Thursday, June 24, 2010

Amica 5430 Sprint Triathlon Race Report

The 5430 Sprint Triathlon was the first triathlon I ever did. I did it with Team In Training, and Coach Mary and Coach Charley got me through a fun race back in 2006. I was hooked, and if you've read this blog for any amount of time, you know all about it. This year my scheduled allowed me to sign up for this race again.

Saturday, June 20
After a brief workout in the morning at the Air Force Academy - about 11 miles along Stadium Drive, I headed home. The tri team was riding for 2 hours, the cycle team 40 miles. I just cut it short...wanted to save the legs for race day! When I got home I packed up and headed up to Boulder. On the way I made a stop at Chick-fil-A for my ever so successful day before the race lunch. Except I ordered by number and the combo numbers were different in Castle Rock! Instead of a grilled chicken sandwich I got the deluxe - the fried sandwich. I ate it anyway. Probably a little too much grease for my system along with the fries and milkshake, but it tasted so good! I like eating a little more in the beginning of the day and then having a lighter dinner.
I'm back on the road, on my way to Boulder. Everything is pretty green out here - I'm enjoying all the views. Traffic wasn't an issue and I made good time. Got to the Res for registration around 2:30, race meeting was at 3:00. I didn't have to wait in any lines, walked right through, and even missed the USAT check-in. One of the volunteers saw my FSU visor and asked if I went there. Yep, and so did she. Then I made my way through all the stops (WTC has a big check-in procedure at their races) and ended at the t-shirt table. They are out of mediums. How do you run out of shirts when the race has been sold out for a month or two and everyone fills out what size they want???  I put my name on the list to get one sent to me. The t-shirt guy also asked if I went to FSU. Apparently he did as well, and didn't know that the other volunteer did...the 'Noles are taking over! Next up was a table where you can buy a raffle ticket and the procedes go to the Govener's Carbon fund, or some sort of environmental fund for the state. So I gave them $5 and got two tickets.


Ran into some Pikes Peak Tri Club folks who were just arriving for the packet pick-up. Craine and Molly were there and a line was forming. I realized I missed a step so got in the USAT line so they could check off that I was here and a member. Right when I was showing my card, the race announcer called my name. Huh? Turns out I dropped my race packet - thought I was putting in the bag and it must have slipped. So phew! That could have been a disaster!

3pm rolls around, the line is now long and Barry Siff starts going over the basics of the race. This was Barry's race with 5430 Sports until this year - he sold his race company to World Triathlon Corporation (Ironman). So no longer a local race, we were all curious on how it would go, but it was great that he is still involved in some capacity. After the race meeting, I ran into Ben, one of my NEO Endurance Sports athletes and his family. He gets to race on Father's Day while his kids play in the hotel pool. Then I caught up with Jeff and Terri from the Tri Club and we went over to the water with Craine to check out the temps. Jeff tried on a new wetsuit.

We then headed out and were goign to meet for dinner a bit later, so I headed to Pearl Street to park and find a coffee shop to get some work done. Took in a little of the local culture as well. There is a lot of "culture" in Boulder!

Then I met up with Steve and Michele Vaughan, Molly, Jeff and Terri and we had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Skipped the cheesecake though. Ate half a sandwhich and took the other half to share with my host for the night. After dinner I drove over to Jordan's house so I could crash on her couch for the night. Nice comfy couch!

Sunday, June 20th
My alarm went off at 4:45am, but of course I woke up at 4:43. Quickly got my stuff around and headed over to the Res. I've done a lot of events at the Res, so this is all familiar territory. Took my things to transition, got my chip, racked my bike, got transition set up, got body marked, went to the bathroom, went for a warm-up run. Legs were feeling pretty good! I was hoping they would stay that way! Steve got the Tri Club tent out of my car so we had some shade and a place to stash my flip flops since I always forget them if I leave them on the beach. Chatted with the people I knew, and some I didn't. Got a short warm-up swim in. Finally a race where I can warm-up in the swim! Then we headed back to the beach, found our wave, and waited to start. 8:00am my wave goes off.

GPS data (bike and run, all as bike...goofed when starting the multisport)

Swim, 750m: 19:02.
I think I messed up my positioning here. I started to the outside a bit as to not get run over right away, but since it is a clock-wise swim and an pull left, I'm pretty sure I got some extra yardage in there. Otherwise the swim felt great - plenty of buoys even though we are swimming into the sun. I drafted a bit on the way back in, got out of the water, ran up the beach and into transition. Not fast, but no real issues either.

