Last year I trained long and hard throughout the entire rainy Seattle winter for Lavaman 2010. Then, about 2 weeks before the event, I was told that I had too have surgery on my left ankle.

I traveled to Hawaii with the Team and was lucky to be able to participate as part of a relay team. One of my fellow team mates had a shoulder injury and couldn't do the swim, I could only do the swim. It was a match made in heaven.

Two weeks after I returned, I had ankle reconstruction surgery. The surgeon found more damage than they expected and recovery has been hard and slow.

Since I am not quite up for running yet this year, my goal for Lavaman is to once again complete the .9 mile swim, and add the 25-mile bike. If by some miracle I am recovered enough to do the run portion, than all the better (but I'm not holding my breath).

Of course, more important than my goal for the year is Team in Training's overall goal to kick cancer's butt. It's a hard and slow battle too, but I know someday (hopefully soon) it will happen.

So, although a good amount of the money from my fund-raising efforts from last year has been rolled over to this year, my personal goal is to raise at least $1000 over the fundraising minimum.

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission to kick cancer to the curb! Absolutely any amount will be appreciated, it all adds up!

Mahalo!