Extremely Grateful!

I officially registered for my MS 150 race last Wednesday. Less than a week later and I have shattered my fundraising goal of $500. I cannot thank everyone enough for their extreme generosity. Initially, I was hesitant to ask for friends / family to donate. I just felt bad asking people for money so I figured I would just front the necessary money required to do the race and call it a day. I came to the conclusion that if I just tried it, the potential for raising WAY more than I could ever put up was a reality. So, I posted how you could donate, and look at me now. But in all honesty, it's thanks to all of you. All I have to do is ride a bike!

I can't tell you how much this means to Annie's mom. She was so excited when she found out that I would be doing this and in her name. I'll be extremely proud to call her and tell her that I've already beat my fundraising goal and am hoping to double it (at least) by the start of my race. If there is only one thing I am looking forward to with all of this, it's going to be getting a picture at the finish line after 150 grueling miles, holding up a sign that says, "This one's for you, Phyllis!" This disease has touched so many lives and if this is my small way to make an effort towards finding a cure, 150 miles is nothing!

To give a brief training update, I've been riding as much as possible! My weekends are entirely dedicated to cycling, even if it means squeezing in only an hour or two because of work or spending a miserable two hours pedaling through cold rain. I've also continued physical therapy on my hipflexer. I've certainly seen some great results - my legs are getting real strong! Yesterday I put down my fastest 7.5 mile time ever (that's a turn-around point for me when I do a few laps to Oviedo and back). I'm seeing my cruising speeds creep up more and more each ride and am starting to see sustained speeds at 20 - 22 mph (16 - 18 mph with a good headwind, which usually happens on the second leg of my ride). But, training isn't about speed (not yet anyway). For now, I am continuing to work on longer distances regardless of speed. Once I'm logging 100+ mile weekends, I'll start working on the speed, and that shouldn't be too long from now!

That's all for now. Again, thank you to everyone for all of the support with this race. I'll keep you all posted on progress!

Pain is Progress... right?

It's been a little while since I last posted; not because I've stopped training but because I've been extremely busy at work, logging many late hours. Every year I run an event called the Fly-in, during which I bring 25 high school counselors from all over the country to Rollins to learn about what we have to offer. It's a 3-day event and requires a ton of coordination, so my time was mostly consumed by that. But, now that's over! The event was a success and is one less thing to worry about.

I had mentioned going to physical therapy (PT) in my last post. That has started and hello pain! Now, I've been logging more and more miles in the saddle, so I am in a continuous state of sore legs, but in a good way. You know, the way you feel after a great workout. During PT, the therapist has determined that since my injury doesn't limit me during activity (mostly during stretching), the best course of action is to strengthen my hipflexer / groin area so this never happens again. To cut to the chase, the therapist is kicking my ass during workouts, pushing me extremely hard, demanding results, and getting them! So, although it might hurt to stand the morning after PT, I know my legs have been worked HARD and are getting much stronger. I plan on keeping up these same workouts after PT ends - it will only make me stronger for the race in May.

Wet ride!

This past weekend I went on my first group ride. It was advertised as a 20-mile ride averaging 12-14 mph. I typically do more than 20 miles (unless really hung over) and normally average 16-19 mph on my own but I figured that this would be good for me to hone my group riding etiquette. It was a really fun ride, though a little too relaxing for me. They offer different levels of rides so next time I'll do one a little more advanced but it was still a great ride and very well-organized.

After a night of cleaning... oh well!

My second ride last weekend was my first time riding in the rain. I wish I could say that it had something fun and unique about it, but it didn't. It was cold, wet, and not a ton of fun. But, the trails were almost entirely empty and I was still able to get a workout. I only wish I hadn't cleaned my bike the night before... oh well - I'll know better for next time.

This weekend is the cruise! It has been much anticipated and is very well deserved and both Annie and I are very much looking forward to it!