Totally Sore!! Last Hill Climb of the Season!

Ok, a little sore this morning from our 43 mile ride yesterday around the Almaden Valley. As I reflect back on the ride yesterday, I can only appreciate the beautiful area that we live in. Even though my focus was to keep up with my new group, I do remember that the area we rode in was very nice. We rode a loop around Almaden/Calero/Uvas. The only time I've gone in that area in the past was to play golf at Cinnabar Hills! :)

Today was to be our last day of hill climbs. The Coach said that since our rides are getting longer, we will no longer train on the hills. But, because the Coach doesn't want to deprive us from enjoying our favorite hill, he tells us that we will do Mt. Eden 6 times today! C'mon Coach, are you serious? I got sore just hearing him say that! Is this what I really signed up for?

Ok, ok, after feeling sorry for myself on how sore I was, all I had to do was look at the smile and determination on the face of one of my teammates, Kelli. Kelli is out there every weekend with us and blesses us with her presence.

Kelli was born with Cerebral Palsy but she does not let this stop her. She is out riding with us! Unfortunately, Kelli cannot use her feet/legs to pedal her bike. So what? Who needs feet? She uses her hands and arms to pedal her way! Yup, all the way up Mt. Eden too! Kelli is truly an inspiration to all of us and reminds us all on why we are out there. We are there because we all want to fight with her. Fight to find a cure for these blood cancers. It doesn't matter how busy we are, how tire we are, what our physical limitations are, what kind of bike we have, and whatever other excuses we may have, anyone can help fight to find a cure against Leukemia and Lymphoma! Go Kelli!!

Longest Ride of the Season...So Far...

It's early (7:30am), it's cold, and it's foggy! But TNT was out in full force in Almaden Valley in South San Jose. I saw Coach Patrick first thing and he asked me if I wanted to move up into a faster group. Wow, are you serious? ok, I'll give it a try! I was moved up to Coach Kristy's group.

Before starting the ride, we had a special guest (see pic to the right) named Johnny, speak to us about a team he created to ride in a TNT event one year ago. Unfortunately, he created this team, called Team Marie, in honor of his daughter who died a year ago due to Leukemia. Marie was only 28 years old and did not get a chance to fight this terrible disease for very long. Marie lost her battle with it only after a few weeks of being diagnosed. Johnny made us all honoree members of his team. Not only did Johnny come and talk to us about his and his daughter's experience, he spent the morning doing ride support for our team. In other words, he drove our route to ensure that no one needed a ride back. Johnny has done two centuries himself and would be with us today, but recent knee surgery would have to keep him from participating this season. He will be out there again soon!

Ok, let's start riding...uh, what's the rush, I kept thinking. We started going down south on Almaden Expressway and the pace was much faster than what I was used to. We were doing a loop and I was already getting tired just trying to keep up with the rest of the group. The day before, I had gone to a professional fitter to ensure that my bike was set up correctly. He noticed that I pedal using my toes and therefore, put a lot of strain on my calves. The fitter adjusted my cleats on my shoes so that I would use more of my foot when pedaling. He also told me that I needed to practice using my heels more while pedaling. Pedaling one leg at a time on a straight was what I was to do to practice. Well, when you're trying to catch up to a faster group, you kind of forget what you're supposed to be practicing. In the past, my calves would cramp up after maybe 20 - 25 miles. Today, my right calf cramped after mile 10 and my left calf cramped up at mile 15! It was pretty frustrating, but my ego would definitely get in the way as I hated knowing that I was the last one keeping the rest of the group waiting. Of course my new teammates were great and were very encouraging.

After the first rest stop, I refueled and thought about falling back with my original group, but Coach Kristy encouraged me to keep going with my new team and to not push myself. Ok, let's do this, I can keep up! So I did! The second half of the ride was much better for me and although my calves were very sore, I didn't feel like I was completely exhausted and had just pedaled for 43 miles. In fact, our team was able to smile and take a picture after the ride (see below). We'll see what happens tomorrow morning when we have more hill climbs to do! Can't wait!

