Fundraising update 7-14-09

Happy Bastille Day!

As of this morning, we are up to $800 in fundraising. We have a LONG way to go. Two and a half weeks until the ride, but the actual funds aren't due until October. Still, we'd prefer to get all of our fundraising done before the ride. Looks like we might miss our goal this year, but we'll have to wait & see. I hope not.

Training update

Ok, so, with a newborn, training is kind of a joke. But we have over a month left, and our ride is only 47-miles, not 192 miles or even 115 miles. I think I could do it now. But could I do it without hurting myself? hmmm. maybe. It's been done before, but then again I did just have a baby.

Compounding the 'lack of time' issue is the "we've had 4 sunny days out of the past 55 days" issue. While I don't mind riding in the rain, really, it is a safety factor, and Grant is totally dependent on me at this point. I find myself riding much more conservatively right now (I'm hoping this passes). Never the less, both Ken and I hope to get a 30 mile ride in this weekend, although we'll have to do it separately. At any rate, we'll get there.

Fundraising update 6-24-09

We are up to $500 raised. We are a tenth of the way there. Letters are starting to roll out (at nap time, of course, which is hard - Grant only sleeps in the baby bjorn, and man are my back, shoulders and feet sore from standing here at the computer).

We're trying to get more donations via email this year. 1) it's just easier than trying to get to the post office and 2) the cost of stamps keep going up. I don't MIND using the USPS, or sending out SASE's, but if people aren't going to use the SASE, I feel kind of silly sending them out. All those poor trees. My big fear with emailing out requests for donations is that they'll get buried in the inbox, never to be seen again. I know it happens to me, and there's no polite way to ask if someone just forgot to donate or has chosen not to. It's just awkward, but I guess that's the nature of fundraising. If you get an email, and are planning to donate but not quite yet, feel free to let me know - I can follow up with you as we get closer to the ride.

TIME FLIES

Yikes. It's June 22 already. We have a 2 month old baby boy (Grant - Born 4/15/09) - he's doing great and so are mom & dad. Luckily, he sleeps through the night, and we aren't tired. Right now, Grant is sleeping in the baby bjorn (front baby carrier). This is how we spend our days. I stand up all day long. All. Day. Long. But I still manage to get in one or two rides a week. Ken gets in at least one ride a week as well, but he's also running a lot more. He's up to about 5 miles now, the first half of which is all up hill. We're keeping in shape well enough, despite Grant's, uh, sleeping preference. Thank god he sleeps through the night.

I have not yet sent out donation letters. There's a lot I don't get to get done. But we have made time for training rides. Luckily, we don't need too many of them this year. My longest ride to date is 25 miles (a mere 700 feet of climbing) - but I did that with a broken seat, so most of it I stood up for. I'm pretty confident that by the time the PMC rolls around in a little over a month, 47 miles will be pretty easy. I might be sore the next day, but when am I not?

We are very pleased to announce that we are riding this year in honor of our friend Jon M. who just yesterday received the news that he is now cancer free. Great news on Father's Day, as he is a father or two darling boys and has a third on the way. Way to go, Jon! We are so, so pleased that his treatment worked so well. It wasn't easy by a long shot, but we are so happy that he is well on the way to recovery.

If there is someone you'd like us to ride in recognition of this year, please let me know as soon as possible. We'll also be riding in honor of my mother and in memory of Ken's uncle Richard and his Papa (grandfather) as usual.

here is the link for online credit card donations: http://www.pmc.org/egifts/TI0007 I hope to be sending out forms & SASE this weekend, but I'm honestly not sure I'll get to it. The more electronic fundrasing we can do, the better off we'll be...

Matching Gifts from your employer

Here is a link to the PMC Website for companies that have a "matching gift" program that supports the PMC.

When you choose to donate to the PMC, you might check with your HR department for a matching gift form. I know that some of our sponsors work at some of these companies (or, at least I THINK I do...could be mistaken).

February Totals

February is over. All 28 days of it. It was a productive month, given it's shortness. Karen swam nearly 8 miles - and took all of school vacation week off from the pool because it was a madhouse & she managed to slightly strain a shoulder muscle while battling an errant swim noodle (those damn kids!) - over all, good timing, as if she had to pick a week to take off from swimming, that was a good one. Karen's average swim speed? 2.42 MPH, which is a pace of about 25.5 minutes per mile. All this swimming took a cumulative total of about 3 hours in February. For not being a swimmer (and for being pretty pregnant) she'll take that.

