Ride for Roswell

On June 22nd, I am riding my bike 45 miles in memory of my Aunt Renne in the Ride for Roswell.  The ride benefits Roswell Park Cancer Institute, here in Buffalo.  Aunt Renne lost her battle with ovarian cancer in November 2008.  The night before Pat and I got engaged...  She left behind a husband, 2 kids, 6 grandkids, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews, all who miss her dearly.

Me and my bike after the Summer Sizzler 2011.

I have done the Ride for Roswell before.  I've done 30 miles four times.  It's rained at least 3 of those...  I'm hoping for a nice day this year!  I have never gone more than 32ish miles on my bike.  This is the first year for 45 miles.  It was only open to the first 250 riders who registered.  I wasn't sure whether I wanted to do the ride this year.  I so enjoyed the 30 mile route, but I wanted to challenge myself to a greater distance.  The next distance up was 44 miles and a completely different route.  What if it sucked?  When I saw that a new 45 mile route had been added, I was intrigued.  It follows the 30 mile route along the river walk and continues all the way to canal side.  Yes!  I signed up immediately.

So, I did my first outside ride yesterday. About 7.31 miles.  During a high wind advisory.  I have a little more than 2 months to make 45 miles seem like nothing! 

If my bike and I are going to be BFFs, I need to be comfortable.  I need a better seat.  I'm going to end up with an old lady seat, aren't I?  Whatever.  As long as my butt doesn't hurt!  I will keep you posted!

Every little bit helps, so if you'd like to donate, you can do it here.  Thanks in advance!

OK, For Real This Time...

So, it's been more than a year since my last post.  And in that last post, I vowed to do better when it comes to posting.  So, I'm not making any such promises this time.  Let's just see what happens.

Since my last post, I've been mostly unfulfilled in my reading life.  Most of the books I've read have been ok, but nothing fabulous.  A few exceptions:

           
Yes, they're all children's or YA chapter books.  But they were excellent reads.  I'm still searching for an adult read that is as good as these!

My running career has been pretty exciting.  In March 2012, we (me, Maria and Mary) had the bright idea to run a half marathon.  We picked the Mighty Niagara in September and training began in April.  Considering I had never ran further than 6.2 miles and I now had to do a little more than twice that, I was less than optimistic that this would actually happen.  But I paid and trained and race day came.  I was as ready as I was going to be.  My goal was to finish in less than 2:30.

I woke up and it was pouring.  Literally raining buckets.  And it was cold.  I trained in the rain.  But rain and 80 degrees.  Not rain and barely 60 degrees!  This had the makings of the worst day of my life!  I was so upset!  But I paid the money and trained for 5 months.  This was not the time to not show up.  So Maria and I went.  Just as the race was starting, the rain stopped.  Yippee!!

I started slow.  For a while, I could count the people behind me on one hand!  But I gradually started passing people.  I ran the entire race without having to stop and walk.  I missed my goal by less than 2 minutes!  But I finished.  I had run a half marathon.  13.1 miles! 

It's all about the sticker!

Time has passed and I'm ready to do it again.  September 21, 2013 is the Mighty Niagara Half Marathon and 5 weeks later, October 27, 2013 is the Niagara Falls International Half Marathon.  I'm aiming for both!  I probably don't need 5 months of training, but it worked for me last year and I was really prepared, so I'm going to do it again. 

It all begins April 16th!