I want to share some great news with you all. The easiest way is for you to see for yourself by watching this four-minute video.

OK, so I'm hoping you watched the video, but just in case you didn't, here's what happened: A doctor in Philadelphia named Carl June cured a girl named Emma of leukemia by using an engineered version of the HIV virus to attack cancer cells without infecting her with the virus.

I know your mouth probably just dropped wide open in disbelief, so go ahead and reread the previous paragraph. Yep, you read right.

But wait, there's more. Most of the money that funded this incredible outcome came from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. That means all of you who have donated during my years in Team in Training, whether in my most recent season or in seasons past, helped make this possible. THANK YOU!

Of course, Emma is just one girl, so there is much more work to be done. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has pledged $6.25 million more to Dr. June's research. This is money we haven't raised yet, so I will be continuing my work with Team in Training.

I won't be doing any fundraising myself for the next season, which just kicked off today. Instead I will serve as Fundraising Captain on the Bay Area's fall triathlon team to make sure all of our participants are successful in meeting their fundraising goals.

If you've ever thought about joining Team in Training, now would be a great time. We are so close the cure! This season we are offering a wide variety of training opportunities and events (marathons, half marathons, century rides, triathlons of various distances, hikes and even obstacle racing). If you are in the Bay Area and have any questions about joining, please let me know. If you are outside the Bay Area, you can get more information about the program in your area on the Team in Training website.

Thank you so much to everyone who made a donation this season to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Together we raised $5,728.64 to fight cancer! I'm still a little shy of my goal to raise $6,319.21, but this donation page will be open for a few more weeks if you want to make your contribution now.

Thank you so much for helping bring us so close to a cure for cancer. Let's not stop here!

-Virginia

p.s. Many of you may be wondering how I did at my second triathlon this season. Unfortunately, I sprained my ankle the day before the race. It wasn't serious, but I've sprained it a few times this season and decided to take some time off from running and get physical therapy. I should be back running in a couple of weeks with a stronger ankle that won't sprain so easily. Yay!

p.p.s. I will be swimming 1.5 miles from Alcatraz on Memorial Day (wish me luck!) and training for the Big Kahuna half Ironman triathlon (1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride, 13.1-mile run) this season with Team in Training (wish me even more luck!).

Where have triathlons been all my life? After finishing my first one March 24, I am hooked.

I got up before dawn, had some breakfast, grabbed my bike and gear, and met up with my teammates in the hotel lobby. We rode the mile down to the transition area together in the dark. I set up my transition carefully so everything was easily accessible and I wouldn't forget anything important during the race.

I picked up my timing chip and secured it around my ankle. It was light out by then, and I found my friend Katie to see if she wanted to go for a warmup swim together. The buoys were still being set up, but the entrance and exit areas into the bay were ready, so we could safely get in and start swimming without cutting ourselves on razor-sharp coral.

The water was calm, clear, perfect temperature. We could see coral and fish at the bottom. Some of the coral came up higher, so close it seemed like I could reach down and touch it -- but I didn't try because I didn't want to cut hand open on race day!

After our warmup swim, it was time to get ready for our wave starts. I was in the wave for women 30-34. We got purple swim caps -- perfect for a Team in Training participant! For this race, we were doing an in-water start, meaning that instead of running into the water from the beach, we entered the water about chest-deep and then started swimming from there when the gun went off.

Almost as soon as I started swimming, I noticed something different. The water had gotten much choppier since our warmup swim. We had three-foot swells. I would look up to try to sight a bouy and just see a wall of water instead. But I kept working my way from one buoy to the next, getting knocked around by waves. Finally I made it to the turnaround and started swimming back toward shore. When my hands hit the sand three times, it was time to stand up and run to transition.

But run ... ouch! Jogging on the beach was OK, but then I reached the pavement and had to walk the rest of the way to transition on my sensitive feet. I peeled off my swim cap and goggles on the way, rinsed my feet in the kiddie pools that were set up and finally made it to my bike. Helmet with chin strap strapped: check. More sunscreen: check. Take in electrolytes and liquid: check. Dry off feet and get into socks and cycling shoes: check. Make sure to walk my bike all the way to the mount line: check.