Spin Class from Hell!!

Ok, Coach Peggy was not in a good mood tonight! :) She kept saying that if we were talking, that it meant we were not working hard enough! Boy, did people shut up quickly! She had us doing some rolling hills all night long. It was a tough workout, tougher than normal. I'm telling you these coaches talk and probably laugh at how much they love to make us work!! But we keep coming back for more. Coach Peggy told us that there is only 4 of us left who have made every class so far and in the running for the $100 in donation towards our personal fundraising. She was asking us if we were going to make it all the way through the end of the season, and of course, I said, "money in the bag"!! :)

Hill Climbs in the Rain

Well, I asked for it in my last post, and we got it! RAIN!! There were at least 10 - 15 people who showed up at the usual meeting place, Monta Vista Park in Cupertino. Surprisingly to me though (only because they were already out and it wasn't raining too hard - maybe a light sprinkle), some people decided to back out of the ride. Even Coach Patrick, who had a "training hangover" from yesterday, decided not to do the ride today. I think Coach Don also scared some folks when he said that the hill was going to be pretty dangerous since it was wet and going downhill could be pretty scary. Oh well, risk management right? :o)

I suited up, put on my golf rain jacket and off I went. There were at least 7 or 8 riders who decided to ride. I took off ahead of everyone and told Coach Rick, who was leading the ride today, I would meet them at the bottom of Mt. Eden. About half way through the 3 mile ride to the bottom of Mt. Eden, I hear someone call out my name and it was Coach Rick. He had caught up to me and told me that 2 other people backed out of the ride and that he wasn't sure how many others were still going. He asked me if I still wanted to go and of course, you all know what I said! :o) I mean c'mon, we were already out, already wet so why not! Coach Rick and I went for it.

When we got to the bottom of Mt. Eden we waited and 3 others from the team showed up. The funny thing is that it was only coaches and/or mentors and then me. Yup, I was the only participant on the ride! It was very cool of the coaches/mentors to keep me company while I trained on my most favorite hill! :o)

The rain started to really come down and it was pretty "interesting" coming down the hill. One of the mentors, Butch, got hit by a falling branch (albeit small branch, but still could cause some problems) while coming down Mt. Eden. Ok, is someone trying to tell us something? We decided to only go up and down Mt. Eden 3 times instead of the scheduled 5 times.

Fighting the hill and the rain at the same time definitely takes a lot out of you. Oh well, still a good workout as it was about 1 hour and 10 minutes of cycling for today, only about 12 miles and total climbing of about 1150 feet. Not bad for a wet Sunday morning!

It would have been so much easier to back out of the ride and go home. But when I think of the actual century coming up in February, I need as much saddle time and training as possible. I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to do more hill climbs! The coming weeks will bring longer training rides so I want to get as much in as possible. Let's hope it helps!

A Wet Saturday Ride

All week, the forecast for this weekend was rain, rain, and more rain. But we were to show up rain or shine. Unfortunately, we had no shine the whole ride. It was a 32.9 mile ride starting from McKenzie Park in Los Altos. Route was Foothill to Page Mill to Alpine to Portola (this looked familiar...sorting ride at the beginning of the season) to (I missed 3 miles because I missed this turn to Mountain Home to Woodside to Whiskey Hill to Sand Hill) so I went directly from Portola to Sand Hill to Santa Cruz back to Alpine to Arastradero to Page Mill back to Arastradero to Foothill and back to McKenzie Park.

I started out the ride with two other teammates, Henry and Mike. At around mile 10, while going up Alpine, I remembered from the sorting ride how I was having a hard time getting up this hill so I decided to attack it with a good pace. Henry and Mike decided to keep a slower pace. Either that or they wanted to make me feel better! I know Henry and Mike are both stronger riders than I. Thanks guys!

