My Fundraising Page

Racing to Save Lives

Hello Friends and Family!! Welcome to my Team In Training home page!

Believe it or NOT. .....I'm training to participate in my first EVER triathlon as a member of Team In Training. 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.

I would love for you to help me in raising money for this great cause. Not only will your donations go towards the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), but it will also help support my fitness training, and other competition fees. All donations are 100% tax deductible and our tax ID is 13-5644916. Every dollar helps, no matter how small.

Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Please pass my home page link along to anyone who may be interested in helping. Then be sure to say a prayer for me on November 8th as I take on the San Francisco Triathlon at Treasure Island!

Thanks for your support and God Bless!!

**PROGRESS UPDATE: 11/24/08**

I DID IT!!

First and foremost – the part about YOU. Thanks to you, I was the Top Fundraiser for my event! I raised an amazing to-date-total of $4325.00. THANK YOU!!! Without your generosity and open hearts, I would not have even come close to that number. What an honor it was to know that I was giving all of that money to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It is Team in Training tradition that whenever you see someone with TNT gear on (usually purple), you are to yell "Go Team!” It is a way of saying "I know what you're training for and I support you." You are now a part of that team, so yell away!!

On to RACE DAY!! I arrived in San Francisco on Friday, and my team met on Treasure Island to bike the course once and get a lay of the land. At this point, my nerves were so bad that I felt like I was going to vomit butterflies at any moment. Driving onto the island, we came down this HUGE hill that had cones on either side of the rode. I immediately wet myself thinking that was the hill for the course. Mind you, we had to make the bike loop 6 times. That meant climbing that freakin' hill 6 times. But as my coach led us up the hill, something magical happened. About a quarter of the way up that monstrosity, he turned around and started heading back down. That was it! We only had to bike up a little tiny bit! Hurray!!

After the bike, we headed over to take a peek at the swim course. Now as most of you know, this has been a sore spot all season. Me, the ocean, and sharks just don't get along. But when I saw this course, I put down the paper bag I had been breathing into. The water was as flat as a female gymnast’s chest. There were boats docked all around the triangular course. It looked more like my parents lake than the mighty ocean. I was feeling good.

Now it is 4am on Race Day, I am geared up and ready to go. In the quiet of the morning, I knelt down next to my bed and prayed for the day. I prayed for the safety of my teammates, for my nerves, for everyone who supported me, coached me, prayed for me. And then I prayed for Evan Hutchinson, Baby Gregory and Christine Zawodzinski - the reasons I was racing. When I arrived at Treasure Island that morning, I knew God was with me. I was not nervous in the least. I could not wait to get in that water and swim .98 miles, bike 24.8 miles and run 6.1 miles. That gun could not have gone off sooner!

So at 8:30 am, on November 8, 2008, I swam. I swam faster and stronger than I ever have before. I set a goal for myself of 45 minutes. I was done in 38. I finished the 6 bike laps complete with 108 90-degree turns. Let me tell you, that “tiny hill” didn’t feel so tiny anymore! I slammed some Goo and transitioned into my run feeling tired, but strong. At about 4 miles in, the fatigue set in. But I had my sister, Amanda, and my dad on the side lines cheering me on. Every time I wanted to quit, there they were yelling my name. Or I would pass someone who would yell "Go Team!" and think "Are they a survivor?" and I would pick up the pace.

I don't get too emotional very often; I am pretty good at acting tough. But when I was rounding my last corner and could hear the crowd at the finish line, a voice in my head said "Megan, you did it. Now you can do ANYTHING." And I started to get that throat lump. I was a part of something really special - not just TNT or LLS, but I was a triathlete. A real triathlete. I had proved myself wrong; I had achieved a personal goal that I thought was unattainable. I was riding that runner's high I had always heard about. …Then I stepped on a packet of Goo and almost tripped, so I thought I better pay attention.

My goal was to finish with a time between 3:30-4:00 hours. That is a pretty realistic time for your first race. I finished in 3:26 with my dad and sister waiting there for me. It feels pretty damn good to have a hug from someone you love at the finish. I guess I could have hugged the dude that took the timing chip off of my ankle, but that would have been awkward for both of us. No…family is much better!

