Wow! What an amazing week it's been...err well 9 days. I've wanted to share every moment with all my friends, families, supporters and loved ones but I was going non stop. Training like I've never trained before. Doubling previous distances, times and miles. Pushing myself to do things I never thought were even possible. But, here I am, at the end of one of the most amazing weeks I've had in, well, a long time, I hope you'll enjoy hearing my reflection.
Last week I was horribly sick. Luckily, I was able to take some time off work and relax on the couch for 4 days. I was afraid it was going to have a huge impact on all my work thus far and it would be be hard to recover. Turns out, it seemed to have the opposite effect. I guess my body was just so exhausted from all the holiday and Coraline for a Cure craziness...turns out all it needed was a few days of nothing to recoup and come back even stronger!
Saturday
So after a week on the couch, we woke up at 8a last Saturday to one of the most beautiful days in San Francisco. Yes, it was 60 degrees in SF on January 15. Matt & I walked to Aquatic Park (less than 4 blocks from our apartment!). I wasn't feeling too great, but the team's energy held me up. Saturday turned out to be one of the most amazing days of my life thus far.
I'll be honest...I was scared to death that morning. I was completely frightened that I would either freeze or drown in the bay even if I was completely healthy. But, I was recovering from a cough and cold so that freaked me out even more. However, my fears were assuaged when I felt the energy and excitement of my team members many of whom were also SF Bay swimming rookies.
As a little extra boost of confidence...Matt & I won the Spirit Snuggie (kind of like a Gypsie coat for you theatre people). Gets awarded to someone every week for having good spirits and then you have to add something to it. What an amazing day for us to win it!
After an amazingly inspirational story from one of our honoree's Graham (Graham is living with Leukemia. He is surviving because he takes a drug every day. That drug was developed by research funded DIRECTLY by LLS. He is alive because of people like us who are raising money for the cause. And people like YOU who are donating to the cause), we all suited up in our wetsuits (including Graham who swam right beside us in the bay).
Then we swam! We did 5 out and backs around buoys. In between each swim, we did some intense core exercises (ie: jumping jacks, push ups, burpies -- which are HORRIBLE, wheel barrows, etc). It was a rough workout for me. The water was freezing...though it was too bad after my face, feet and hands went numb. I had absolutely no lung capacity because of being sick. But, despite the fact that I almost cut the workout short like 10 times (coaches even said it was ok for me to stop since I was sick), I completed the entire workout!!! See, no matter how difficult it was for me to conquer my fears, fight my sickness and do the workout...it's NOTHING in comparison to what cancer patients deal with every day. If Graham could do it...so could I. And I did! And it was amazing. I've never felt that alive than I did that day in the bay. AMAZING.
I can now check SWIMMING IN THE BAY off my bucket list. Done!
I used Sunday and Monday to continue recovering. Then Tuesday started my most intense training thus far.
Tuesday
Matt & I went on a bike ride through the Presidio. For those of you who haven't spent much time in the Presidio...it's basically one big hill. And I climbed that hill! We went for an amazing 9 mile ride. I finally started getting comfortable on the bike on roads with cars. I just want that I never rode a bike as a kid. I was the kid who fell off and never got back on...and I rode 9 miles! It was another absolutely beautiful day in the city. I am so blessed to live in such a beautiful place!
Wednesday
Wednesday's are team track workouts in Kezar stadium. After warming up and drills, the coaches told us the workout: mile repeats with no walking. In the past, I've usually been doing workouts in intervals. I'll run for some time (5 min - 9 min) then walk for some time (1 min - 2 min) and repeat until I get to a certain distance or certain time. You'll remember from my previous post that the other week I ran 17 min without stopping...the longest I had EVER run straight. I was very nervous when I started the run on Wednesday night...I was sure there would be absolutely NO WAY for me to run 3 miles straight without stopping to walk at least for a little bit.
Before the run, one of our teammates, Kevin, emotionally shared with us that his sister had JUST been diagnosed with breast cancer and was about to start intensive chemotherapy and then radiation. So, as I was running and my calves, quads and hamstrings were burning, I, again, thought that this was nothing in comparison to what she was about to face. I am proud to say that I ran 3 miles straight without stopping a second to walk. I ran it in exactly 33 minutes. I nearly doubled my previous record.
Following the run, there was, of course, a Coach Dana core workout. (Coach Dana is notoriously known for her intense core workouts and trust me THEY ARE INTENSE!) Another amazing night!
Thursday
Matt & I hit the pool on Thursday night. We did some long sets (900 yards for Matt, 800 yards for me). All in all, we each logged over a mile in the pool that night. I've still got a lot of work to do with the swim. Most of it is mental (ie: I'm so totally freaked out about getting water in my goggles that I can't focus on anything else). More time in the pool should help that!
