Saving Lives One Mile at a Time

(Scroll down to the bottom for my updates)

Welcome

to my Team In Training home page.

Call me crazy but I have taken on yet another challenge. I am now training to participate in the Pacific Crest Triathlon as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. Yes I have done triathlons before, but this is my first attempt at an Olympic Distance Triathlon.

In addition to training, there is fundraising to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. As I have watched the devasting impact of Cancer on some of my relatives lives as well as local friends.... it feels like time to do something about it.

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!

Please help me to acomplish my goal of raising $3500.00 . 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. Thanks for your

support!

2/14/10 Update: Well 2 weeks into it and going well. Training consists currently of Swim, Run, Swim, Bike, Swim, Run, Bike by days each week. I know I can swim easily the mile but it is the fear of the very cold lake water that is chilling to think about. The bike should be OK, Given my occassional knee issues, it will be a run / walk combo for the run portion.

What scares me more than the actual training and the event itself, is the fundraising. I am going to need lots of support and try some pretty novel ideas to raise $3500.00. I hope you will help me.

Today I was liberated from the indoor trainer bike for an actual ride outside for an hour. Many signs of spring out there..... daffodils popping up, flowering trees starting to bud, crocuses flowering, etc. I think spring is starting to spring or maybe has sprung! Saving Lives One Mile at a Time! K

2/21/10 Update: Another week of training. Training going well. Knee holding up on the run. Had a great bike ride again outside!!!! Spring has really sprung - lots of crocuses, daffodils and now forcythia out. Pink hue on the plum and cherry trees. The hardest part has been juggling fund rasing with full time job / life. The challenge is out. Raise $300 by the end of next week. Will I make it???? Getting close. Hoping you can help me. Saving lives, one mile at a time! K

2/28/10 Update: Well another week of training has come to an end and I continue to do pretty well. Long run yesterday has left my right hip acting up - but, I have to remember that the team was running on a concrete path yesterday in Eugene. I have to remember also that I am the old one (52) of the bunch and that perhaps I should vear off the concrete path that everyone else is running on and do my own thing at times. Someone suggested yesterday that I try the boardwalk around the Jackson Frazier Wetlands here in Corvallis - very soft on the joints. Think I will go check it out. Started to work on some hills on my bike ride this AM. Some moderate grade but long hills.

Fundraising - Thanks to all who have helped with contributions as I have exceeded the $300 mark goal and am currently well over $800 counting some checks that have just been sent in and not yet accounted for on this website. Last week this was seeming like an impossible task - this week seeming pretty possible. Now I am hoping to reach the 1/2 mark soon with $1700. Hoping you can help me with this goal if you have not had the opportunity to do so yet. Saving Lives, One Mile at a Time. K

3/7/10 Update: So this training certainly has it's ups and downs. I am realizing being the oldest triathlete of the bunch that I need to listen to my body more - which means not driving to Eugene to train with the group evey Sat and sleeping in here in Corvallis for the rest as well as then finding some quiet cushy trail to run on rather than a concrete path that they are training on. Hip is acting up some..... but, I have found the best little trail this week. For those of you famliar with Jackson Frazier Wetlands in Corvallis and the Boardwalk through the wetlands..... It is a great cushy surface for running on and lots of friendly people and dogs. It is even wheelchair accessible or so it seems / another plus.

The runs and bikes are starting to get longer. It is clear I will have to adjust my morning routine accordingly.

Fundraising - Going quite well this week. I am at 30% of my goal. It is my hope to raise another $500 this coming week and get to the half way mark.

My son Rick is flying in from Utah to swim in a meet in Seattle - so next week my update will come from Seattle!!! I plan to take my bke and all my running gear up to Seattle with me. Saving Lives One Mile at a Time! K

3/17/10 Update:

Brief update as I missed last weekend. Training going well in the swim and bike. Stubborn hip / hamstring injury is slowing me down in the run. What is keeping me going.... is the donations coming in and then the comments and words of encouragement along with the funds. Counting checks submitted, but not yet posted here, the actual total is now over $2000. How great is that?

