My time to shine

Today was the running day...can I get a hallelujah? Finally, something I not only CAN do - I LOVE to do it! The team met bright an early (7 AM) for a run. We were told to do what we felt we could (2, 4, run/walk, etc). Janine and I figured we would conquer the first lap and go from there (one lap = 2 miles). The first lap was great - hilly, but great. Thanks to my running buddy Courtney and a hilly neighborhood, I handled the hills pretty well. I told Janine we could consider ourselves hard core too, because part of the way we rain in rain: yuck! The second lap went great too. We tried a pyramid run/walk technique our mentor shared with us. She suggested we know how to do it and feel comfortable with it because in a triathlon we may need it even if we are accustomed to running 4 miles (due to tired muscles). We completed 4 miles - woo hoo. I think most of our other team mates did 2 miles and some needed to walk - hey, you gotta start somewhere right? I might add some of these said team mates are kicking my rear end in the pool. Although I don't want anyone to struggle in any of the three disciplines, I am happy to report that I might be a little ahead in this one particular discipline which is only fair since I am still super far behind in swimming.

Last night we had a cook out at our mentors house. It turns out our mentor is a super mentor - she hosts the event, helps print labels for our fundraising letters and can even help you draft your letter and fundraising homepage - A+ for Ruth! Despite having us all over last night, she showed up at 7 AM this morning too.

I am going to post some pics of our little get together last night. It was a fun time had by all.

This is Ruth's dog Kenna - she was the greeting committee for all who entered the back yard.

This is our mentor Ruth with one of our team mates James. They are busy working on James' web page and letters.

Tim was the designated "Grill Master" for the evening.

Kennedy got some good Aunt Janine time and was loving Ruth's wind chime.

Overall, I think people got great ideas for letter writing and I think the team had a great time getting more familiar with one another. Thanks Ann Maria and Ruth!