Wow, the reality is definitely setting in that in exactly a week, I'll be flying up to Oregon for this event. I'll be settling in, getting accustomed to the altitude and ready to tackle a huge athletic feat that I never thought I would do 10 years ago.  

It is pretty extraordinary that in 7 months time, you can go from barely being able to complete one length of a pool without dying at the other end, to being able to push through 100+ yards without stopping. My time has been cut down by a full minute as a result of the training and consistency and just putting the time in the pool. As much as I hated when teachers would say practice makes perfect, it's true. I'm still nowhere near being perfect, but I'm better than where I started and that makes all the difference.

Thanks to so many of you for enduring my constant posts about fundraising, but it's also a very important mission since my Father's diagnosis back in 2011/2012. 

Thank you to everyone's ongoing support and after this event, you can be sure I'll be doing something else for a long time! 

Gulp! I am 25 days away from my first long-course Triathlon / Half Iron(wo)man event up in Sunriver, Oregon. I am also just a mere $1,435 away from my lifetime fundraising amount of $15,000 and I would love to be able to reach that goal in the next month as I make my final training preparations for the Pacific Crest Endurance Festival. 

Training for 7 months is a long time to undertake 72.3 miles, but every second has been worth it (sometimes!) with the team to support and encourage me along the way. There have been setbacks and breakthroughs throughout the process, but each and every step there has been someone who's going through the same thing and there are countless Cancer patients struggling to get up out of bed that morning, like my Dad that I train and do these crazy things. 

Let's all dream and live in a world that is cancer-free. Ain't nobody has time for such things! 

HOLY CRAP! In exactly 30 days, I will be well underway in my first Half Iron(wo)man event with the Pacific Crest Beast(wo)man event in Sunriver, OR. June 23, 2018 which seems a lifetime away back when I registered in November 2017 is now, frighteningly near! 

As our training days become longer and more intense, I technically could do this race tomorrow, but content knowing I have 4 weeks left to go. 4 weeks which seems like nothing is also an eternity! 

I am $1,885 away from my lifetime fundraising of $15,000! I'm so close and I can taste it! I know that with everyone's support I will get there. This is my 4th season with Team in Training and I only had to fundraise 3 of those years! My network has been amazing and so supportive and as I am getting down to the nitty-gritty of the season, I'm also nearing the finish line with my fundraising! Let's do this people!!

Let's kick cancer's ass once and for all! Who doesn't want to scream at the top of their lungs with a #FuckCancer?  I sure as hell do!

I also can't wait to scream out in delight the afternoon of June 23, 2018 that I completed my first ever 72.3 Mile event that included a sport I now officially hate (which i never hated before) SWIM, a sport I absolutely love CYCLING, to finish with a sport I've learned to enjoy RUN. 

T-30 DAYS BEGINS NOW!  GO TIME! 

As of this writing, in 40 days I will have completed my first ever Half Ironman/Triathlon event at Pacific Crest! 72.3 brutally loving miles will be long behind me at 11:04 PM PT on June 23, 2018 - I hope! 

This long training season has been mentally and physically draining yet, has surprised me in its numerous rewarding experiences. Every time I cycle through Malibu and those incredible canyon roads, I keep saying to myself I am so damn lucky to be living in Southern California. I have exceptional vistas to look out to while I cycle and run. I get to swim in an outdoor pool year-round and jump into the Pacific Ocean to practice my open water swimming (which is actually dreadful!) I am lucky to be able to have the athletic ability to endure a vigorous 6 day a week schedule. I keep saying that this will be it, I will never do something like this again, my friends nod and give me a polite devilish smile and say "Don't believe you" because I train for those that can't! I am doing something that less than 1% of the population consciously chooses to do! I train 6 days a week because my heart, lungs, legs, and arms allow me to do these things and I hate hearing that family and friends are battling cancer. 