Nevertheless, I kept my pace and ended up riding the rest of the trip on my own. I was getting soaked and kept thinking, man, now would be a good time to have a rear fender! :o) Being wet didn't bother me, but when I stood up to climb and then sat back down, that's when it was obvious how wet I was! :o)

As most of you know, I just started cycling so obviously I've never ridden in the rain before. I've ridden a motorcycle in the rain before, but those tires have much more contact than these little road tires on my bike. Oh well, I was having fun either way. Luckily for me, right before the ride, I decided to put my golf rain jacket in my bag just in case. It definitely helped!

Coach Patrick and one of the mentors, Arielle, caught me on Foothill (about 3 miles to the end) and we all road back to the parking lot together. Surprisingly, the parking lot was not as full as it was when we first started. Apparently, some other team members and even coaches called it quits! In some ways, I'm glad I ended up riding by myself so that I didn't have anyone to tempt me to quit! I probably would have. Instead, I just kept thinking, I better peddle faster so that I can be done faster! I was pretty happy with my ride, going 29.86 miles (see above - missed 3 miles due to missing a turn) in a little over 2 hours and soaking wet!

Once again, TNT has allowed me to do something I've never done before and that's ride in the rain! Not only did I get soaked, but I also got pretty dirty. The bike needed a bath so I cleaned the bike as soon as I got home today. Now I'm ready for hill climbs tomorrow! I hope it rains!! Just kidding!

Spinning on My Own

I guess I just can't get enough of this Spin stuff! I got up early this morning and decided to go to my own gym. I did about 45 minutes on the Spin bike (I'm actually starting to like this) and did some light weight work (ie: biceps, triceps, shoulders).

I've had my own health issues to deal with but a recent physical resulted in some pretty good numbers for me in some areas that I've traditionally had a hard time controlling (sugar levels). The only issue that is kind of out of wack right now is my blood pressure. Oh well, nothing some pills can't take care of! :)

Yesterday, my doctor had me do a stress test. First time I've done this and the doctor said I did pretty well. He doesn't see any issues with me training for and completing a century ride! Right on!

Weekly Spin Class

This week's class got rescheduled to Tuesday. I felt better after what turned out to be a tiring weekend for me. We had a very good turnout this evening. I guess everyone is realizing that the century ride is fast approaching!

Coach Peggy had us doing, "3-2-1, turn it up", 1 or 2 minutes later, "ok, back down." Then, 1 or 2 minutes later, "3-2-1, turn it up", 1 or 2 minutes later, "ok, back down." This went on for the whole hour. In other words, turn up the resistance and then bring it back down, etc...Coach Peggy was making us do this to make it tough on us to get in a groove! She accomplished that!

Another good workout and getting closer to earning another $100 from Coach Peggy! :)

Hill Climbs...Again!

Well, I need to keep this short...mainly because I am absolutely exhausted! I didn't think yesterday's ride in Los Gatos was too bad, but I woke up this morning a little sore. No biggie though, I mean I got about 9 hours of sleep last night and we don't start until 10:30am so I have plenty of time to get ready!

I started out making breakfast for the family. Nothing fancy, just some eggs, cereal, and bagels. The kids like it and I know Laarni appreciates it. I figure it's the least I could do since she is the one who keeps the kids occupied during the weekend while I train. Ok, good breakfast and I'm off to do hill climbs.

It started to sprinkle a little bit but oh well, as my boss says, "You're not going to melt." :o) All it took was one hill climb and that told me how tired I really was! We have to do 4 more?!?! Climb #2 was another warm up for me where I tried to take my time with a high cadence. I think climb #3 was a real killer for me since Coach Patrick asked us to stand up all the way up the hill (or at least as far as we could). I actually didn't do too bad since I thought I would only get to about 20 feet before I needed to sit down. I was behind one of my teammates, Linda, so I just tried to keep up with her since we're supposed to be at the same pace. Well, she outlasted me. I got to about 80% of the hill but then I needed to sit. She made it all the way up standing! Way to go Linda!