Saving LIves One Mile at a Time!! K

3/28/10 Update:

Recommitment....... I got the paperwork in the mail this weekend. This is when you re-commit to training for and completing the triathlon as well as making a commitment to completing the fundraising for the required $3400.00. Included as well is the triathlon entry form, forms for the equipment needs and forms,forms, forms to be completed. It is suddently all becoming very real and a little scarey. It is a time for reflection and re-evaluation here. Training going relatively well (check) - except for that pesky hip problem which we are working on. Fundraising........ going well. I currently have over 68% showing here (including additional checks sent but not registering yet in this account at $2415.00) leaving me with just a little under $1000.00 left to raise. (Check???) - I guess it is time to recommit then.

I need to say thank you to all those listed to the right of this column who have supported the cause and have assisted me with getting this far. $3400.00 has seemed so daunting at the beginning and now I am about 2/3rds complete. Yeah!

Saving Lives One Mile at a Time! K

4/7/10 Update:

Well some more time for reflection...... Leukemia has claimed 2 more lives recently. One of our Team in Training Honored Team Mates - a 4 year old named Hunter has lost his battle recently as has the young son of one of Team in Training's participants training for the upcoming Eugene Marathon event. This is two in such a short time. This is why we are doing this and raising the funds to conquer this disease. As I raise funds, I am gaining more and more names that various people are requesting I do this event in honor of or in memory of. I am not going to have much room left on my shirt as I carry these names with me during the event.

Rainy weather has been a bummer during this week's training but something to just get used to. I am biking up to 20+ miles at a time now, and then swimming is going well. I am going to swim the Mile at tomorrow's masters swim meet in practice for the triathlon. I am a little discouraged that my hip injury is not healing as fast as I want it with my trainingfor the run portion of the triathlon, but I am working with a wonderful physical therapist and am very hopeful that things will be fine on race day. Got to see a beautiful early morning sunrise this morning as we swam in the outdoor pool at Osborn. What a great sight.

On we go!!!!! Saving Lives One Mile at a Time.

K

4/11/10 Update:

Thought I would update my webpage as a way to keep myself awake. It is only 5:00 PM and I want to go to bed. Whew! What a weekend.... I started Friday morning with a 40 minute jog / walk then Friday evening I competed in the Mile at a local Masters Swim meet. Then Saturday I biked 30 miles and today I was up at 3:45 AM to drive to Portland to do the Race for the Roses (10K). While i did the walk /jog combo while my hip continues to heal, never the less when I look at the total weekend, I have done a broken Olympic Distance Triathlon right there. Now I only have to put all 3 events together in one day and I have it.

Fundraising, Another $316.00 in donations came in this week making my total (including what is sent in but not yet in the account) a grand total of a$2931.00. Wahoo! I am under the $500.00 mark and headed to the goal. Thank you all (to those at the right here) for your faith, your encouragement and your donations in getting this done.

Now, off to dinner and an early bed. Saving Lives One Mile at a Time.

4/18/10 Update:

Participated in the Albany Sprint Triathlon this morning for practice towards the Pacific Crest one in June. This was a "sprint' triathlon with shorter distances than the Olympic I am attempting in June. (750 meters swim, 12 mile bike, and 5K run). Swim and bike went well. Run is coming along as I continue to work with healing my hip injury. I did come to the sad realization that I am not as fast on my bike as I thought I was. I had purchased a computer / odometer for my bike a couple of weeks ago as I had never before known how far I was biking - just how long. So.... much to my surprise I found myself biking along at 20 mph (or so I thought). It seemed a little off but it was not until todays race that when my bike said 12 miles had gone by and we were no where near the finish of the bike course that I realized that my computer was way, way off - Like really it was mearsuring kilometers and NOT miles. Oh boy - so I am slower than I had thought. Too funny.

Another lesson learned during this even. Nifty Tri shirt I had purchased with cool little pockets in it. Not so nifty with each flip turn and push off they filled with water and added big time drag. Oh boy. Another lesson learned. Pockets not necessarily a good thing.

Fundraising: Continued big time Thank yous to all in the right column. According to this, I am at 87% of my goal. There is also close to another $100.00 that has been sent in and not yet in the account bringing my true total to $3057.00 - Wahoo!!! I am over the $3000.00 hump with less than $350.00 left to go. Big Spaghetti Feed planned as a fundraiser at my office this week with coworkers. That should help some as well.

