I'd like to share why I make this effort every year to raise money and fight cancer. This will be an ongoing theme here, in my blog, so be sure and check back to see each new post.

Below is my Uncle Phil. He passed away from cancer. He's one of the reasons that I continue to fight cancer. He is dearly missed.

Today was my 1st cycling practice with Team in Training!

I got up at about 5:00 a.m., a real accomplishment for me as anyone who knows me can attest, ate some toast with almond butter and honey, got my gear together, put on my new bike shorts, and headed off to our meeting place as the sun rose.

The weather was stormy so even as we gathered together in the parking lot behind a Burger King, it was uncertain as to whether we'd ride. It even rained on us for a bit, but the rain didn't last and there wasn't any lightening, so we rode.

The "course" was a 4.5+ mile loop, and our goal was to do 14 miles, or 3 loops, but we were not to be on our bikes longer than an hour, so really it was however many loops we could do in that time. I managed only 2, but I felt good for accomplishing even that much.

I haven't ridden my bike (a mountain bike) in about 2 years, not since I trained for Nike in '08. And the street bike is very different from a mountain bike. Every little movement or twitch I made caused the bike to react, resulting in an embarrassing amount of wobbling. I also found that I was placing far too much weight on my hands, but couldn't seem to stop doing it. I need to build up my core strength and then it'll be easier to keep the weight off my hands.

On today's ride I learned how to shift gears on my new bike, and found that my foot only hurt when walking, but felt fine while riding. I need to work on my breathing, as I was breathing much too fast (thank you asthma), and on stopping. After falling off my bike Friday, I found I was scared to stop, especially since stopping meant putting my right foot down, resulting in a lot of hurt (as that's the foot I injured when I fell).

But - all in all, it was great! I rode uphill into the wind, literally, and sped downhill at 20 mph. It was fun, though hard, and I finished the whole hour, which was my goal. I didn't do 14 miles but I'm ok with that.

I had a bagel with cream cheese and tomatoes afterwards, then came home and slept on the couch with my sweet Sophie for a few hours. I should be getting my training schedule soon so that I know what to do during the week this week, and I think Yoga should be on the list because I definitely need to work on my core.

So that's my story! If you'd like to support me please make a donation. Every dollar counts and will help us reach our big goal of one day finding a cure.

Thanks!

My first practice is tomorrow, and today I fell off my bike. So I'm ahead of the others already!

My friend says there are only two kinds of cyclists; Ones who have fallen, and ones who have not - Yet. Everyone falls eventually, more or less, and I am not supposed to feel bad about it. Except does everyone fall by running slowly into a bush? Because that's what I did.

I wanted to try out the new bike (new to me, it's a loaner) and I had to walk Sophie, and for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to do both at the same time. Let me just say I wish I would have rethought that before giving it a go. Perhaps I would have realized it was a terribly dumb idea.

I only got down the 1st sidewalk when I came to a sharp perpendicular turn and suddenly - didn't know where my brakes were, couldn't seem to turn the bike (becuase the leash was in my way I think) and saw I was going to run into a bush and just sort of said to myself, "Oh well." then I smacked into the bush and fell down.

I didn't think it was too bad. I got up, pushed the bike off me, I felt ok. Then I stood up. I apparently hurt my foot. :(

I put the bike in the house and resumed my walk with Sophie. (This is her, isn't she sweet?)

My foot hurt so I cut it a little short and came home to put some ice on it. It feels ok now but it still hurts to walk on it. I'll likely be icing it all night. It doesn't really even look hurt though, I don't see any brusing or anything yet, so I think it'll be fine for my 14 mile ride tomorrow morning.

Did I mention I have to be there at like 6:00 or something? In the morning? Yeah.

So that's my story.

This is the story of my friend Jo Anna and I.

We've been friends since High School, when we met our first day of Freshman year. We had theater class together and Spanish class, and Geometry too I think. We were in the unrecognized play "The Butler Did It", which was left out of the school yearbook that year (Boo!) and we both worked for years at the Bristol Rennaissance Faire in Wisconsin. One year we even portrayed sisters - Felicia and Utopia Macabre; Worst poets ever and dang proud of it!

(This is us in High School)

All this sharing prepared us for sharing something that was a bit macabre for real - Cancer. Both of us are blood cancer survivors. Jo Anna was diagnosed in 2001 with AML, a type of Leukemia. She spent weeks in the hospital and had to endure chemotherapy, radiation, and then a stem cell transplant, which ultimately saved her life. We celebrate the day of her transplant, January 8th, as her re-Birthday.

Watching Jo Anna go through cancer was extremely difficult and I could hardly imagine what it must have been like for her. And then I didn't have to, because in 2004 I was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma, a different type of blood cancer. We used to joke that I was jealous of all the attention she got when she was sick so I just had to go out and get my own cancer. Joking was our way of coping.

Jo Anna was my rock. She was my cheerleader. She was my confidante and booster club. She was all these things.

And still today she is my dear, dear friend. And I hope we can one day sit by the pool when we're 80+ and talk about that time we kicked cancer's @ss.

Amy & Jo Anna - 2010

Jo Anna is part of the reason I fight. If you'd like to join me, please make a donation.

This Saturday is my FIRST TEAM RIDE!!!

I'm both excited and scared, we're supposed to ride 14 miles. That kind of scares me. But I talked to my Mentor today and she assured me it'll all be fine. She makes me laugh and keeps me motivated - and I haven't even started yet.

I got fitted for my bike this past Sunday and it was so cool. I had to get new, special shoes - cycling shoes - because cleats go on them so I can "clip in" to my pedals. Which are attached to my crank shafts. Did you know that's what they're called? I didn't, not until Sunday. And I had to get special biking shorts, they have padding in the seat area to keep the rider comfortable for long stretches of time. And that padding is called a chamois (shammy) and they sell chamois butter, to put on the chamois, to protect your skin from chafing.

All the fun things I never knew about cycling!

More to come after the ride.

Amy