Climb #4, I really took my time since Coach Patrick told us that we should save as much as possible for the 5th and final climb! No problem Coach, you know best!

Climb #5, Coach Patrick told us that he wanted us to work as hard as possible and if we did that, it should feel very "uncomfortable"! He wanted us gasping for air by the time we got to the top! No problem again Coach! I was beat, tired, needed oxygen, dizzy, and sore! I thought soreness only came after a day or two. Nope, my legs were shot! I didn't even think I would make it back to the car!

Definitely a tough weekend and we only did 30 miles on Saturday! Oh well, we still have a couple of months of training! As much as this hurts, it's one of the best experiences I've ever been through! :o)

Thursday's Spin class got rescheduled to this Tuesday! Oh boy, can't wait!!

Los Gatos Ride

We met at the Neighborhood Center in Los Gatos for a nutrition clinic. We are going to start riding some longer rides so the coaches want to make sure that we know how to consume supplements and fluids so that we don't "bonk"! Coach Patrick gave us all samples of things like GU, Power Bars, liquid mixes (no, not margaritas), and even salt. Hmmm....Coach Patrick said that calories/carbs and salt is really important! How about beer and french fries then Coach? Ok, I guess not!



We also had a guest speaker and honoree, Gene Seelbach. Gene was diagnosed with Leukemia just a few years ago. His talk was very short but his whole point was to tell us how he appreciated the efforts we were making to try and raise money for Lymphoma and Leukemia research. Gene explained how his doctors told him that if he was diagnosed with the Leukemia just 10 years ago, the cancer would have progressed a lot faster and Gene would have been a lot sicker! But, because of medical research and how far along we've come, Gene is in remission today! Although taking this season off, Gene regularly participates with TNT and has taken on several centuries! He continues to fundraise for the cause because he knows first hand how important raising funds are to helping others cope with a blood cancer! Thanks Gene!



Ok, on to the ride. This was one of our longest rides yet this season, approximately 30 miles starting from Los Gatos. The ride included a rest stop and one of our favorite spots...the bottom of Mt. Eden!! Hey, I thought hill climbs were on Sunday? I will say, going up Mt. Eden after riding about 15 miles was pretty cool. We got to go down the other side, which we have yet to do so that was a good experience. We practiced in our smaller teams with pace lining throughout the day. We have a great team and the communication between us made the 30 mile ride seem a lot shorter. Several of us were asking for more! Glad we didn't! Hill climbs tomorrow!

Spin Class - Interval Training

Another wonderful evening of Spin Class. There's nothing I'd rather do! I took a few minutes from warm up to take a few photos!

That's Coach Peggy getting a new "victim", oh I mean participant. Some showed up late so she took it out on all of us!! :)

Over the left is a pic of Head Coach Patrick just making us all look bad! What a show off!

Coach Peggy had us do some interval training where we did some higher impact drills for 1 or 2 minutes, and then we would get recovery time of 30 or 60 seconds, respectively. At the end of class, she let each person in the class pick what they wanted the whole class to do for 30 second intervals. Some picked hill climbs, standing hill climbs, and some even made the class do one legged spins! I was pretty popular since when it was my turn to select something, I picked a 30 second recovery!!! LOL!!!! Hey, I have no shame! Spin Class is definitely a good workout and never thought I would enjoy it as much as I do. Thanks to both Coach Patrick and Coach Peggy for making this happen for us!

3rd Hill Climb - I'm Tired!

I can't believe that we are already on our 3rd set of hill climbs. I have been feeling a little congested lately with a sore throat but I couldn't pass up another day of hill climbs. Luckily we don't start until 10:30am so I got to sleep in a little bit today.

Once again we met at Monta Vista Park in Cupertino and road 3 miles to the base of Mt. Eden. Today's agenda called for 5 times up and down! 1st time up was warm up, 2nd time up we were to go up in a low gear with a high cadence, 3rd time up was to try standing up all the way up, and the 4th and 5th times were simply to make it to the top as fast as possible.