And then I was off! I rode out of the hotel grounds and onto the Queen K, the highway where Ironman Championship athletes ride their bike leg -- only theirs is 112 miles long instead of around 25 miles like mine. The ride was uneventful but very enjoyable. I couldn't have stopped smiling if I had tried. My favorite part was when I passed someone who was riding with aerobars!

Then it was back to transition, switching from cycling shoes to running shoes, applying more sunscreen and making sure to grab my race belt with my race number on it. We had had perfect race weather all morning -- overcast, not too humid, surprisingly cool for Hawaii. But during the run, it started to get warmer. At every aid stop, I'd gulp down water and Gatorade and shove ice under my hat to cool off. I got to run through some treacherous lava fields -- well, walk, I should say.

Finally the end was in sight. I started running in sand on the beach toward the finish line. I saw a few friends right before the finish and got to high-five them as I was coming in. Then I crossed the finish line, completing my first triathlon! I'm attaching my finish photo for you to see.

Now just because Lavaman is over, it doesn't mean my job is over. I have loved this season so much that I signed up for a second triathlon next month: Wildflower Olympic distance on May 5 at Lake San Antonio, Calif. It's the same distance as Lavaman but on a much more difficult course.

I've also made a higher fundraising commitment in order to participate in this event with Team in Training. My new goal is $6,319.21, and my deadline for fundraising is April 18.

That's just two weeks away, so we're really getting down to the wire. If you've been meaning to donate and just haven't gotten around to it yet, please do so in the next two weeks. Make your secure, 100 percent tax-deductible donation to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society on this webpage.

With your help, we will find cures for leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers. And with your help, we already are improving the quality of life of patients and their families. A big thanks goes out to you from my honored teammates past and present, including Justin, Graham, Tristan, Sharif and Matt.

I wish I could adequately pass on their gratitude for how much of a difference you've made in their lives by supporting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Two Sundays ago (four weeks before Lavaman!!!), our team did a practice triathlon in Tiburon. We swam about a half-mile in the cold bay, then rode 17 miles on our bikes and finished with a four-mile run. It was the perfect day -- sunny and beautiful but not too warm.

The open-water swim was much better than my first swim in the bay. It wasn't as disorienting the second time around, so I was able to do more real swimming and less dog paddling. I still needed to breathe more than normal and had to stop to gasp for air a couple of times, but I had a much better handle on it. The worst part was walking in and out of the water on the very rocky beach. When I finished the swim and was trying to get out of the water, it took me a while to stand up.

My transition from swim to bike took really long -- 13 minutes. It was a long walk back up the hill to our transition zone. I had everything I needed laid out, but it was still my first time doing a real transition. I was careful to get out of the transition area before mounting my bike. Then it was off for two fun loops around Tiburon. The route had some fun hills to climb and descend, but nothing too difficult or scary. I got cheered on by our SAG car driver a couple of times.

I arrived back at our transition zone and managed to get out for the run after after six minutes -- not good at all, but at least better than I did in T1. The run was the worst part. Slow and sluggish at first, plus I fell, scraped and bruised my knee and rolled my ankle. I walked for a bit up to our water stop, then ran most of the way back to the start. I did the whole thing in a little under three and a half hours.

So now I'm a triathlete! Two weeks from tomorrow I'll be on a plane to Hawaii, and two weeks from Sunday I'll be competing in my first real triathlon. With the help of many of you, I've blown past my original goal of raising $5,000 to a total of $5,300.60.

I've been so excited to be on this triathlon team that I've committed to raising another $1,000 and completing another triathlon this season -- the Wildflower Olympic distance triathlon (same distance as Lavaman) on May 5. Wildflower is known as the Woodstock of triathlons. It's a whole weekend of camping and events, including a half-iron distance triathlon and relay on May 4. Since my event isn't until May 5, I'll get to cheer my teammates on during their long-course event. There is also a shorter mountain bike triathlon course. It should be an great weekend!

If you've already made a donation this season, thank you so much, and don't feel like you need to donate again. For the rest of you who've been meaning to donate but haven't gotten around to it yet, I now have a new deadline to raise the rest of the money: April 18. My new goal is to raise $6,319.21 to cure leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Reaching that goal would bring me to a total of $20,000 for my six seasons! Please help me reach my new goal by donating on this page.

