Runners are different...but we aren't immune.

The euphoria of completing my first Triathlon on Sunday (albeit a Sprint distance, and even shorter than a normal Sprint on the Swim portion - 300m vs. the usual 750m - but good practice for how transitions go, etc.) has been darkened by the tragic events at the Boston Marathon yesterday.  As I posted on Facebook yesterday, it just makes me so upset, sad, confused, scared...the list of emotions goes on.  My heart is heavy, my mind is whirling, and my prayers are lifted.

Also posted on Facebook by Proverbs 31 Ministries was the following verse that brings some comfort:

From the end of the earth I will cry unto you, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Psalm 61:2

A popular running blogger also has some good words to share about yesterday's heartbreaking finish line chaos.  The point that hit me the most was that we cannot allow what happens to us (good or bad) define or describe us.  Imagine what it would be like if our lowest experiences is what defined our lives...or, even if our mountaintop experiences were all that described us.

What defines you?

Biking Mt. Gretna

On Saturday, Matt, Brian, Mary, Brandy and I biked 10 miles around Mt. Gretna.  Last week was the All-Team Training at Colebrook, and so many members of the team had already done some biking in Mt. Gretna. I was unable to go to the All-Team Training because Bryan and I went away for the weekend to The Nature Inn at Bald Eagle State Park to celebrate the one year anniversary of this:

 Don't I have a handsome groom?  

Okay, okay, I guess I'll post some pictures that show my face...

A few days before our wedding, Bryan took a log to the face, right on the bridge of his nose (which you can clearly see in some of our wedding photos)!  Comes with the territory, I suppose...it could be worse, two months ago a branch took out one of his front teeth, so I guess I should be thankful THAT didn't happen right before our wedding.  In any case, I thank God every day that He protects my husband because in all reality, his job is very dangerous on a daily basis, which I try not to dwell on.

Although it was very nice the days leading up to our March 24, 2012 wedding (an early spring, unlike this year is turning out to be - although this past Saturday's weather was beautiful!), our wedding dawned cold, damp, and rainy...which supposedly is a marriage blessing.

  

 Without getting too sappy, I am so glad that Bryan and I get to walk down the path of life together.

(These pictures were taken in Cornwall along the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail, and I have run this area many times throughout the last year since moving to Lebanon.)

Bryan's cousin, Anita, along with her mom, Linda, did an awesome job on our wedding photography!

Anyway, like I said, I had a good reason not to have biked the week before in Mt. Gretna.  We met some pretty nice hills along the ride, although when I asked if there would be "worse" ones during Black Bear, Brian said "I'm not gonna lie..." and proceeded to tell me that yes, I would see more challenging hills than what we had just ridden during the Black Bear Triathlon.  You can check out our ride here, including the pretty cool elevation chart!  My biking is just about like my running - slow and steady.  I was able to ride up all the hills and I didn't have to get off the bike and walk, which is a good thing...however for some reason I cannot get out of the saddle when pedaling up hill - it feels as if my knees just can't hold up my body and will collapse from underneath me.  When I told Brian this, he pointed out that I "am a marathoner" (I have one marathon and two halfs to my name, and at a tortoise pace...I must have him fooled) and therefore my knees have proven to hold up my body.  I do have to work on "getting my gears" back while approaching a hill so that I can change gears while going uphill, so perhaps if I concentrate on that and try to get out of the saddle while not pushing such hard gears, my knees will be able to handle things a little better.  In any case, I need to get out on the bike more.

So...I am 81% towards reaching my minimum fundraising goal!  In celebration of that, and in an effort to reach my minimum by the end of the week, I have a "special" going on.  For anyone that donates $31.13 (the number of total miles I will be swimming, biking and running on May 19) on-line via my fundraising page between now and midnight Friday, April 5, I will send you a half-dozen cake pops from The Red Star Bakery!  Who is going to help me not only reach my minimum, but also help me beat blood cancers?

The Red Star Bakery

Don't those cake pops look scrumptious?  I can tell you from personal experience that they are every bit as good as they look - moist, rich and delicious are just a few adjectives to describe them!  The Red Star Bakery is generously supporting my efforts for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and is offering the goodness that is their cake pops (and soft drop cookies) as a fundraising opportunity.  From now until April 17 I will be taking orders, with delivery around April 23.  If you are not within delivery distance, I will gladly ship them to you for an additional $2.00 S/H.

