mid week update!

second round of spin class done and it's only wednesday!  yipee!!  plus a day of cardio work.  i absolutely need to keep this up.  45 miles this weekend and rumor has it that it is going to be hills upon hills...

deep breath.  ok, yes i can do this.   what is starting to get a bit scary is the fundraising side.  the first big deadline is on april 9th.  I really want to have 50% completed or more so that I can breathe a little bit easier on that front.   So, massive campaign push coming.  I am thinking a referral contest would be a pretty good start. Announcing it this week!

I have to say though, this whole experience is so emotional.  Blood cancers have affected more people than I ever knew.  it is amazing how once you starting talking about this ride people open up and tell you stories about their best friend who passed away from leukemia when they were 24 or how they sat by their best friend's hospital bed for months while they fought through and are now in remission.  it's crazy stuff.  but remission isn't a cure.  so i will keep pedaling my way forward to raise money for this wonderful organization.  Thank you to anyone who has already donated to this cause.  If you haven't, please do.  There are many patients, families, and survivors that need your assistance and generosity.

what a weekend

35 miles...

Saturday morning was an adventure.  we took off at 10am.  The new bike felt great and was sooo much faster than my hybrid.  wow.  huge difference.  so we are between 4-6 miles out and I feel this burn in my right calf.  within seconds, i have a massive charlie horse, it was terrible.  I almost toppled off my bike onto the side of the road, my calf just wouldn't move and my sneaker got stuck in my toe clips...very graceful, i know.  stretched it out, felt a bit better, off we go again.  My coach, henry, who very graciously waited for me caught up to the rest of the ladies in our mini group who were also so sweet to wait for us.

so we rode for a while, all was going well, and then we hit huckleberry hill rd in canton, ct.  it is the most evil road i have ever biked.   they really should rename the road huckleberry gigantic mountain road.  hill?  not so much.  the calf reared its ugly little head again.  big grr from me.  i was so looking forward to finishing this week with the entire team and not pulling in to the lot last.  It was not to be.

Coach henry and i had to stop every 4-5 miles and stretch out my calves or we just weren't going to make it.  Total ride time almost 4 hours.    but let me tell you, at mile 31 when i realized yes Charryse, you are going to make this and then you can chop your leg off, it was such an overwhelming sense of pride knowing that I had accomplished something and all I could think was if this is how i feel at 35 miles, i can't imagine what 100 is going to feel like...because not only will it be a huge physical accomplishment, but an emotional one as well knowing that I have raised a substantial amount to help cure cancer.

AND, not only that, but I swear the people on my team are amazing, at least 10 of them stayed and waited until we got back and cheered us into the lot, which was just so unexpected, albeit almost embarrassing.  such kind people.  pretty crazy stuff, i am starting to see why people call this program life changing.

well, i hit the gym tonight to walk out the last of the lactic acid, back on track with the hard work tomorrow night.  if it's still raining i am thinking spin class!

Two Days in a Row!!

I made it to the gym last night!  Two days in a row!  Yay!  Got to keep trucking along.  I was so hoping to catch a spin class, but missed it by an hour, oops.  So the stationary bike it was for me.  I did some work on my cadence and rode a good 13 miles, well not really rode...but you get the idea.

Even more exciting though....I picked up the new bike last night.  It is gorgeous!  Hopefully, I will be out of work in time tonight to take it out for some miles.  I would be nice to get in a 20 mile trip before the weekend ride.  It would also be nice to figure out how to use my shifters before the weekend ride.  I am super excited though that this weekend's ride is out of Farmington and not Clinton, such a time saver!

Back to the Gym!

 Finally!

Wow, what a weekend...everyone in the house was sick, me included. Today is the first day that I finally feel strong enough that going to the gym tonight is not going to throw me back into a tailspin of sickness.  Pick up the new bike tomorrow.  Daylight savings time hopefully means afterwork riding on the road!  Yay!

No ride this weekend :(

no ride this weekend, silly weather.  30 miles in the gym then!  I have to say though 2 hours on a stationary or spinner is quite dull, but necessary!  I hope I don't get the bug that everyone has that will definitely put a damper on the plans!. 

Training Begins!

I thought 25 miles was going to be easier.  It was much easier in very flat Florida.  Hilly Connecticut, not so much.   What a great group of people though on my team.   So supportive of not only the physical aspect but ensuring the fundraising is going well too.

So the group ride last Saturday made me realize I will definitely need a road bike to get this event done.  So I went to Bloomfield Bike during my lunch break on Monday and picked up a 2009 Trek Alpha 1.5.  Pretty nice bike and cute too!   So strange that the road bikes don't have kick stands, makes sense, but just not something I would have ever thought of until I bought this one.

I hit them gym already this week and did 17 miles!  Woo-hoo!  I was hoping to go tonight as well, but sickness has besieged the house...Hopefully tomorrow will not bring barfing babies!

I figured, if I can't get some physical work done, I better get some time in on the fundraising portion!  So new blog here I come!

Bed time is calling!  I think this is going to be one of those nights that you have to sleep whenever you can get it.  Work should be fun tomorrow!