This weekend we have another open-water swim in the chilly bay on Saturday and a double brick (70-minute bike ride followed by a 30-minute run followed by a 70-minute bike ride followed by a 30-minute run) on Sunday. This will peak our training, and then we taper for two weeks before the big day. I'm so excited! I hope you all have as great as weekend as I'm going to have! :-)

I had two awesome days of training this weekend. Saturday was an hourlong bike ride in Sausalito followed by a half-hour run. It was a beautiful sunny day. The bike ride had a couple of tough hills, but when we got to the turnaround point, my first thought was, We have to head back already? That's how great I was feeling. When I got off the bike and had to start running, my legs felt pretty good. I think I'm getting used to this bike-run transition.

Today we had a great swim in a 50-meter pool instead of a 25-yard pool. We got to swim with our eyes closed to check our side-to-side balance. My balance seems to be off in both directions, because I bumped into the lane dividers on both sides of my lane! We also learned about drafting -- swimming close behind someone else makes it easier and is allowed during triathlons, unlike drafting while cycling. We did two more crowd swim traverses of the pool, and I felt much more comfortable this time. During the second traverse, I was able to draft someone almost the whole time!

After our workout, we got our wetsuits -- see the above photo, in which I'm bringing new meaning to the word "penguin"! We learned about how to take care of them and how to get them on -- there's a lot of Body Glide and massaging involved, and apparently it helps if someone pulls up the back of the suit and tries to give you a wedgie to make sure the suit is well-fitted into your crotch. Yep, that's the kind of thing we talk about during triathlon training!

We're just one week away from the Super Bowl, so don't forget to buy some Super Bowl squares while they're still available. You can give me cash or purchase them online here. Check out the link for all the details on how it works and what the cash prizes are. This is a chance for you to win money while making a contribution to the fight against cancer -- it's a win-win!

I'm sorry it's been so long since I've written to give you an update on my training and fundraising. Triathlon training is almost like having a second job -- imagine how busy I'll be when I decide to train for a half or (gulp) full Ironman someday.

Since I last wrote, I've had my first open-water swim and a few really awesome bike rides. Two weeks ago, we had our first open-water swim at San Francisco's Aquatic Park, a popular spot for open-water swimming that's almost completely enclosed by two piers. I got to wear my wetsuit for the first time. Getting into the wetsuit is its own workout! I bought a can of spray-on lubricant -- kind of like Pam, but safe for wetsuits. After accidentally spraying some in my friend Katie's face, I put some on my calves, wrists and neck. Then it was on with the wetsuit -- one leg at a time (ladies, imagine really thick pantyhose ...). You have to just coax the wetsuit up a little bit at a time. When I had the wetsuit covering most of both legs, the crotch area was still about a foot lower than it needed to be, so I had to pull it down and start again from the bottom. Note to future wetsuit users: Get the leg openings in the right place -- on your calves, not your ankles -- before proceeding to pull the suit up your legs, and you'll save yourself having to do the whole process over again.

Getting the suit up over my arms wasn't quite as difficult. Of course, the zipper is in the back, so I have no idea how anyone would ever do this on their own. I had friends to zip me up and then pull up on the back of the suit to ... er ... wedge it in to certain areas for a proper fit. I should also mention that I got a "squid lid" and earplugs for this swim. The squid lid is a cap made out of the same material as the wetsuit, and it has a chinstrap to help keep it in place. I don't normally wear earplugs when I swim, but our coaches said that if the cold water gets into your ears, it can be very disorienting, so I thought it best to try the earplugs.

All that fun, and we haven't even gotten to the swim! Our coaches are awesome, and they planned the swim in a way to introduce us to open-water swimming without giving us too much to do all at once for our first time. First, we got into the water to just test it out and jump around and dunk our heads under and see what it was like. I ran in as quickly as I could, then sort of dove onto the surface (but didn't put my head under right away). I was actually feeling all right, except for my freezing hands and feet. Then I pulled out the neck of my wetsuit to let a little water in -- freezing at first, but that quickly went away. I also finally got the courage to dunk my face into the water, which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. But my hands and feet -- sooooooo cold! Visions of frostbitten fingers and amputation were going through my head. I just kept telling myself that people do this all the time without losing fingers or toes, but it didn't sound that convincing in my head. The water was, after all, just under 49 degrees.

Next we got out of the water and ran up the shore a little ways and back, then jumped in for our first round of actual swimming. We swam in a rough triangle -- out to one buoy, then across to another buoy that was at an equal distance from the shore, then back to the shore where we started. That was 300-350 yards.

