A rainy day makes me think of...parades!

My Review of the 2010 Royal Oak St. Patrick's Day Parade

I volunteered M and I to march with TNT in the Royal Oak St. Patrick's Day Parade. Well, I actually volunteered M on the unicycle - if he gets to ride/show off, he will pretty much do whatever I want. You see, it was a beautiful spring-like day when I decided to do this. We woke to a rather gloomy, overcast sky with a threat of rain. We got all fancied up in our TNT green and purple. Not so sure why I was worried about my outfit - the big, puffy down coat pretty much made it a moot point.

As we drove there: oh no, is that a drop. As we walked to the parking lot, those little sprinkles were a regular old shower. The slightly sideways kind that renders an umbrella just for show. We looked around, but no TNT people. We looked some more, no TNT people. My pink cowboy hat, complete with tiara, was getting damp. There were quite a lot of other damp groups, including a whole lot of puppies for the fancy dog accessory store and cheerleaders with green faces and green hair - soon to be green all over. Apparently cheerleaders don't use umbrellas or wear coats. All I could think was - hey, that is going to be just awful to wash off and you really look cold. Am I getting old or what...?

Just as we decided that maybe our group was smart and had stayed home, a voice was calling my name. Oh look, wet TNT people. We ended up being a group of nine. Huddled in a little circle, waiting to go. When the parade did start, no one went in order, with the political candidate groups taking the biggest cuts. Uh huh! Do gooders that we were, trying to wait our turn, we ended up last except for the fire trucks. Turns out, the parade went about three blocks, turned down a side street and that was all she wrote. No, not me, some other she. I'll write more.

This was a decent sized parade. I would guess there was a 4 to 1 ratio of people in the parade vs. watching. But those that did brave the cold and wet sure got some candy. The kids had trick or treat bags ready by the time we reached them. I was just giving it to them - the throwing often involved a puddle. But we did hand out some (wet) TNT brochures and I had a fabulous time. I've got to admit, I love a parade.

The Very Good Day

So, I had a lovely (wet) TNT-filled weekend, but that story will have to wait until I have time to properly tell it. For now, just a quick round up of all the wonderful things that happened today:

1. Woke up with enough time to pack lunch, make breakfast AND shower - did not have to pick and choose.
2. Arrived at work on time!
3. Updated the finicky scrolling TV screen program, including a new background, without having to swear or call the tech guys. (This is way more impressive than it sounds...)
4. Was told by multiple people that they think it is so great to have such a creative person at the office. Then did creative stuff all afternoon.
5. Read code and actually understood it.
6. Found out that I have another blog reader - so that means at least 2 people read this. Guess I'd better keep writing...
7. Left work at just after 5!!! This is normal at this job!!! Which means I could clean up the kitchen and put in laundry before school!!!
8. Got to see M before going to class - and he was working on my gazebo which is turning out too awesome to even describe.
9. In class, the guy next to me said the icons I was drawing for my project were really cool.
10. Then I did all the technical stuff by myself AND it worked. Second try!

So on the way home, I listened to the radio on 24 (12 is considered loud in my car) to celebrate spring and this fabulous day. Gosh, tomorrow has some big shoes to fill...

Snow Day

Yesterday: Gorgeous day. In the 30s, dry roads, hardly any wind. Perfect for a 20 mile ride on Hines.

Today: I just stuck a ruler in the snow in a spot on the driveway where there was no snow yesterday. I measure 6.5" and it is still coming. Big, fluffy, gorgeous flakes. And I don't go to the office on Mondays, so how does one spend the day?

5 am: M says, "Hey, there is some snow out there." I say, "I'm sleeping..." and a cat curls up next to me.

8:30 am: I say, "Hey, there is some snow out there," and a cat yowls at me to be fed.

8:45 am: Check phone - no text saying school is closed. But class is not until tonight, so there is time.

9 am: Call mom to make sure she still wants me to come over and paint since she has a snow day. She says sure. Decide to quickly pop some soup in the slow cooker before leaving.

10:15 am: While chopping soup items, call mom back to say there are giant flakes still coming so might be better to stay home. She agrees. Decide to clean the house.

11:15 am: Well, since I am finished with the important tasks of checking email and updating Facebook while fending off cats who want to rub their heads against the laptop (what is the appeal?), I may as well head to Starbucks to fortify myself for the cleaning ahead.

11:45: Mocha obtained. Roads really don't seem too bad.

Noon: Call M. Goes like this.

Me: Guess where I am?
M: Your mom's?
Me: No
M: The hospital?
Me: No (???)
Me again: I am where the chipmunks live. (This cute little spot under a bending tree near the edge of the driveway)
M: What are you doing there?
Me: Well, June (my car) is there too and she is sideways.
M: What? Don't mess up the ivy!

I decide that it is not the best time for a botany lesson, but I assure you, I was not messing up any ivy since there is only myrtle under that tree. And that stuff is not going to be bothered by a little Mazda3 parked in the middle of it.

1 pm: Having successfully scrubbed the sink, stove and broiler, I decide to celebrate with a burger and some baked sweet potato fries.

1:30 pm: Guess what - the smoke alarms still work...

2 pm: I was thinking of shredding some old papers, but I am a little scared to try to work the shredder. Considering my track record so far today...

Training Report
Not much training at all last week. Lots of school due to make up for previous snow day. But a lovely 20 mile ride on the tandem yesterday. So very, very lovely. You all should have been there!

And the grand total is...