In 6 weeks, I want to hit my lifetime fundraising goal of $15,000 - this means I am currently $2,010 away from reaching that goal of raising much needed cancer-fighting funds to help those impacted by Cancer like my family and my friends. THE TIME IS NOW TO END CANCER! 

My first Half Iron(wo)man/Beast(wo)man event is coming up shockingly quick! I can not believe that it's May 1 and in 53 days I'll be undergoing this huge physical challenge. Swimming in open water, cycling, and then running around Sunriver, Oregon.

My father's cancer update: The good and bad news regarding my father's diagnosis is that his Myelo Fibrosis has now officially turned into Leukemia, roughly 5 years after the first initial diagnosis. This is good news for our family as there is finally a path forward and treatment plan to help. The chemotherapy is working well for him and is killing the white blood cells, but in so doing, is also killing the red blood cells which causes his lethargy and weakness and requires periodic blood transfusions of his specific blood with the necessary enzymes. So, if you aren't able to donate to my cause, donating blood is the next best thing to help my Father and to help keep the blood banks across the US with sufficient supplies.

Since my last post, my swimming is settling and getting marginally better, my cycling and running are solid and I just need to dial in my nutrition for the 58 mile ride and staying hydrated so when I'm on my run, I have the energy and endurance to complete the race. This types of events always fascinate me on the constant planning and thought that goes into everything that I consume and put into my body. Every bite and sip serves a very specific purpose. The more you do these events, the more you learn about your body and it's physical abilities, limitations, and response. I should have been an Exercise Science major in college!

WELCOME to my Team in Training BEAST(WO)MAN 72.3 Fundraising page!

As I wrote back in 2015 I don't often so publically share personal details like this, but this is why Team in Training and LLS are so important to me. Back in 2012, my father was diagnosed with Myelo Fibrosis - a rare type of blood cancer that LLS describes manifests as a type of chronic Leukemia, with a prognosis of 5 years. As we've turned the calendar page, my family and I are so happy that my father has surpassed that 5-year prognosis and is on year 6 fighting through his bad days and comfortably going about his good days. 

As a result of my Father's 2012 diagnosis and having completed several cycling "Century" and "Gran Fondo" events from 2012-2015, the LA Marathon in 2016, this will be my 4th season with Team in Training, and I'm excited to endure another battle of mind over physical matter with my first ever attempt to participate in a Half Ironman, or as the Pacific Crest Endurance Event labels it - BEASTMAN - ahem, BEAST(WO)MAN! This is no ordinary Half Ironman! They've tacked on another 2 miles to the bike portion making the total mileage 72.3 miles!

So...72.3 miles, huh? How does that get broken down? 

Open Water Swim = 1.2 miles

Bike = 58 miles

Run = 13.1 miles

In exactly 2 MONTHS, I'll continue my six (6) days a week of training with some combination of running, cycling, and swimming. Swimming is officially my weakest sport and my nemesis. Not going to lie, I'm struggling and improvement is happening but this has become a mental fight for me each time I'm in the water. Trying to find the movement meditative while obsessing about the mechanics of my stroke and upper body power. I lose concentration and focus which affects my breathing, and basically everything! I'm making headway, and although I hate it, Cancer patients don't love chemotherapy or radiation, so forcing myself to jump into a pool 3-4x a week is nothing compared to the pain and dread that Cancer patients endure.

So this June 23rd, I will be awake at an ungodly hour, attempting to calm my nerves as I tackle Pacific Crest BEAST(WO)MAN in honor of my Father and all cancer survivors and the memory of so many of those that have fallen victim. I hope that you are able to make any donation in support of my efforts with Team In Training and help get us all closer to a world without blood cancers OR any kind of cancer! Your donation is tax-deductible, so no time like the present to get a head's start for 2018! 

Thank you so much and if you happen to be in Oregon on June 23, 2018 please make your way somewhere along the route and wave, cheer and yell at me to go faster - it'll help me run and cycle faster knowing I'm out of the water and that I'm chasing down a cure!  

Thank you again!

Roubina