Monday, January 25, 2010

Day 1: Blood, sweat, and tears

     Okay, okay... there was no blood but the sweat and tears did occur. The first training ride for the Ovarian Cycle took place yesterday. The ride lasted an hour and a half and was roughly 22 miles. This was the reason for the sweat. There was no glistening taking place, just gross, soaking-through-the-shirt sweat. It went great and it was actually a lot of fun. I finished feeling very encouraged. Of course the thought that I would have to double that time and then double that again set in, so needless to say, I am still nervous about the six hour final ride.
    
     The tears, however, came at the start of the ride. The Executive Director of the event was in from Atlanta and shared some letters from participants. I immediately cried. There were also 5 survivors training yesterday. Though this ride is specific to ovarian cancer, I have watched so many women in my life battle with cancer and it is very empowering to be a part of this event. Both of my grandmothers and one aunt have been affected by cancer in the past 5 years. My maternal grandmother and my aunt have both battled with breast cancer which is very closely related to ovarian cancer so there is a part of me that is riding for them as well.

     So it was an overall good kickoff to the ride and I am looking forward to training. Thank you so much to those of you that have already donated. I will do my best to keep everyone updated on the training.  Oh, that bum knee I mentioned in the first post is acting up a bit so please send positive thoughts its way. I really regret ever thinking mud football sounded like a good idea (sorry Mom).

     Please check out my page at http://www.ovariancycle.org/getinv/showPart.php?partID=1096

1 comment:

  1. Yay!! I love the blog... already so much prettier than mine! Why do you always have to dress up so much?? I can't wait to read it all! I'm so proud of you!

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