For the past few years, M and I have been doing a Valentine's weekend fundraiser at Emagine Theater in Novi. We set up a table in the lobby and sell heart-shaped and glow-in-the-dark mardi gras style beads for $1 donation to TNT.

Back in 2005, we did pretty good.

This time, well the haul for the weekend was over $1700.

We had some help from two fabulous TNT participants: Heather, who is training for her first half Ironman and Kit, who is doing S2P with us. Yeah all of us!

BTW - If you haven't been there, Emagine Novi is a pretty cool place to see a movie. And not just because everyone there knows us. The theater is really nice with luxury seating options and quiet crowds while watching. Also, they have a bar in the theater. Yep, all the bartenders know us too.

Workout Summary
P had the day off and I don't work on Monday. Perfect! We could go try this yoga class in Northville at 8:15. We made an early morning plan and actually made it there in time. But as we approached, it didn't really look so open. Shouldn't there be some lights? Or some people? Maybe some chanting? Nope - dark, empty and totally closed. In protest, I say, "Look there is a sign right here saying class on Monday at 8:15." P says, "Um, pm?" Yep, they have yoga on Tues and Thurs in the morning and Monday in the EVENING!

We went back to her house and did her energizing yoga DVD. But she decided it wasn't enough and made me do the Jillian 30 day shred. Which just hurts. I think it was punishment for making her get up on her day off for imaginary yoga.

Then we went and tried on wedding dresses. Which was a whole different kind of workout.

The training begins...

So yesterday, M says," Are we riding the tandem on Hines tomorrow?" I temporarily lose touch with reality and reply, "Sure."

M calls Daniel and they agree to meet at the bike shop at 9 a.m. Somehow, I imagine they are agreeing that it is cold out and that it is not a good idea to ride.

I set my alarm for 7:30. I immediately turn it off. I assume M didn't notice and...nope too late. He is up and perky and all ready to ride. I try to use the "this cat is sitting on me and I can't get out from under him" excuse, but it doesn't fly. Crap!

I will spare you my stalling and inability to find my winter riding stuff. Two winters ago, we rode every weekend that the roads were safe. Less last winter due to weather - the tandem is on skinny tires and does not play nice in snow. This year, well, the rack was still on the back from our Livestrong ride in Austin last October. Suffice to say, we made it there 15 minutes late and D was, full face helmet and goggles, all ready to go.

Eighteen miles later, I was very glad we went. I'd do it again in a second. There really is nothing like road riding in the winter, provided you are dressed well. Aside from the occasional runner, we were the only brave warriors, battling the elements (well, one element - wind - but it was pure evil) until the end when another group of bikers went by on the other side, merrily waving. See, I am not the only crazy one!

Training for Seattle to Portland has officially begun:

Sat 2/6: Fabulous indoor trainer ride at the more reasonable hour of 8 a.m.

Weds 2/10: Snow Day! Spin at Beverly Hills Club. I usually have class, but what fun to have a snow day on spin day.

Sat 2/13: Spin at Continental - 7 a.m. It wasn't pretty, but I somehow managed to arrive and make my legs go around. Pretty much ignored coach Steve and just cruised, waiting for see if I would wake up anytime soon. Let's call it a recovery ride and leave it at that. I just don't do mornings!

This weekend has been full of fundraising, but got to wait until tonight for the total...

My plan

I go to school three nights week. Web and graphic design stuff. Class is from 7:15 - 10 pm. I don't get home until 10:45ish. Two of those days, I have already been at work since 8:30 am. And in spring, I begin classes for my MBA. Know why? The obvious answer would be that I was downsized, from a career that was fading quickly anyway, so I need to upgrade my skills to remain employable. That is painfully true. Remind me to tell you the story sometime. But it's not just that.

I was driving to class on Monday and something hit me: all of the sudden, I felt really happy. Now if you know me, you also know that I usually maintain a rather high level of optimism. Sort of like I am floating around on my own little pink cloud of delight. Heck, if I am having a bad day, inside I am thinking, "This is useful. Now I will enjoy the good days even more." I truly appreciate this miracle of body chemistry that allows me to look on the bright side of practically anything. This was more than just regular happiness. It was like bubbling joy all inside of me, but not even like that at all. And it seemed to be related to the fact that I was driving to school.

I did a little analysis as to what was up with this feeling. Because M-10, the concrete gully, is really boring for driving - especially when dark out - so I had the time. Here is what I concluded:

I was finally taking back control of my destiny.

For the past few years, my work situation had been getting less enjoyable. I really do love the concept of what I did, but in practice it was no longer the same job that I had signed on to do. Partially due to technology taking away a good portion of the creativity and knowledge required to get the job done. Partially due to reduced budgets, tighter deadlines and, my opinion, a willingness to settle for "ok" if it came fast and cheap. And finally, most recently, due to just getting stuck with some cr*p clients that showed no respect for anyone. I had stopped making plans during the week and people just had to understand that I could not be counted on to show up anywhere but work. Then suddenly, it was all gone.

And now I am in uncharted territory. But making my own choices. And loving it.

For years I have talked about, thought about, even researched, getting my MBA. Something always came up. More often than not, it was that I couldn't guarantee I could leave work to get to class with any regularity. I didn't want to waste my money to be "that person" who never made it to class and always had to reschedule project meetings. It was an excuse, I know, but a pretty darn valid one. One that crushed down on me and didn't let me see out from under it. Now, no excuses and no desire to look for them.