Available for order:
     Soft Drop Cookies at $6.50/dozen
               Chocolate Chip
               Peanut Butter
               Soft Sugar Cookies

     Cake Pops at 3/$5.00
              Chocolate Peanut Butter
              Red Velvet
              Vanilla
              Death By Chocolate
              Chocolate Banana Nut

Payment (cash or a check made out to me) is due prior to 4/17/13.

The cake pops and cookies can be frozen, so plan ahead if you have a bridal shower, summer picnic, party, or any get together coming up.  Or you can always order a bunch to keep for yourself :-)

You can contact me via phone, e-mail, Facebook, etc. to order.  Don't miss out!

Make sure to check out The Red Star Bakery's Facebook page and web-site for custom cakes, cupcakes (including cupcakes in a jar!), cookies, etc. for all of your special events.  And, even if you don't have anything planned in the near future, it's always fun to drool over the pictures, and to wonder in the creativity of the creations!

Sweet Thank You's

Last Tuesday, March 12, was my fundraiser at Sweet Frog Mechanicsburg.  I cannot thank Sweet Frog and Mr. Gagliardo enough for hosting this event.  I wasn't really sure what to expect in the way of amounts to shoot for for fundraising, as initially I was under the impression that each guest had to mention "The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society/Team in Training" at checkout in order for 10% of their order total to be counted, but when Bryan, Mandy and I arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to see this set-up:

To the left of the cash register is a cute tin Sweet Frog lunchbox with "The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society" on the lid.  Therefore, ANYONE (not just those I and my friends reached out to and who were aware they needed to mention it when paying) who went to Sweet Frog that night were aware of the fundraiser and had the opportunity to put their receipt in the box to be counted.  Additionally, there was a jar, also labeled, for additional cash donations.

And so, I give you, the total raised at Sweet Frog that evening!
Drum roll, please     .............................................
                                             .................................................
                                                                  ........................................

$58.64 !!!

I think that is amazing!!  $37.43 of that was from the 10% of all receipts added to the lunch box, and $21.21 was collected in the jar!  With my rough math calculations and past experience of purchasing frozen yogurt at Sweet Frog, an "average" cup of yogurt runs about $5-$6 (at least for me, although I *may* be known to eat more than that at times).  That means about 62 +/- people supported the fundraiser!  If you were one of them, comment as such in the comment section so I can thank you!  And, if you'd like to remain anonymous, then THANK YOU!!!

My friend and co-worker, Mandy, and I met Bryan after work to head over to Mechanicsburg.  Of course we also needed to hit up one of my favorite "hole-in-the-wall" restaurants, Rancho Grande, while we were in my old stomping grounds.  That place sure looks odd on the outside (Bryan always made fun of it, until he tried it!), but is it ever good food at a very decent price!  You can't beat their chips and salsa, and I always follow that up with Enchilada Supremas and a chile relleno.  After dinner, we weren't exactly hungry, so we headed over to Dick's Sporting Goods to look at bikes, biking shorts, shoes, and anything else shiny and pretty that caught our (okay, mostly Mandy and mine) eyes until our food settled a bit.

As always, I enjoyed my yogurt, and I think Mandy enjoyed hers as well, especially since this was her first time ever experiencing the goodness that is Sweet Frog!

A few more donations have rolled in via the mail, and also on-line.  As soon as I finish up this blog post, I will get the next batch of checks together and sent out.  All told, so far $1,168.54 has been raised for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!  Although my goal is to raise $1,800, my base-commitment is $1,550...so, with that I am 75% towards reaching my base-commitment, and 65% towards my goal (assuming my math is correct, but, like I always said, I was a science teacher, and  NOT a math teacher for a reason!).  If you haven't donated, it isn't too late!  Simply visit my fundraising page to donate easily on-line. And, stay tuned in the very near future for another opportunity to support my fundraising efforts!

And here comes the best part of this post - the thank you's to those who have donated in addition to those I mentioned earlier.

Much THANKS to: 

Jon and Cheryl Noll (Dad and Mom)

Clair and Betsy Weaver (Dad and Mom W.)

Tom and Linda Wingard

Mandy Stoltzfus

Mark Noll

Wayne and Lois Slothower

Ruby Bellis 

Glenn and Kay Weaver

Larry and Brenda Emig

Again, I really can't express my appreciation for your generosity enough!

