Racing to Save Lives

**FINAL UPDATE 6/2/09 at bottom of page**

If you are here to make a donation, they are still needed! Please click over to this page where I am fundraising for my next effort with Team in Training: the Dublin Marathon on October 26th!

Here we go again!

After the success of fundraising and training for the Nike Women's Marathon last summer and fall, I have been looking for a new challenge. So, next on the horizon: the Deuces Wild Triathlon on May 30th! This involves training for a .9 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike ride, and a 6.2 mile run. Organized swimming and biking will be whole new adventures for me, but the Team in Training coaches promise they'll prepare me well.

In addition to weekly swimming, cycling and running practices, I am fundraising again for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). I am committed to raising $3200 before May 1st. Please make a donation to support my participation in Team in Training and help advance LLS's mission. As before, your tax deductible contribution will go directly to patient care and family support for those affected by blood cancers.

This year, I am donating five portrait projects as part of my fundraising efforts. **EDIT 5/1/09 - all five projects are spoken for. If you are still interested in this option, please contact me - more will be available in June.** For an online portfolio of my work, please click here. If you are interested in this option, contact me at larsonkl (at) gmail (dot) com.

I hope you will visit here often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress and read periodic updates on my training efforts. Thank you for your support!

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**FINAL UPDATE 6/2/09**

So the Deuces Wild Triathlon took place in Show Low, AZ on Saturday, May 30th. The weather was perfect and the water was FREEZING! The high altitude combined with the 62 degree water made for a very rough swim for me. But, I made it out of the water, through transition and onto the bike for a hilly 40k ride. I managed to pass a few people on the ride and hit T2 (bike to run transition) feeling pretty good. The 10k run started out on a dirt path that wound around the lake and continued on through the campground and some hilly out and back sections. I had a great time seeing so many of my Teammates as we passed each other on various parts of the course. A couple of my Teammates and I ended up near the finish area at about the same time and the three of us sprinted on in to the finish together - what a great way to end the race! Mom, Dad, Haley and Lorraine came up to cheer me on - thanks so much, guys!! And a heartfelt thank you again to all of you who encouraged and supported me in this adventure. Together, my Team raised over $54,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Thank you so much for being a part of that awesome number. Up next: the Dublin Marathon!

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**UPDATE 5/31/09**

Woo! I just wanted to leave a quick note to let you know I completed the Deuces Wild Triathlon yesterday and to say THANK YOU to everyone out there who helped me reach my fundraising goal - your generosity is amazing! I'll have a final update for you in the next day or two. But for now, thank you, thank you, thank you!

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**UPDATE 5/19/09**

Fundraising will continue for a few more weeks! I'm setting a personal goal of raising all my funds by May 30th, the day of my triathlon. If you're able, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Your generosity makes a very real difference in the lives of people currently battling cancer and brings the hope of a brighter future to those who will face this battle down the road. Please help me cross this finish line!

Training continues. Big news on the swimming front - I've FINALLY figured it out! Everyone told me there would be one magic day when everything just clicks into place. After three months of struggling through every single swim practice, I came to the conclusion they were all just lying to my face. But then, a couple weeks ago, I HAD THE DAY. Woo! At swim practice last Thursday, I swam 2000 yards without stopping (that's OVER A MILE), which is about 1950 yards farther than I'd ever swam before without feeling like I was going to pass out. The ridiculously simple key: don't kick so freaking hard. Who knew?

Also, I volunteered at the Tempe International Triathlon this past Sunday morning. A group of my Teammates and I were placed at the Bike Route Aid Station, which means we handed out water to the cyclists. An important fact: they don't stop and get water. They grab the bottle out of your waiting, outstretched hand as they fly by at 20 miles an hour. Some are more skilled at this particular feat than others. It was pretty great watching a cyclist attempt to grab a bottle and only succeed in knocking it out of the volunteer's hand (sending an explosion of water over said volunteer (read: me)). Even better when they were never quite able to make the grab, repeating this explosive drenching six or seven times down the line. Hilarious! There is a finesse to the handoff, and by the end of the morning we were pros. It was one of the most fun volunteer experiences I've ever had, although it definitely came at a price - my arm was killing me the next day. :)

**UPDATE 5/4/09**

What a crazy month of training! These past few weeks have involved workouts steadily increasing in length and intensity. On the one hand, it's great to actually be able to see my own fitness progress, but on the other hand...well, it's pretty exhausting!

I participated in two running events with some of my Teammates. Five of us ran in Pat's Run on April 18th, where I managed to set a personal pace record - pretty exciting for this (formerly) slow-as-molasses runner. And six of us did the Night Run for the Arts this past Saturday - 5.1 miles through the darkened streets of Scottsdale. Glow necklaces abounded. It was lots of fun.

We've also been increasing the distance on our Team long-rides - this past Saturday morning (yep, the same day we all did the Night Run) my fellow Olympic-distance trainees and I knocked out a 33-mile ride. We battled a FIERCE headwind for the entire second half of the ride, which made it pretty brutal - but I still love the cycling. Also, we've gotten in a couple open-water swims in our brand new official TNT wetsuits. So, as you can see, training is progressing! Less than four weeks to go until the race...

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**UPDATE 4/7/09**

We're getting into the tough stuff now! Last week was chock-full of racing and training activities (you know...more so than usual). I spent Thursday evening swimming and running in a Splash N Dash event. This consisted of a 750-meter swim (my first in open water) followed by a 4k run. Observations: Tempe Town Lake is pretty gross. It's also COLD. Wetsuits are wonderful. I'm not the world's slowest swimmer - just close to it. :) These things are FUN! On Saturday morning, I participated in the annual El Tour de Phoenix bike ride. There were 170 entrants in the 26-mile event and I came in 59th. Not too shabby for this brand new cyclist!

In addition to all this training, I've been plugging away on the fundraising. I held an event at California Pizza Kitchen a couple weeks ago: for each person who came in with one of my flyers, CPK generously donated 20% of their bill to my fundraising efforts. I also started mailing out fundraising letters a couple days ago; expect them to start showing up in mailboxes around the country soon. I'm in the final weeks of my fundraising, so if you are able to make a donation, please do! Thanks so much to everyone for your support of this wonderful organization.

**UPDATE 3/12/09**

I've learned a lot of new things in these five weeks of training. Three examples: 1. swimming is not a natural talent of mine. I stay afloat and can move through the water, but it is hard work. I'm slowly improving my form and fitness, which I hope will start increasing my paltry swimming endurance. 2. I love cycling. It's so much fun! My new road bike is spiffy and fast and I love picking up speed on the downhill sections (and yes, Mom, I always wear my helmet). 3. triathlon can be a very gear-intensive sport. There are all kinds of fancy doodads out there for people who love to swim, bike and run. I think I'll make do with the basics for this first one, though.

And as always, thank you so much to everyone who has donated so far - your generosity is amazing. If you haven't done so, please consider donating today to support blood cancer patients, families, and research. And remember, there are still two portrait projects remaining - send me an email to claim yours today!

**UPDATE 2/16/09**

With one week of training under my belt, I have to say that the triathlon experience is SO different from the marathon training. Rather than just the run, run, run of the marathon program, our training plan includes a mix of swimming, running, cycling and strength training workouts six days a week - sometimes two or three a day. It's a well-rounded (and very intense!) schedule. We had our first group run this past Saturday - it was nice to find out that my running base is still there. The cycling clinic and first group ride are coming up this weekend - that's going to be an adventure! For now, though, I'm going to enjoy my hard-earned rest day. :)