If I could sum up this experience, I would say that God Showed Up. I don’t know what your beliefs are, and it doesn’t matter. But for me throughout this entire experience, God Showed Up. He protected me from injury, and pushed me when I said I couldn't’t. God introduced me to new friends, some of whom I know will be around for a while. He got me out of bed on the mornings I didn’t want to train, and he blessed me with the most supportive family, friends, neighbors and strangers a person could ask for.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you. All that is left to say is, “Go Team!”

**PROGRESS UPDATE: 11/3/08

I am less than a week away from my race, and I feel like I am 5 years old again and my mom and I decided it was time to give up yellow blankey. I feel scared, excited, nervous, proud, and totally stupid that I VOLUNTEERED myself for this experience, knowing it could all go terribly wrong at any moment. Now when I was 5, I woke up that night in a panic, and ran to my mom in tears. I was sure Blankey was already gone forever....I wasn't ready. I wasn't prepared. I wanted so badly to be, but I just wasn't. My mom was patient, and she went and got Blankey from the garage, and I went back to sleep.

This time around, there is no going back. Once that gun goes off and I start swimming, I am either ready, or I am not. There is no do-over, no time-out, and I can't have a ghost runner. The only thing that stands between me and the finish line is that pesky little voice inside my head, who oddly enough sounds like a bratty girl named Melissa that I went to Junior High with. "You are tired, just give up." "Who are you kidding, this is too hard." "Was that a shark? Oh girrrrrl, get out of that water NOW."

Most of my life, I have been able to do things about half way and get away with it. I have cut corners, compromised, and even batted an eye or two to get what I want (Oh, shut it. Like YOU haven't done the same). But when it comes to this race on the 8th, there is no room for craftiness. It is me and the water, the bike and the road.

So I am nervous, I am excited, scared out of my mind, and proud. Proud that I have conquered my fear of the ocean, proud that I learned how to ride a bike with clip-ins, proud that I can run 6 miles and keep going. I am proud that I made a difference in Evan Hutchison's life, and proud that I made some great new friends.

I eventually gave up the yellow blankey. I think it was only a few days later that I gave it up for good, but a few days made a world of difference. I had to do it on my time, in my own way. And that is how I am going to compete on Saturday. In my own time, in my own way. And I am so happy to say that my sister and dad will be at the finish line to congratulate me.

**PROGESS UPDATE: 10/16/08

Half of my team is training for the Hermosa Beach Sprint Triathlon and the other half is training for the SF Olympic Triathlon, which is my race. The Hermosa race was last weekend, and all of my teammates did AMAZING. I came out to cheer them on, and to get a feel for what race day is really like. It is intense and so much fun! I will say the man puking as he came out of the ocean was not what I would call inspiring, but he was like 100 years old and looked like he might die at any moment. Overall, it was a great morning and I am so proud of my TNT pals!

Since there was a race last weekend, we did not have a team training session. So my roommate Julie, her friend Julia and I thought it would be a great idea to ride along the San Gabriel River to Seal Beach. There are only a couple of places you can park and get on the trail, one spot either making the ride 5 miles each way, and the other 20 miles each way. We opted for the 20-miler, thinking we can turn around at any point. Let me just tell you that though this ride was a blast, I did learn a few important lessons along the way.

Lesson #1. Do not ride 30 miles without padded shorts to go get your haircut in Burbank the day before you ride 50 miles. Ever since I bought Scott (my bike) and started riding, I have been thinking that I can bike to places around town and join the fight against pollution. So I threw on some random workout gear and headed to Frenchy’s in Burbank to get my “just stepped out of a salon, but have bike helmet hair” look. Little did I know I would take a wrong turn, get lost and end up biking 28.8 miles instead of the estimated 20. I felt great when I got home though, and thought the ride the next day to Seal Beach would be a breeze. Ha ha, I am so nieve.

