It's over!

It was way more fun than I anticipated, especially as I was sort of dreading/fretting over the swim. I'm thrilled to have done it and relieved to not have 6 day a week training any more, but also a bit sad to be done....as it was a great group of like-minded folk.

On event weekend, the girls and I went down to Monterey on Friday night and there was a big Inspirational Dinner for all of TNT from around the country - many from Oregon and San Diego but also as far away as Colorado and a survivor spoke to us all. TNT raised $300K just for this triathlon alone!

Next morning we were all in the hotel lobby at 5am, to bike the 2.5 miles over to the start of the race. It turned out to be a great time - pitch black, streets empty, fog hovering, rode along the bay hearing the seals offshore, and riding nice and slow. We were one of the first groups to arrive and set out all our stuff...then hung out and ate, chatted, watched sun rise and other participants arrive.

At 7:15 was a kickoff ceremony that also remembered 9/11 (the race was on 9/10) and then at 7:30 the first wave of swimmers started , but my wave (all the TNT women) wasn't till 9am...so more hanging around....the girls were able to come down to the beach so nice to see them.

The 1.5K swim went really well - at first it was choppy and crowded and some swells - but then I just plowed (and at times, crawled) on - through HUGE kelp beds and did it faster than I ever expected (36 min). Then onto the bike for 25 miles - where the girls and my dear friend Margot cheered me on two times each loop - it really helped knowing I'd see them again soon. And then to the 10K run - with them, and many others who I didn't even know, still cheering me on - which ended up being harder than expected....but finished the whole thing in 3 hrs, 22 min (including transitions) and was thrilled.

Your help and encouragement got me to the finish line. But more importantly, you are helping to accelerate finding cures for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma and bring increased hope to the patients and families who are on the front lines of the battle against these blood cancers.

First, thank you thank you so much to all my donors as I've more than surpassed my minimum $3300 and even my own goal of $4000 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! I really appreciate all your support for both me and this organization.

So less than 2 weeks to go. Yay. I'm ready - or at least think I am. I feel like TNT has totally prepared us and I am now officially tired of the non-stop (except for Fridays) training. It's all I do every night after work and consumes most of the weekends since I tend to nap after the (long) morning workouts.

I was worried about going on vacation in early August and missing the team training for 8 days….but thanks to my cousin Ruthie, who accompanied me – or should I say I accompanied her – on many hilly and long bike rides, followed by hilly runs, including a 10K into town (followed by ice cream!). And thanks to Dani who kayaked alongside me while I swam in the lake. It was easier to train when you have nothing else to do the entire day except that – and then sun, read, chat, eat and drink! No work, no errands to get in the way.

This past weekend I drove down to Monterey (only 1.5 hours when it’s 7:30 on a Sunday am!) to primarily preview the swim, which I'm most nervous about. With 10 of us there, we put on our wetsuits in the foggy mist and got in the water. It was COLD (58 degrees). My feet were frozen, actually hurting, as was my face when I finally put it in. And I thought there is no way I'll be able to swim. ....yet, after a few minutes we started swimming and lo and behold the cold didn't bother me and I was able to swim just fine, even through the kelp (my other worry). Just takes some extra arm strength to move it out of the way! And was pleasantly surprised by several seals swimming right near by.

And then I ran 8 miles (last long run before the race - yay!) along both the running and biking route but it took more than 2 miles till my feet thawed out. They were actually numb - not sure how I looked running in numb feet!

And then drove home....and after a few errands, finally napped!

Racing to Save Lives

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

Believe it or not, I'm training to participate in an endurance event as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. I'm doing the Pacific Grove Olympic-distatnce Triathlon on Saturday, September 10. I will be swimming 1.5k (in the ocean, in a wetsuit, with lots of kelp!!!), biking 40k, and then topping it off with a 10k run. This is my first ever triathlon and first ever swim race in the ocean! Above is me finishing one of our first bike rides on a rainy Saturday a.m.

I am completing this event in honor of all of those battling blood cancers but especially in honor of my brother, Stuart Gottlieb (photo above), who many of you know was diagnosed with lymphoma last spring, and who endured surgery, many months of a grueling chemo regimen and then daily radiation - and is now luckily cancer-free and back to health. This success was mostly due to all the advances in research and drug treatment made in the past several years, some of which was with funds from TNT.

So far I have been so impressed with this organization - we gather 3-4 times a week to train (including 7:45am every Saturday!) and it is so incredibly organized and well run, with dedicated coaches giving excellent training advice, a network of mentors and many participants. It really makes a difference to work out in a "pack" - it actually makes it fun and lets me believe I'll be able to complete this event in one piece.

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission - and honor my brother. The cost of one tank of gas or a dinner out can be put to really good use to help save lives.

I hope you will visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress.

Thanks for your support!

Michele

p.s. the photos below are from "ride and tie" where we alternated biking and running

Update: July 11 (week 7 or 8)

The question is: will I be sore every day between now and sept 10?

The answer seems to be yes, as the training level increases each week seemingly with every work out...we work out 6 days a week (friday is rest day!) of which usually 4 are with other TNT members. Up until this week only Saturday had "bricks" - back to back workouts - but now we are starting them 3 days a week and even doing all 3 sports this coming saturday. This is way more time consuming that I thought it would be.....but still fun and am amazed that I've now swum more than I've ever done in one stretch.I got a new bike last weekend and excited to use it.

Here was last weeks' workout schedule:

Monday: swam 1800 yards

Tuesday: bike 50 min, then run immediately afterwards (I biked 1.5 hours, skipped run)

Wednesday: swim 1900 yards

Thursday: TNT track night has now become TNT bike and track night

Friday: rest day (yay!)

Saturday: TNT team 7:45am swim, bike, then run (not sure of distances, they keep a surprise)

Sunday: run 5 miles

Good thing it's for a good cause. I greatly appreciate all the donations so far....just think the cost of one tank of gas or a dinner out can be put to really good use to help save lives.

Just this week unfortunately a member of past local tri teams succumbed to leukemia and so there is still more research to be done to help eradicate and find better cures for blood cancers.

Best, Michele

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UPDATE: July 28, 2011

First open water swim was this past saturday in SF Bay and was not as bad as anticipated! Water wasn't as cold as expected, wetsuit was easier to swim in that I had thought, and there was such great support from TNT (including several kayaks offshore). Despite that initially I somehow totally forgot how to swim - couldn't breathe, get in a rhythm, or anything! - after a breather, it came back to me and I was able to successfully swim about 40 minutes straight...before coming out and then runnning 3.5 miles. And all done by 10am :)

This weekend we swim in the Pacific - in Aptos.....