Riding on the Road and Frozen Yogurt

So....I really need to blog more often because so much is going on with my training and fundraising!  I'll try to hit the highlights for this post, so it doesn't turn into a novel - which, we all know can quickly be the case when I write and talk :-).

Saturday trainings with the team always have the potential to be interesting.  Last Saturday, March 2, we met  in Cornwall for a run, however instead of running on the rail-trail, we decided to add some elevation into our training and run around Cornwall.  Little did we know, as we started out, hills weren't going to be the only "obstacle" and we would also be adding some "agility" work to our run!  Our fearless leader, Brian, took us down a road with surprisingly very little traffic coming towards us, and we quickly realized why - there was a bridge out along the road ("out" as in there was absolutely nothing left of the bridge).  So, we went down the stream a little and saw a log had fallen across the creek, making an effective bridge for foot traffic ... even though we had to climb down the bank and pick our way through some briers  we decided to try our luck at staying dry as we crossed the log.  Brian was the first to go, and I have to say he took an odd approach at crossing that log, as he chose to sit down with his legs straddling the log and propelled himself across the log by swinging his legs and pushing off with hands.  I sure wish we had a camera, but alas, no one was running with their phone that chilly morning (I definitely need to make a conscious effort to bring a camera more often, if for no other reason than adding some color to this blog!).  Rose was the next to go, and she followed Brian's lead, but not before exclaiming she was afraid she was going to tear her pants!  I was also wearing my favorite Under Armor running pants, which my loving husband bought me as a "no reason gift" and I sure didn't want to chance ripping my pants, so I attempted my luck at crossing the log by walking tight-rope style...and, I stayed completely dry with all clothes intact, so it was a success!  Matt then followed my strategy for crossing the log, also successfully.  After we scrambled back up the bank to resume our run, Matt made a comment to the affect of "four Team in Training members get caught for Trespassing", as it may have been argued that we were on the property of the Cornwall Furnace at that point.  Here is my Garmin detail of that run, and although my time is certainly not where I'd like it to be, I do get a kick out of the "blip" along Rexmont Road which is where we participated in that morning's "agility training"! (plus it shows the elevation of two of the hills we ran)

This past Saturday we had our first outdoor bike ride.  When I woke up that morning, I asked my husband, Bryan, what the weather was like, and he said it was nice, and after sticking my head out the window, I decided that it was fit for shorts and a long-sleeved shirt to bike and run in.  As I walked to my car, I revelled in what awesome biking/running weather it was going to be!  We met at Cedar Crest High School to start out becoming familiar with our bikes in the parking lot.  As soon as I got out of my car, one of the Bucher brothers said "You are going to need more clothes than that!" simultaneously with a huge gust of wind! I have no idea where that wind came from, but it sure made things chilly.  I quickly called Bryan and was able to catch him before he left the house to work on a tree (owning your business requires evening and weekend work - ha!) to have him bring me more clothes.  As I was explaining to him which clothing I wanted and where it could be found in my drawers, I described a long-sleeved compression shirt I wear as a base layer as "pink"...and he said "Do you mean the fuchsia one?".  I had no idea that word existed in a male's vocabulary to describe a color!

Brian and the rest of the team headed out around the parking lot while Matt waited behind with me, and once I was better prepared for the weather, we all practiced for a bit more in the parking lot.  That practice included how to avoid a drafting situation during a triathlon in which we would be penalized (of which Matt has personal experience), hand signals for turns and stops, going up and down gears, drinking while riding, etc.  We then embarked on an almost-5 mile bike ride along South Lincoln Ave/419/State Drive.  Surprisingly, I felt more comfortable on the road than I thought I would, but for the most part we had wide shoulders to ride on.  At one point coming up State Drive, I could have made my father-in-law's life interesting, as a Jubilee Ministries truck passed us - he is the Executive Director of Jubilee, and I just chuckled at the irony it would have been if I would have tried to take a sip of water and accidentally steered off course and to the left at that moment (for the record, I am very unstable when I have only one hand on the handlebars, so signaling for turns, drinking, etc. is very nerve-racking for me).  All told, I probably biked about 8 miles that morning.  Once we returned to the parking lot, we "transitioned" before starting out on an approximately 1.8 mile run - and boy, your legs really do feel like bricks which is definitely going to take some getting used to!  I've heard, however, that your legs eventually get used to it after you push through a mile or two...well, on May 19th my legs will have 6.2 miles to "feel better" after a 24 mile bike ride!