I am well aware that I am fortunate. Not many people have the opportunity and support system to work a lower-paying, part-time job that they love, that lets them feel like they are doing something positive and allows them to go back to school full time. I don't know how long it will last. We had been making conservative financial decisions, never really expecting it would happen but aware of the direction things were going - still I foresee a pile of student loans looming in my future. A really big pile! With no promise that anything will come of it. Except that big bubble of unexplainable happiness.

Now it is time to go chase a dream. Because reality is crashing down around us in a not very pretty manner. And this state needs to reinvent itself, one person, one plan, at a time. This is my plan. I don't yet know where it ends, but I can see far enough that I like the direction.

Un-Training

A fabulous time was had by all at the first indoor cycle training for the Summer 2010 TNT MI Bike Team. At least, that's what they tell me. Yeah, um, I was in bed. Apparently, I told M to go without me and he actually listened. This never happens. But I am not the most pleasant person in the morning (ask my mother, I have never been, ever), so I can't blame M. I wouldn't want to have to wake me up and drag me to training. Wait, that's exactly what I should have done...

This means tomorrow I will have to ride on the stationary bike all by my lonely self. At the gym with lots of other people who sometimes grunt while lifting weights and blow their noses while they are riding their stationary bike. In a really gross way. That can penetrate through my personal cloud of iPod music. Because I can never get that one bike that is upstairs near the running ring (and not near the grunting) no matter how many mental signals I send to the old guy to be off it when I get out of the locker room.

I may as well ride, because I'll be at the gym already. For the past four months, I have been employed as a Campaign Coordinator with TNT. I refer to my position as the Weekend Marketing Girl since it better describes what I have been doing. The day after I was laid off, I was contacted by the then director of TNT who said she heard the bad news and wanted to let me know about an opportunity to do promotions for two months at race expos. She encouraged me to send my resume to the person doing the interviewing. It sounded like a good plan, something to keep me busy and bring in a little bit of income while keeping the week free for job hunting. Resume, interview, adorable Thank You card and I got the job. Possibly because I have a pink sequined cowboy hat with a tiara that I promised to wear to draw attention to myself. Two months turned into four months. I've spent the past 15 weekends hanging out at various races, expos, farmers' markets, parades and wherever else we could find, promoting the TNT program and telling people about my experiences with the Team. At first, it was a little scary. While people tell me they think I could talk to anyone, I was rather intimidated by the whole thing. Once I told myself to get over it, I've got to say, I loved nearly every minute. I've talked to hundreds, maybe thousands, of strangers about a cause I believe in and heard their stories of how they have been touched by blood cancers. People are now coming up to me and asking if they met me at previous events (it's the hat). Hopefully that means they also remember TNT. Sometimes it made me sad too. At one expo, a woman came up and said her father had been diagnosed with lymphoma two days ago and she needed to do something to feel like she was helping. We hugged for a long time.

This is my last weekend. For my final, for now, appearance as The Girl in the Pink Hat, I'll be at Livonia Rec Center during the Indoor Tri. Handing out Power Bars, mini Body Glides and lots of stories about TNT. I'm going to miss it, but it is time. Keep in mind, I have been at races and such nearly every weekend since October. And I have to be there to set up before registration. Which is often really early in the morning. If you can't remember how much I love early mornings, go back to the first paragraph. Plus, now that training is starting, I need weekends free. To wake up early for that - or at least try.

So, why am I so into TNT? Why do I force myself to wake up at insane hours on the weekend? Why do I use my free time to raise money, train with my team and even take a job working for them? Last weekend at the Plymouth Ice Festival, I was joined at the booth by some volunteers - Jewels and his girlfriend Diane - from a past bike team. Jewels had been fighting his battle with cancer at the time of our ride and was our honored hero. He told me he was now one year into remission. He looked so fabulous and I couldn't stop telling him so ("Everyone says that. I must have really looked like sh*t back then." "No, but you looked tired." "Well, I was!") That's why I keep doing it. Because I can.

It's Been a Long Time

Hey look! My old blog. And I figured out how to get back in. (Being a Technical Apprentice is brilliant, as it makes you think you now magically know all sorts of stuff that you never knew before you got a cool title, but more on that at another time.)

What an appropriate time to get back in here. You see, tomorrow begins training for Seattle to Portland with Team in Training (TNT). The short of it is that I will be riding 200 miles in two days this coming July. On the back of a tandem, of course. And though it may seem like I can just hang out back there and have a picnic, M refuses to do all the work so I have to help out quite a bit.

But that's jumping ahead. Best not to think about those 200 miles yet. Because 200 is a lot of miles. And will make my butt hurt. Also, the rest of me, I assume.

So for now: I will be meeting tomorrow with some members of my team at the unthinkable hour of 7 am, hooking my bike up to a trainer and pedaling my first few indoor miles in quite a long time.

Hope my recent foray into sweaty yoga and occasional gym attendance has been enough to maintain some level of fitness. Otherwise, I am in for quite a nasty surprise.

I'm Back...

Well, I've never really been gone. I've just been away from the blog for a bit. But fortunately, not from my training. We cut back a bit, loosened up and tried some new things. Also, I have been learning what has been going on with my health. Here's the short of it:

PILATES
P, T and I got 2 months of free membership to the local Bally's through a promotion by the Discovery Channel. We discovered Pilates! (OK, someone else discovered it - but we feel like we did.) While T used the rest of the gym, P and I spent the first few classes trying not to look each other in the eye while we attempted to do something resembling the movement demonstrated by Amy - the eternally cool and perky-in-a-good-way instructor at the Wednesday class. When we did, we got a good workout anyway - trying to crack up silently is surprisingly core-intensive. But after a few classes, we mastered the basics and were hooked.

