Crazy Week!

Training this weekend went really well.  We all went out to brunch after the swim workout on Saturday and I feel myself really bonding with the Team.  Everyone has their own amazing story to tell, about why they are fundraising, who their hero is, and one of our Team members is a survivor himself!

I enjoy the swim - it is a solo workout for the most part (even though we were piled in four to a lane), so there is no pressure to keep up, be first, not fall... Even if you wanted to chat, you couldn't (well, not without some fancy underwater communication device, and I don't think those are legal gear for Triathlons).

The bike on the other hand... Do you really want to hear this?  Of course you do!  It's always fun to laugh at someone else's pain (It's called schadenfreude).
So we all get out there Sunday, everyone on their fancy new road and tri bikes.
Except me.
I'm still getting my miles in on the hand me down Schwinn.
Little Schwinny got qite a few comments on its old-school style.  (Whoa, look at that dinosaur! Wow! Haven't seen one of those in a while!)
That's okay.  I'm actually getting more comfortable on it.
So I thought.
Until we all took off on our ride.
Despite my hardest pedaling, I was being passed like I was walking.  The coach pulled up alongside to me to help.  He did not know of my panic attack about bicycles getting too close to me. (AAck! Why is he so close?! Eek! I'm going to fall!) We finally settled into a comfortable speed where he could coach and my heart resumed it's normal rhythm. He probably felt like he was walking.
Apparently I was in the wrong gear (YOU MEAN I HAVE TO SWITCH GEARS?!!).
It took me about a mile to get up the nerve to take my hand off the handle bar and gear down (or was it up?).  In any case, it worked!  I was going 17 mph!  My computer told me so, so it must be true!
Yay!  I'm getting somewhere!  I probably shouldn't mention that everyone else was going a lot faster.  Oops, I just did. When we finished our 18-22 mile bike ride (yes, I went 18, everyone else went farther, in the same amount of time), we were instructed to get off the bikes and run for 10 minutes.
Sure, let's go! (says my brain).
Excuse me? (say my legs) We're not going anywhere!
My brain eventually won, but the legs almost had us for a few minutes.
Now I know why they're called "brick" workouts.
It's because when you get off the bike, your legs feel like bricks, or maybe because it feels likes you have bricks strapped to your feet.  Either way, not pleasant to start.. But it felt AWESOME to finish!

This week Isabella has Vacation Bible School (I know, I know, all the cool kids call it VBS).  I am helping out every night this week which means I can't train, unless I get up and go before work. 
HAHAHAHAHA!
Guess how many times that has happened?  Oh-well. 
The first night of VBS (Sunday) was especially poignant.  It was during this week last year that we learned that my friend Kim's leukemia had returned, and that this time she would need a stem cell transplant.  When I saw her at the opening ceremonies this past Sunday, I got very emotional.  In the past year, Kim has had several rounds of chemo and a successful transplant.  She moved to Tampa for several months for treatment, and is finally home. She looks good, but I know she still doesn't feel well.  During this time, she kept a blog and I was always awed by her good spirits, despite the torture she was going through.  It helped recommit me to training and fundraising so that maybe someday our children won't ever have to go though this, or know anyone who will.
~Leanne