Just a little training update!

Wow, who didn't finish the year out well with blogging?  US!!!  SOOOO SORRY!!!  
While we have been horrible bloggers, we both (Annie and I ) have been doing and are getting ready to do some really neat things!  Annie just got done with a 10K and half marathon (which she is going to post about soon) and I am training for my next triathlon !!!  This time I'm training with Team In Training:  it's a great organization to raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  I'm so honored to be a part of this team!  

This weekend was the official launch weekend for the tri team!  It has been GREAT!!!  On Saturday, we had our first group training (GT) and Endeavor Cycling.  This is one cool place!  I've been talking about "cadence training" for a long time- or at least thinking about it- but this past Saturday was the first time I actually did it.  I noticed such a difference in my training effort!  Knowing my cadence is so helpful because I feel like it strengthens my training session.  We rode indoors for about 45 minutes, but I was SWEATING FOR SURE!!!  On Sunday, I went for a swim at our local pool.  My day had not gone the best, and I wasn't in the best of moods, and to be honest, I didn't want to go swim.... But when I was having those thoughts, I immediately started thinking about why I signed up for TNT.  I signed up to be a part of something that is bigger than me.  The thought that got me through the beginning of my swim was: "Strickland, you don't really want to do this, but do you think that cancer patients really want to go through another round of chemo, or really want to go through another spinal tap?  NO!!!!  GET YOUR BUTT IN THAT POOL!  DO SOMETHING YOU DON'T REALLY WANT TO DO!  It's not about you!!!!"  Yes, I pep-talk to myself in the 3rd person... :)  Once I got in the pool and started swimming, all my problems "floated" away.  Everything that had been on my mind vanished, and I just swam... 35 laps... Today I went for my first run since Sept.  I was nervous about it, and although i didn't get to do the entire 30 minutes that was required of me today, I did get a mile in... I ended up running that mile in 12 minutes, which I was soooo surprised at (and pretty impressed with myself since I hadn't run since Sept.).  

Through all this, I realized even more, how excited I am to train with TEAM.  Even though I can barely make it through the workouts right now, I know that in 5 months when it is time for my Tri, I'll be able to do these distances with no problem!