Sadly the 2 months ended. We decided not to commit to Bally's just yet. It is summer and we would rather be outside. The class is the same time as our regular swim and we need to get back to that. And frankly, at times I'm cheap. But our cores are stronger and a DVD plan is underway, if Hunter would just stop licking my ear during the "hundreds."

SWIMMING, BIKING and RUNNING
As you may know, we are doing the Danskin Triathlon in Chicago in July. We've got about 4 months to go. Time to get down to some real training, so this will be our future focus. I have yet to sit down and really map out a plan, but Weds we were back in the pool for a 75 minute swim and last night we did 30 minutes of aerobics followed by 20 minutes of brisk walking (with a little burst of a run at the start). Sounds like a good beginning to me.

TEAM IN TRAINING
M and I will be participating in El Tour de Tucson again this year. Fundraising for the event does not officially start until June, but we are already on our way. We will be selling Shamrock Beads at a few bars tonight and already have $400 in waiting. So please keep The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in mind when planning your charitable giving for the year. I'll be in touch...

AND THE HEALTH THING
Looks like I may not have Celiac after all. I got the biopsy test and my Dr said it was completely negative and he could absolutely say that at this time I did not have Celiac. So I asked if I could just not eat gluten anyway and he said it would not hurt anything. At the 6 week check up, I was perky, energetic and completely over the GI symptoms - with no change but removing gluten. He seemed puzzled. He checked my chart. He did find that no one had run the full panel of Celiac tests or checked my vitamin levels. (Insert scary blood draw.) About a week later he called and said I was very low in vitamin D and B-12 in addition to some other questionable stuff in a previous test that did not seem so off until he had this other info. Maybe it is one of a few things and more tests are in order - none of which are scary or dangerous.

So I am sort of in limbo. But as long as I eat gluten free, I feel great. And the two times I have accidentally eaten gluten (why in the world is wheat in World Class Chocolate ice cream?) I felt awful for about three days. We'll just have to see...

So check back and keep up with our progress. Your support means so much to me!

I did it!

I did it! I did it! Between getting caught up at work and Thanksgiving, I am going to have to save my race report for another day, but wanted to thank everyone again!!! I couldn't have done it without each and every one of you.

Now to just finish up that last few hundred of fundraising...

Long time, no write

I'm back. For those of you who did not know, I was on a nice long vacation in Argentina! I don't have my photos back, but as soon as I do, I'll have to figure out how to post them.

As far as the event, it is less than two weeks away. I am pretty excited, and a bit nervous. As I am not the fastest rider, I certainly hope they do not close before I finish! Looks like if I can at least maintain 12 mph and not spend too much time goofing off at the rest stops, I should be fine. Well, fine as far as finishing in the allotted time - probably not so fine if you ask my sore butt.

We had our final training last Saturday. I rode 54 miles. About half of what I will be riding on the 19th. In spite of the threat of rain, it was actually a nice day to ride and I felt great. I missed the 80 mile big ride while I was on vacation. Of course I regret missing our longest practice ride and know that it would have been good for me. From what I heard, it was VERY cold, had lots of hills and involved a bug attack at one point on the course. Maybe I don't regret missing it so much...

We turned in our bikes yesterday to have them shipped to the event. So now it is up to us to keep our aerobic capacity up through cross training and build our energy stores for the big day. Looks like I'm up for some swimming tonight.

First the good news...

We brought in $941 and change at our Emagine fundraiser. I rounded up to $945 and am now at $3095. Yeah! And big thanks to everyone who donated to us. People can be so generous - you ask and they don't think twice about pulling a dollar out and handing it to you. I finally feel like I am getting closer to my goal and it may be possible after all. Of course, my past experience has shown that the last part is the hardest since you have already tapped all the resources you knew you had and are now looking into your reserves. Luckily, I have two people who just offered to make donations and a bucket drive still coming up.

And now the not as good news...not too much to report in the training area. Between fundraising all weekend and mom breaking her ankle, I was pretty busy and didn't get in too much riding. Or swimming. Or running. Sigh.

Weds, Oct 12: 1 hour swim. Did the 12 minute test with P & S. They did great! I didn't swim all out, as I was also watching the time, but still put in a good effort and improved by 4 lengths (100 yds) from my results when I first started training for St. Anthony's Tri. My guess is that I could pull another 50, maybe 100 if I really tried. Next time, I will see if D, the cool lifeguard, will time us.

Sun, Oct 16 (note the big gap): 2 hour ride at Hines, 27.5 miles. Had planned to ride about 60, as I skipped the group training in favor of waking up a bit later after fundraising all Sat evening. Basically, this would have been out and back twice. The out went great, but the back ended up being head first into the wind. At times, even with all out effort, it felt like I was standing still. Ugh! I got back to my car and decided that was more than enough for the day. My legs were burning and I needed them for my final night of fundraising.

Tues, Oct 18: 45 minute ride, 8.5 miles. Basically, seeing how much time I could get in if I just hopped on my bike and rode as soon as I got home from work. Not too much, but better than none. I knew it was time to head back when a woman yelled out her car window at me, "Get a light." Or maybe she said, "Get a life." Possibly, both would apply. People need to be made aware that most bikers usually have no idea what they say when they drive by. And frankly, when it is some thinking-he's-so-fine guy, we just don't care. He does not need to bother tooting his horn. We are aware that there is a large, fast-moving metal object near us and only care that it does not collide with us. As for him, he is a car dweller. Maybe if there was a sweet mountain bike hanging off the back, but certainly not when he is chomping on a Big Mac and looks like he has not been on two wheels since he was six.

