frequent, as I am becoming more and more busy....with work and training...and general life. However I'm going to my best to keep updating when I have time. *smiles*

So last weekend I had an awesome time on the msfits ice cream ride. It was a great day, if not a little hot, for a 66 mile bike ride with ice cream at the end. I picked up my friend Kim at her house and we drove out to RTP, where the ride started. The ride took us all over the place including some my normal roads out in N. Raleigh/ Durham county. There were definitely some hills, but I met some new friends and enjoyed the ride. At the end of the ride I sat and ate ice cream while waiting for Kim to finish her 66 miles. I didn't take any pictures though..cause your brain really doesn't always work well in the heat and after being exercised so much.

This week has been weird. I swam on Sunday- in which Wake Boarders tried to kill us open water swimmers...well not really but they were pretty rude. On Monday I ran and swam, as well as worked a full day at a dental office near my house. Tuesday- this is the weird day, I worked at my normal office, and had a mountain bike ride planned for the evening, however the air quality was code red because of the fires to our east, and the ride was cancelled. The air quality seems to of stirred up some crazy allergies or something, because my head has been stuffy since then. I ended up coming home and taking a nap, and thought I would do some sort of workout when I woke up, but I didn't. Wednesday I had my last Cycle Study visit to the HPL, and a short run, then I went over to my friend Jenn's house to do a swim with her and the boys. However the air quality still wasn't good (code orange) and her littlest one has some breathing issues, so we all just hung out and went to dinner. I got to hear about Disney from the 3 year old, and he was SO EXCITED about the Main Street Electrical Parade....which was just neat to see his excitement. Yesterday was my REST day. I worked all day, but then came home and got ready to go celebrate my friend Kim's birthday at a Wine Bar near our house.

That brings us to today. My plan calls for a 10 mile run today, and I wanted to do it first thing in the morning (when it's cooler). However I got a call to work today (and when I get a call, it's best if I work....since well, since money is a good thing to have). It was just half a day 8-12, and then I went to my chiro office (which was pretty much next door) and got adjusted afterwards. It was nice to go see Dr Patrick, because my back and shoulders have been bugging me like crazy, and now I feel some relief. YAY. So it's 6 pm now, and I'm planning on waiting another hour to go for my run. It's going to be a night run....not my favorite. I was going to out about an hour ago, but it's just too HOT and HUMID. It might storm on the run tonight, and I'm going to just have to take that chance.

Tomorrow I have an hour open water swim to do. I haven't found any friends who have said they would do this with me, for sure yet, but I'm still hopeful. Otherwise I might have to make Jason come watch me as I swim back and forth in my little cove. Sunday is another big bike ride with a short run afterwards....I'm kinda excited because I'm meeting up with some new friends from dailymile (a social media/ training website). It's always nice to meet people in person after following them on-line.

Pictures from this week:

Me at the HPL on my bike...riding up a 3 % grade hill with the wonderful mask.

Front view

Look who else showed up at the Lab, my friend Shellie...who I hadn't physically seen in probably a year. Crazy right?

My little buddy, telling me about space and rocket ships. So much energy...I wish I could bottle it!

It's time to Donate!!

2011-06-20T04:05:00.000-07:00

So most of the people I know, know that I'm usually training for things for charities. One of my favorite non-profits is The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I know that they are a good organization and feel happy and confident in my association with them. This year I'm participating in another Team In Training event (benefits The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society), that event is the Augusta Half Ironman. My recommitment date is coming up soon, and I'd like to have 25% of my fundraising goal met by that time. So if you've been thinking about donating to a great cause....here is your chance. Just click on the link that is on the top right hand side of this page and donate whatever amount you are comfortable with. Every little bit counts, so no donation is too small.....or too big for that matter.

Thank you in advance, together we CAN find a cure!