Missed it by "that" much

Migraines haven't been my friend in the past few weeks.  Ended up in bed with the lights out until  3PM yesterday afternoon. So today, I made up some miles riding on my own in Rock Creek Park.  Could find anyone who wanted to ride - the forecast said afternoon rain and the thermometer said 43 degrees so people were understandably not inspired.  The bike felt amazing last week, except for my clipless pedals.  The left one kept unclipping, which was unsettling when it happened, and inefficient.  I'd had them for over 10 years so they certainly didn't owe me anything.  So off to my friends at Conte's bike shop in Bethesda where I bought my bike a few weeks ago.  They had me bring in my bike, put me on a trainer and set up my new clipless pedals and made sure they worked OK.  Awesome service.  A lot of folks I know ride with Speedplay so that's what I decided to get.  As you can see from the link, both sides of the pedal are the same so they're easy to get into, which is similar to the pedals I was using before.  

While I was at Conte's, they adjusted cables and tightened up my saddle.  What I didn't realize, was that it had shifted out of position and when they tightened the screws, it wasn't in the right spot.  About halfway through my ride, I put it all together (I'm a sharp cookie today) and adjusted the seat forward.  Turns out there are two screws holding the saddle in place, and tightening one wasn't enough (ahem) so ended up stopping three times until I finally got it where it felt right.  Frustrating: the seat was about an inch and a half too far back, which doesn't sound like a lot, but it throws everything off. Too far from the bars so too stretched out, a little too far from the pedals, not sitting on the right part of the saddle (yep, owie) and the most frustrating, significantly decreased power from using more hamstrings and glutes and not enough quads.  Anyhoo - I got it just about right just in time for the rain to start gently falling.  About 5 miles from the car so I went like a bat out of heck.  A crippled, child bat, but I booked it back down the park.  


43 degrees when I left the car, 49 when I got back.  Last week it was over 70 which I liked better.  Neoprene booties over my shoes, earband to keep my ears warm, full finger gloves.  I was warm but I'm looking forward to better weather.


Not a fast ride today.  A week off the bike, some travel, and yesterday's migraine were not the ideal training week.  Mostly I watched guys pass me, but I did pass a couple of people.  They were retirees, but I smoked them good :)  It was great to be out, I'm totally glad I went, plus I burned 1200 calories, not too shabby.  Took a self portrait with my iphone so you could enjoy the visual too.


Fundraising is going really well, 78% of the way towards my goal of $4300.  I cant thank all of you enough for helping me get there!


Well, I'm off to the showers, and the kitchen...


Go Team.

Honored Teammate Picnic

What an incredible event.  So moving, so inspiring.  Makes my troubles seem very small.  As if I needed reminding that what we're doing with Team in Training is so important, I was deeply moved.  The picture on the left is a woman who has been fighting cancer for 10 years, she thanked her husband...The one on the right is an 11 year old Leukemia survivor and her mom who spoke through her tears...Go Team.

Time for some new wheels

Well, I've been thinking about it for some time, but today I did it.  I went in to see if I could be better fit on my old bike and decided that it made more sense to start over fresh.  I think the frame I've been riding is about 20 years old, and they tell me that technology has changed since then ;)  She's a Cervelo R3, I test rode a bunch of bikes and she was the one that made me want to stay on her and keep riding, despite the 25 miles we rode this morning, and the 5K I'm running tomorrow!  The coolest thing I found out after I had picked her out?  She's Canadian, like me!  Go Team!

Seriously, is this the best speech ever from a 13 year old?

Ashton is our Honored Teammate for this season, and he gave a speech at  the TNT kickoff event. His words were so good, they're worth sharing again...

I’m 13 years old today but I was only 2 when the doctors told my mom and dad that I had leukemia.  I’ve been told that I hold the record for the highest white blood cell count the hospital has ever seen, which means the cancer was all over my body and the doctors didn’t think I would make it past the first week. 

But my mom and dad knew I would and we never lost hope.

Once I got past that first rough week, my treatment lasted over 2 years, so I was almost 5 when I finished treatment.

Even though I was little, I still remember some of it – like not being able to be around other kids or go to the grocery store or go to birthday parties – because I didn’t have an immune system anymore while the chemo fought the leukemia.  One of the hardest things for me was not being allowed to go swimming.

I don’t remember losing my hair, but I remember it growing back.  I remember the central IV line coming out of my chest where they put the chemo in and drew my blood out.

As a matter of fact, we were here at this hotel the night before the Marine Core Marathon almost 9 years ago now – supporting friends who were going to be doing the marathon for Team in Training the next day when my central line broke and I started bleeding out right at the dinner table in the restaurant! 

My parents freaked out and my mom didn’t have my emergency line clasp with her (that she was supposed to take with her everywhere we went just in case my line broke, which we were told was uncommon but yet – it happened…and NOT at a very good time). 

So we jumped in the car – with some TNT people we had just met – while my mom was holding me and my line as tight as she could so I wouldn’t lose anymore blood and we rushed to the hospital.

Luckily, everything turned out okay but everytime we pass this hotel, it always reminds me of that.

But you don’t have to worry about that happening this morning!  J Only a scar remains on my chest from where the line used to be – my moms says it’s a gentle reminder of what I’ve been through and how lucky I am to be here.

I remember the chemo party that my mom and dad had after I finished one of the rounds of my chemo.

There was a candle on the cake for every week that I had to have a shot of the chemotherapy into my legs.  Those were horrible, painful shots and they lasted 19 weeks, so there were 19 candles altogether.  I got to blow all the candles out and hoped that I never needed those again.  Thankfully, I haven’t.

I remember a lot of good things, too, like playing at the hospital with other kids who were there and doing arts and crafts in the clinic playroom while I got my chemo.  I also remember getting lots of hats in the mail from friends and strangers who wanted to do something to make me feel better.

Another good thing is that I get to be an honored teammate for the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society.  The first time, I was too sick to be at the kickoff or go to any of the weekend trainings.  But now I have been doing it for 9 years and it’s fun to meet people that I never would have met if I hadn’t gotten sick.  And it’s neat to see how hard everyone works to train and raise money for cancer research.  

My mom and dad said that if there wasn’t a Leukemia-Lymphoma Society, then I wouldn’t be here today.  It’s because of your hard work and commitment that kids and adults have a better chance at surviving blood-related cancers.

My mom and dad were so grateful to the Society that they decided to do some events with Team in Training, too.  My mom did a half marathon to celebrate me being off treatment for one year and my dad has done four 100-mile century bike rides.  Four of those 5 times, I was there to give them hugs at the finish line and those are some really cool memories for our family – and a way to feel that we conquered the cancer and it didn’t win.

There’s still a long way to go to find a cure and that’s why doing Team in Training is important.  Some of the kids I played with in the hospital and at the clinic weren’t as lucky as me and it makes me sad.  And some of my friends are still fighting, and really, I just wish they would find treatment that didn’t have to last so long. 

With your help, they can, which means other kids can do the things they want to do instead of spending so much time not feeling good.

So, thank you for taking the first step to help people with cancer.  Someday we will all celebrate a cure!

It's hard cycling through the snow

First practice, 13.2 (chilly but sunny) miles around Hains point.  Met a lot of new teammates, and refueled afterward at the golf course snack bar.  Olympics on TV, hard to beat that for athletic inspiration.  Everything felt pretty good on the bike except for my toes, which got very cold very quickly despite wool biking socks.  Next week I'll wear the neoprene over-shoe booties that look silly, but keep my feet warm!

Go Team.