Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training Program
ABOVE: That’s me at the 2006 Intracoastal Century Ride in Cocoa Beach, Florida.
Mountain Bikers to Roadies
In the spring of 2006 my husband and I, who were mountain bikers at the time, purchased our first road bikes. Our local mountain bike trails had been destroyed in one of those pesky south Florida hurricanes and we were looking for a way to maintain our fitness. A couple of our mountain bike friends mentioned that they had purchased a road bike, so we went to our local bike store and bought a couple of entry level aluminum frame road bikes.
Team in Training
Compared to the heavy, fat tire mountain bike, the road bike, with it’s light weight and skinny tires, kind of scared me. And riding on the road, in traffic was a bit different. Around this time I received a Team in Training brochure in the mail. Team in Training, which was initiated in 1988, is one of the main fundraising programs for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The program helps the society raise funds to help stop blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma from taking more lives. Team in Training helps participants train for an endurance sporting event, while helping to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Endurance Athletic Events
The brochure listed the marathons, triathlons and century bike rides that were available for participants in the Palm Beach Team in Training program. I don’t enjoy swimming, so I had no interest in doing a triathlon. I hadn’t been running in YEARS, so the thought of doing a marathon didn’t seem too intriguing either. But a century ride, ride a bike 100 miles in a single day? COOL! I thought if I trained with Team in Training for a 100 mile bike ride, that after completing the ride I would no longer be afraid of the road bike. So I called my husband at work and told him the exciting news – I just signed us up to do the 2006 Intracoastal Waterway Century Ride in Cocoa Beach.
My husband, along with many of my friends and family, thought I was totally insane. I guess they had a hard time picturing me as an endurance athlete. What, doesn’t marathon sessions of sitting on the couch and eating donuts count as an endurance sporting event? And the fact that I weighed 20 pounds more than I do now probably had them scratching their heads, or running away in fear, at the thought of my squeezing my goddess body into spandex biking shorts.
ABOVE: That’s my husband and I, in the neon purple/green/white Team in Training jerseys at the 2006 Intracoastal Century Ride. We are leaving the Astronaut Hall of Fame, on our way to Kennedy Space Center
Enjoyable Training
We had a fantastic time training with the team and are still friends with a few of our team mates from that first season. In fact we enjoyed biking so much, that just a month before the century ride, my husband went out and upgraded our bikes to mostly carbon frame road bikes. Anyone that has done an endurance sporting event knows that you aren’t supposed to mess around with new equipment a month before your event. I guess my husband didn’t read the memo with that tip.
Team Mates to Mentors
The following year I was contacted by the Palm Beach Leukemia Society Campaign Coordinator to see if my husband and I would be interested in being mentors for the Team in Training cycle team. Mentors are kind of like cheerleaders. We help new Team in Training members with their fundraising goals and prove to them that anyone can complete an endurance sporting event – we were in their shoes the previous season. We jumped at the chance to be team mentors, and helped our coach train the Palm Beach team for the 109 mile El Tour de Tucson which took place on November 17th, 2008 in Tucson, Arizona.
While we were out in Tucson, my husband was asked if he ever thought about coaching. He said sure thing, so this year he is coaching and I am mentoring the Palm Beach Team in Training cycle team. We are training for the 20th Intracoastal Waterway Century Ride which takes place on October 26, 2008 in Cocoa Beach.
ABOVE: That’s my husband and I, with silly palm trees on top of our helmets, at the 25th El Tour de Tucson in Tucson, Arizona on November 17th, 2007.
Triple Crown Athlete
Now my husband has dreams of being a Triple Crown recipient with Team in Training. That is someone that has done at least one century ride, one marathon and one triathlon through the Team in Training program. Good luck with the triathlon, he will be doing that one on his own. But right now we are both training for the Disney Marathon with Team in Training. And we aren’t runners! We’ll be doing 26.2 miles in Orlando on January 11th, 2009 while running through the Disney theme parks – COOL!!!!
I haven’t gone into the fundraising that is part of every Team in Training event. I have lots of crazy fundraising ideas, some of which have been more successful than others. I’ll save my fundraising hints, tips and suggestions for future posts on Charity Mile.
Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Bike Diva
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