Some more training.

TRAINING:

Sat, Oct 8: 1hr 45 min bike on Hines, 24.5 miles, avs 14. Met CR and M for a ride. Of course, M went ahead so we saw him for about a minute of the ride. CR and I had a lovely, if a bit cold, ride. I didn't push my pace due to planning on riding 60 the next day. It is getting cold in MI. The trees are starting to turn and we have had nothing but clouds for about a week now. I am one of those rare people that really likes winter - well, the nice snowy part, not the lingering cold with slush part - but I really was hoping that summer would hang on for a bit longer. After all, it did come so late this year. Spent the rest of the day "crosstraining" at the Outlet Mall with P. Lots of arm and leg exercises - such as lift leg, put into cute new pants, bend and zip...

Sun, Oct 9: 2 hour ride around Livonia area, 24 miles, avs 12. Well, you might notice right above this that I mentioned 60 miles and 24 certainly is less. I woke up at 6:30 am to get ready for our group ride and was all stuffed up and felt pretty nasty. I had turned the furnace on the day before. BIG NOTE TO SELF: Just sticking in a new filter is not enough. Next year, turn the furnace on for a day in Sept with the windows open! Too much cat hair and dust in there after the whole summer! So I ended up calling Steve and flopping back into bed. When I woke up again at noon, I felt much better and hopped on my bike. I toured the little neighborhoods of Livonia as I wound my way toward Hines. I was having a lovely time, enjoying all the fall flower displays and Halloween decor, when I picked up Hines. I rode a bit then I saw a little paved path and bridge going off to the side. I have always wondered where it went, so made a sharp U-turn to follow it. I promptly slid a bit in some gravel, lost my balance and of course my pedal clip chose that moment to refuse to release (M says they are too loose! Ha!) Slow motion topple to the side, fortunately out of the main road and on the side path, but of course there was a jogger that saw it all. I finally released my shoe and scrambled up, pretending nothing had just happened, and proceeded up the little path - stopping only to wack my seat back into place. Was it worth it, you ask. Certainly not! It was just a little cut through to AA Trail, where I resumed my neighborhood tour and found nothing exciting at all. They say curiosity killed the cat. In my case, it just resulted in a big bruise on my leg and a slight pain in my butt.

Mon Oct 10: 40 min swim. Had a meeting, so got there late. P & S had already finished their main workout, so we went into the deep end and did some kicking strength exercises with the floaty noodles. That is, until P had the briliant idea to see who could swim down and touch their noodle on the bottom with both hands. Yep, all kicking exercises abandoned to a wild sisterly competition. This is actually much harder than it would seem - try it. I happily report that I won! S ended up making it down too. Then we did the see-how-far-you-can-swim-underwater test and P made it farther than she ever had. I ended up not even making it the one length that I know I can do because my ears were all messed up from my repeated showing off of noodle-to-the-bottom skills.

FUNDRAISING:

All set for Emagine this weekend. Beads will be arriving this Thursday. Have to mention, if you are ever looking for a good, reliable source for Mardi Gras stuff, check out Big Wheel Novelties, Their site says they are just getting back on their feet after Katrina, but they returned my call right away and shipped the beads the next day. I have used them in the past and they are always on time and priced nicely.

Breathe, Just Breathe

Oh, I am so happy! Within the past 24 hours, I have finally diminished the fundraising worry. I am not counting my chickens yet, but I do have a big basket of eggs. With luck, hatching will commence.

1. Yeah Emagine! M and I did a fundraiser at a Emagine movie theater last February - heart-shaped and glow-in-the-dark Mardi Gras beads for Valentines Day. This was our most successful fundraiser financially out of anything we had done - and since we love that theater and go there so often that most of the employees recognize us, also a lot of fun. Awhile back, I had asked the woman who arranges marketing for Emagine if we could do another and she suggested Sweetest Day as a good tie in. I wrote her a few weeks ago to see if the opportunity was still avaialble - and no reply. I knew she usually got back to me right away, but was worried that maybe they could not have another fundraiser there. I knew that I had experienced some problems with my email, but thought they were cleared up - though who knows. I was stuck - not knowing if I should write back and check, or if that would just make me a pest. Finally, I sucked up my courage and wrote again. Turns out, she was having email problems and never got the first. She wrote me right back and we are now on for bead sales at the Novi location the 14, 15 and 16th. Come visit and catch a movie at my favorite theater.

2. Yeah Kroger! I called a local Kroger, having heard that Kroger in general is a big supporter of local fundraising groups. The customer service person I spoke to was so friendly and signed us up for the next available weekend. We will be at 11 Mile and Middlebelt on Nov 5 and 6, more beads and more fun. Come do your shopping there that weekend to thank Kroger for being so cool.

3. And a Double Yeah to my Friends! Last night I went to the annual Production Club Octoberfest. I ran into so many people that I have not seen in awhile. Of course, I invited them all to visit this blog and went on and on about TNT and training. Because they are so cool, I got more offers for donations. Got to email out the link. And not to leave out those that have already donated - you know who you are and you know I adore you!

4. Special thanks to Aunt Betsy and Stephanie - for their recent donations and more importantly, for their ongoing and eternal support. Both of them had a big part in getting me to where I am today.

5. Finally, I am looking into doing a Tastefully Simple party through a friend of mine and donating the proceeds to TNT. She is checking into how it works, so details to follow.

What is that I hear? Peep, peep, peep...could that be my chicks hatching?

