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?