The Spin Classes I have been taking has definitely helped me to stand up while climbing. At least I have the technique down....I think! But it's still hard and my legs burn after a while. Going downhill was pretty fun. I did what Coach Dave told me to do by adjusting my handlebars and putting a shim in my brake lever definitely helped me to get to my brake levers. Now just some practice.

I am totally tired! Can't wait until Spin Class on Thursday! :)

Buddy Ride in Almaden Valley

First of all, I hope each and every one of you had a fantastic Thanksgiving. I got to play 27 holes of golf (9 holes with the Island Boys and another 18 with my brother). No riding on Thanksgiving and because it rained on Friday, I wimped out of working out and just sat at home with the family and watched movies.

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, this Saturday (11/28/09) was not a sponsored TNT ride. However, Coach Leigh Ann organized an unsupported buddy ride starting from Almaden Expressway and Coleman in San Jose at 8:30am. It was a pretty good turnout. Like I said in other posts, the TNT team of coaches, mentors, and captains are amazing. They volunteer their time to come out and support us. Coach Leigh Ann had a print out of our 23 mile route.

I felt good riding behind Coach Colin in the lead group. He has great technique and I really focused to use my new pace lining skills. I slowed down when we went up "a little bump" as Coach Rick described it. It was a short climb on Camden Avenue heading towards Almaden.

It was a good hill for me, but I stayed ahead of most of the rest of the others and caught up to the lead guys, Coach Patrick, Coach Rick, Coach Colin, and Eric at Starbucks in Los Gatos. They warned me about Kennedy Road and that it was more than just "a little bump" so I decided to go off on my own and get a head start. Although Kennedy Road was a tough hill for me, it wasn't as bad as I thought. I guess the hill climbs really work!

Thanks Coach Leigh Ann! Great ride!

Spin Class before Thanksgiving

So this Spin Class was on Tuesday instead of the usual Thursday due to the Thanksgiving Holiday. I am one class closer to $100 that Coach Peggy pledged if we go to every one of her classes. Oh, speaking of fundraising, if you haven't done so already, please do what you can to donate to the fight against leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin Lymphoma and myeloma. Check out my site at http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/tdps10/hdeguzman

So Peggy comes in and says that she has some good news for us. She brought us some pumpkin bread to eat after the class. But she said that the bad news was that when she brought food, that meant it would be a hard class! Yes, I can vouch it was hard...at least for me. We climbed on the Spin Bike for most of the hour. She had us stand and climb for 2 - 4 minutes at a time. This was good for me because I have never practiced this skill before.

Ok, I guess the workout was worth it...the pumpkin bread was pretty good! Happy Thanksgiving!

More Hill Climbs!

Yup, another wonderful day of hill climbs. This time, I knew what to expect so the 3 mile ride from Monta Vista park to the bottom of Mt. Eden seemed easier even though I was still tired by the time I got there. Today's agenda called for 4 times up and down Mt. Eden. It's funny how I feel like I get stronger and have more energy after each trip up and down.

I was really trying to focus on descending today. I have ridden and raced motorcycles in the past so the speed is not an issue for me, but man, at least with motorcycles, we wore full leathers and a full faced helmet! Coach Dave gave me some tips on descending. My problem was going down in the "drops" when going downhill. I think my belly doesn't let me go down that low! :) Plus I have a hard time grabbing the brakes. Coach Dave told me to adjust my bars a little and get some shims to bring the brake levers closer to my hands. Ok, I'll give it a shot and let you know next week how it goes.

After the ride, I joined many other participants for a recovery meal at Chipotle. This seems like a popular choice with our group of folks! One of the funnest parts of this experience is sitting down and talking with the other participants, coaches, mentors and of course honorees!

I can't wait until Thanksgiving to eat! Oh, I mean until Tuesday to go to Spin Class!

