So my schedule is pretty jam packed. I get up typically at 6am because I either have chiropractor appointment, a nutritionist appointment, a haircut, a car appointment, I try to take my dog to day care sometimes or a swim class. Sometimes I have to go to work early for a shoot.

Yesterday, I slept in (with the intention of going to spin class or a bike ride) to sweet sweet time of 8am...and thought, I'll just do biking after work, the days are lasting longer.

I get out of work and get home around 645pm. Sun is still out. Take out the dogs and then sit on my butt for like 15 minutes to not think about anything for 15 minutes...because I like to do that sometimes. I dressed up in my biking gear and propped my bike on my bike rack. Then I went back home and sat on my butt again thinking about nothing again. Finally, at 730pm, decided to go on my bike ride (I did all those preemptive things so I wouldn't talk myself out of the bike ride).

40 minute bike ride is scheduled. I did a 120 minute bike ride on Saturday and my @ss was still hurting from that ride so I was like 'greeeeeaaat". Do you get a great butt from biking even though you're just sitting the entire time? I hope so. Anyway, it was getting dark and I had taken off the blinking lights off my bike (I had all this commuter stuff on my bike and my training mentor was like "take all that crap off. It's weighing you down") and now I can't see a damn thing. As I was riding (the W&OD trail for peeps who are curious), this deer bounds out! And then 3 more deer bound out. The first thing I thought was LYME DISEASE! AHHH. Then I thought, good thing I didn't die and run them over...am I supposed to speed up or is that just in a car? But as I pass the crossing where the deer where bounding out, there was like 80 of them there! Whaaaat.

I continue riding, getting darker still and it starts to sprinkle. Well, great. Then bugs start hitting my face (turns out, we were in the beginning stages of a thunderstorm) then as I'm starting to gain speed, this RABBIT bounds out last minute. I mean, dude, couldn't you bound out like 5 minutes before? Must you wait for me till I'm about 2 seconds from hitting you? I turn around (as I hit my 20 minute mark) and the same damn bunny bounds out AGAIN and runs back to the side it originated from. Dude.

I finish my bike ride without and roadkill and without eating a bug. I cross off my workout from my calendar. Success.

Only 5 more weeks to go.

Before I can write about how I got involved with doing the triathalon with Team in Training, I have to mention how I got involved with Team in Training in the first place. I joined my very first event with TNT in 2010. Jen, my childhood girlfriend (since the 5th grade) had never been to DC and we were planning a roadtrip in mid-April 2010. In late March, I got a mysterious message from her that she couldn't make it because she was "sick". I thought that was unusual to back out because of illness; I mean would you let a cold lead you to cancel your flight? Two days later, she wrote to me (she was too scared to call me because she said she would burst into tears) and said that she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. She was somewhat positive because there was a 95% chance of survival. I, of course, freaked out and said "What about the other 5%?!?!"

Feeling helpless, I checked the mail and received a flyer to join a team for the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society. I hemmed and hawed at it until I had dinner the next night. I met with friends for dinner and one of them, Julie, and I, got along extremely well. She ended up driving me home that night and she started talking to me about her daughter, Ryan Marie. Ryan Marie had passed away from Leukemia when she was 3 years old. This year, she would've been 8 years old.

So I went to the info session, had my fears qualmed by a woman named Dania, and thought it was extremely coincidental that I would know one person who was diagnosed with Lymphoma and another who passed away from Leukemia. So I signed up.

Subsequently, I did two more events with the marathon team and would always look at the triathalon team and think, "there is NO way I'm doing a triathalon"...until last year.

My cousin sends me a message last April, telling me that she had just been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. What are the chances that I would know 3 people with a blood cancer? Anyway, she was terrified of going to chemo and I don't know what happened, but I started saying that I would do something, in honor of her, that terrified me. So of course, silly me, I said I would do a triathalon. I would do an event for each of my honored teammates and indirectly go through a scary journey (not comparable to cancer but its something, right?) "with them".

Let me tell you, I wanted to give up the first week we started. The first time I swam at the rec center, I couldn't make it to the other end of the pool. (Apparently, dog paddling doesn't count). My first bike ride, I was out of breath after 15 minutes. I have the sad commuter bike that I bike with my running shoes...I'm too intimidated to get those crazy clip in shoes. It took me 45 minutes to figure out how to use my bike rack. I have a sensitivity to chlorine. I was tired all time and regretting not having a social life anymore.