T1: 1:39
Got to figure out how to get the wetsuit off my ankles faster, probably lost 10s or so with this. Shoes were already on the pedals so it was race belt (Ironman rule), sunglasses, helmet, and go!

Bike: 50:22, 17 miles, 20.5mph
Ahhhh...the bike. Here's my time to shine. There are a few rollers coming out of the Res, then you just hit a gradual climb on Jay Rd and Hwy 36. Tried to keep it steady here, but push it a little, as after 7 miles it's a flat/gradual downhill stretch that should allow for a little recovery. Passed a lot of people here. I didn't count, but I made up quite a bit of time. I didn't like it if another female passed me, no matter what age group. I tried to keep up. Once the "climbing" was done, we turn on Neva Rd and just rock. Go as fast as you can. I think there might have been a slight headwind, but overall good conditions. Then we turn and head back to the res with a brief stretch along the Diagonal Hwy. I think this was a tailwind since it felt a bit easier than normal. Back into the Res, over the rollers, duke it out with a 24 and 26 year old. The 24 year old was not far behind me the whole bike, sometimes she was a little ahead. Nice bike ride! My fuel/hydration for the bike was about 16oz of HEED, maybe 120 calories total. Slip my feet out of my shoes right before the transition area.

T2: 1:03
Dismount, park the bike (not pretty), take off the helmet, put on socks, shoes, grab the hat and go. Race belt was already on. I was hoping I hydrated enough on the bike, as it was getting warm!

Run: 25:07 (8:07 pace)
Here's where sprint races really hurt. Run a 5k after you've pushed yourself for about an hour already. The run course is mostly flat, one short hill, then slightly up on the way out and ever so slightly down on the way back. My legs felt pretty good, though I probably could have used a few more calories at the end of the bike to prep me for the run. Felt it a little. It's all mental here - the fitness is totally there since I did a half ironman two weeks prior to this race. So I just had to convince myself to run! I was also starting to feel the grease from yesterday's lunch. The finish line to this race is on a downhill stretch for about 100or so yards, so at least everyone can look fast, even if they have nothing left! I kept running, and soon enough I crossed that finish line! 1:37:12.

Totals:
2010: Swim 19:02, T1- 1:39, Bike 50:22 (20.5mph), T2- 1:03 Run - 25:07 (8:07 pace) Total: 1:37:12
Rank: 22/97 age group 35-39.


Compare this to my results from 2006 when I did this race as my first triathlon:
Swim 19:44, - T1- 02:52, Bike* 1:00:59 (16.9mph), T2- 1:25, Run- 28:37 (09:13 pace) Tot...al 1:53:38
Rank: 84/127 age group 30-34.
*mountain bike w/slicks

So after 4 more seasons of training, I did make some improvements! Still need to work on that swim...

After cooling off some, I hung out at the tri club tent, cheered on Carley to her first triathlon finish, ate the post-race food (nutella, anyone!). I hung around for the awards, as a couple Tri Club folks made it to the podium, and I wanted to see if I won anything in the raffle. And I did! both my tickets won - I got $40 to Boulder Running Co and a sweet TYR transition backpack! My lucky day! Then I cleaned up, Steve packed up the tent and got it back in my car, and I headed down to Divide to hang out with my Dad (and mom) a bit on Father's Day.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Kansas 70.3 Race Report Part 2: Race Day

In case you are pressed for time:

Overall time: 5:43:43
Swim: 47:02, T1: 2:45, Bike: 2:54:42, T2: 1:36, Run: 1:57:37
Preliminary full results: http://www.ironmanusa.com/results/kah2010res.html

And the day begins...another one of those 3:40am alarms to be able to leave the hotel by 4:15am. Rich (PPTC member) drove and we got to park way out in the boonies and take a school bus to T2. This was pretty efficient. I think for those who arrived later had a little more trouble with traffic backing up.


I took my stuff to my T2 spot, ate my banana and PB sandwich and then trudged down to T1 to get my bike set up. Heard on the loud speaker that the water temp was 77.5 degrees. Wetsuit legal. Great - I left the wetsuit in the car so it wouldn’t get to the race site until Tim got here. And then he had to know to bring it down to the swim and find me. I sent him a text in the hopes that he would get it.


