Rebecca's 'Turning Forty' Triathlon: Beautiful Rebel Ride in Hillsboro

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Beautiful Rebel Ride in Hillsboro

Val comes through once again with a beauty of a 40 mile ride starting out in Hillsboro. I honestly cant really tell you where we went, but at one point I think Andy said we were in a German Sausage Festival town called Verboten? Did I spell that right? I didn't see any sausages cooking anywhere cuz if I had I would have stopped to eat em (starving...always!) In any case, I just love how my eyes are opening to the pastoral farmland right in our own backyard. I am getting hooked on biking just to be reminded of this gorgeous place we live.

Highlights from this ride were: (1) Trying out new voices for our GPS systems (Craig's Jewish mother..."oh my god, I cant believe you missed that turn, now you're gonna be late....what's the matter with you? and my favorite Rastafarian dude..."yah man, you know just stay on the path man cuz it don't matter where you end up as long as you got the love, ya know, dont worry, be happy". (2) Chasing Andy up the half mile hill we hit at mile 24 or so....he's smiling like its a piece of cake and I'm looking at his thighs and wishing I had even half of them!, (3) Val's comment to Joel after chasing him down when he had taken a wrong turn..."come here Joel, I need to smack you!", and (4) the huge breakfast of eggs benedict I had at LongBottom Coffee after the ride...thanks Andy for the great recommendation!

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WHAT YOU WILL FIND ON THIS BLOG

This is a diary (complete with photos) of my experience training with Team in Training for the Pacific Grove Triathlon on Sept. 12, 2009. I am participating to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and to get my ass in shape! There is nothing that says turning forty shouldn't herald the best damn decade of your life.

I hope you will visit often. If you do, you might just catch a glimpse of my team running with pringles between our fingers, or on the pool deck doing plank in our speedos!

Although this triathlon is a personal fitness journey, it is more importantly an opportunity to give back to the community by raising money for an incredible organization, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). LLS is helping children, families, and individuals fight the battle against blood cancer; all of us at one time or another have known someone who has struggled against Leukemia, Lymphoma, or Myeloma. In my life, its been my grandmother Virginia, a little boy who goes to school with my kids, Zachary, a grandson of a co-worker, Ethan, a sister of a dear friend, Cindy, and the brother-in-law of a colleague, Tom. Now it is also our team's honored teammate, Dean who is in remission, but is struggling to surmount the side effects of his treatment. You can help out too. Please donate to my fundraising campaign by following this link: http://pages.teamintraining.org/or/pactri09/rramsay . All the money goes directly to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and then to children, adults and families who need all the support we can give them.

I am participating in memory of my grandmother, Virgina Wrigley, who died of Leukemia.

Tri.ath.lon

A triathlon is a multi-sport endurance event consisting of swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall course completion time, including timed "transitions" between the individual swim, bike, and run components.The demanding nature of the sport focuses primarily on persistent and often periodized training in each of the three disciplines, as well as combination workouts and general strength conditioning to ensure the highest levels of endurance, strength, and power possible come race day. Proficiency in swimming, cycling, and running alone is often not sufficient for success in triathlon.....truth be told, what is really needed is an almost unnatural capacity for denial and an unruly belief that anything is possible...(a good masseuse, buckets of himalayan bath salts, and an iron stomach capable of tolerating extremely high doses of Ibuprofen are the other critical prerequisites).