But the reason I didn't give up was always different. One week, when I'm feeling down, Julie would facebook me. Another week, Jender (5th grade friend) would call me to visit. My cousin's sister (also my cousin) would send me a donation. I would swim 500 meters. I would do my first brick. My mentor Ali would talk me out of it. I would read a touching story from our Mission Mentor (those emails really work for somebody like me, who always wants to give up) and each thing would come at a time where I was ready to send TNT an email that I wanted to quit. I mean, isn't raising money enough?

Well, now its too late. I gave up Diet Coke. I gave up alcohol. I gave up fried food. (until the triathalon anyway). I've lost almost 30 pounds since January, I can bike 100 minutes and then run for 20 minutes afterward. I swam a mile for the first time ever today. I ran a half marathon 2 weeks ago and improved my time by 15 minutes. I can kick my boyfriend's ass on the bike and on a run, even though his legs are twice as long as mine. (He can't even keep up anymore!)

So anyway, I am hardly an athlete and I'm still overweight but I feel if I could finish this damned race, I can do almost anything.

I feel I should write a better ending to this post, but I can't think of anything cool. Blargh.

How about: well, if you want to support me, please donate to my cause. I am almost 80% there!

One of my goals for January was to able to finish a length of a pool without stopping or going to my "safety stroke" (the backstroke). For our warmup last Tuesday, I did exactly that! In fact, I was about to do 150 meters without stopping. I was amazed.

I was amazed because my first day of swim practice, I could barely make the length of the pool---or even half way through the pool (its 50 meters each side)....and I started thinking, can I even do this?

So its a measley 150 meters, I don't care! That is crazy improvement! Swimming is actually starting to be somewhat fun. Somewhat.

I've started doing my Thursday swims with a colleague of mine who is a bad-ass swimmer. Like, she does swim meets and races. I was a little nervous that she would think that I was majorly sucky but she was impressed with how closely I took her advice and tried to heed her drills/exercises.

Now biking. Yikes! That's harder than I thought...but that I will be on my next post.

Thanks Coach Michelle!! (and the TNT Tuesday morning coaches Megan and Caroline)

So I began my first true week of training. Last week was technically my first week of training but I had been working long days and find myself too tired to workout after work--so this week, I made an adjustment and am now working out at the break of dawn to get the workout out of the way and its working but man, I am exhausted with my day by 9pm. The only reason I'm awake now is because I took a nap from 6pm until 830pm---and I only woke up because I hadn't eaten since noon or so.

Anyway, Monday was my first spin class at 545am. I woke up at 5am (1st win), I made it to class on time (2nd win), I forgot my towel (1st loss) but I finished the class (3rd win). I am extremely proud that I didn't want to die and also, that it was nice that all I did was focus on me and finishing the damn workout rather than think about the errands I have to do, the projects at work or how much weight I have to lose (answer: a lot). It was not nice that my legs were mad at me for making them work so much. You'll thank me later legs, you'll thank me later.

Today, Tuesday, was my 2nd swim class--woke up at 4am to get to TNT practice by 515am. I updated my Facebook status to say I swam 1000 meters. I think my friends think I swam it all at once but oh no--I still have to stop at the 25m or 35m or 40m mark because I still have an issue with form and/or panicking. As soon as water goes up my nose or in my mouth (and I miss a breath), I lose focus and either stop or hug a wall. I'm just amazed I was able to do so many laps that equaled up to 1000 meters in a meet. My coaches (especially Coach Caroline) indicate that we have a long season (4 months does NOT seem long) and that it will somehow come naturally. I hope so, I hope so.

So goal for the month: be able to swim 100 meters straight without panicking. And to do 3 spin classes.

I'm doing my run tomorrow and I can't believe I'm going to say this but I'm looking forward to the run, its the only thing that doesn't scare me to death at this point.

Hey everyone!

I'm doing an online garage sale! Majority of the items will go 100% towards LLS. Some of the more expensive items will be 75% (25% going to shipping and some money back for cost).

This is just the starting catalog. I have to go through all of my stuff (mostly dvds) and will have more available this weekend!

Online Garage Sale! Click here!