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!