Well, it's done! I completed my first Olympic Distance Triathlon (.9 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 6.2 mile run) yesterday as a mid-way tune-up for the Miami Man Half Iron Man Distance Tri. The venue was not your typical triathlon venue, but for an inaugural event, the organizers did a pretty good job overall. They may want to consider changing the date of the event to later in the fall because there is little to no shade anywhere on this course, and the lake swim was like swimming in soup. I think I heard someone report that by race end the temperature on the track was 97 degrees with 97% humidity! I can say that those conditions definitely affected me, but at least I finished, albeit quite a bit slower than expected. Thanks to the TNT program, I was able to successfully complete this event. Now its my turn to return the favor by raising funds in support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, a truly worthy cause. Please help by donating: http://pages.teamintraining.org/sfl/miamiman11/acejas

Well, I know the photo is a little fuzzy (from the sweat on my phone!), but that dark spot in the middle of the road is actually a gator that crossed our path. He was by no means a lounging gator either. As soon as Keith got a little closer to him, he got up on all fours and started coming towards us. Suffice it to say we broke Shark Valley protocol and turned around to ride back the opposite direction.

All in all the ride was a great success, though. Everyone enjoyed the sites, and we got in a great workout as well. Those of us in the lead group managed to get in about 30 miles, and it felt great. Congrats to everyone who came out. It was indeed a good team turnout.

Looking forward to the 4th of July Sprint Tri next week!!!

Why do they call them "bricks"? While Coach Diane explained in her weekly email that "Bricks" refer to the feeling you get in your legs after doing them, I like to put a little different spin on the meaning of "bricks". This is how I interpret "bricks":

"Bricks" are the building blocks of a successful triathlon performance. They serve as the foundation and structure for assuring that your legs (and lungs) withstand the storm that is coming on race day. This past Saturday's first brick session was a relatively short one, but I am sure we all felt the weight of these "bricks". To some, those bricks probably felt like huge boulders. No worries, though. In the end, it was well worth it. We just laid the ground level with that performance.

In a way, Team in Training is also much like the "bricks" we just endured. Team in Training helps us lay the foundation for helping others by giving us a mechanism to raise the funds necessary to continue research and development in the fight against blood cancers.

So bring on the "bricks"!!! So that we can continue building toward success!!!

Racing to Save Lives

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I'm training to participate in The Miami Man Half Iron Man Distance 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 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 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!