TRAINING:

Weds, Oct 5: 1 hour of Water Aerobics. How cool! The lifeguard, Danielle, at the pool where we train invited us to check out her class. I had always heard WA could be a great workout, but never really believed it - after all you are just sort of floating around in the shallow end right? Not so. D had us jogging and jumping and doing all these arm things while holding these floaty weights to add resistance - I felt the burn. Then we moved to the deep end to basically tread water for 15 minutes in all different leg patterns. I think I have found something new to add to the rotation...

Thurs, Oct 6: 20 minutes, weight machines at lunch. Why do I think it is a good idea to torture my little arms? Oh yeah, cute little muscles...

And coming up on a weekend of biking, biking and a bit more biking...

A worry that wasn't...

Last night we rode, then M and I caught dinner and a late movie. I arrived home to my very dark driveway after midnight and noticed the kitchen light was on. I happened to be on the cell phone with M and said I didn't remember leaving the light on. Usually when I walk up to the house, there are cats sitting (shedding) on the back of the couch waiting for me. When I say hello and put the key in, they jump down and meet me at the door (try to run out and eat anything that moves). Last night - NO CATS! Well, I paniced and ran back to the car, jumped in and drove to the end of the driveway all in one breath. Had I been thinking straight, I would have remembered that I was working in the kitchen that morning and most likely did turn the light on, but I was feeling spooked by the dark driveway and not in the mood to think reasonably. M was able to talk me down and get me back to the door - where a cat promptly jumped up and greeted me from the window. Yep, since I was talking on the phone, they heard me before I got to the porch and were already at the door where I could no longer see them - as opposed to the prisoner of some scary house-invading, cat-stealing person. The door was locked, the cats were frisky and the house was fine - a bit messy, but it was that way when I left...

Which brings me to last Saturday - our first 50 mile bike ride. Yet another scary thing. I was pretty darn sure that there was no way I could ride 50 miles. I kept thinking of how awful I felt during our long rides for Tahoe (before I knew which foods I cannot eat and was inadvertantly eating a lot of stuff that was making me sick.) A feeling of ickiness was creaping up on me all week. The morning of the ride, I lay in bed looking for any excuse to stay there. I had to talk myself down. I had to remind myself that I was much healthier that I had been for past long rides. I had to tell myself that I would just go at my own pace, even if that was slower than the group and that I had multiple safely nets in case I needed them. And I knew that M believed I could do it (since I had asked him quite a few times the day before). Finally, I got up and arrived at the ride (last). Coach Steve reminded up that this was a ride to get in the distance, not to try for our best time, so go at a moderate pace (for me, that turns out to be 12mph). We started off, I got through the first mile or so when I am quite sure I don't want to ride, and then - guess what - I really started to enjoy myself. It was a gorgeous day, not too hot, and sunny as can be. We basically rode from Birmingham to Oakland U, past Great Lakes Crossing, to the DCX Tech Center for some loops and back to our starting point. I was by myself for some of the ride and joined by Judy for some of the middle. I usually like to ride alone, but had a lot of fun meeting her and riding with her - she knew the area and kept me on track. And we had great volunteers at rest stops along the way. One took my Gorilla Munch (gluten-free cereal - yum!) with them so I would have a safe snack along the way. I did the ride (turned out to be 45.5 miles) in 3 hours and 49 minutes. One of the best parts of the ride was the final loop at DCX. Coach Steve caught up to me and asked how I was doing. He was out on the course, making sure we were ok and trying to ride with everyone for a bit. I said I felt great and he said I looked great. That my riding looked strong and that my color was even better than at Tahoe - and to not worry about speed, as that would come with training and time. The only bad part of the whole ride was the few minutes I was behind a garbage truck! PU!

Which brings me to the "what I need to learn from this" section. Stop freaking yourself out! The dreading the ride and worrying all week thing was really concerns. Had I not been a little worried about this ride, I don't think I would have been so careful about what I ate in the days before and brought the cereal along. These were smart things to do and something I should do for all long rides. the good news is I have conquered my long ride fear and am really looking forward to our 60 miles this weekend!

As far as the spooky dark driveway, we are going to install motion lights on the garage. That should do the trick!

TRAINING:

Weds, Sept 28: 80 min. Our last spin class. Boohoo! Will miss it - and watching the tennis class out the window. I named the people based on their swings.

Fri, Sept 30: 20 min skating - crosstraining and I finally got my spin centered again.

Sat, Oct 1: The big ride!

Sun, Oct 2: 1.5 hour ride at Hines, about 14.5 avs. Rode with Crissy from the Disney Tri team. Great fun and company. Good for me too - she rides a bit faster than me, so I had to keep up. Luckily she was recovering from a cold so I could hang...

Mon, Oct 2: 60 min swim and 20 min water basketball. Our little swimming team is getting better and faster. And I finally got that stupid ball in the net!

Tues, Oct 3: 1.25 hr ride at Hines, 14.5 avs (slower at end, getting dark). M and I invited the team to come ride with us. Rob took us up on the offer and met up with M. I get out of work later, so started off on my own. The plan was to meet up on our way back. I had no light so didn't want to ride in the dark and ended up beating them back by a good 20 minutes. but a fine time was had by all and we want to do some more informal group rides in the future.

FUNDRAISING:

See story above to prevent attack of worry! One plan fell through, so must figure something out soon...