Thanks all. Saving Lives One Mile at a Time..... Until next week.

K

4/25/10 Update:

Whew! What a weekend. Definitely a weekend that I need to go to work to recover from. I met up with my Team in Training Group in Eugene on Saturday to join them for a 25 mile bike ride and then 40 minute run... My goodness, this bike route went up, and up, and up. I did not realize they had mountains in Eugene. I never thought we would get to the top. This was a route to be respected and I am told that the difficulty of this ride was similar as to what to expect at the Pacific Crest Triathlon in Sun River. I was beat! and definitely feeling the difference in kilometers vis miles (see my note from last week). Then this morning I was to do an hr and 40 minutes more on the bike (another 20 miles today). Looking forward to getting in the pool tomorrow for something a little gentler.

Fundraising! I have met and even exceeded my goal. It does not show here yet as it has been sent in but not yet credited to the account. A big thanks to my manager and office crew that suggested and helped me put on a Spaghetti Feed that raised enough to put me over the $3400 mark. Just because I have met the goal, does not mean that the need is any less. The cause is still a great one and any additional funds raised will continue to go towards the cause and will be donated towards team mates that have not yet reached their goal. So, please, please forward this link to anyone you know that may be interested in donating to the cause.

Thank you to all!!!! Saving Lives One Mile at a Time.

K

5/5/10 Update:

Well I was way too tired on Suinday after all my training and then yard work on top of it to write an update. Now it is Wednesday of the next week. A huge Thank you to all on the right side of this page for their generous donations. As you can see, I am now at 106% of my goal. Wahoo!!! Please pass on this link to anyone that may be interested in donating. The cause is big and any additional funds that I raise will be donated to team mates who need some help in meeting their goal.

The training is taking over my days now and I am realizing that I have to figure out a way to get to bed a little earlier for some additional rest time for recovery. My usual 5 to 6 hrs sleep tonight is not cutting it.

Last Saturday, we did a sprint tri of sorts (800 free, 18 mi. bike and 4 mile run) in Eugene with the Tri TEam in Training team and then Sunday I biked another 21 miles on some pretty sttep hills. Arms were DEAD in the water for swimming on MOnday. I also had the wonderful opportunity on Saturday afternoon to man the Leukemia Society Team in Training booth at the expo and packet pick up for the Eugene Marathon this past weekend. What fun it was to meet other Team in Training participants who are runners, cyclists etc...... What a great atmosphere and what a great cause.

This coming weekend will be the calm before the storm as I am committed to a speaking engagement and will have to work my training around that. Then....... the next 3 weekends in a row I have a sprint triathlon entered (Lebanon, Portland Tri Club, and Heart of the Valley right here in Corvallis. Then it is June and oh my gosh...... it is almost time for the real thing - The Pacific Crest Olympic Distance Tri. My longest ever!!!! Getting my Team in Training Wet Suit for the lake swim last week made it ever more real. Oh my gosh. Will I be ready??

Saving Lives One Mile at a Time!

K

5/16/10 Update:

Another milestone. Tried out the new wet suit and swam in Dorena Lake yesterday in preparation for the Pacific Crest Triathlon. It was very cold. Took my breathe away upon entering and the distance that we were swimming to seemed or looked so very far away. It is certainly not like pool swimming where you get that brief little rest with a flip turn at each wall. But.... the wet suit is so buoyant you can literrally stop and float around. Not that I would want to. I wanted to get to the destination and back to get out of the cold. Once I got going though... it seemed to get better. I am told we swam about 1200 meters so only 300 meters less that the actual race will be. Then we did a nice 22 mile bike ride around the lake and finished it off with a 5 mile run (or run / walk in my case as I am still healing my hip). The actual event is getting closer and while I was high anxiety going into yesterday's lake swim,,,,,, having done it, I am feeling that I am getting more and more ready for the actual event here. Plus I am biking now more than I have ever biked in my life. Today I conquered some great hills in the Corvallis area in preparation for Heart of the Valley Spring Tri happening here in Corvallis on Memorial Day. Next weekend we are participating in a triathlon training event put on by the Portland Triathlon club and swimming in a lake up in Vancouver... I have signed up to try the Olympic Distance in that event. Oh boy.

