Welcome

So, I did it. I signed up to raise $3000 to be part of Team in Training and things just kicked off officially last week. I have been back in training since the New Year, as a major resolution in my life was to get myself back to the physical discipline that I had lost for the past few years. In only a few weeks, I can already see it making a difference.

The event I am training to do is the 2009 Wildflower Olympic Triathlon down in Monterey County. It is a 1.5km swim in a lake(.9 miles), 40km bike ride in hilly terrain (26 miles) and a 10km run (6.3 miles) on both road and trail. The Wildflower is a big festival from what I can gather, and we will all be camping out together in the state park for the weekend; it is often called the Woodstock of triathlons.

I've done a few endurance events before, from the Vancouver Marathon in 2003 (3:49:55) and the Ride Around Mt. Rainier in One Day in 2005 (154 miles, 10,000 ft of climbing in 10 hours of riding), but have never completed a triathlon. To be honest, I am a little scared of the open water and one of the reasons I am excited to be part of TNT is to help gain some confidence in the swim section from the coaches and captains.

Being part of a team is great. People support each other, we train together and it is nice to see other people willing to push themselves to make their lives better while helping others. Training involves a lot of suffering -- I've been running a lot again (got up to 6 miles on the treadmill yesterday), and it hurts. Been hitting the pool again lately also, and by the end of a 30 minute workout my arms and back feel like Jell-o. But you have to fight through it, and I love it.

I am going to start posting pictures, training advice I get from TNT, information on Leukemia and Lymphoma and cool places to train that I find in the Bay Area as things keep going. Been exploring Tilden and Wildcat Canyon Parks by bike and foot, and have been seeing some amazing things. Am still learning how to post pics from my iPhone.

Working on getting my fundraising site pimped out, but here it is right now ...

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/wildtri09/rnarasiman

Please leave comments with fundraising or training tips. Or general positive encouragement -- getting to the Wildflower finish line isn't going to be a walk in the park.



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