Robie's Got Faith

Last Saturday we went for a 29 mile bike ride followed immediately by a 3 mile run. This was the first time my legs kind of worked after a bike ride. I was still pretty tired, but at least I felt like I could get one foot in front of the other without stumbling!


Sunday we participated in Robie's Got Faith. This was a 10k run in Boise to benefit a little girl named Faith who is battling leukemia. It was incredibly hot for April - upper 80's - and the heat combined with a bad night sleep made for a very difficult run for me. Dan was feeling pretty good, but I really struggled. We finished ahead of just a few people and the chocolate milk, bananas and bagels at the finish line were much appreciated!


I got to meet Faith too. She attended the event with her family and friends, participated in the one mile kids run and got to meet some of the BSU football players. One of the players put her up on his shoulders for pictures and Faith got to blow the horn to start the 5k and 10k races. She was so darling in her little pink hat. I told her she was a star! There was a great turnout for the race so I hope Faith's family received lots of financial help from the event.


Struggling through this run was a good reminder to me of the difficulties that those battling cancer have to face every day. I was struck again by the fact that people like little Faith cannot just choose to quit when things get tough. They have to continue to fight day after day no matter how they feel. 


-- JAM

Super Swimmer

Thursday night swim - I never know how that's going to go. Some nights are good, others are... well, yeah...


I went to the Y early and got in a 5 mile run outside before we went in to swim. I've missed way too many training days lately because of the craziness of the month of April. I have two kids in track with practices and meets all over the place, sometimes in another state! Also, work has been insanely busy for both Dan and I so in trying to juggle all the necessary things, unfortunately, training has been the thing to suffer. 


There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Dan's crazy schedule will ease up in May and I think things may be starting to settle just at little at my job as well. Hailey is done with track now, so we just have Carson to get through the season. May promises to be much easier to handle from a family and work perspective, but a month of hard work as training really gets serious!


So, back to swim night. The 5 mile run was excellent. I felt great, the weather was perfect and I enjoyed watching the little league and lacrosse games going on in the fields I ran around. The workout for swim night was a 100 meter warm up followed by a 20 minute swim without stopping, then a 100 meter cool down. Once again, I felt great. As soon as I started on my 20 minutes, I got right into a slow to medium groove. The pace was just right and I had no trouble keeping it up for the full 20 minutes. I lost count of my laps after about 3 so I started timing my individual laps. I was at about 1:40 or less per lap which comes out to about 12 laps total. That may not sound fast, but when I started swimming laps I couldn't break 2 minutes! 


I'm not trying out for the Olympic Swim Team anytime soon, but this is definitely a major accomplishment for me! 


Michael would be proud.


-- JAM

A Windy Day for a Bike Ride

Today’s 30 mile ride was just fantastic! We did have some pretty good headwinds, but kept up a good pace anyway. We rode out 15 miles, then came back so that gave us some nice tailwinds on the way back! Today’s route took us up Pleasant Valley Road hill. It was a perfect hill! Just the right distance and slope to give us a good workout, but not make us feel like keeling over.

Of course, then we had to attempt to run after the ride. Coach Jill took us out on a dirt trail and my legs just would not function! Something about how your muscles work on the bike really creates havoc on the muscles required for running. I stumbled along for the short 1.5 miles and my legs never did want to cooperate. That’s something that is going to take some practice.

Unfortunately, Dan had to work and missed the ride today. I'm sure he will find a way to make it up though. He's a rock star!

Next week is a 30 mile ride again followed by a 3 mile run. Here's to hoping the legs will start to get the hang of this transition thing!

-- JAM

Spring Weekend!

What a great weekend! The weather was gorgeous and I didn't get called away to work at all on Sunday. Went for a long run and at about mile 5 I ran into a friend from high school, Chris Gambee. He lives in Caldwell, but just happened to be in that neighborhood for Easter dinner with his sister and family. Fun coincidence!
On the negative side, Julie was sick all weekend so I had to run alone. It's definitely more fun training with her.

- - Dan

Halftime Report

7.34 miles Swam - 285 miles Biked - 82.5 miles Ran

We are halfway through our training and about halfway to our fundraising goal! Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us with donations and encouragement.

It has been a busy few weeks! We have been getting the hang of biking on the road - very different from spin class! There have been a lot of big hills that we have conquered, and a few that have conquered me. In order to get accustomed to the transition, we have been completing short runs directly after our long bike rides. Funny how those leg muscles just will not work properly right off the bike!

Swimming has been going a little better each time. This last Thursday we swam our full event distance - 1500 meters. Yes, I was the absolute last person to finish, but I did complete the whole distance. We often complete some sprint laps during training and my time is usually right around a minute and a half for one lap at full speed. Then I require a minute or more to recover before I can do another. My "normal" speed laps are usually just under 2 minutes. Not breaking any records, but definitely an improvement over two months ago!

Soon we will receive our wetsuits and then begin open water swimming. That will be the next major hurdle to overcome. I know of a lot of people who have trained in a pool in preparation for a tri, only to freak out and lose it when it came to open water swimming. 

This weekend I've been feeling pretty rotten. I did pull off two spin classes followed by a 2 mile run on Saturday, but have had to bow out of the long run we normally would have done today. Instead I'm spending some quality time with my couch hoping the rest will get me back up to speed for Monday.

This week we have our Recommitment Party. This is the time when we can either back out if we feel training or fundraising are too much to handle, or commit to continue. We will register for our event, order our wetsuits and, most importantly, commit to our full fundraising amount. If we are unable to raise the full amount necessary, we will be responsible for paying whatever is left of our fundraising commitment amount. Our intent is to turn in that paperwork and maintain our commitment with Team in Training. Knowing that cancer patients don't have the option to opt out of their struggles, we can't possibly do any less. 

If you haven't already given, please consider a donation to LLS in honor of our efforts. Thanks so much for your support!

-- JAM