Colonial Bike Ride

Training has a tendency to become monotonous if you don't mix it up. After a hard run yesterday I decided to treat myself with a ride in HISTORIC COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG! If that's not enough I also rode to HISTORIC COLONIAL JAMESTOWN!

Here are a couple of views from colony that started it all. Still learning about blogging with photos. Until this is fixed may I suggest you 'right-click' and select "view image?"

Yeah that wide open nature and gorgeous muddy swamp sure is beautiful from this very dry, sturdy bridge and causeway. No wonder they decided to land here.

A quick shot of the Governor's Mansion? Yeah that's it, it's the Governor's Mansion.
And finally, my favorite. A unique road hazard only found in places like Historic Colonial Williamsburg.
Do you feel that history just comin atcha? It was a robust ride filled with many more pungencies than just that atypical swerve inducer, although I was disappointed not to have seen any deer this trip because I'm told Williamsburg is rife with fauna.
In other, fund raising news I have hitched my wagon to California Pizza Kitchen and their cookie cutter fund raising night because they promised not only to donate 20% of food sales, but 20% of alcohol sales to my cause! It is a great way to get all of my fellow after work binge drinkers to put some money toward curing cancer. It does seem like there is a loose ironic association there because of something so bacchanal and indulgent is being used to cure a disease. We're saying that people should come out between 5-10, but it's not super important to meet all the deadlines. What is going to throw a lot of weight around is if you bring in the flier. It makes everything happen. All you have to do is eat dinner, maybe grab a drink, and then give out this flier to your server (or bartender) and they put that money in some good hands. Let's make it happen.

Tuesday, March 16 At Blackfinn: Silent Auction for LLS!!!!

Tuesday at Blackfinn the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is having a silent auction, and you can pick up some great swag for great prices while supporting a (guess what?) great cause. I've highlighted the items I've brought and the rest will all be there for the asking. Starting bids are going to be half the price or value of the gifts. So think about getting something that you would buy anyway for a nice discount probably (or not if you believe in us) all while supporting an organization questing to find a cure for blood cancer. Here is a list of things that are going to be on the table:


Chick-fil-a package
Outback coupons
3 sports gift card
Smoothie King gift card
Firehouse Theater Project Tickets
Nuevo Mexico GC
Personal Training sessions
clutch
change purse
business card holder
Personal Training sessions
portraits
clutch
Linden Row Inn
portraits
bottoms up GC
portraits
cha chas GC
Lucky Buddha GC
cha chas GC
Lucky Buddha GC
Wyldology GC
India 'K Raja GC
tripps GC
Sam Miller's GC
UR signed basketball
starbucks GC
turner and bragg gc
starbucks GC
moveable feast GC
starbucks GC
Turner and Bragg
Timex watch
Gatorade-filled cooler
mary kay skincare basket
flying squirrels tickets
mary kay makeup basket
4 guitar lessons
PF Chang's GC
Massage package

Big Swim Milestone

Early this AM I just ripped out a 500 meter swim practice. That means that I can now swim the required distance for the Tavern Triathlon,and since I have four more months to train that I am going to be able to get really fast by race day. Even better, though is that I did it after a hard week of practice, including a couple of road rides that were my first outdoor stints since it got cold. I really didn't know that I would be able to start looking at times and shaving seconds and minutes before the race, but that's the way it looks. Close guestimation looks like about 15 minutes right now, I'll keep posting as the time comes down.

