Racing to Save Lives

Welcome to my Team In Training home page!

I'm training to participate in Westchester Triathlon as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) 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 Drew Olanoff who is battling Hodgkins Lymphoma. He is my hero and my inspiration, but I also need your help so that one day we don't have to blink an eye at a cancer diagnosis, or even have to have one.

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

I hope you will visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Or check into my blog to catch the play by play of training. I'll post some of those entries here too.

Thanks for your support!

-Michelle

@mdfsmash

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SOLD OUT!!

These miles were purchased for $20 each, bringing me super close to my fundrainsing goal!! Thank you all!!

SWIM

1. Rachel Sklar @rachelsklar

BIKE

1. Charles Schneider

2. Michael Gruen @gruen

3. Michael Gruen @gruen

4. Matthew Knell & SM4SG @mknell

5. Michael Gruen @gruen

6. Liane Mullin

7. Marvin Tabangay @sketch678

8. Rachel Sklar @rachelsklar

9. Drew Olanoff @drew

10. Cailtlin Shey @analogC

11. Kieran Hawe (In honor of his dad, Giants QB, Phil Sims) @khawe

12. Barrett Garese @spytap

13. Matt Zarzecki @zarzecks

14. Katie Welch

15. Jen Sadler @JJJENNNNN

16. Sharon Feder @mysocialdog

17. Kelly Reeves @kellyreeves

18. Alice Hunt @betty477

19. Caroline McCarthy @caro

20. Charles Schneider

21. Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

22. Miko Mercer @mikomercer

23. Pete Cashmore @mashable

24. Rachel Sklar @rachelsklar

25. Maura McGovern @mmcgovern

RUN

1. Scott Iwatta @scotttiwatta

2. Domenick Cilea @dcilea

3. Domenick Cilea @dcilea

4. Brett Petersel @brett

5. Randi Zuckerberg @randizuckerberg

6. Randi Zuckerberg @randizuckerberg

WARM UP SWIM/RUN

1. Andy Riesmeyer @andyriesmeyer

2. Eric Tetuan @erictetuan

Thank you all for your generosity and support. I’m soooooooo close to my goal, and feeling pumped with all of you (virtually) cheering me on.

If you missed buying a mile, I’m still $250 away from my goal of $3000 and would greatly appreciate your contribution.

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My first open water triathlon swim practice...

Went something like this:

I got up at 5am to get to Coney Island for 7:30. Ate at 5, showered, took stomach medicine (in the wrong order, but getting brekkie in 2.5 hrs before the event is more important), and packed my huge backpaking backpack with more stuff than I needed.

I ran into two teammates at Time Square, and hopped on the N with them. I was feeling tired, like I should have had one more hour of sleep, but falling asleep naturally at 9pm just didn't happen. While on the train we couldn't help but gawk in disbelief at the people who were just ending their night at 6:30am.

I slipped deep into thought about how different my life had become because of a commitment I made to myself and God one day while laying out in Central Park last April terribly hungover and longing for my life back in L.A.

We arrive 10 minutes late.

We make our way to the boardwalk where our coaches are explaining what's going to go down. We've already missed 10 minutes, but they like to talk a lot and repeat themselves so we were good. I stand there taking it all in: Coney Island, the water, the TEAM. And then I start praying. Not so much for safety, but for peace. For relaxation. It will be the key.

Then we make our way over to the water and start setting up. It's important during training to practice the transition because the 1-3 minutes saved by efficiency could make all the difference in the world on race day. So, to set up, you lay everything out on a towel. In order. Those of you who have done an endurance event before can testify how absolutely DUMB you become after running or swimming or the like for an extended period of time. After I finished my marathon last year I couldn't form sentences for a solid hour. You lose the ability to add, speak, reason, etc. So the transition area prep is not to be taken lightly.

Then time for Body Glide. This stuff is magic. First and foremost it prevents chaffing. But it also becomes lube for wetsuit application. It goes everywhere. Everywhere and anywhere. Under your clothes, on your bare arms and legs, and most importantly, all over your neck and thighs.

