Thank You!!

A very big thank you to everyone who participated in my March Madness fundraiser! It brought in $360 -- half of that went to the winner (Congratulations Jeannie) and the other half went to my 3-Day fund raising!!

Fighting Breast Cancer One Bracket at a Time

As some of you already know, on August 20 - 22, 2010 I will be joining thousands of men & women in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure. It is a 60 mile walk over the course of the three days. In order to do this I must train to walk that distance and raise $2300. To help me reach my goal I am running Brackets Against Breast Cancer, a March Madness Fundraiser.

The cost is $20 which will be split evenly between my fundraising efforts for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk and the winner. All brackets will be managed online at cbssports.com where you will be able to make your selections after teams are announced on March 14, 2010!

Please let me know if you would like to participate (leave a comment here or send an email using the link in my profile), and I will send you the payment information & further details. Once I have received your payment, I will send you a link where you can make your picks.

Tell ALL your friends -- the more who enter, the larger the prize!!

www.the3day.org/goto/pennymuten (This is for DONATIONS ONLY, not for bracket participation money).

MS Walk

On Sunday, May 3, I will be participating in Walk MS 2009 here in Milwaukee. A friend was recently diagnosed with MS & some friends, and I have joined her team (Mindy's Marchers).

If anyone is interested in making a donation, you can do so here.

A big thank you to those of you who have already donated!

Fantastic Fundraising

As promised, here is an update on my fundraising. I have raised money through the ChipIn! in the right sidebar here, the official Danskin online link, a letter campaign, and pink paper ribbons at a local restaurant. My total as of this afternoon, is $582*.

I am THRILLED. The day I signed up I set $250 as my goal. I had never raised funds for an event such as this for myself and thought my original goal was almost out of reach. I kept the faith, kept working hard, and I did it!

I could not do it without you! I thank you for your support and generosity from the bottom of my heart!

*This total does not include any donations sent directly to the address on the donation form I included with the letter.

More Tri Progress

Things just got really busy on the fundraising front! The friend I am doing the triathlon with works at our favorite local grill & bar. It is owned by her parents. I met her there Tuesday afternoon to cut out 200 card stock pink ribbons. She came up with the design, and they look GREAT! Yesterday, I ran (not literally ran...lol) the signs I made up over there to "advertise" our efforts!

My sign!

I finished up my fundraising letters yesterday and they are going out today. I am at $285 right now and hope to break the $500 mark before the end of June!

As for the training for the week, I am slightly behind with running & swimming. Memorial Day along with a daughter who can't seem to get the concept of bringing her dirty clothes down to the hamper got me off track.

Totals so far:

Mon: 25 minute run
Tue: 85 minute bike (that was 17 miles to & from the restaurant where we cut out the ribbons)
Wed: REST
Thu: 30 minute swim
Total: 140

Remaining training for the week (day I plan to get it in): 35 min run (Fri), 25 min swim (Sat), & 20 min run. The total training time for the week is schedule to be 205 minutes. If I get all this in my time will be 220 minutes. I thought I was going to be behind with all the extra stuff I had this week. It's good to know I am ahead of schedule. Next week's 245 minutes is going to be tough, but then it begins to taper off as the event approaches.

Two Months and Counting

The triathlon is two months from today! Here's where I am at:

1. I am up able to run a little over 2 miles at this point. When I started training a month ago, I couldn't even run a mile. (The run is 3.1 miles.)

2. I am able to swim 600 yards without stopping. (The swim is half a mile which is 880 yards.)

3. I am able to bike 15 miles without being too run down. (The bike is 12.4 miles.)

4. I have lost 8.5 lbs! (Still have a little to lose to get into my capris from last summer.)

5. I have DRASTICALLY cut my Diet Pepsi consumption. Until about two weeks ago, I drank Diet Pepsi ALL day long. I probably had 8-10 cans a day. The most I have had on any day since I got sick is ONE. This past Friday & Saturday I didn't have a single one. I have replaced the sodas with water & iced green tea.

6. I have passed my fundraising goal of $250 and haven't sent out letters other than to online contacts. (I need to get these out this week!)

I think I am in good shape, but need to keep it up! This week is a heavy training week with workouts Monday - Friday. Next week is really light. Then it builds as the date gets closer with light workouts the week prior to the event.

Tri Triumphs!

Today, I had two triathlon triumphs. One in training & one in fundraising!

First the training triumph: I ran 3 miles in 40 minutes today. I did slow to a fast walk twice, but that was for less than half a mile.

The fundraising triumph: Even though the ChipIn! Widget to the right says $210, I am at my goal of $250 with a few donations that have been made through the other options!

Just because I am at my fundraising goal that doesn't mean I am going to stop! I would LOVE to raise even more for The Breast Cancer Research Foundation and National Association of TEAM Survivor.

Again, I would like to thank those who have already made a donation! I appreciate your generosity!

Triathlon Fundraising

My triathlon fundraising is off to a great start!

Anyone interested in donating or reading more about the triathlon may do so at penny.chipin.com/2007-triathlon. Later today I will be adding a link to my sidebar.

I would like to thank those who have already made generous donations. THANK YOU!!

Next week I will be kicking into training mode! I am using some triathlon training information I got online until I attend the training seminar on April 18.

(SIDEBAR: Does anyone else have a hard time typing triathlon? I want to add an extra "a" after the "th". That one is understandable, but I have no clue why my finger automatically goes to type a "g" at the end. Oh yeah, I am participating in a "triathalong"! DOH!!)