One of my many fundraisers

SUPER BOWL POOL

to benefit

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

The fine print:

$10 per box

Box sales and selection are on a first come, first serve basis

Chose any square you want that hasn't already been taken

No min/max - buy as many as you want

You can pay cash or write a check to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

The numbers that go along with each row/column will be randomly drawn after all boxes have been sold.  This makes it so that everyone has the same opportunity to get any set of numbers.  It also means you don't have to know anything about football as it all comes down to the luck of the draw.

$500 to the winner

$500 to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Winner is determined by the FINAL score of Super Bowl XLVI

See Laura to pick your box

Better now

As it turns out I was too sick to swim on Tuesday night.  I went to the doctor yesterday and was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection.  I started taking antibiotics right away and  already feel a lot better.  Back on the road tomorrow.

Then I entered the world of reality....

A lot has happened since my last post.  On Saturday we had a group “ride”; well actually, it was a spin class, a two hour swim orientation, and a personal swim evaluation.  Let me tell you about the swim evaluation.  I have been swimming since I was two years old.  I took lessons at a young age, and lifeguarded when I was in college.  I was so cocky and confident that the instructor would be so impressed with my skills that he would use me as an example for others to follow.  Maybe he would tweak one or two things, but that would be all I would need. 

Then I entered the world of reality.   The first humbling experience had nothing to do with my swim skills.  The instructor had us put our bathing suits on and get in a pool that he had specifically made for swim instruction.  This pool is about three feet deep with mirrors on the bottom and a video camera in the corner.  Now if I was a fit, trim triathlete it may not have been such a horrifying experience, but who wants to see a bowl of jello wobbling around in a bathing suit?  Then came the instruction.  Now during the orientation the coach told us how everybody naturally does a freestyle stroke in sort of an S shape.  Of course, I’m thinking “I don’t do that. My stroke is perfect”.  I was also thinking that I keep my arms parallel to each other and my body parallel to the ground and that my breathing technique was correct.  NOT!  It was all there in front of me, on the video, in black and white.  I have accumulated and perfected years of poor technique.  Now I have five months to get out of my old habits and create new ones.  Easier said than done.  I am as sick as a dog today, but come hell or high water I will not miss my swim with the TEAM.  I need an instructor standing over me correcting my form on every stroke.  Time to start good habits.  Wish me luck!

My first group swim

I definitely redeemed myself with the swim!

My first group "run"

Yesterday was a big day for this slow fat triathlete.  It started with a team meeting where we had an orientation, received our official training schedule and then went for our first team run.  I knew that I was in trouble during the orientation when everyone went around an introduced themselves.  Among the group were Ironman competitors, half Ironman competitors and people who have done dozens of triathlons and marathons before.  In fact, I was one of only two people in the room who has never done a triathlon, the other being a twenty-something girl who has done other endurance events and just wanted to challenge herself with something new.    

Then was the run…We all went outside, put our stuff in our cars, met up and began running.  I started in the first half of the group, but was dead last by the time we left the parking lot, and far behind shortly after we hit the road.  My right leg could have kept going all day, but my lungs and my left leg had another idea in mind.  I’ve got to keep up with the shin splint stretches.  I kept on going and kept on watching the rest of the group get further and further ahead of me.  At one point they were so far ahead I could not see them at all.  In about fifteen minutes they turned around and headed back.  I waited for them to catch up with me “running” in the other direction before I turned around.  For one split second I was in front of the pack.  They all encouraged me and cheered me on as they passed.  I was very grateful for that.  I ran in with the last two of them.  Back at the parking lot I was given tips and more encouragement.  The coach says that if I stick to the training schedule I would have no trouble finishing the run.  The training schedule is my new bible. 

Tuesday is the first group swim.  I am hoping to redeem myself then!  Wish me luck. 

Wish me luck!

I'm going to have my first run with the team tomorrow.  Here's to hoping that I am not so far behind everyone that I embarrass myself!