... Sorry it took so long!

It has been a crazy busy semester, and it flew by. It definitely felt like the shortest semester ever. A lot has gone on with T4K, so I apologize for not keeping you up to date! I'll try to recap in chronological order.

First, as was stated in previous entries, my fitness goal I set for myself for when we got our bikes was to train for and run a half marathon. I completed that goal on October 11th and succeeded in running the 13.1 miles. It was probably the hardest physical thing I've done in my life... so far. In the last few miles it was tough to keep going, but thinking of those fighting cancer at that moment helped me keep my feet moving and push through it.

In other news, half of the 2011 team was selected, so congratulations to those individuals. I definitely look forward to working with them before our ride!

Most of us have received our bikes. I got mine the 2nd weekend in November. It was basically a belated birthday gift, and a good one at that! They are pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. Some bikes are still trickling in. Hopefully everyone will have theirs soon and we can start doing more and more team rides.

The following weekend (14-15) we had our T4K training camp. It was an awesome time. I got to learn some legit bike skills, talk to and get to know some teammates that I hadn't talked to much before, and have a generally great time. I woke up at 4:30 am Saturday morning and we departed for Fayetteville, TX around 5:30 am. We landed in Fayetteville around 7:30, and checked into our cozy little, 15-room hotel which we filled. We were coached by a group of awesome cyclists with amazing stories of both cycling and cancer. First, we had a skills camp where we learned things such as emergency stopping, better steering, and riding as a group. After that we had a nice, quick lunch provided by the coaches (Thanks!). Then, we hit the road for our first ride. The team was split into groups 1-4 based on cycling skills (4 being the highest). I was in group 3. We hit the road and before long, we were all spread out. It was chaos. Regardless, most completed rides of 25, 34, and 40 miles. Myself, in group 3, completed about 34 miles. It was tough to battle through it. However, when I finally finished it felt great. Everybody got cleaned up and chilled for a bit then we had a team dinner with the coaches - salad, pasta, and chicken. It was heaven after such a tough day. The coaches then gave us time for a brief Q&A after the dinner so we could get any cycling/fitness/nutrition questions answered. I remember my head nodding and my eyes drooping from being so exhausted, and I looked around the room to see many others doing the same. Shortly later we went up to bed. I passed out around 9:30 and didn't wake up till David Santino (Sierra's route ride director) knocked on our door at 6:45 am. We woke up, had breakfast, and hit the road for our 2nd ride of the weekend. Sunday's goal was to stay as a group. It definitely helped. We completed the same 34 miles with significantly greater ease. I definitely think the coaches wanted it to be that way so that we would see the benefits of riding in a group and acting like a team, which was definitely wise. Overall, it was an awesome weekend. We got to bond as a team and learn a lot. Thanks to all my teammates and especially the coaches who made it all possible.

This is getting long so I'll wrap it up! We had the first ever Come Cure Cancer Concert (C4), and it was a huge success. Hopefully it will become a great annual event for Texas 4000. Lastly, I got assigned to work on the fitness committee and am on the Sierra route. I'm definitely stoked for the summer! It's gonna be awesome! Get pumped with me.