Thursday, October 30, 2008

Aches, pains and fundraising!

I missed last weeks 70 mile ride b/c I had a horrific pain in my neck. I woke up on Sunday not being able to first of all get out of bed b/c my neck hurt so bad and second of all I couldn't turn my head to the left (which as you can imagine is vital for cycling, driving, etc!). The left side of my neck was swollen and I had no idea what to do but to ice my neck as much as I could. The pain was so bad that I couldn't hold anything in my left hand b/c it put too much pressure on my neck.

After a few days I called the doctor (b/c really it was going to go away on it's own!) and got an appointment to get it looked at. The mobility was coming back into my neck, but it still hurt a lot. After some investigation on the doctor's part he realized that I had scar tissue built up in my neck (probably from one of the car accidents I have been....yes that was plural people...but only one accident was my fault and no one was injured and my Grandma got a nice new car out of it!).

I was told that it will take about 6 weeks for the pain to really go away and to have my neck and shoulder on the mend.

To top it off my knees have been having moments of being fine and then having longer moments where they aren't doing so well. More and more lately I have felt older than I am and in all honesty I through out the question that I hate to admit that I have even thought, let alone said, "Why me?" Lame I know...but I really don't quite understand why I have to have the knee issues and now this mysterious neck thing! I am obviously working around these issues and still doing what I want to do, but it makes it difficult!

And as if that wasn't enough....my fundraising hasn't been going well. The economic downturn has hit everyone and people are finding it harder and harder to donate b/c of the unknown of the future. Who can blame them? I am able to continue receiving donations through the end of November...I just hope that people will continue to donate. Because really...who wants to be considered pro cancer?

In all seriousness, the generosity of the people, even with the downturn of the economy, has been so great! People that I didn't even think would donate have. I am constantly amazed by how generous people can be.

Is my dream of living in a cancer free world just that...a dream? I hope not! The cases of cancer have been on the rise, and granted yes the treatments that are being created have helped prolong some people's lives and have saved others, but I long for the day where I won't get a phone call or an email about another person with this dreaded disease.

Years ago when I first joined the TNT cross country ski team I knew that I had found my purpose. Some people feel like they are on this planet to be the next CFO of a large organization, or to be a mother/father or to be a rock star/movie star....all of those are great ambitions. I know that I am here to help make a difference in cancer research. Will you join me?

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Walking a mile in my sister's shoes!

I know that I have been a bit laxed with keeping my blog up to date. The training has been going well. Since my last entry I have completed a 55 mile ride in Half Moon Bay and a 70 mile ride in the north bay area.

The 55 mile ride I had to complete on a Sunday with only a few folks from the team b/c I had decided months ago to sign up for a relay tri with my sister and one of her friends. I was the swimmer (I can't run b/c of my knee...and really why cycle when I was going to have to do so on Sunday anyway....and in all honesty I love swimming!), Lynne (my sisters long time friend was the cyclist and my sister was the runner. I got up to the Napa/Berryessa are late on Friday b/c I got lost on the way there (typical!). The tri was to start on Saturday morning at 9am. The wind was pretty bad on Friday but I knew that it would calm down for our tri. I was wrong. The wind woke us up throughout the night and the next morning as I was putting my swimsuit I threw out to the universe that I really needed it to not be so cold b/c I left my wetsuite in SF b/c I wasn't supposed to need it. As we got ready to leave I pulled up the door to our room and the wind was so strong it pulled the door closed. That is when I looked at my sister and Lynne and said, "Holy crap we are in trouble!" We walked out to my car to load up and my sister (gotta love her) yells out, "Holy S**t, look at the whitecaps in the water!" She either wanted to scare the crap out of me or didn't realized that she actually said that outloud! :)

We got to the tri location and I just kept hoping that I wouldn't drown in the water (I know that I am an experienced swimmer but the water was really rough!) and as we got out of the car I hears some magic words that I hadn't even thought I would hear, "THE SWIMMING PORTION HAS BEEN CANCELLED. WE CAN NOT GET THE LIFEBOATS IN THE WATER AND IT IS TOO UNSAFE FOR PEOPLE TO SWIM TODAY. THERE WILL BE A 1/2 MILE WALK INSTEAD." I never thought I would hear such sweet words!