The wet suit slides on better than the last time I tried (I love you Body Glide), and I snap on my swim cap and goggles.

*Cue freakout*

We're split into 3 groups. I choose the "I'm not comfortable in open water" beginner group. We start walking towards the water, and I'm talking to myself, "I'm not ready for this. I'm not ready for this."

I keep walking into the water. I don't feel the cold through the wet suit. That's a little comforting.

Then up to my waist, I dunk my head under. I scoop water into my wetsuit through the neck opening, and in what I can only describe as the most unsettling feeling in the world, it travels down each arm and leg, cold, and snake-like.

We walk out further. Our coach stops us and tells us to float on our backs with our toes popping out of the water and focus on how noticeably more buoyant we are. That was a little more comforting. I make a mental note to myself - floating on my back is my safety. It's my reset.

Jay, our coach, walks us through the smallest of baby steps. We pick one thing to focus on during each lap in between the jetties. I try and keep myself calm. I focus on the breathing. Four strokes and breathe. Four strokes and breathe.

After each back and forth we stop and collect while treading water, and talk about how it went, what we noticed, and ask questions about the totally alien experience we're all having. I float on my back. I'm still getting dizzy after swimming with the wetsuit on, but it seems better and more manageable than the first time.

We tried out a number of things - a lot of them being race simulations. Grouping together and swimming - hello foot to the face. Drafting - following the bubbles. Sighting. And then my favorite part, entering and exiting the water.

In what I can only describe as a "doing my best Baywatch," exiting the water puts the biggest grin on my face ever. We swim until our hands touch the sand, pop up, start running, picking up our knees to get out of the water faster. Then begin to strip.

I ripped the velcro open to get to the zipper, grabbed the cord, pulled down, and then pupped my arms out of the wetsuit, all while running across the sand. I get to the towel, slide the wetsuit the rest of the way off, put my running top on, rinse my feet with a water bottle, and put my socks and shoes on.

Then it's off for a 45 minute run on the boardwalk.

The experience gave me a much needed boost of confidence. It wasn't a walk in the park, but simply feeling confident about my stroke, and not letting the water own me is a huge step in the right direction. One and half months to go before the big day. I'll be ready.

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Adding a little challenge to my triathlon training...

As if it isn't challenging enough, I need a nice short(er) term goal within my 4.5 month triathlon training. Since my biggest weakness is my upper body strength, I'm going to tackle it head on. Tomorrow I'm going to start the Hundred Pushups in Six Weeks challenge. As it is right now, I'm working out 7 days a week (or supposed be), and three of those include strength training. How convenient. This cute little plan is for three days a week, and takes about 10 minutes each time.

Check out the plan here, and get the iPhone app here.

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Looking for a Corporate Sponsor - Click for Details

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6.08.09 - A Change of Plans - Training for Drew

When I signed up a month ago for my first triathlon, it was a no brainer that I would do it with Team In Training. It's an amazing program devoted to raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. But to be honest, my connection to the cause was a kind of a peripheral one. My mother had breast cancer when I was little, and in the back of my mind I was always running for her, but I personally hadn't been close to someone dealing with a blood cancer.

Well, a lot of you know Drew Olanoff. He's one of the warmest, most sincere, and fun people I've ever met. In fact, I'm pretty sure I met him on Tumblr, only later to meet him in person at a Mashable event in SF.

A few weeks ago Drew was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. I found out last week, and was deeply impacted by the news. To find out a friend or family member (or even yourself) has cancer is something you never want to hear, and can be hard to put in perspective. Personally, it makes me feel helpless. I can certainly offer my support, a hand, a shoulder, but I want to DO SOMETHING.

So here's my DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT: I'm training for this triathlon for Drew. It's all for him. Every swim, bike, run, early morning, flat tire, sore muscle, ass-kicking hill - it's all for him. And every time I feel exhausted from a workout, or don't want to get out of bed at 6am, you better believe I'm going to BlameDrewsCancer, because if someone can go through chemo, I can get my ass out of bed for a run.