Many thanks again to those that have encouraged and supported me in this challenge. Saving Lives One Mile at a Time!!

K

5/31/10 Update:

Well with my fundraising goal being met, I have gotten carried away with training. It has been a fast paced 2 weeks here. Last weekend. I completed an Olympic Distance mock Triathlon (well the lake swim was only 600 meters rather than a mile) put on by the Portland Tri Club. The event was in Vancouver Lake, up in Vancouver, WA. A very fun event though it poured buckets on us throughout the entire event..... and I continued on to complete the distance despite the weather. The start was a mass start and for some reason I can out of the water a little dizzy between the swim and the bike, but once I got on the bike was oK. I also made piease with the idea of being slower in that most of the folks did the sprint distance and I had my mind set on doing the Olympic distance (along with all the hardened really faster serious triathetes). My team mate and I were last and second to last as a result and I overcame my concern about coming in last.......

This Memorial weekend has been a double triathlon weekend..... Saturday our Team in Training group returned to Dorena Lake outside of Eugene for our training. We had lots of company in the lake this weekend with 4 swimmers there from Emerald Aquatic swimming as well as people fishing and boating with it being a holiday weekend. We again swam our 1200 meters, biked 22 miles around the lake and I completed it with approx a 6 miles run / walk at the end, My knee and hip are holding up wonderfully and I am extending my running time now and decreasing my walk time.

Today then was the annual Heart of the Valley Sprint Distance Triathlon here in Corvallis. which is right in my backyard, I just had to do it. Great event. Lots of support. Pool swim with waves and about 6 to a lane. I surprised 2 young college kids (1 seeded ahead of me and the other seeded behind me in the lane) who were part of the OSU Tri Club. The one behind me was quizzing me about my time and making sure that I knew to let him go ahead if he was on my feet etc. I am sure they were thinking, what is this old lady doing in here with us..... Welll much to their surprise..... I blew the both out of the water coming out of the water first for our lane by a long shot. That was my moment of glory....... course they both blew past me in the bike shortly there after. Oh Well.. I just hope they will think twice before judging someone by age again. Fun event and I placed 5th in my age group.

Saving Lives One Mile at a Time!

K

6/6/10 Update:

21 Days until the Bg Event . The anxiety is setting in.... Survived the 2 training traithlons last weekend and had a very tired week. Mid week my cousin Debi's husband, Jim, sent me the link to their daughter, Taylor's essay on the Sacroma Foundation website. It i is a very touching essay about my cousin Debi and her death from Cancer last August. While I was very tired this week after last weekend, that essay kept me going knowing we are doing a good thing. For those interested. Here is the link.

http://www.survivingmesothelioma.com/news/view.asp?ID=00640

This weekend we did our swim in Dorena Lake again, along with the 22 miles bike around the lake and then the 6 mile run / walk. My knee is complaining a little after my 2 events last weekend. I will take it a little easy on the knee this week and hope for the best. Next weekend, we are in Sun River to practice the swim, bike and run courses of the actual race. Then we will have one more weekend at home and then the big event. Thank you to all who have supported me in this challenge and especially those to the right who have contributed financially as well. The Count Down begins. 21 and counting. Saving Lives One Mile at a time.

K

6/30/10 Update:

7 Days and Counting. This is becoming very real. We spent last weekend camping in Sun River where we had the opportunity to swim in the Lake Wikiap, then bike 28 miles from the Lake to Sun River and then biked the run course as well to get a sense of things. We additionally celebrated our team mate, Kristi's birthady as well as her anniversary of her last chemo round with her. It was a fun time though serious on the training.. We had another swim and run planned for Day 2, but I woke up at 6:30 AM in my tent that Sunday morning with the worst case of vertigo I have ever had. My whole world was spinning!!! Thankfully the spinning was worst when I lay down, but not too bad as long as I was upright and moving around some. Needless to say, I did not risk a second swim with such dizziness. I did later in the day attempt a short 30 minute run just for the sake of putting completion to the weekend. Cause of the vertigo???? Unclear. I did have an ear wax compaction taken out the next day by my dr - but, my theory is the altitide (4000+ ft)paired with alergies / ear congestion, paired with the physical exertion of the day, paired with 2 pieces of cake (sugar) before going to bed. Hopefull I will not have a reoccurance next week for the real event.