Lesson #2. Wind is not my friend. On the map, from our car to Seal Beach read 20 miles. 23 miles into our ride, we had not hit sand, but we DID hit a wall of wind. We could have turned around at any point, but we were like little kids at the pool. Remember how your mom would say “Swim to me” and she would slowly back up and back up so you would swim further each time? And when you finally caught on, you were SO pissed???? Yeah, Seal Beach was our mom. Now all along I have loved Mr. Wind. He flows through my hair to give me that supermodel look, he cools me down on a warm day while I am frolicking in the grass, and he makes my windchimes sing. But this day, Mr. Wind was being a little bitch. I don’t know if he just found out that Mother Nature has been cheating on him with his best friend Mr. Cloud or if he just lost a ton this week in the Stock Market or what…..but Mr. Wind kicked my butt for the last 2 miles. I felt like Astro from the Jetsons and that stupid treadmill they made him run on. A dog needs to be free, George!! We finally made it, grabbed lunch and headed back out thinking “Well at least we will have a tailwind on the way back”. Oooooohhh no. Mr. Wind decided that HE needed to make a point. Then the crotch soreness set it. Seriously, I could not sit on my bike seat without feeling like I was going to pass out. And I still had 10 miles to go.

Lesson #3. Lance Armstrong is a badass. I will admit, I have kind of always thought that Lance was a bit of a wuss. I mean, how hard it is to sit down on something with wheels wearing some ridiulously bright and tight outfit and ride aroun a bit? Okay, at about mile 42 my hip felt like it was out of the socket, I was convinced I needed replacement surgery on my right knee and my neck was so sore that I felt like I would never be able to headbang while playing Guitar Hero again. I was out of water, out of my gels and my butt felt like I had just ridden a horse bareback for 4 days. When I saw the parking lot and Julie’s car, I cried a little. Okay, I fell off my bike and wept harder than Paris Hillton’s “cellmate” when she left jail. And that was only 50 miles. Lance rides like hundreds…..again, badass.

But you know what? I did it, and my race is half of the distance. So I know that the bike is something I do not need to worry about……on to dodgin’ sharks.

**PROGRESS UPDATE: 10/07/08

As Michael Corleone said, "Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in." That is how I felt this past weekend while trying to defeat the ocean at the Zuma Beach Mock-Tri. I swear these waves were like 10 feet high and no matter how deep I dove, I hit a wall of water and got tossed back to shore like a ragdoll. I was so frustrated that I turned around and walked back to the beach. That was the first time I didn't complete part of my training, and it was a horrible feeling. But so is dying from what I hear, so you have to pick your battles.

So I stripped off my wetsuit, threw on my helmet and jumped on my bike. I had 17 miles ahead of me, so I sucked down some "goo" which is cyclist slang for "orange-flavored cocaine" and hit the open road. There was a turn-around point halfway into the course. As I approached the busy intersection, a TNT rep was there barking directions to me that were longer than OJ's latest defense, so NATURALLY I got lost. I took a wrong turn and found myself on a gravel hill. My tires started spinning, my bike started tipping, and since I am clipped into my pedals, I went down faster than a shot of Cuervo Gold (oh, tequila, why are you soooo good?) Luckily no one was around, so it wasn't nearly as embarrasing as it could be. Seriously, there is NO sexy way to detangle yourself from underneath a bike.

I made it back to the transition station, bloody arm and all. I had a run left, and completed that section injury and death-trap free. I returned home with a "Mock-Triathlete" certificate of completion and the confidence that at least the RUN went well. That is until I took my running shoes out of my bag. What was that SMELL? Are you KIDDING me....I stepped in dog poop. What a metaphor for the morning.

But you know what? Not every workout is going to be great, and I am not always going to feel 100%. I am sure that Michael Phelps has his bad days too. Or remember Nancy Karrigan...man, did she have a bad day once. The important thing is that I am out there, pushing myself and raising money for a great cause. Maybe it wasn't such a bad morning after all.

PS - Does a Mock-Trithlete Certificate mean I am a FAKE triathlete? How mean.

**PROGRESS UPDATE: 10/01/08

Okay, so I have been having some major breakthroughs this week. Let's start with Saturday morning. I woke up that morning with more anxiety than I have had in a long time. Why? you ask. Because Saturday morning was going to be my first ocean swim. Now I know on the exterior I act tougher than the skin of an Orange County wife, but I am SERIOUSLY intimidated by the ocean. I think it has something to do with the fact that when I was about 8, I was lounging in my grandparents lake house on a rainy day and picked up a copy of the book JAWS. Have you SEEN the cover? There is some naked chick swimming along, minding her own business, oblivious to the fact that there is a HUGE shark about to eat her quicker than Takeru Kobayashi eats hotdogs. That was it - I was convinced the ocean would be the death of me.