Pace lining Clinic

I must say that I could hardly wait for Saturday to get here. I think this riding stuff is addicting. :) It was an earlier ride than usual, which is great for me. I am used to meeting a group of friends (the Island Boys) on the weekends at 5:45am to play golf. Today's pace lining clinic started at the corner of Edgewood and Canada at 7:45am (no I didn't go out and play 9 holes first). We were assigned our teams, based on last weeks timed sorting rides.

Before the ride, we heard from the son of one of our team-mates, Joan. Joan and I met at breakfast after the sorting ride last week. I also got to know her well during last weeks hill climbs as she kept passing me on the hill. She is a great supporter and helped me get up the hill with her encouraging words. Her 36 year old son, Dave, was diagnosed with Lymphoma just a year ago. Dave had a great job in Washington DC but decided to move back home to the Bay Area where he could be treated at Stanford. He described how he felt when first told of the diagnosis as well as all the treatments he has undergone. This gentleman is truly amazing. Dave's strength and determination and his outlook on life is so inspirational. Our group was truly lucky to have Dave come out and speak to us during this cold morning! That is Joan and her son Dave to the left!

The cool part of the day was learning that my buddy Cliff and I ended up on the same team, even though he is a better rider than me. The bummer part was that Cliff was done riding for the season. He was training on his own yesterday (Friday) and he hit something in the road that caused his bike to high-side (do they use that term in cycling?) him. Cliff landed square on his head and fractured several bones in his back and neck. He is so lucky that he was wearing a helmet! Well buddy, you'll be missed on these rides, but hopefully you'll still be able to join us for the party in Palm Springs!

We went up and down Canada road (logged in 30 miles) just doing pace lining drills. I didn't realize that you could actually draft a bicyclist. It was definitely easier to ride as a group. Trust and focus is the name of the game with pace lining. Check out the pic of the coaches demonstrating how it's done! Don't they look like pros?

I can't forget to say thanks to the support group! You guys rock! I am constantly amazed at the TNT folks (coaches, mentors, captains, etc...) for the amount of time they put in just to support us. They make it so easy for us to train. Thanks so much for donating your time!

Spin Class

Part of our TNT calendar indicates that we should do some strength training during the week. So I asked Coach Patrick what kind of training should I do? I mean he's got to say that I should do some squats or leg presses or something like that right? Nope, he said do the Spin Classes. The what? Are you joking me Patrick? The TNT Cycle Team was able to get Equinox of Palo Alto to donate the facility and then Coach Patrick recruited a former TNT coach and Spin Instructor, Coach Peggy, to donate her time to lead the classes. A huge thanks to Equinox and to Coach Peggy. What a great workout. I haven't worked that hard in looooooong time!

Palo Alto is a drive for me so I wasn't sure I was even going to make it but I'm glad I did. Coach Peggy challenged us all and said that if we take every one of her classes during the season (just 1x per week), that she would donate $100 to our personal fundraising. Well, looks like I know what I'm doing each week! Get your 100 bucks ready Coach Peggy!

Hill Climbs...what's a hill climb?

Sunday (11/15/09) was on the training calendar as "Hill Climbs". Ok, that sounds like fun (sarcasm). It's exactly what it sounded like, hill climbs. We started at Monta Vista Park in Cupertino and road 3 miles to the bottom of Mt. Eden. Ok, just the 3 miles getting to Mt. Eden was tough for me! Must have been all that wind! :) Coach Patrick made us, I mean allowed us, to climb Mt. Eden 3 times. He said we would increase the times we go up and down each week. Oh, what fun!!

Sorting Ride in Portola Valley

This past weekend was a blast! Saturday (11/14/09) was our sorting ride, which started out in Portola Valley. Our coaches asked us to ride a comfortable pace on this 12 mile loop that started on Portola Rd to Sand Hill Rd to Santa Cruz to Alpine Rd and then back to Portola Rd. This would be a timed ride so that the coaches could sort us by times and break us up into our mini-teams that we would be training with for the rest of the training days.