Another thing I really need to practice is switching my gears without looking down at them.  On Sunday, it was really nice out, and later in the evening while working on the business books, I needed a break and decided to head out on the bike on my own for a bit.  This time, the roads I was on near our house didn't have nice, wide shoulders, and so I was a bit anxious. Every time I looked down at my gears, I could clearly hear Brian say "Julie, you've got to stop looking down!", as I heard that from him (more than once) the day prior in the parking lot at Cedar Crest - I think I will forever hear his voice telling me that for the rest of my life every time I look down while on a bike.  I do need to get used to doing things while on the bike such as drinking, signaling, changing gears, etc....and the only way to do that is to put miles in on the bike while practicing.  After my 10.5 mile bike, I again practiced the run transition and ran for a mile (probably should have run more, as I don't think my legs got to the "feeling better" point).

Although we had a BEAUTIFUL weekend, today is pretty dreary and overcast.  HOWEVER, I have a GREAT way to brighten your day, as today is The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Day at Sweet Frog Mechanicsburg!  I am so excited!  After work, Bryan is able to join me in my "old stopping grounds" (since it is rainy and yucky out he isn't working on trees, and is instead doing office work), and also some friends from work are going to go as well.  We may even get some Mexican food at my favorite Mexican place in Mechanicsburg, although I am all for having Sweet Frog for dinner and dessert (besides, the more yogurt I eat, the more is donated to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society).  If you go, make sure you mention The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at checkout between 5pm and 9pm.  There will also be a donation box at the checkout for additional donations. I hope to see some friends from "home" there tonight!!!

I have received some additional donations from my letter-writing campaign, however those thank yous deserve their own post, so stay tuned to see who else has joined with me in the fight against blood cancers!  As always, you can follow my fundraising progress at my fundraising page, as well as donate securely on-line.  I do have to submit another batch of checks, so if you are one of those who donated more recently by check, don't panic, yours will be included on my web-site soon.  As you can see, I am not quite yet at 50% of my fundraising goal.  Don't forget about the Hearts Design fundraiser I mentioned previously (so far no one has asked for a copy of the card, so I hope to get that into a form I can post here on my blog so you can print it out on your own - I think it is an awesome opportunity and would love if someone would take advantage of getting some really neat things at their store while also supporting The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society).  I have a few more fundraising ideas running around in my head that keep me up at night, so, as always, put my blog on your reading list so you don't miss anything!

Writer's Cramp

So...not much time to write a post this evening, as I am busy writing something more important than a silly blog post.  Tonight after swimming for an hour practice with my teammates, I finally had "Christmas" and opened all of those envelopes pictured in my last post, so I am writing thank yous to a lot of my family and friends whose gifts will make a big difference in the lives of millions living with blood cancers.

Many THANKS to:

Megan Blackmon

Becky Bollen

Dale and Brenda Weaver

Steve and Denise Cruse

Chuck Stanbery

Pap and Nana Noll

Mike and Carol Hubler

Eric and Tanya Weaver

Clete and Diane Weaver

Paul and Eunice Sensenig

Gil Hirschel

Moffett Dental Center

Timothy and Bonnie Ritter

Barb Noll

Justin Challenger

Simply, thank you.

SWEET....!!!

Are one of these yours?  I have been collecting them for the last few weeks....and have yet to open one!  So, I think over the weekend I am going to have my own little "Christmas" (see - one even has a Christmas stamp on it!) and open all of them and get my first batch of donations submitted.  I am SO EXCITED to see how close I will be to my goal after opening them, and including on-line donations.  As always, you can view my progress here (and donate on-line as well), but keep in mind there is a little bit of a lag time for the checks I receive to be included in the count (since I need to send them in batches for them to be processed).