So there I was standing on the sand at Hermosa Beach in my wetsuit (which is SO hard to put on BTW, I had to watch a YouTube video for instructions), staring at the surf, about ready to wet my pants when my coach said "Go!" and like the stubborn Irish girl I am, I trotted into the water like I do this every weekend. And something magical happened. I was so worried about not DROWNING, that I completely forgot about the mechanical shark that was looking for its breakfast. I focused on my breathing, my stroke, trying to figure out what in the heck direction I was going, and if I was about to swim into someone, and before I knew it - it was over! I had swam a half of a mile, which is half of what I have to swim on race day. This was my "Proud Momma Moment #1". Except that I am not a mom, and the kid in reference is myself, but you get the idea.

Monday I went for a bike ride, and remember a few posts back when I told you about the hill in Griffith Park that made me come out of my saddle. Yeahhhh, my bootie stayed down the whole time. Who's cool? But I will say this - as I am about 5 painful feet away from the top, my face as red as the bag of Doritos I am visualizing is waiting for me at the top of the hill, this.... WOMAN... in her BMW SUV pulls over, rolls down her window and casually goes, "I am sooooo sorry....but can you, like, tell me where the zoo is?" Lady - do I look like I even know my own NAME right now? I just biked up a freakin' mountain, and you want to know where the zoo is? Why don't you ask your trusty GPS Chick that costs more a month than my rent! Needless to say, I gave her the look that said all my thoughts, and kept on truckin'! I then rode another 18 miles, and conquered yet another huge hill by my house, one that I thought I would never be able to make up. Proud Momma Moment #2.

Proud Momma Moment #3 came at about 8:30am today. My alarm went off at the INSANE hour of 6:45am, and I argued with myself for about 15 minutes before I headed to the Rose Bowl for my 6 mile run. Much to my surprise, the freeways were already packed....as I picked sleepies out of my eyes, I realized "People actually go to WORK at this hour." I should have run 6 miles about 2 weeks ago, and just haven't been able to. Either I have tried the run when it was too hot and burned out early, or I didn't have time to complete the whole thing. Or maybe it is the fact that I DESPISE running, and have been making up excuses. In any event, today was the day. So I headed out at a good, steady pace and completed the 6 miles which is twice around the Rose Bowl. What kept me going? Two things: 1.) My AWESOME ipod playlist with artists such as Paulo Nutini, Pink and Rage Against the Machine 2.) The zero-body fat man that lapped me 5 times while I was running. 5 times!!! Here I am with all of this gear (sunglasses, hat, ipod, heart-rate monitor) and all he had were his shoes, tiny tiny shorts and his 12-pack abs. I kept thinking, if this dude can run around this place 27 times in 18 minutes....I can run around it twice in an hour. And I did. Proud Momma Moment #3.

Last week was my Laughs for LLS fundraiser that my improv group was a part of. I raised over $600!!! Thanks to the Downtown Comedy Club, Garrett Morris, Fishes & Loaves Improv and all who donated for putting me over my fundraising miniumum. I could not have asked for a more selfless group of people to support me. As I stood on stage and closed the show last week, I had my Proud Momma Moment #5 (which chronologically by the calendar was Proud Momma Moment #1, but who is counting??) . What a great week.

**PROGRESS UPDATE: 9/15/08

If you were anything like me, in grade school gym was your favorite subject. Your time to shine, to relax and just do what comes naturally-be athletic. UNLESS of course it was Squaredancing week. You remember......You actually wanted social studies to last forever so you didn't have to go to gym. You felt uncomfortable, awkward and like no matter what you did, you looked like a total TOOL. Welcome to week 7 of triathlon training, my friends.

