103 Miles.... Really???

So I have made a change to my goals for next year, 2011, with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  I have decided to go all out... 103 miles out that is... No, I won't be running this time.  I have decided it is time to give the knees a break and take a bike ride; a 103 mile bike ride around beautiful Lake Tahoe!!!  That is right, I am committed to the 2011 America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride Tour of Lake Tahoe. This event is a full 100-mile (actually, 103 miles) Century Ride; out and back on Highway 89-Bike Trail to visit historic Truckee, California, before continuing around Lake Tahoe. 103 Miles of Beautiful!!  I am already excited.  Giving my legs a little break from running before I start the 26.2 training for Ireland... 

 

All I need to do now is develop a plan to train for this great event. The group I am planning to ride with is opting to crank it up for a cure and average about 18-20.  That said, seems slow for some, take a look at the elevation chart for the ride.  The increased mph will take lots of training for the climbs involved, but I am not scared... 

As I was writing this blog, I received an email from a friend.  I took a break from writing to read the email since I had not heard from him in a few months.  Scott, my friend, emailed me about one of his students, Joey Powers.  He told me how Joey was always helpful and patient; how he had a heart of gold.  Over the summer Joey was diagnosed with ALL (acute lymphocytic leukemia) just like Courtney, my niece.  And just like Courtney, Joey went into remission.  Unlike Courtney, Joey had a relapse that took his life.  On November 20, just four months after his initial diagnosis, and just one day before his 17th birthday, Joey lost his battle with leukemia.  It is in Memory of Joey Powers, and always in Honor of my love Courtney, that I will ride all 103 miles of America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride with Team In Training for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

It is so often I hear the words "I Can't" while I am recruiting for Team In Training.  So many people lack the courage to try.  It is my favorite quote from an inspirational speaker, a national spokesperson for Team in Training, John Bingham... he said "The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."

In Honor of Courtney Wolfe; In Memory of Joey Powers...  I will RIDE!!!