Last year I took my time getting down to T1 and had to hustle, so today I was going to get there in plenty of time. And I did. Bottles on the bike, food in the bento box, check of the brakes. A Specialized Bike guy was walking around with a pump and aired up my tires. Bike looked good. I then called Tim (it’s 5:15 and I supposedly set the alarm for 5:00 for him). Good thing I called since the alarm didn’t go off. Signal was choppy but I mentioned the wetsuit and then followed up with a text message. With any luck they could make it down.

Trip to the port-o-pottie. Helped a girl from the University of Florida (!) air up her tires. (Go ‘Noles!) chatted with some of the Team In Training folks and then headed to the top of transition to wait for Tim. At about 6:45 he showed up. Perfect! My wave was supposed to start at 7:10, but due to delay getting the medics to the water (can’t start a race without medics) we went a little later than that. I had been sipping water and HEED all morning, so at this point I had to pee so the sooner I got in the water the better! But I'm still all smiles in my new XTERRA Vector Pro X2 Wetsuit!


Swim: 47:02
Wave 11, W35-39, M18-24. Red caps. Race announcer picked up on the gender/age combination and made some fun remarks. We’re right behind W30-34, Jessica’s wave. It was a deep water start so we got a 50yd warm-up. Always nice to check if the goggles leak before the long swim. The swim went well (I thought, but I was 2 minutes slower than last year.) I wasn’t sure how to place myself since we’re all kind of treading water, but the congestion cleared relatively quickly. I got to the buoy line and stayed fairly close. Seemed like it was a longer trip to the turn around and of course I got passed and bumped a little by the men who were in the wave behind us. Breathing was good, arms felt good, so I just tried to swim a solid swim. Water was a little choppier after the turnaround heading back to the shore. And the water got a little more clustered with people. I also felt my lower back was a little sore. I think because my wetsuit is on the small side, I might not have pulled it up over my torso properly. A little annoying, but not much else. I also noticed on the way back that my underarms were getting a little chafed from the wetsuit. I didn’t have issues in the sprint race so I didn’t put any body glide under my arms, just along the sholder/chest area. Next time! I was certainly glad to be done....next time I'll push a little harder. Guess I got a nice 47min swim in before a good long bike ride. Got to get more of my entry fee, right?

T1: 2:45
No problems finding my bike. One of the perks of being a slow swimmer, most bikes around me were gone so I had a little more room. Wetsuit still a little tough to get off around the ankles - need to practice this! This race required a race number on your back so I used my race belt. Shoes on, sunglasses and helmet, then went the 20yds to the bike out. I had to navigate around the guy with the aero helmet and nice bike who tipped over right in the middle of the chute. Glad I put my shoes on in transition because the start of the bike is pretty much uphill and there are a lot of bikes around that I wouldn’t want to accidentally swerve into.

Bike: 2:54:42
GPS data
The bike is where I have the most fun. And I’ve busted my rear the last 4-5 months with power-based training (and gained some additional glute muscles, not to mention quads). Last year I had a great bike split and was confident I could top that. Skies were partially cloudy, which helped keep us cool, though the air temperature was a bit warmer. I made it a point to drink plenty of water and stick to my fueling plan - a 3hr bottle of Perpetuem with the equivalent of 3 endurolytes per hour added. I also had some peanut butter crunch clif bar pieces for some solid food if I needed that. I always have a few bites within the first 20min on the bike so I don’t get a growly stomach. Stuck to that plan. And I rode - I hit 7 miles in 21 minutes so that was close to my goal pace, and since I had small chain-ringed it for the first few miles, I was pretty happy with that. Just keep cranking away. I passed a lot of people. I think the only female to pass me on the bike (that I didn’t pass back shortly thereafter) was on the relay team. Then again, I think I was in the last wave of women, so being one of the slowest swimmers out there, there weren’t too many behind me to start. I did pass a lot of people out there. Played a little leap frog with some heavier guys on the more rolling sections, but not like I did last year.

There were too many cars on the course that wouldn’t pass the cyclists so we were left with a few options. Hang behind the car until it finally passes, pass the car on the right or pass the car on the left. All options weren’t ideal. But this might have slowed us down a little too.

I came up on Jessica around mile 33 - right at aid station #2 and told her to rock it! Technically I passed her twice, once right before the aid station, and once right after since I slowed to take a water hand-up.:-) Thank goodness the bottles they have made it really easy to refill my aero drink.