Drew will be listed as my official honored teammate, so to support my training, and in turn Drew, please consider a donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through this page.

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Separately, I've switched triathlons (due to one of my best friend's wedding), and I'm now going to train for the Westchester Triathlon on September 27th instead of the Nation's Tri earlier in the month.

I hope to raise $5,000, and so far these amazing people have made a contribution to help me get here:

Greg Leuch

Anthony Carboni

Michael Irie

Phoebe Espiritu

Wm. Marc Salsberry

*Since I've switched triathlons, their donations won't show up in the side bar any longer, but let it be known that they rock for being among the first to lend their support, and are helping the LLS to further develop treatments so that one day we won't have to hear the news of a loved one being diagnosed with cancer.

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5/18/09

Week 2 of Training, Fundraising.

Last week was a blast, and I attended my first two Team In Training Group Sessions where we ran 30 minute Out and Backs (OABs). Wedenesday's run was ok - The IT band was a little tight, but I pushed myself to keep going, loosened up, and felt that I finished strong. Then Saturday's run was GREAT! And by great I mean it was POURING rain, and it felt incredible to be running with the group again. I have so many great memories from last summer/fall, and they all seem to come flooding back whenever I'm in the park with the team.

As for swimming, I continued with two swims, one on my own, and one with a private instructor. While the first few solo swim sessions were more about technique, now I'm learning how to SLOW DOWN. It was key in endurance running, and now I need to wrap my mind around relaxing, and slowing down my strokes that I can practice the technique I've learned, and not run out of steam.

Finally, I bought a bike on Friday (which arrives on Wedneday), and I'm looking forward to biking outdoors since I'm not really sure how biking indoors measures up. I'm sure it's helping, but I want to get acclimated to riding a bike again (and in NYC!).

This week's training schedule looks fairly similar to last week's schedule, except I'll be swimming on Friday, and biking on Thursday (and hopefully using my new bike!!), and I rode for 20 minutes this morning and stretched, and then I'll add some weights in to make up for today's missed strength training. Sometimes you just have to listen to your body :)

5/10/09

Tri Bike #1 - Fundraising Begins

This week marks the first official week of training! Well, technically it starts tomorrow, but still, I�"m eager to jump in and get my body up to speed.

Today�"s workout was easy enough - :40-1:00 on the bike at a �Ssteady state.� I ended up going for :45 and covering 17 miles, and tried to maintain an average RPM above 90. At the end of the workout, the lovely machine told me I had an average of 95, so that was good, and I didn�"t feel too tired. Now, I woulnd�"t say that I could have then run 6 miles, but I think that�"s a solid start.

This week should be intense:

Monday - Stretch and Strength (full body)

Tuesday - Swim 30-40 min (might have to skip this one b/c of healing eye irritation, which in case I�"ll catch a yoga class)

Wednesday - First practice with the team - Running drills, stretch and strenth (arms)

Thursday - Swim 30-40min, stretch and strength (legs)

Friday - Bike 30-40min or Stair climber

Saturday - Practice with the team - Social run, running drills, core strength, and a clinic for run gear.

I�"m really glad I took the last two weeks to ramp up to working out almost every day of the week, beacuse as you can see, I am REALLY going to need it.

AND, NOW FOR THE IMPORTANT PART!

I�"m training and completing this triathlon to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I�"ve been fortunate enough to never have known someone close to me that had a blood cancer, but my mother is a survivor of breast cancer, and for that reason alone, I�"m pouring all the energy I have into training and raising money so that cancer doesn�"t have to exist. Yes, NO MORE PLZ.

I�"m going to ask for donations every time I post about a workout, and suggest an amount. If you happen to read this, and get all the way down here to the bottom, please consider CLICKING HERE, and donating $5.00 dollars.

I�"ll vary the amounts that I ask for, and eventually get into other means of fundraining (happy hours and such), but since it�"s my first week, let�"s go with $5. :)