Louis' Team In Training Progress Report - Number 3
Greetings. A few weeks have passed since my last progress report on my Team In Training America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride, the 100-mile century bike ride on June 7. Lots have happened. Read on...
How am I doing?
Fund-raising
With recent generous donations I'm now less than $200 from my minimum fund-raising goal of $3900. Thank you ALL very much!! But we are not done yet. $3900 is my minimum and I expect to go way beyond (with your help, of course). If you are still thinking about donating but haven't gotten around to it yet, please do it now at http://pages.teamintraining.org/los/ambbr09/lcetorelli.
If you are still undecided, please consider these facts:
- Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma will cause the deaths of an estimated 52,910 people in the United States this year.
- Every ten minutes, another child or adult is expected to die from leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma.
- Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children and young adults under the age of 20.
You can be a part of helping to find a cure by donating online at http://pages.teamintraining.org/los/ambbr09/lcetorelli. Thank you!
Training
During March I've increased my monthly mileage to 450 miles. That's 100 more miles than February! I've starting mixing up my training routine to incorporate more intense, strength building rides. After being tested for my aerobic capacity, I've found that all my training to date has paid off. I am well conditioned for endurance. Now in addition to my usual rides on the beach and through the hills of Palos Verdes, I am adding repetition workouts that consist of climbing a hill in a moderately hard gear for 6 - 8 minutes and then resting for a couple minutes while going back down. Repeat 4 - 6 times. This is really working on improving my leg strength while putting less emphasis on cardio and aerobic work. The legs feel like rubber when it's all over! I'm also working on improving my pedaling efficiency by trying to exert consistent power at all points in the pedaling cycle rather than just the downstroke that we all have ingrained in our muscle memory. More muscle groups are involved in both these routines which means more soreness to deal with. But just like my sore butt problem of last month, this too will pass.
The team rides are starting to get intense. Last Saturday, we went on a challenging 57 mile ride with a good share of climbing. Over the course of the ride, we climbed over 2700 feet. A good part of the ride was on the famous Mulholland Drive, a road the follows the ridge line of the Santa Monica Mountains and the Hollywood Hills. For anyone who has traversed this road, you know it has some pretty spectacular vistas of both Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. We were lucky to have an unusually clear day so the view went on for miles. And then there were the ridiculously huge homes and estates peppering the hillside. All good eye candy to take my mind off the burning in my muscles from climbing those hills.
For you calorie curious people, a ride like this burns about 2700 calories for me and a good effort needs to be made to remember to replace some of that used up energy with new energy sources. I always thought bike riding was about pedaling and drinking some water. Little did I know the importance of replacing energy, fluids, potassium, sodium, carbs, and calories. Luckily there are lots of horrible tasting products on the market to make this a bit easier.
Each ride gets harder as the mileage and intensity increase but whenever I feel too tired to press on I just remind myself that this is easy compared to what people with blood cancers have go through.
Inspiration
Want to check out some pictures of me and the team? Head over to www.westsidecycleteam.com and scan through the photos. There's lots of other good information on that site including the remarkable story of our honored teammate, Laura Maloney, who has been battling Chronic Mylegoneous Leukemia since 2003. She's been in remission for 3 years and is now in training for a marathon. Unbelievably, this is her third endurance event with Team In Training since her remission. Hers is a real success story for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and a demonstration that your contributions CAN make a difference.
Don't forget to shop at my online store.
http://astore.amazon.com/tnt-leukemia-20 Just as a reminder, this is my storefront that is provided by amazon.com. Amazon pays me a referral fee of 4% - 6% for every purchase which I will pass on to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Please shop here for your books, electronics, video games, and cycling accessories and help the cause at no extra cost to you.
Upcoming events.
No fund-raising events schedule for the next week or so.
For those of you who didn't make it to Burlesque Bingo a couple weeks ago, you missed a really fun time. I hear there is another one coming up soon to help the marathon (or is it the hiking) team raise some funds. I'll send out details in the next progress report.
Thanks again for reading and thanks for your support.
Louis
Louis Cetorelli
Help Us Find A Cure For Leukemia & Lymphoma
Support My 100-mile Bike Ride to Raise Funds for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Donate here: http://pages.teamintraining.org/los/ambbr09/lcetorelli
Shop here: http://astore.amazon.com/tnt-leukemia-20 |
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