I would also like to add, that since I was only doing the swimming part of the tri that I hadn't brought my tennis shoes....so my lovely and super sweet sister offered up her shoes and socks so that I could walk that first 1/2 mile so I could at least participate in the event that I choosen for us. So in the freezing cold I passed over my flip flops and she handed me her socks and her shoes (that were too big for me). In honor of my swimming portion I walked that 1/2 mile in my swim cap! Oh yeah!

So to say the least I didn't get much exercise in that day...and my make up team ride was in Half Moon Bay (45 minutes from SF...and since I was in Napa area...it would take me at least 2 hours to get there in the morning....so I left before it was light out).

The ride in Half Moon Bay started off great, but I knew that I had 4200 feet of climbing that day...so I was attempting to go out slow and keep the ride slow and steady. I don't think I had a real concept of how much 4200 feet of elevation climb was until that day. Can I just say it is a lot! I yelled out my classic line that I tend to yell when cross country skiing...This is BullS**t (sorry mom I can't help it...I have workout tourettes)....and in all honesty I yelled it that day more than I ever have. I had to take a bail out route back to the cars b/c my knees couldn't withstand the climbing. One of my knees just had nothing left to give on that ride. I cried in pain and in frustration when I had to admit that I just couldn't do that last hill. I know that I have knee issues...but seriously can't the fates give me a break and allow me to do this....don't they know that I am doing this for a good cause? Very frustrating....

The following week I completed 70 miles with the team...and that ride went WAY better. In preparing for the ride, I got my bike refit to make sure that everything was perfect for this ride. All I have to say is that it went beautifully. I had so much fun that day. Multiple times through out that ride I knew exactly why my Pa was so addicted to riding. I even grew to love eating baked red potatoes at the feeding stops for us (something that I thought I would like at all...but holy goodness they taste so good after riding so hard!).

After that 70 mile ride day I knew that I was going to take to be able to kill the century in Solvang! I just knew it....

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Riding in the Rain!

This past Saturday my team and I were slatted to ride another 50miles...which I thought would be a piece of cake. I quickly learned that I was wrong. We started out the ride with it ever so slightly sprinkling on us...and then the sprinkle turned to a more persistant shower. I have yet to ride in the rain and quickly learned that water resistant gear isn't really that....and the padding in your cycling shorts will absorb the rain water....yep...not so comfortable!



The flat tires were in abundance and everyones spirits were luckily going strong! We all were keeping a very steady pace. I knew that we, somewhere ahead of us, had a big hill to deal with...but who cares this early in the game...we were pace lining and have a great time with it! As the hill continued I quickly found myself hoping that the rain would start up again...I was getting warm and felt that the rain would cool me off. It did...it got to the point that I was so cooled down that I was having problems staying warm.

I finished the ride that day...but dropped off the pace group b/c my knees where hurting and I was so cold that I just felt like I couldn't warm up!

The conclusion that I have come too....rainy days are fun for when you can stay indoors, under a blanket , with some hot chocolate and watching movies. Rainy days aren't fun for days where you are wearing cycling shorts and having the padding in the crotch of your shorts soak up the rain water that is being kicked back on you from your rear tire. :)



After we got to the top of one of the hills there was a sag stop....meaning that they had food and water for us. The folks that run the sag stops are wonderful...they have wonderful options for us to eat to refuel our bodies.



My pace group started to roll out after about 10 minutes at the stop and that is when I heard that the big uphill and downhill were ahead. Since my GPS wasn't working that day and I hadn't been told how far in the distance the hill was and which was first the up or the down hill I was sort of ridng blind.