Soon after this we came up to the oil slick. Rumor has it that BP was in the area earlier in the morning. There was some sand and hay to help absorb it off the road, but volunteers were there to slow us down and we all had to dismount, walk around the spill, and then remount. We didn’t know the bike course would be part cyclocross!  I’m sure that slowed us up some, but I wouldn’t think more than a minute. Heading back towards the park has some rollers but is more downhill than up so I felt like I was cruising. Roads were getting congested again. One guy got a penalty for blocking, and he was passing me when the referee told him, so I was a little more cautious with my distancing knowing the motorcycle was nearby. And then we all got stuck behind another slow moving car. What was up with that? Climbing the big hill back into the park I ended up right behind him after he served his time in the penalty tent, but we were climbing at the same rate - he was out of the saddle, I was spinning. But I wasn’t going fast enough to pass him and didn’t want to burn up my legs, so I slowed up a tad so I wouldn’t be right on his wheel. Turned into the park and did my best to spin up the hills to the T2. Heading into T2 the runners are on one side of the road, cyclists on the other. And spectators lining the road decide to cross at inopportune times. Last year there were a couple wrecks because of this. This year I didn’t hear of any wrecks, but I was about 1-2 seconds from clobbering a guy running across with a kid on his shoulders. Race organizers need to do a much better job with crowd control at these congestion points. I pulled my feet out of my shoes right before T2 and hopped off my bike.

T2: 1:36
Pretty efficient here, once I threw my bike on the rack by the handlebar. T2 racking doesn’t need to be pretty. Got my socks and shoes on, grabbed my hat, which had a big brown spider on it! Quickly brushed him off, snagged my fuel belt and went to run. And really felt the chafing under my arms from the swim! Ouch!



Run: 1:57:37
GPS data
I’ve gained a lot of run fitness this past year, running a half marathon in 1:48:29, so I was pretty sure I could maintain a 8:30 pace for this. My first mile split, with a brief walk through an aid station was 8:18. Mile 2 was 7:57 (slightly downhill). I could back off a little and be comfortable, or so I thought. My breathing was more labored than I would expect and at mile 3 my legs just didn’t quite feel right. It was pretty hot so I took sponges to cool off, ice in the hat at aid stations (though it fell out the back), splashed cold water on me. My calves got tight so I took 2 endurolytes every couple aid stations and also sipped at my HEED. I felt like my form/posture was good, I just wasn’t able to move as fast as I wanted to. Starting the second loop my legs were feeling it. I probably walked a little longer through the aid stations. I took gels at mile 1, mile 4, and mile 7.  My IT band and hip tightened a bit on the second loop. I took a second to stretch it between miles 8-9. Now the goal was to keep going. My legs were sore, wanted to keep my calves from cramping (the endurolytes do help!). At the end my left hammy was feeling it, but I was less than a mile from the finish line…as long as I didn’t cramp up before then!  Walked through the last aid station and then said run! So I ran it into the finish line, complete with KU cheerleaders, Glenda the Good Witch, Dorothy, Tim Man, Scarecrow, and the Lion. And the yellow brick road! Finished! Clock time said 6:23:43, but I didn’t know the offset for my wave and my brain wasn’t in any condition to do the math.

After I grabbed my water bottle and finishers medal, and let the volunteer take the chip off my ankle and knew I needed to keep walking. Sipped the water and walked 100yds or so to a purple tent in the distance. It was the Team In Training tent for the chapter that was there. I paused to chat with the person sitting there and then headed back to the finish line to find Tim.


Found him and we walked over to the ice bath. Which was really a medium sized inflatable pool. Ahhh…that helped get my core temperature down and made me feel a lot better. Chatting with a few of the people there  - met a guy from Monument who is active with the Pikes Peak Road Runners, since I asked him if he was a tri club member. Turns out this was his first triathlon!  Got out of the water and headed over to the food tent. Had half a banana and a few bites of the pulled pork sandwich and that was all I could do. Drank some more water. Ran into Joe and his family and then looked for Jessica in the armed forces tent, as she shouldn't be too far behind me. Didn't see her but I did find Chrissie Wellington, so I asked for a photo. In true Chrissie style, she agreed with a smile.