Also in February, Karen rode just over 100 miles on either her bike or the stationary bike at the gym, which took a cumulative total of about 5 hours over the month. Not a WHOLE lot of time, to be sure, but given the whole pregnancy thing, not too bad, either. Especially when you consider that in 2008, Karen didn't reach 100 miles in a single month until April. That brings her 2009 riding total up to 129 miles thus far. Eleanor (Karen's beautiful Orbea) is getting a little uncomfortable. A woman's pelvis changes a bit during pregnancy, apparently, especially the latter part of the process as the body gets ready for birth. As Karen is now 32.5 weeks pregnant, with anything from 4.5 weeks to 8.5 weeks left until the baby is born (full term apparently is considered to begin at week 37, and 1st babies typically are delivered at 41 weeks), she's considering herself "pretty much fully pregnant at this point." Heart rate still seems fine, respiration still seems fine (surprisingly)- but in order for the pelvis to comfortable, she has to roll back on her sit bones quite a bit, which means her reach to the handle bars has been stretched quite a bit. As she spent considerable time last year trying to get that bike fit just right, she's unwilling to screw around with it now. So it looks like next week Eleanor will go into the bike shop for a pre-season tune up, and one of the mountain bikes will get a slick tire put on the back and we'll get that thing up on the trainer. A mountain bike rides a little more upright, and as it hasn't been "fit" to any specific rider, it doesn't really matter how much we mess around with that setup.

Ken got in on the lovely experience that is riding the trainer in the basement as well during February. He hasn't been logging miles or time, but has been trying to get rides in when he can. Karen's been happy for the company when she can get it.

Additionally, last week we purchased an LCD monitor for the basement. We'll mount it to the wall so we can watch downloaded movies, dvds, and stuff off of itunes and netflix while we ride the trainers. We figure we'll be stuck on those for a while this year, due to time constraints. Karen is also hoping that eventually (post-recovery) she might be able to ride the trainer during nap time. Maybe not everyday, but a few times a week, after the baby is a little older and we're getting a little more sleep. An LCD monitor was far cheaper than a 2nd TV. Besides, it's nice and cool down there in the summer, and there's a chance nap time might actually occasionally happen in the pack n' play in the basement during the miserably hot & humid days.

All in all, training seems to be going pretty well, given the circumstances. There were a lot of cyclists out on the roads during the February thaw that we've been having. Karen's been pretty jealous & itchy to join in, but hasn't really considered actually doing it - seems fool hardy right now, what with the belly in the way and all the sand on the roads. No need to tempt fate. We're currently waiting for a nor'easter to hit - we're supposed to get some 15 inches of snow tonight & tomorrow, so maybe tomorrow afternoon will bring a return to snowshoeing. Skiing might be relegated to flat areas only at this point for Karen - the idea of falling is becoming much more scary, and falling only seems to happen on hills. So hills are out for the rest of the season, I think.

February Thaw

So it's February 8, and it's 47 degrees out. The high temps for the next week are all above freezing. I've seen exactly once cyclist a day out for the past 2 days, and I must admit, I'm jealous. I'm actually considering breaking out the mountain bike (I've been doing 17 miles or so on the stationary at the gym a few times a week, plus swimming and using the elliptical a few days a week for variety). My cardio is still fully intact, and my balance is still pretty darn good too. I'll be 30 weeks pregnant this week, and I still feel great. I'm kind of in the home stretch now. I was reading last week that on average, women who exercise moderately during pregnancy deliver 9 days earlier than women who don't - not premature, just a little earlier. Anything over 38 weeks is considered full term. My personal theory is that with the increased blood flow to the fetus that occurs with regular exercise, the kid grows a little faster & better - more nutrients, more oxygen, better exchange of blood, etc... We'll see if that holds true. If it did, then that would give me more time to recover & train. But I'm not going to hope, or try to make that happen. Rule #1 is "baby comes first" - naturally.


Fund raising letters will be going out by the end of the month. I know it's early - I think I usually try to get them out in March, and they aren't mailed until May or June, but this year I think I'll be too busy later on to really focus on fund raising. So if I'm going to get it done, I might as well start now. If you'd like to avoid such a letter, please feel free to donate on our team PMC fund raising page ahead of time: http://www.pmc.org/egifts/TI0007 It's secure, it's tax deductible, and for the last 2 years, 100% of rider raised funds have gone directly to the Jimmy Fund for cancer treatment and research at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.