Friday
We went for another ride this afternoon. This time we went up into the Presidio then over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was my first time riding across the bridge. Again, it was absolutely gorgeous and the entire ride I was overwhelmingly thankful for what a beautiful place I live in. In total, I logged 12 miles that day. That was my longest ride at the time. A few big accomplishments...I can finally drink out of my water bottle while riding (a huge necessity!), and I'm getting better at signaling and climbing hills!
Saturday
Saturday was a team workout. Matt had to miss the workout for a huge design conference in SF -- Compost Modern. Evidently anyone who's anyone in the design world goes to it, so I'm glad he was able to attend. I started the morning at Sports Basement hearing great advice from our coaches about transitions and nutrition, both essential for triathlon success. We then went for a run....down the Marina Green, through Fort Mason, down to Aquatic Park. I logged 4.5 miles. Another 62 degree day in SF.
Sunday
Today was a coached bike / run in Pleasant Hill. We started the day by revealing the Spirit Snuggie to the team. We added swim, bike, run symbols to the sleeve (since that's what we're doing 6 days a week!). We also added a phrase below the symbols since we're spending just as much time doing this as we are training: FIGHT CANCER.
Then we rode. We were doing an out and back. I was doing the beginner distance which meant that I should turn around at 10 miles or when it had been an hour, whichever came first. Let me say...the ride was ROUGH. The way out was basically one huge uphill climb. Evidently, we learned this ride is notoriously known as an extremely challenging bike route in the East Bay. For bikers...it was the road to Pig Farm. After the ride, the coaches claimed they didn't know exactly how difficult it actually was. Haha. Well it was rough. But that also made the ride amazing. I was so proud of myself for conquering those hills and not giving up. I ultimately made it out to 8.25 miles at an hour then turned around. The good thing about climbing the entire way out is that the entire way back is DOWN HILL. The ride back took about 35 minutes and was an amazing ride! Total I logged ~17 miles on the bike today -- a new record! I broke my bike distance record TWICE this week. How amazing!
Once we got back to our origin, we put our bikes against the fence did a quick transition then ran for 20 minutes. The run was rough. My legs were burning the entire time but I ran with a teammate who kept me motivated! We did a great 2 mile run then stretched and cheered our team members back in.
My total miles for just this week are:
Bike - 40 miles
Run - 10 miles
Swim - 1+ miles
3 months ago, I never would have thought that my body could ever handle this. But, here I am, not only training and trying, but succeeding and improving. I broke so many personal goals and conquered so many personal fears this week. I haven't been this proud of myself in a very long time, but I know I couldn't have done this all on my own. I am so blessed. I have an amazing team. A team that motivates me, encourages me and believes in me. A team I can suffer through the workouts with. A team I can rejoice over my victories with. I am blessed to be a part of such an energizing, inspiring team...I know I couldn't do it without them. I am blessed to have Matt who is not only the love of my life but my best friend and partner...without him I couldn't do any of this. He's taught me so much and always supports me even when I get upset or frustrated. I am blessed to have a body that is allowing me to train. A body that is actually healing many of its' injuries because of the training. I am blessed to live in San Francisco where it can be 60+ degrees in the middle of January. In a city that is filled with beauty and spirit. I am blessed to have the opportunity to raise funds for research that will cancer patients lives...not just random patients...people who are my friends and family. I am blessed that I get to help save their lives. I am blessed to have so many friends and family who have supported me and cheered me on. Who have given $10, $25, $100 to the cause. Who bought tickets to Coraline for a Cure and shared that amazing night with us. Who have bought Superbowl squares. Who have pledged to donate when they can. I couldn't do it without any of you.
I'm excited to announce that once we have collected all the money for the Superbowl and all the corporate matching donations go through from Coraline for a Cure...Matt and I will have raised:
$7,500 for LLS
That means that we're 75% of the way to our goal of $10,000. Do you know what $10,000 for LLS can do?
It can pay for 3 months salary for a researcher at UCSF. One of these researchers spoke at a TNT event, he gave a powerpoint presentation about a drug he's researching. The studies they are doing are cutting edge. So many researchers are on the brink of HUGE breakthroughs for blood cancers that will undoubtably save MANY lives.
We have a little over a month to raise $2,500 more dollars for LLS. We need your help to reach this amazing goal. We need your help to save lives. Please consider donating today...even if only $5 ($5 is the cost of sending a newly diagnosed patient information about their disease and support). Any amount can help make the difference in many lives.
Thank you for your help and support! GO TEAM!!
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