Catching up

It appears I owe some training updates, so here we go:

Mon, Sept 19: 20 min jog in the morning and 1 hour swim in the evening. I originally got into TNT to do a traithlon and that is probably still my favorite event. I m pretty much looking at sprint distances due to a nagging nerve injury in my foot which limits running to a run/walk, but am trying to get in a little running and maybe build up to a full run. As far as swimming goes, my sisters P and S have decided thay will do a tri with me next summer (well, P for sure and S is on the fence, but we act like she said yes). We have begun swimming training. They are doing great and I am really enjoying being back in the water after not much swim time this summer.

Weds, Sept 21: 1 hour spin class. Am feeling stronger and stronger during these classes. This was our second to last and I am really going to miss them. Can't remember the exact workout, but certainly had hills! Noticed some pain in the right knee that I will have to watch.

Thurs, Sept 22: 1 hour ice skating with M. Went to Yost Arena in AA. This is some of the best ice in Metro D area (in my humble opinion.) I have been off the ice so long and my skates were not exactly sharpened like they should have been, so I wouldn't say I jumped right back in, but overall was fun. Unfortunately, my knee did not have fun. Must have done something in spinning that bothered it because it was bothering me the whole time. M says it is from biking and that I am getting old! Ha! After, we met up with a friend and went to dinner at Grizzly Pete's. You must go there and have the pork chops. You will think you are in food heaven!

Fri, Sept 23: 15 min jog. Woke up late, but decided jog was required. Decided work would want me to feel good about my fitness and not be so worried about arrival time. Hope my boss does not read this...

Sat, Sept 24: 1 hour bike ride, 9.5 miles. Rode Mtn Bike to mom's house and back. Not exactly a workout, but is always fun to ride instead of drive. Then went to support S at Gilda's Walk. Original plan for today was a 30 mile ride at Hines, but I had forgotten about the walk so didn't get up early enough. (Excuses, excuses...)

Sun, Sept 25: 2 hour bike at Hines, 30 miles, avs 15 for first 15 miles, but dropped to 14.5 by end. Making up yesterday's ride. (OK, the TNT training plan actually called for 30 on Sat and 40 on Sun so I get no gold star this weekend.) M was working so I headed out to Hines by myself. I had a fantastic ride! I really enjoy riding Hines, probably due to the lack of any real hills, but also the wide bike lanes and sections with no car traffic at all. I was feeling lazy at the beginning of the ride, so told myself to just go 10 miles out. At 10, it seemed silly to not go the extra 5 to make it an even 30 overall. And I was really excited about my speed. I am well aware that 15 mph is not an impressive speed, but since I was unable to break 12.5 as my average speed during the whole Tahoe training period, this is a great improvement. I am also getting more and more comfortable on the road bike as opposed to my mtn bike. Overall, I felt great, except maybe the last 5 miles. Then the fact that I had eaten nothing but a glass of cider for breakfast and had brought nothing but water for the ride sort of set in and I could feel my legs getting slower. The knee started bothering me a little and I made a big mental note to plan better next time in terms of food and energy. Fortunately, it was only a short drive to Parmenters Cider Mill (sorry Steph, I know you want some too). I stood in line, all biking clothes and drying sweat, and rewarded myself with a cider slush before heading home to eat some more.

Mon, Sept 26: 1.5 hour swim with P and S. P and I were a bit lazy on this one. P had just gone out for a big birthday dinner and I was feeling under the weather, both the knee and my stomach (who knew they put flour in cheesecake filling! Now I do and will not be eating that again!) But we soldiered on, them doing 1100 and me possibly a bit more, but did not keep count. S was perky and swam great. Went like this: Slightly over 1 hour swim, 10 min stretching then a game of horse with the water basketball net. I got my butt kicked by S and P even held her own. I am not a basketball player. Maybe next time they need to do lots of sprints to make up for beating me... OK, the real plan is to dig out some of my old TNT workouts and start doing those so we have somehting to keep track of progress.

Tues, Sept 27: 35 min casual bike ride with P, 10.5 mph for about 6 miles. A little ride near my house to get in some time on the bike for P. Secret bad thing I thought: At the end of the ride, I told P that she did great and she said she was actually feeling tired at the end. Before I could even stop it, my bad side thought, "Haha, I wasn't!" Oh dear, the bad side had better remember 2 years ago when the 8 mile loop at Kensington was totally killer and M was nice enough to not make fun of me when I was panting and insisting I was going to collapse right there if he made me ride any more. Yep, the bad side needs to actually take a lesson from P, who did not once mention collapsing and dying, only optimistically calling from the bottom of an incline, "Give me a minute and I'll catch up." I never would have even suspected that she felt tired if I had not asked at the end. Quit your complaining bad side! You need to get over it!

Looking forward: Last spinning class tonight and our first real group road ride (outside of parks) on Sat. 50 miles. Better remember to bring food!!!

So far, so good...

I am a bit behind, so here is the quick catch up.

TRAINING:
Saturday, Sept 10: 24.5 miles at Kensington. We were actually only supposed to do 22, but I took a slightly different route that I like better. If you are impressed that I took a route that added mileage, here is the secret. My route avoided the big hill that I particularly dislike in favor of a more gradual climb. Yeah, cheating...

Wednesday, Sept 14: Spinning at Bev Hills Club, 1 hour. Again, a good workout, feeling strong. Only negative - I had gone to the gym at lunch on Tuesday and done the weight machines so when we were doing the standing hills climb drill, my legs were telling me they would not be putting up with that. Mine was sort of a standing, oops plopping back into the seat, standing again, oops drill. Since Tuesday is the only time I can make it to the gym this week too, I think I will cut the weight on the leg portion!