So, in between some chilly runs, I've been "swimming, swimming, in a swimming pool" (does anyone else sing that in their head, or is it just a 4-H Camp Shehaqua thing?...and points to the first person to "sing" the next line in the comments section).  And, like clockwork, about a day after swimming, I would get a splitting headache on the "knob" of my lower head right behind my left ear that would get much worse when laying down, and waking up was the worst!  In about two-three days it would go away, but then I would hit the pool again and the cycle continued.  I've never had an ear infection, but after Googling, I was convinced that was my issue, but I couldn't figure out why I didn't have a fever or any discharge from my ear.  This Monday, the pain was so intense I couldn't even hold my head straight (I felt like a rabbit with wry neck, and if you don't know what that is, then Google it!).  I had off of work for President's Day, but the day was filled with business appointments with a lawyer and the tax accountant.  In between appointments, on a whim I asked Bryan if we could swing by the doctor's office to see they could fit me in, and if not, I was going to the Med Express that night (that should tell you how bad the pain was).  Luckily, they were able to get me in...and it turns out, no ear infection.  The doctor wasn't positive what was going on, but she decided that perhaps it was muscular (from turning my head to breath while swimming), and gave me an anti-inflammatory and a muscle relaxer - - yes, I felt extremely stupid, and I will definitely think twice the next time I "think" I should go to the doctor. I swam Tuesday night, and have been taking the meds as prescribed since Monday, and so far, no pain!  Tonight's swim, however, will be the real test, as Matt, Brian, Dave and I swam at Cedar Crest...and we swam HARD (well, for me at least it was hard) for an hour.  I have to really thank Matt and Brian for pushing me, even when at one point I didn't think I could go another lap in a row.  Brian also noticed that I still have a tendency to pick my head up out of the water when I breath, so that odd movement may have also been contributing to my pain!  Another thing I need to work on is pointing my toes when I kick (I seem to go somewhere between horizontal and vertical while swimming, and pointing my toes will help to keep my butt up, and therefore become more horizontal...and more aerodynamic)...and also trying to breath on my right side.  On Saturday, all of Central PA TNT's Tri teammates and coaches will get together at Messiah for a Swim Clinic - I'm a little apprehensive about that, as I hear Coach Bob is going to "rip our arms off".

So....I guess now I can release my SWEET announcement!  Doesn't the below picture look absolutely delectable?  Well, on Tuesday, March 12, 2013, you can get your own frozen yogurt creation at the Sweet Frog in Mechanicsburg (on the Carlisle Pike in with Petco, Target, Panera, etc.) and support THE LEUKEMIA AND LYMPHOMA SOCIETY!  From 5:00pm-9:00pm on March 12th, all you need to do is mention "Team in Training" or "The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society" and 10% of your receipt will go towards my fundraising!  There will also be a box available for additional donations.  Isn't that AWESOME?!  So, mark that on your calendars, tell all your friends, and bring your entire family in for dinner (yes, I said dinner...because I've been known to have frozen yogurt as meals...and besides, I tend to go with the tart yogurt, fresh fruit, and granola as my favorite creation, which, if you ask me, is quite a healthy meal).

So much to write about!

Whew - there is so many exciting things to write in this post I get exhausted just thinking about it!

Apparently my fundraising letters made it to their destinations because I need to start this post by thanking two very important people who have the honor of being the first to join with me in making a difference by helping to accelerate cures for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.  As soon as I got to work this morning, my friend and co-worker, Justin, gave me an envelope which contained help to bring hope to the patients and families who are on the front lines of the battle against blood-related cancers.  Later on in the day, my phone buzzed with the sweet sound of an incoming e-mail with "Team in Training Donation Notification" in the subject line alerting me to the fact someone had just donated on-line, quickly and securely, via my fundraising web-page; my Aunt Barb is once again joining with me on this journey, as she also supported my efforts as I was training for the 2011 San Diego Marathon as a member of Team in Training (and, if I remember correctly, was one of the first to do so then as well).  THANK YOU Aunt Barb and Justin!

In addition to donating on-line  or via check, I am very excited to announce another opportunity for you to support my efforts with Team in Training.  Hearts Design at Needful Things is a local business "back home" that I frequented while living in Perry County who specializes in antiques, gifts, and custom embroidery.  Hearts Design at Needful Things has generously agreed to donate 10% of your purchase towards my fundraising goal!!!  To take advantage of this awesome opportunity, you simply need to present a card at checkout, or, if you choose to shop on-line via the above link, simply mention that you have a card for my fundraising in the comments section (you can use the word "run")....the only slight hangup is the cards are on a .pdf file, and I can't figure out how to upload it to my blog - boo!  So, if you e-mail me, send me a message via Facebook, the comments below, text, smoke signal, etc., I will make sure you get the card(s) - you can then pass them out to all of your friends, too, to use over and over and over again!  I can't stress how much I loved stopping in at Needful Things and I never failed to leave without finding something that matched my home decor perfectly  - in fact, I may need to take a special trip to good 'ol PeCo here soon to find some things for my "new" old farmhouse!  And for those of you who Shermansdale isn't exactly local to, I still think it would be worth a special trip to 5800 Spring Road Shermansdale, PA!

