8 days left! - 7 days on the Auction!

Good evening Friends!

I am camped out at the local library for a night of discussion postings, but hopefully will escape for a short gym visit.

After completing one post, I checked my email to receive a delightful email from the development fundraising team at Bottom Line. They are hosting an online auction to benefit their mentoring and students. The auction has 15 hot items, from Whole Foods gift cards, Bruins tickets, PATRIOTS tickets, wine expos, kindle and even 10 pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream! I placed a couple bids because you know what is right around the corner - Christmas! And, I don't know about you, but I have some incredible family that deserves great gifts conveniently available at this auction.

Pros about this Auction.
1. The Money goes to Charity!
2. Christmas shopping done early
3. It's a competitive game!
4. You win something and feel great!

I might need to get back on the site. And perhaps provide you all with the link - Bottom Line 2011 Auction!

Focus.

Last Saturday, it became glaringly clear that I have fallen out of shape. I was tired after 40 miles. I have 10 days till the ride. Ok, so maybe out of shape is a bit dramatic...but something serious needed to be amended.

Despite waking up with a sore throat, runny nose, and nausea, I crammed in a short visit to the gym this evening. I am proud of the visit. I completed a 4 round circuit of rowing, sit ups and pull ups annnd some intense foam rolling. I know the extra visits to work on my core muscles will help in the ride even if it is 10 days away.

I really took the knee injury as a way out of my schedule... but maybe with good reason? I do a lot of squats, lunges, and knee necessary exercises that it seemed pointless... to try and on top of it, my little elbow pain restricted arm workouts too! Obviously not, pointless though, and I'm happy to report that my arm pain doesn't exist anymore and my knee pain is not so bad.

Oh, and you noticed the report that I'm a little sick. Yes, lesson learned and reported to you - do not finish up a 3 year olds half eaten bread after she completes her first days at pre-school days earlier. Pre-schoolers are sick and dirty by nature. What was I thinking you ask - Who doesn't know that? Well, I was thnking, I buttered that tasty piece of bread and didn't want to waste it! Well, it's water, Vitamin C rich items, no coffee, no alcohol, soup, throat drops, and benadryl until the race!

I like this part of preparing for distance events. It's the part that I pretend to be a real live important, sponsored, focused, professional athlete. Don't stop me, I'm focused on the prize! Well, that part is not pretend. I become very focused!

Although, now it's time to re-focus on my homework! I'm currently learning How to Be an Effective Leader.

13 days to go!

My knee is feeling better! I successfully biked 65 miles yesterday with Coach Jeremy. My knee felt weak and sore in the morning, but I crossed my fingers that the clips and cleats were now correctly aligned and I would not be doing further damage. I said it first here, Paul Serafini and Robert Miceli are genius! They both helped heal me back. Paul suggested the foam roller and Mr. Miceli fixed up my alignment.

Glove in my Mouth. I'm really doing this though!


After 20 miles of riding, we took a short break for goos and treats. I stepped off my bike and walked around. My knee didn't feel horrible! Was this is a sign that I'm going to be ok? I didn't get too excited because my threshold for pain is relatively high and I'm not very good at judging pain levels.

We stopped again at Verrill Farm for lunch after completing 40 miles. I had a delicious ham sandwich, jelly beans and chocolate milk. Once we started rolling again, my legs did not want to go. I don't think it was the food that slowed me down, I think it was the amount of rest in between riding and starting. We probably rested for 20 - 30 minutes. Now, I know for the century ride to limit the breaks to 15 minute increments.

We rode all over the area above and even below Rt 2. Look we went all the way to Wayland & Sudbury yesterday!

Wayland

Sudbury

$518 to go! 15 days left!

Hello everyone!

With only 15 days until the big ride, I am more than pumped and much more sore than I thought was possible with biking.

Anyway, the Stats are in - I have completed 316 miles of training, which amounts to roughly 20 hours of riding. Together, we have raised nearly $1500, which leaves $518 to be fundraised before the big day!

September 8th updated summary

My knee is still very sore so I am being extra diligent about icing, rolling, and reducing inflamation so I can heal up! Any other tips are welcome. I am a fierce fundraiser!

Productive and Restful.

I have many great updates to fill you in on, but need to also prepare for my week back in the office.

Quick update, I biked 72 miles on Friday afternoon with Mr. And Mrs. Miceli. They were super helpful and guided me all over the Cape for a beautiful and challenging ride. I was still in some serious pain when I set out for the ride, but .... Perhaps you've met me, I don't give up easily and I like to be prepared. It happens all the time that folks bike through pain - tour de France for instance.

Anyway, the Micelis took me out to celebrate the big accomplishment. After hobbling along after the ride, I finally asked the obvious question, "do you ever have pain from biking?". Almost in unison they agreed that knee pain can occur to the best of bikers, but most commonly at the start. A usual culprit is the bike shoes and misalignment of the clips. The very next day Mr. Miceli rechecked my bike and fixed up my shoes.

I am resting some ice on my knee atbthis very moment. The agenda for the week includes lots of icing, light gym visits and walden swims.

72 miles!!! I felt really tired, but mostly because of my knee. I think with proper fueling and correct alignment, I will have a much better chance of staying on my bike ... And finishing!

Thanks for the support everyone!

MY... Stick, Foam Roller, Ice Pack. Good to be Home!

After roughly 11 hours of traveling, I am home with my own ice pack on my knee.

I am in the comfort of my nice little house with a tall glass of water.

It really was a fantastic trip. Jim guided me through his sales week and introduced me to many great customers and I had high hopes for the visit and it could not have been more productive. Well, if I had been able to run - that would have made it the best trip! I definitely packed enough exercise gear. I even packed my FUEL belt to run with since Texas was hovering around 105 degrees.

I self diagnosed my knee pain to be an overworked IT band. I grabbed my Stick and massaged it out as soon as I walked in the door. I also fell onto my foam roller and could instantly tell that was exactly the problem. It already feels worlds better ... so if I stay up and foam roll until the pain is gone!

Or, I am fading fast and will complete a few quick things before bed! Welcome Home!

uh Oh!

Hi Everyone - And sorry for the lack of updates.

I have been traveling around Texas with a sales rep from my division for the week. It has been very educational and interesting to say the least!

The oddest thing happened on Monday morning. I felt some pain in my left knee and by the end of the day, I had a balloon instead of a knee. The pain is down, but it is still very stiff and swollen. The odd part about the whole knee is I did not twist, fall or cause direct damage to it. Not sure where this started...

I ressted - no running or biking for the last couple days - I did swim in the hotel pool though!

I iced A LOT - The perks of an ice machine always fit nicely to the extremely necessary moments in life.

I compressed - I did not bring my knee brace so I walked down to CVS. I tried on several braces in the aisle. I wore my fancy new brace religiously.

I elevated - while I slept, in the car, at lunch and at dinner.