Saturday, Sept 17: P, S and I showed up to do an hour swim. Pool was mysteriously closed. Instead, took a nap. Oh dear! (Was tired out from attending 2 perennial exchanges - is hard work bargaining for the best new plants!)

Sunday, Sept 18: 26 miles at Island Lake, avs 14. The group was doing 40 miles today, but I only had 2 hours to ride since we had to get to Sam's Club for a fundraiser. I did two road loops plus a little extra bit on the bike trail while M did two mountain bike loops (due to blowing out the tire on his road bike.) I saw two tiny turtles, one black and orange caterpillar and a large flock of geese in the middle of the road that hissed at me and made like to give chase. Fortunately, I am getting a bit faster on this bike and got away. Unfortunately, they were near one of my turnaround points and I just had to loop right back at them. Creatively, I yelled, "Go away geese!" which made them pause for a second and I got through again. These geese must have thought I looked tired and couldn't make another loop, as they were gone on my second time around.

Also, if you get a chance to go to Island Lake on a damp summer morning, make sure to take a look out over the fields. As I rode, the sun was just hitting the dew and you could see glittering between the tall grass seeds heads the most gorgeous spider webs. I have no idea how those spiders build their webs between two swaying stalks, but it does make for a gorgeous bike ride. All below these were little spider trampolines bathing the field in a white blanket. You have to beat the sun, as once the dew is gone, they seem to disappear. And don't even try it if you are scared of spiders - you won't want to think how many spiders it took to build all those hundreds of webs!

FUNDRAISING:
Friday, Sept 16: Sam's Club in Canton. M went about 4 and I joined him at 7 (was stuck at work). He left to skate and I stayed until 8:30. The point is that with essentially one person fundraising for 4.5 hours, we brought on $230! We have had some of the best success with bucket drives in this location. So a big THANKS to the people of Canton and surrounding areas and to Julie at Sam's Club letting us fundraise there.

Sunday, Sept 18: Sam's Club on Haggerty in F. Hills. Not as successful. M and I got there at 1, he had to leave at 2 for work, I stayed until 3:30. We got $80 overall, so not a waste of time by any means. I have noticed that Sunday is not as good for fundraising as Fri or Sat. Also, I think this location was really advertising their Katrina Fund register donation program - many people came out and said they just gave there. Can't argue with that, as I know donations are needed there too, but between Katrina and gas prices, people are really feeling the squeeze and fundraising feels like it is harder this time than on events before.

Overall, I am rather enjoying the bucket drives. I have gotten to talk to lots of great people, all about LLS and TNT or about their personal stories and how their families have been touched. I even got a "drive by donation" in F. Hills - two wonderful ladies pulled up and slipped me a donation out the car window. We are at Sam's in Canton again on Thursday, then that is all we have set up for now. Got to get back on the phone and set up some more before all the spots are filled.

Slacking and Spinning

Well, I have to confess, I did not ride at all over the Labor Day weekend. Not one bit. Pretty bad huh? But I did get a lot done in my yard, so it looks a bit less like a jungle and more like there might be some flower gardens in there. A bit...still a lot to do.

So after my mini vacation, I am back at it. Last night was a spinning class with Coach Steve, our TNT biking coach for Tucson. Steve is great - but more about him another time. Right now, I am sure you want to know how my slacker butt did at training. Fortunately, I felt great. I am not good at indoor exercise since I get bored easily and that leads to focusing on how many more minutes to go and how my legs are starting to hurt and how if I just went a little slower... (downward spiral). But at Beverly Hills Club (where they let us hold practices) the spin room is elevated and has a window that looks out over the tennis courts. Yep, private little tennis matches played out just for me! And since it is usually lessons, I get to see people doing all kinds of funny stuff. This really helps me to pass the time. OK, I also try to pay attention to Coach Steve and focus on how my ride is going, but the tennis really helps.

Um, as far as the actual spin class...I finally felt I was holding my own! All the time we were training for Tahoe, I felt I was not giving it my all. I know part of it was that I felt so sick that whole time and am finally feeling healthy. But I also think that I am adjusting my attitude from thinking that I am so much more out of shape than everyone else and looking jealously at their sculpted legs to thinking that maybe I can do this. And realizing that it won't happen overnight. That is huge for me. Wanting instant gratification and giving up if it is not there. Instead, I need to realize that the only way I am going to achieve the results I want is by slowly working toward that goal.

Sort of like those flower gardens...

WORKOUT LOG
9/7 1 hour spin class at BH. 10 min wu, 10 min hill, 5 min spin, 10 min hill, downhill, another hill w/sprinting and "jumps" then cool down and stretching.

Starting out

This all started about 2 years ago this month. A friend talked me into going to Seattle to do the Danskin Triathlon. I had originally missed registration and didn't bother to train all summer, but in July they opened more spots. Yep, I decided to go do a sprint distance tri with no training. As you can imagine, I was slow and in pain, yet hooked.

Back at home, a brochure arrived in the mail from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training (TNT) program. Since my Uncle had lymphoma, I had been thinking I needed to do some good with my spare time and I certainly needed someone to show me how to actually train for an event - it all sort of fell into place. Not to be too sappy, but this ended up being sort of life changing. I'm over 30 lbs. lighter (and still losing), in better shape than I have been in a long time and my soul is now much more at peace. Plus, I've raised over $7,500 toward curing blood cancers.

I am now training for my third TNT event, mentoring a group training for the Disney Tri in Sept. and strangely desiring to share it with the world in general. This will be the story of my training, among other things. Enjoy...