We are stepping up our workouts and my body is feeling like Tommy Lee did after he got bitch-slapped by Kid Rock. It is funny because I can feel myself getting stronger, and I am finding my grooves, but my muscles no-likey. Saturday I did my first 'brick', which is triathlon jargon for "transition". We rode about 10 miles on the bike, then transitioned and ran for 20 minutes. When I first started jogging, I felt like I was doing the running man (see link for video demonstration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crb5pmEi-nA&feature=related). I am pretty sure I looked as ridiculous as I felt - hey, who is that white girl breaking it down in the middle of Griffith Park?

Sunday I went on my first long bike ride solo. I rode for 15 miles through Elysian Park, Chinatown and along the LA River. I felt pretty good except for one minor detail that I overlooked - I didn't wear padded shorts. I will spare you the graphic details, but I will say this....I now know what Johnny Cash meant by the Burning Ring of Fire. He must have been a biker.

Today I swam the workout my coach gave us - 1700 yards or 68 times back and forth in the pool. 68 times!!! I cannot remember the last time I did anything 68 times in a row. Except maybe in 1996 when I watched Shaq's movie Kaazam 70 times in a row.....gosh that is a great movie.....anyway, I felt great in the pool today. My legs were tired here and there, but I really focused on my form and practiced breathing on my left side which is as awkward for me as it was for my sister the time she told my dad her and her hubby were "trying" to have a baby. We all know what that REALLY means, Amanda. But apparently when you are swimming in the ocean, sometimes waves or people come out of nowhere and throw your stroke off, so you have to be able to adjust and breathe from the other side.

My fundraising is going well. I am about halfway to my goal. I have a big event coming up on the 25th of September, Laughs for LLS. My improv group "Fishes and Loaves" and The Downtown Comedy Club are partnering up to host a benefit show on behalf of LLS which is way cool. Come out and show some love!

**PROGRESS UPDATE: 8/30/08

Today was my first group ride on my new bike, a Scott S60, which I named "Scott". I know, no points for originality there. Ryan Seacrest will be taking your votes for names tomorrow night from 8pm-10pm EST.

I was able to clip in and out of the pedals without falling! That is a personal triumph and something I have been wanting to accomplish for a while now. Well, that and owning more clothes made out of Spandex than Prince. Check!

We rode 13 miles through Griffith Park and along the LA River, with one really tough hill. I had to come out of my saddle the last leg, so my goal for next time will be to make it up the whole hill in the saddle (sitting down). By the way, whoever says the LA river isn't beautiful is crazy. Who doesn't love the smell of dead fish and transients at 8am? Mmmm, makes me feel a-l-i-v-e.

This week's swim was especially tough. I felt like I was swimming uphill in the La Brea Tar Pits with my sister on my back - and my sister is TALL. I really wanted to quit, but I pushed through. I kept thinking that Evan (my honored teammate) does not have a choice when he gets Chemo, he doesn't have a choice when he wants to play outside with his friends and cannot. So I told the little voice in my head that said "Quit, this is too hard" to "SHUT IT!!" and kept on truckin'! After the workout, other members of my team said it has been a hard week for them too, physically. Some said my body is adjusting to the sudden change in workout intensity. Others said the smog is extra heavy this week. I have a hunch it was the ice cream cake, cookies, "Better than Sex Cake" (I didn't name it) and cobbler I had on Sunday. Thaaanks, Roommate Julie for having a birthday party...way to ruin my training.

Thanks to Keri for my adorable new "Splish" suits, swim caps and goggles. I will officially be the only girl in the pool wearing a suit that looks like a Sheriff's uniform. Could that be because I am "unlawfully fast"??

**PROGRESS UPDATE: 8/24/08

Entering Week 4 of training. It has been tough to stick to the 6-days-a-week training schedule, especially since I had to fly home last week for the passing of my grandmother (99 years old - what an AMAZING woman!). But I am doing my best to do "something" every day. My swimming has improved from 24 strokes across the pool to 22 - I'm no Michael Phelps, but it's somethin'!!

I bought a bike this week....it is beautiful! Thank you to Bill at Bicycle Johns - he is my new BFF. Now I just have to learn how to ride the bike with my feet clipped in to the pedals. It is so easy at the gym when the bike is not actually MOVING....I am having flashbacks to 2nd grade when I flipped over my handlebars and ate cement......

More to Come!!!