Wednesday Night we had our Send Off Party in Eugene. This is where we got our lodiging information for the weekend as well as timelines, race info etc...... As well as our race day tri suits, bike jersey and singlet on which I will put all the names of those persons I am competing in honor and in memory of..

Finally yesterday we trained our final run at Dorena Lake, swimming a mile, biking 22 miles and running 6 miles. My knee and hip injuries from several months ago are hanging in there and I have perfected the run/walk method to almost 10 minute miles. I think I am ready...... More to come.

Saving Lives One Mile at a Time!

K

7/4/10 Final Conclusion:

Well... This has finally come to conclusion. After 5 months of hard training and fundrasing, the event is over. We completed the Triathlon last weekend in Sun River. I am happy to say that we all had our individual challenges, weaknesses and concerns and we all on our team made it to the finish line. Thank you all for assisting me in meeting the challenge with your funding donations as well as your kind words of support. It was an honor to wear the names of so many of your suggested friends and loved ones on my shirt and to see the swell of Purple Team in Training jerseys out there competing in the field whether we were from Eugene (the group I was training with) or Portland (who had the largest number of folks it seems) to SW Washington, Idaho or Montanna. I am greatful to every one of you who donated in helping exceed my goal and bringing in $3761.00 total. As a group, (SW Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana) it appears that we have raised to date $232,000 towards Blood Cancer research and patient services. What an incredible amount and we could not do without people llike you.

Now for the event...... It was wonderful... The entire town of Sun River becomes an Athelte Village as the entire weekend included a host of endurance events. Our accommodations at Sun River resort were wonderful. We arrived on Friday to aclimate ourselves and to participate in the Team and Training Pasta Dinner. It was fun to meet the other Team in Training participants from other teams. Saturday we spent time taking our bikes 28 miles away to the Lake for set up in Transition 1 (or T1 as we call it). This is where we set up our bikes for Sunday so they were ready to hop on after our swim.

Saturday night we had a smaller Eugene Team night and meeting which included listeninbg to everyone's reasons for participating in LLS' Team in Training. The stories were touching and we all were bonded by how Cancer had touched each and every one of our lives. It was a sobering experience and also a reminder of the task at hand the next day.

Sunday we were up at 4:00 AM to eat a little breakfast and then off to set up our second transition area (T2) in Sun River (for when we changed from bike to run). Then the 28 mile car ride to the Lake (where we had left our bikes and transition gear for T1 overnight). This was the high anxiety time as we arrived and all started to prepare mentally and physially for our time. By 9:00 AM we were off in waves. Being older, my wave did not start until 9:20 AM (the last wave). The swim was cold and hard though I just put my head down and kept telling myself why we were doing this.

Emerging from the lake, I was very dizzy. Seems to be the combination of high altitide as well as cold water in the ears on the balance mechanism in the ear. This dizziness continued as I found my way through my Transition in T1 and on to my bike - slowly resolving once I started my bide ride.

The bike ride is a challenging 28 miles where the first 15 miles or so of the ride is all uphill with several little places where if fakes you out and you think you have arrived at to top, only to go on and see more uphill. The second half though is a fun downhill into the town of Sun River and into the transition area for T2.

Once into my run, this is where I felt the oxygen deprivation of 4000 ft elevation the most. I found my self perfecting the walk / run method with more walking than I had anticipated. The problematic knee and hip held up just fine / it was exhaustion at that point. But, I kept on spurred by the sight of Purple Team in Training singlets along the way as I passed various teammates - each passing with the cheer "Go Team". Spectators as well upon seeing the Purple would also respond with a cheer "Go Team" as well. The run was on various bike and walking paths through the woods and around the tiny town of Sun River..

Round a final corner and come to see our coach, Mike, cheering me on and then running with me for the last 1/2 mile as he met each and every one of us there and ran each and every one of us in to the finish line with words of encouragement. Three hours and 53 mintues from the start, I was done......

An so the task was done and each of us has a deep sense of accomplishment as well as a sense of loss as we end our journey togehter. Many of us with the vow to do it again next year. Until next year........ Saving Lives, One Mile at a Time. By for now.

K