Doubled my goal and the Silent Mile

It has been a very very intense week or so since I've posted. Lots and lots of training done. In the pool Coach Pam and Coach Kia are opening my stroke up and the difference is astronomical. All the crazy one-handed drills are paying off in the form of a more efficient and tighter stroke. Now that we are starting to put some more distance in the workouts I can tell where all the energy saving is going. On top of all that I got a big, "You're going to be fast," from Kia recently. And I see what she means: because I have a solid foundation on running and cycling I can see how getting some coaching on swimming is really going to push me to a new height. As the weather starts to warm I'll hopefully get to try it out in some open water. I can't stand doing more than two kick turns a workout it seems.
On the run/bike side I noticed a huge difference in the number of people showing up for practice this past Saturday. Of course it was not just a workout but an event Cate from LLS put on called the Silent Mile. It was a very touching event that really got us in touch with the cause again. Everyone huddled in the DirectBuy parking lot in their lycra tights and headbands early in the morning and we head testimonials from some of TNT's biggest fund raisers. That is to say we heard from some of cancer survivors who are raising funds through TNT. The type of deep seeded dedication and passion I heard that morning were astounding and awe-inspiring. As we stood there waiting to workout we heard stories from people who had survived blood cancer and then contracted thyroid cancer only to beat that and return to the scene and hit the ground running. One woman who had raised over $6,000 for a single event, she was a survivor who spoke with an intensity that befit a world-class athlete. Emotions and passions flew and I realized that I could now run my ass off all day. They type of pain aerobic exercise can put you through is nothing to these people who battled off cancer and were still hungry to help others and find a cure for some of the most debilitating diseases in the world. It made it real and it made it prescient to keep at what I'm doing. After that I ran a mile silently considering all that I had heard and emerging with a truer sense of purpose than ever before.
After that, and a bout with a cold/possible food poisoning I returned to the pool on Tuesday to keep the drive alive and was demurred by powerful sinus headaches and a coach who saw that killing myself to swim was doing more harm than good. It's interesting to see how I can gain fervent passion for training and still train smart and effectively. That's what coaches are for I suppose.

Now, since the piles are starting to disappear I am undertaking a major overhaul of the road bike. It's going to be clean and on point by the time I am done with it, but here are some early stage photos of what the process looks like:








Last, but in no way least is the big news that after many many generous contributions I am doubling my fund raising goal to $3,000! That's another $1,500 I believe we can raise to find a cure so that people won't have to worry about whether or not they will live through lymphoma. There are also some things in the works at local restaurants around the corner so please keep eyes peeled for those opportunities soon.

As always, don't for get to visit the contribution page.

Some words about fundraising.

First and foremost, from the looks of the progress bar on the fund raising page that personal goal of $1,500 is going to have to go up. We'll see how things start to go before I set a very specific goal. All of this means that I am very impressed with the level of donations so far. I really didn't expect to be this far along. In fact, I must concede that there was a dull moment when I began to bemoan the slow pace of replies. This was most likely a symptom of those awful monkey pox from which I (and possibly all of Richmond) was suffering from at the time. Let's just say that if my refresh button we some veneered toggle on a piece of actually machinery it might could use a new paint job. Of course I am very happy to be proved wrong by all of the wonderful support.

Furthermore, and even though I mentioned this on the other page, I must give incredible thanks to Andy Jimenez, the general manager and Colombian haberdasher of Cheesecake Factory, and Cyndi "Big Excited Smile When She Heard About the Cause" Coupland, general manager of Olive Garden West Broad. They both made generous contributions of $50 gift certificates. These are going to be raffled to talkative donors. Now, since I've had so much success with these two restaurants I will, armed with my letterhead from LLS, be venturing out to other places in search of contributions. The remainder of these may be auctioned off at an upcoming silent auction put on by good friends the LLS or raffled off sooner. If I do well I'd like to be able to auction something off every month, or with much greater regularity.

Lastly, and most importantly I have to give my wholehearted thanks to all of those who have contributed and given me and everyone battling blood cancers a big boost. Last year TNT raised over $500,000 to fight cancer and everyone who gave is the reason why one day all the children who shouldn't have to live with cancer won't. I'll keep these thoughts in mind as I go through two practices tomorrow and Saturday. This is really pushing me to succeed.

Ever the contribution reminder.

Guest post over on TNT's blog.

TNT asked me to post something on their blog. Even though I gave them a little editorial license I won't double up, but I want to say that I'll be adding a photo soon.


Don't forget to check my fund raising page.

I woke up early today and saw this.


That means no first bike practice with the group, and since this is the second weekend I am stuck inside for the most part: cabin fever. Luckily the bike trainer is still sailing along nicely and my room mate got The Hurt Locker from Redbox. I think I can throw down two hours and some calisthenics today.

On the fund-raising front I just sent out my first rounds of emails and facebook messages. I'm a little nervous about how they'll be received and I'm hoping for some responses, but If you're reading this it probably means that you got one. Friends and family all have received emails and I'll be getting hits on my email every time someone donates. Something I'll quickly mention here because it hasn't totally come to fruition just yet: Cheesecake Factory will donate a gift card worth $50 for the cause. I will use this as a raffle prize to anyone who donates AND tells someone they know who would have an interest in the cause about my drive. No big chain letter, just $10 and let me know you passed the word on and you'll be entered. I like this idea though, maybe I can get other local restaurants to pitch in some gift cards and we'll be raffling off dinner on the town.

As always, please donate.

All right, time to hit the imaginary bricks.