Before I leave the topic of fundraising for the evening, I would like to mention that if you would like me to swim/bike/run in honor or memory of one of your loved ones who have been personally touched by any type of cancer which affects the bone marrow, blood cells, lymph nodes and other parts of the lymphatic system, please let me know and I will add them to those who I am personally training for.  Sometimes when I get caught up in the training part of all of this, and I hurt and complain, all it takes is for me to re-focus my thoughts and prayers to the individuals who are the primary reason my teammates and I are embarking on this adventure, and I gain a special boost of inspiration and motivation.

This past Saturday, I joined my Central PA TNT triathalon teammates from the "Lancaster Team" for a run on the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail.  Previously, I was part of the "Harrisburg Team", but since moving to Lebanon, the Lancaster Team is much closer for me to train with - especially considering the LVRT is practically my backyard and is where I've done almost all of my running while I was training for the Hershey Half-Marathon which I completed this past October.  A lot of those I've met so far who I will be training with are from the Lebanon/Palmyra/Annville area, and it is always nice to meet new people after moving to a somewhat unfamiliar area.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am not a morning person, especially not on Saturdays, and I tend to run slightly behind for early morning activities.  I quickly learned on Saturday, however, that my coach and teammates certainly start on time, as I arrived at the Corwall LVRT parking lot at 9:04am with no one to be found!  Instead of heading towards Mt. Gretna, which is my usual route when starting at Cornwall, some others in the parking lot indicated that a group of runners had just left heading towards Lebanon.  I wasn't quite sure how far the team was planning on going for the first "official" training run of the season, but I figured two miles would be a good start for me if I didn't happen to catch up to them.  I haven't really ran since mid-November when I ran the Give Thanks for Lebanon 10K with Mandy and Megan, two friends from work (I still could kick myself for not getting pictures of us that day, especially since Mandy ran her first race ever that day!), and coupled with that, I took a nasty spill while going down steps moving boxes out of our old house about a month ago which resulted in a sprained ankle that I am still fighting with.  It was so cold, and with every somewhat-painful step, I was more determined than ever that two miles was just fine, especially if I would be running alone...until I caught up to Matt (the Lancaster Triathlon coach) and another teammate right about the time my Garmin GPS watch ran out of battery life - which meant now I would have NO CLUE as to how far I was running! (I have come to rely too heavily on that watch, and if it runs out of battery or doesn't have enough battery life at the beginning of a run, I am done...I just can't go...which is pretty sad when I think about it!)  Matt mentioned that a particular bridge up ahead was about 1.5 miles from the parking lot, so at that point I figured I'd rather know about how far I went more than anything, and so that knowledge alone led me to end up running 3 miles.

Training for a triathlon is something completely new and different to me, and rather than just run, run, run, I figured there are other activities I can do on evenings we don't get together as a team, especially until it warms up a bit.  On Monday, after a day of indulging with the SuperBowl as an excuse, my husband, Bryan, and I decided to attempt CardioX (part of P90X - I'd love to do the whole program, but while I'm training, I think I will just use certain of the DVDs here and there to supplement my swimming, biking and running).  For the most part, I could keep up with the exercises....however Bryan couldn't.  Bryan's reason?  He was too busy watching me and laughing, especially when it came to the punching/kicking combos.  I do have to admit, Tuesday morning I was a bit sore, so I allowed that evening to be a day of "rest".  Wednesday evening after work I headed out for an alleged 4 mile run/walk on the snow-covered Stony Valley Rail Trail.