Then we went to the bag pick-up and realized they didn’t pack my wetsuit or towel like they did last year. Hard to miss - the wetsuit was on top of the bag which was on top of the towel. Don’t know if they had issues last year, but it was a lot more convenient. As we had to walk all the way back down to T1 to get my wetsuit. And I was still feeling the heat. At the top of the hill I made Tim get me some Gatorade while I hit the port-o-potty again. Then we went to T2 so I could get my bike. Still had some of that clif bar so I nibbled on that. Another ¾+ mile walk to the car. I got my miles in that’s for sure! So nice to get in the air conditioning and then back to the hotel. Showered up and then propped my feet up with some pillows and just chilled.

I was feeling quite a bit better when it was time to go to our post race celebration, so I must have been overheated a bit. But I was starting to stiffen up - knees, quads, legs! Ibuprofin will be my friend for the next few days. Around 6pm we picked up Jessica at her hotel and headed to Freestate brewery in downtown Lawrence. Ahhh…beer! And burger and fries. And they had really good queso! By the time we got back to the hotel, it was pretty much bed time, as we needed to leave first thing in the morning.

Race summary:
I was glad I got to the site early to set up transition - I think a lot of athletes got stuck in traffic. Crowd control needs improvement- a plastic fence, like a snow fence to keep spectators off the course except at designated crossing points (and perhaps they could get some military volunteers to be effective at those points.) Yellow brick road finish line is fun, and I didn’t have to wait in line for food. The gear bag thing was frustrating as well. But the ice bath (or cool water) pool was much bigger this year - last year’s only fit about 3 people in it at a time this one fit more than 10. Normally I say “bring it” for the heat and humidity, but with the cold spring we had, perhaps I was better acclimated to heat last year. And I don’t remember cars getting in the way! I’m disappointed that I didn’t hit my time goals, as I am certainly fitter than I was last year. But I need to review the files and see what I did differently or what was different about the race. I also realized (thanks race photos!) that I’m really carrying about 10lbs too much weight. I really need to trim down. So that’s my next plan…

And sign for this church on the drive home...Dunkard Brethren Church….how do you read that quickly? ;-)

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Kansas 70.3 Race Report Part 1: Friday and Saturday

Friday the Road Trip to KS…
We left Monument around 1pm on Friday since Tim had to work in the morning. We grabbed lunch at McDonalds - I got a grilled chicken club sandwich and a side salad. Actually remembered to say no mayo! McDonalds chicken sandwiches are  really awful. But since Tim was driving, I let him pick the place for lunch. We then took a nice scenic route to get to I-70 and then headed east. And we drove, and drove and drove. We saw a car with 3 triathletes at a gas station in eastern Colorado - they seemed to be enjoying their trip, taking pictures, etc. I can only assume they were also headed to Kansas. One was wearing compression socks in true triathlete style. Tim commented that they seemed to be taking their time with such a long drive ahead. Ah, no matter, they came flying past us on the highway. So Tim stayed a comfortable distance behind them. Then they slowed down and it looked like their windshield seal was coming out. But also up ahead was a cop with someone pulled over and we wondered if they had a radar detector. A few minutes later they came flying past us again, but shortly after that, a state trooper heading in the opposite direction did a U-turn and pulled them over. Maybe no radar detector. Bummer.

Some views from the road:


We wanted to stop in Salina for dinner, but confusion between the GPS and highway signs for restaurants made us miss the exits, so we drove ahead to Abilene. At this point I was pretty hungry! That chicken sandwich and salad didn't go very far. Found a Subway and their orchard chicken sandwich is actually pretty good. It was almost 11pm by the time we got to the hotel in Lawrence. We got out of the car and it was warm...like really warm! At 11pm! Ahhh! Grabbed all the stuff out of the car and got to bed.

Saturday:
This was the night to get as much sleep as I could. I slept until about 8am or so, but I was getting hungry so I couldn’t really sleep much more. Tim went to get a workout in and I snacked on a clif bar and started planning my day. Expo day! But breakfast first - IHOP. Blueberry pancakes with a side of scrambled eggs for some protein. I could eat pancakes all the time. Next back to the hotel so I could get my stuff around, as athletes had to pick up their race numbers and rack their bikes on Saturday. Got dressed so I could also get a short bike ride in. Arrived at Clinton Lake State Park, hopped on my bike and rode about 6 miles - went to the park entrance and back and oh yeah - I remember those hills! It was pretty hot and humid, highs were in the low 90s. Ran into a few PPTC club members, Rich and Christi. Then I took my bike to the expo area. Left my bike on a rack while I went to get my packet. The process was very efficient this year. Last year I had to wait in line for at least an hour. Today I went right through. The race expo directors took a lesson from the theme parks and dumped you into the iron man.com store. All the m-dot merchandise you can think of.

