STILL VERY THANKFUL!

Welcome to my Team In Training home page. Thank you to all the donors who contributed to my fundraising event for Nike last fall. Last year you helped me fundraise over $4,300. I have decided to take on a new endeavor and start training for The Nation's Triathlon to benefit The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in Washington D.C. in September. I loved my experience with Team in Training and would love to do it again. So I have decided that swimming .93 miles (in the Potomac River), biking 25 miles, and running 6.2 miles sounds like an awesome challenge. I have also decided to mentor the Indianapolis South Run team for Team in Training too!

All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I am completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

I am still very grateful for the continued remission of Lou's Grandfather-Bill Arbanas, Bob Dills, and Larry Browning. I am also very thankful for Lucy being as healthy as she has been in her 18 months. I would like to do this in thanksgiving for all of the blessings I have in my life.

On September 12, I’ll cover about 32 miles-Swimming .93, biking 25, and running 6.2-in the Nation’s Triathlon. My first mile will be in honor of my friend Katie Lynch (a junior at Roncalli High School and currently battling Leukemia). My last mile is for all my friends and family continued good health. But those remaining 30 miles are up for grabs. Please share your stories with me and I’ll do a mile in honor or memory of your loved ones affected by cancer.

Our TEAM Honored Hero

Luke loves Spider-Man, playing school and doctor , eating Jimmy Johns and Spicy Chips (a.k.a. Salt and Vinegar potato chips) and coloring pictures. He is the second youngest of five kids and says his big brother, Jack, is his hero. Luke's parents Vicky and Todd have both participated in several TNT events as well as other LLS campaigns. They are planning to do events again this year and want to help put a face to blood cancers. They are thrilled to have Luke be a Hero again this year, the year he'll complete his treatment!

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission.

I really do hope to keep up a blog of my experience because it has already been an amazing beginning.

I hope you will visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thanks for your support!

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June 5, 2010

Started training with Team In Training- Ran in first group training session! It is always great to meet and run with new people. I got to run today with Katie. She is training for the Nike race that I ran last year. I just light up every time I talk about Nike. It was such an amazing experience and I'm sort of sad I'm not going to run it this year. I need a change. After running for a while (and starting to cheat), I need something that is going to push me. I also got to see all of my team that I am mentoring! Way to go guys! You all showed up!

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June 6, 2010

Lucy turned 19 months old today! Hard to believe it! I had my first road experience on my bike. Lou had my friends and family all pitch in to give me a bike for my birthday. It was such a wonderful surprise. I really appreciated it today, especially since I road for an hour. It is amazing how different the road bike is from my old mountain bike (especially when Lucy isn't on it too). Lucy and I have been biking to the library a lot on my old bike and it has been a really nice adventure for us. However, I'm beginning to think I'm going to enjoy riding by myself. I'm curious to see how swimming goes now...

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June 9, 2010

First swim practice tonight! Very interesting. Learned that I should no longer be making a "S" shaped stroke and I should just focus on pushing. Really struggled to do a a couple of the drills correctly but I figure I have some time. It is nice to know that we will be practicing every Monday and Wednesday. I'm going to need it!

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June 10,2010

Had a great fundraiser at The Secret Ingredient tonight! Lots of great people showed up and some I hadn't seen in forever! We were able to raise over $200 which is awesome! Thank you all who came to support me! Thanks Mom for all the great fun!

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June 12, 2010

Not only do I get to be a bridesmaid in one of my best friend's weddings but i also get to do our first Southside run! It was such a rainy mess and of course we got half way out and it started to downpour. It was tons of fun though. I got to talk to some new people again and run with them. Good times!

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June 14, 2010

Hilarious swim tonight! So I'm fine at swimming the distance and not getting tired but my stroke is all off. Coach Sean helped and let me know that my stroke is too short. I'm pretty sure this will really matter when I'm swimming in the open water for the first time. We have a great team and honestly everyone is showing up for all practices which is great! September 12 is going to be here before I know it. Please donate if you haven't. I really would love to get my goal before the middle of July so I can just focus on training!

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June 19,2010

Another great run in the rain!! It actually cleared up just as we were starting and I got to run with Melanie who is amazing! It is always so much fun running with new people. Melanie was Mickey's (my honored hero and daughter to my TNT mentor from last year) First Steps therapist. She is running in honor of Mickey. They have still remained close throughout the years. Good Luck Melanie!

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July 3, 2010

It has been a while since I have posted something here. I've been really busy with fundraising and training. Had and awesome ride today down to Nineveh, IN and managed to bike 21 miles from my house until Lou and Lucy found me. The deal was that I could leave early and bike as far as I could before they would catch up to me. I made it past Franklin and on to Nineveh Rd. just 21 miles from our house. It was amazing! So much fun!

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July 10, 2010

Today we got to do a partial practice tri with the TNT people training for Steelhead (a Half-Ironman). We swam 600 yards in a lake and biked 23.6 miles. It was crazy to swim in water that you could see literally nothing around you. It felt so weird and it was a lot harder than swimming in a pool. Then to bike 23.6 miles felt amazing. I seriously was so thankful that I could do this. I really wouldn't be able to do this without all of your support, especially the support of my husband, daughter, and family. Thank you. This has been an incredible journey that I know is just starting. I still have 2 months of training left. Hard to believe it is 2 months from Monday! Can't wait! Oh yes actually can... I still have a lot of training to do. Can't wait for that! Thank you again!

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August 7, 2010

I realize once again time has gotten away from me! How is it possible that I will be in Washington DC in a few short weeks?! AHHH Crazy! Well I completed my first triathlon today! 800 meter swim, 15 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run! It wasn't the prettiest thing I have ever done, but I did it. I was having some problems with my bike chain and shifting gears on the Pennsylvania hills. I think it was mostly user error though :) So next weekend I'm going to do a hill workout with my teammates to get all those kinks work out. Thank you for all your support!

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August 22,2010

Well I just survived a one mile swim (with some extra because I am horrible at swimming in a straight line), 21 mile bike ride (up too many hills in Geist), and a 6 mile run! I can see the end in sight! I feel so much better about everything and really happy to be at home right this second. Three more weeks!

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September 25, 2010

Sorry it has taken me this long to post this update, but I DID IT! It was a crappy day outside but it was totally worth it! Thank you all again for your support! It meant the world to me!