Last evening, we got together as a team at Cedar Crest High School (it is so different to actually have things close to where I live - one advantage to not living in PeCo, I suppose) to swim.  I haven't actually swam since I can't remember when - probably since my days of teaching swimming lessons (translation: teaching kindergartners how to float) at the New Bloomfield pool.  This swimming thing is a whole new ballgame to me, and is the biggest source of anxiety for me knowing that in three months I will need to swim, in open water where I can't touch bottom, for almost a mile.  After doing one down and back lap in the pool (one pool length is 25 yards, I believe), I was completely out of breath which I just couldn't understand since I felt for the most part I am in decent shape cardio-wise...but apparently that doesn't matter with swimming, especially if you have poor technique (which I apparently did).  Last night, two people with a lot of patience and some great explanations on how to improve my swimming helped me tremendously get off to a good start with my swimming.  One was our coach, Matt, and the second was his brother, Brian.  Both Matt and Brian are Team in Training alumni.  Brian, who is training for the Got the Nerve? Triathlon in Mt. Gretna is also an Honored Teammate as he is one of the estimated 502,943 individuals who have, or are in remission from, non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).  As I don't know many specifics of his story, he was diagnosed in 2005 with Stage 4 Primary Mediastinal Large B Cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  The five-year survival rate for NHL patients rose from 31% between 1960 and 1963, to 69.5% between 2001 and 2007...and today, with the use of a drug developed, in part, with funds raised through Team in Training, Brian continues to personally help us to understand the importance of finding a cure by serving as an inspiration while training and fundraising.  It is stories that belong to faces and hearts, like Brian's, that keep us all training to help find a cure.

Here I go again...

So...most of you who are reading my blog within the week of today's post date are doing so probably because you recently received a fundraising letter from me or you decided to click on the link I updated my Facebook status with.  I will apologize in advance for all my Facebook friends who will be inundated over the next few months with links to this blog and my LLS Team in Training Fundraising page.  But just think, the sooner all of you help me reach my goal, the sooner you don't have to see the posts in your news feed!

In all seriousness, though, thank you for your interest in taking the first step to supporting my campaign with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training.  By clicking on the "view my page" link in the purple box to the right of this, and every post, you will be taken to my personal fundraising page where you will see more details on the event I am currently training for, the reasons I am training, and directions on how you can help.  Even if you choose not to donate at this time, I would encourage you to continue checking in with my blog to see exciting other opportunities in which you can support my efforts.  Not to mention just general every day posts outlining my training adventures, day to day life, and, if you're lucky, philosophical insights :-).

This blog is actually a continuation of a previous blog (which I unfortunately no longer have access to due to some log-in "issues") I began in July 2010 when I was first embarking on my adventures with Team in Training.  At that time, I was training for the 2011 Disney Marathon.  Within two months of beginning that blog and training, my whole world was turned upside down with the following year being the most difficult time in my life.  That all seems so long ago, but also, on the other hand, like just yesterday.  My life has changed a lot since I started that first blog...I've lived in seven different places which included moving out of my beloved Perry County, got divorced, changed jobs, engaged (75 feet up in a tree!) and subsequently re-married, added to our family (of the furry variety), made some new friends, lost some old ones, and bought a house in October (so no more moves for a VERY long time...although currently we still have some stuff left in our old house).  However, through it all, one thing that remained consistent was my love of running. 

I would encourage you to visit my old blog for a little bit of "background", especially in regards to my involvement with Team in Training.  If you read no other post on that blog, make sure you at least read my very first post; it can be found here.  One regret that I do have with that blog is that my last post was in February of 2011...and I never documented my experience completing my first TNT event, the 2011 San Diego Marathon (notice this was NOT the Disney Marathon I originally set out to do...you'll have to check out my old blog further for details as to why).  Hopefully, throughout the life of this blog (which I hope to be longer than just May 19, 2013 which is the date of the Black Bear Triathlon, the event I am currently training for with Team in Training) I will at some point go back and blog about the events I completed between now and then...if for nothing else than for my own memory and reference, as I hear that tends to diminish as you get older, and I am going to reach a milestone birthday in 2013, so I don't want to take any chances...

Well, it is time to head to TNT's Kickoff for Spring 2013.  Tonight I will meet my coaches, mentors, and teammates who are all coming together for one goal - to raise funds for life saving cancer research therapies that are saving lives today.  And that, my friends, is why I am back for a second-go-round with Team in Training. 

My foot in the Pacific Ocean off Coronado Beach June 5, 2011 after finishing the San Diego Marathon