I caved in and bought a Kansas 70.3 sticker for $1.50. I resisted on the $3 ball point pen though. When I got back to my bike to put my race number on it, I noticed another bike. I wonder how long he was planning to be out on the bike course.

But it seemed he was a Team In Training participant so I chatted with him for a minute and wished him luck. The Gateway chapter (I think that’s who they were) had about 13 people racing in prep for Redman full IM.

Next step was to get my race number on my bike and head down to T1. It’s about a half-mile walk down the road and down the hill. Yeah, that hill that’s going to be tough on lap #2 of the run course. Found my spot, which was actually really close to the bike out so I would be able to navigate most of transition without my bike.

I then did a quick recon of where I’d be coming out of the water and how to find my bike. One less thing to worry about on race morning. Was about to hoof it back up the hill when a volunteer (the race directors wife) was driving in a golf cart and was willing to drive a few of us back up.

Next was to examine T2, find my rack location and how I was going to find it coming in off the bike. About 6 racks past the last tree and the number ending in 1125. Got it.
I headed back up to the expo to look for a yellow sponge for my aero drink bottle. They didn’t have the sponge itself, but they had a bottle that came with the sponge, for probably similar to the spare parts kit, so I got it. Then I got a poster signed by Linsey Corbin at the Zipp wheels tent. She commented on my Hammer Nutrition shorts- as they are a Montana company and she’s from Montana.


It was almost time for the 2pm race meeting so I headed over to the tent where I ran into Jessica. How hot it was - I was dripping with sweat and all I’d done was ride for about 20ish minutes and walk around.

 I’m glad I remembered from last year that it would be hot out and brought three water bottles with me to the expo. I went through them all. Typical race meeting, reviewing the rules, typical questions. And the announcement that the water temperature was 81 degrees, so not wetsuit legal. The water would have to cool down to below 78 degrees to be wetsuit legal. Not very likely considering it’s a large body of water. At the end of the race meeting I sent Joe, a friend of my boss who was racing this weekend as well, a text and it turns out he was standing right behind us. He was doing the swim and bike part of the relay and his sister in-law was running the 13.1 as he strained his hamstring a few weeks ago.

I took Jessica to meet her mom at the edge of the park and then headed back to the hotel. Got cleaned up and then Tim and I headed to Montana Mike’s for our pre-race and pre-spectating meal. Here are the details: Salad, teriyaki chicken, rice, a sweet potato and a roll. Didn’t eat it all - it was plenty of food, but it was a good meal!

After dinner I packed up my race gear, got as much as I could ready and coordinated with Rich to carpool so our spouses could sleep in a little bit and went to bed by 9:30.

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

In Memory of James Plotnick - Sept 5, 2000 - May 25, 2010

Hi! I am James and I am 9 years old. In August 2004, I was diagnosed with ALL. I finished over 3 years of chemotherapy at Childrens Hospital in Denver and was off therapy for nearly 2 years when I relapsed in August of 2009. I have spent the past 10 months at TCH in an intensive chemotherapy course and am part of a study that I hope will make therapy more successful for patients in the future. I am in 4th grade and have a sister Anna (7) and a brother Luke (6). I love legos and soccer. I hope to cheer and inspire you with hope to cross that finish line this fall.
James was a Team Hero for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Team In Training. Above is what participants get from the Hero to help bring them closer to the cause. In most cases, we are lucky to have the Team Hero at our event or pre-race celebration. James, unfortunately, lost his battle to blood cancer last week and will not be there to cheer us on, but I can tell you without a doubt that his spirit will be with all of us as we train and race.

If you ever see people at races wearing purple, or out on the trails and roads with their Team In Training logos on, you know why they do what they do.  We are fighting for others like James and their families. All you need to do is shout out a "Go Team!" and see us smile.

Please consider a donation to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society - just click on the 'donate now' button on the left of this blog or follow this link to donate. No donation is too small, and all are 100% tax-deductible. Thank you for your support.