The first thing I noticed about swimming out there was that it was really hard to put my face into the water. It wasn't because it was cold. It was because when I put my face into the water in a pool, I'm used to seeing the bottom of the pool. In the bay, all I saw was green -- I couldn't even see my hands in the water, let alone the bottom, even though it was fairly shallow. I remembered that our head swim coach, Nancy, said she often does open-water swims with her eyes closed (except when she brings her head out of the water to sight). So I tried closing my eyes, which helped a little but was still very awkward. It was also much harder than normal to breathe. Normally I breathe on every third stroke, sometimes every fifth stroke, but in the bay, I was lucky if I could make it two strokes without breathing. Sometimes I had to stop and sort of dog paddle for a few strokes to catch my breath. All of this made it very hard to get into a good swimming rhythm. A few times I was able to swim for maybe 10 strokes, breathing on every other stroke, opening my eyes whenever my head was out of the water to remind myself that it was a beautiful sunny day and then sighting a buoy -- and finding I was already straying off course.

Another odd thing -- even though we had practiced crowd swimming in the pool a few times, and I did fine, it was a little different out in the bay. Each time I brushed up against someone, I felt the need to shout, "Sorry!" I really need to get over that before race day, right? Ha!

When I reached the second buoy and began heading back to shore, I was ready to quit. I was telling myself I could sit out the next two rounds of swimming, that just getting in and doing any swimming in the bay was a triumph. I finally made it back to shore, where we had to do 20 crunches and 10 pushups. After completing those, I ended up running back into the water instead of giving up. The second round was a little easier, though by no means easy. When we got out, it was 10 squats, five burpees, then back into the water. And yes, I got back into the water for the last part of the swim. When I made it back to shore, I thought the torture was over, but our coaches pulled a new trick out of their hats and made us do wheelbarrows -- you know, where you get a partner and grab their legs and support them while they walk on their hands -- and then you switch places. Yeah. Wheelbarrows. I guess it is a core workout, but never in a million years did I think I'd be doing wheelbarrows ever again.

After the workout, we all got out of our wetsuits, changed into dry clothes (with the help of friends holding up towels or parkas around us for privacy). Then we headed over for brunch and Irish coffee, just what we needed after being in the freezing cold bay. The next day, I found myself looking forward to our next open-water swim -- not because I have fallen in love with open-water swimming, but just because I figure it's got be easier the second time, right? I'll find out this Sunday at our practice triathlon, which starts in Tiburon's Paradise Cove (despite the name, the water temperature will not be anything like the water temperature in paradise).

I've also had some great adventures on our team bike rides. I am finding that I really enjoy riding up hills, which is something I never thought I'd say. I have some friends who are cyclists who've told me how much they love riding up hills, and I always laughed and said, "You'll never hear me saying that." But now that I've been doing it, I see what a joy it is. First of all, it's difficult but doable. I have 27 gears on my bike, so I just have to get into that lowest gear and keep my legs moving. That's all there is to it. I don't know why I thought it would be so impossible. I've made it up all the hills this training has thrown at me so far!

The thing I'm not so fond of (yet) is going downhill. It's OK if it's not too steep, but Sunday's ride from Fairfax to Alpine Lake included some terrifying descents. I was braking the whole time down. It turns out my fastest speed on the whole ride was only 18.6 mph, but boy does that feel fast on a bike. Several of my friends got above 30 mph on those descents, and I can't imagine how scary that would be for me. I suppose this is something I'll get better at over time, just like everything else I'm doing with my training. And I'm curious now to see how fast I'm going when I'm riding down a mountain on a snowboard, because that doesn't scare me at all!

I also want to update everyone on how much money we've raised for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We are up to $4,270.60! This is about 85 percent of my goal of $5,000. It's also more money than I've ever raised before in a single Team in Training season. Thank you all so much for your help. Here's the link if you want to make a donation: http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/lavatri13/vgriffey. This Sunday will be FOUR WEEKS from race day, and yesterday marked TWO WEEKS from my fundraising deadline. So if you've been planning to donate but putting it off, now's the time to do it. We're in the home stretch!

As always, thank you to all of you for your support! Think of me Sunday morning when I'm back in the freezing bay. :-)