My overweight and out of shape body did pretty good at the beginning but I must admit that the small (and I mean small) hill going up Alpine Rd. was tough for me. I finished the ride in about 56 minutes...ok, I have no idea if that is good or not, but I know I wasn't the fastest and I wasn't the slowest. Oh well, it is what it is and I'm sure I'll know next week what team I will end up on! Bottom line, it was a fun ride! I ended the day with a nice breakfast at Mike's Cafe with the rest of the participants and coaches.

Kick-Off Celebration - 11/09/09

Monday evening (11/9/09) was the TNT Kick-Off Celebration for the South Valley Teams. I attended the meeting with my #1 supporter, my wife Laarni. Ever since I told her I was interested in making the commitment to join TNT, she has been a huge supporter of mine. In fact, the day I told her I wanted to do it and why, she went on-line and booked hotel reservations in Palm Springs!! She is the best and I am very lucky to have her in my corner! I mean it's not like she doesn't have anything else to do (works full-time, we have 4 kids all under 10 years old, volunteers at school, cooks, cleans, and goes to the gym 3 or 4 times a week, that's all).

We also went with our good friends Cliff and Michelle. It was actually thanks to Cliff that I decided to join TNT. He called me one day to ask me to support his ride and of course I did, but it also got me thinking of doing it myself. I mean why not...I've always wanted to do something to support the fight against cancer. I mean I lost two fathers to this terrible disease and I've seen so many of my friends and family members have to deal with this terrible ordeal. To read about my personal story, please go check it out here:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/tdps10/hdeguzman

At the Kick-Off Celebration, a very brave and strong woman and her 6 year old daughter, Ella, got up on stage to talk to us. The place was packed with all TNT participants including marathoners, triathlon athletes, hikers, and of course us cyclists. By the end of the story, there was not one person in the room who didn't have a tear in their eyes!

This beautiful and strong little girl, at only 6 years old, has already lived through the fight of her life. Ella's mom told us how she was stricken with a blood cancer at only 14 months old. There were days that the pain was so great for Ella that her mom actually had to whisper in her ear that it was ok for Ella to leave and go to heaven so that she could rest! But no way! Ella was not ready to leave. She was determined to stay with her mom and fight through this battle. Today she is in remission, but the reality of it is that the medication and treatment that Ella endured can still have it's long-term effects. That's why it is so important that research continue so that we know how to once and for all cure these deadly diseases. For now, we are all lucky to have Ella with us.

Ella's story only confirms that I did the right thing by joining TNT. Yeah, I'm out of shape, and yeah, it will be hard to train, but nothing could ever compare to what Ella did. It puts life in perspective! All Laarni and I could do afterwards is say how lucky we are that our children are healthy!

The rest of the evening was full of socializing, meeting some great sports vendors who support TNT and its participants and learning a lot more about fundraising.

We also got our participant jerseys and are now ready to go!

First Training Day

Ok, so the 1st training day is here (11/7/09). We met at McKenzie Park in Los Altos and it was scheduled to be an orientation ride. A short 15 mile ride just to get everyone acquainted with one another. We broke up into small groups and it took a little over an hour for our group to finish the ride. Hmmm....not too bad, ok maybe I could do this!

We have several people on our team called Honorees. These are folks fighting or have fought a blood cancer. After our first ride, we all sat around and ate some breakfast and listened to our Honorees stories. These people are truly amazing and are true inspirations. They really put the meaning of life in perspective. Probably the biggest thing that stood out was when Bill got up and shared his story.

He actually looked at all of us participants and asked us if we realized what we were doing? He told us how it's people like us that are the reasons that he is alive today. He thanked us for what we were doing by participating in TNT and helping to raise money so that more people who are fighting these terrible blood cancers can live longer and with more quality. It's you who we should be thanking Bill!

Thanks to all the Generous Supporters

WOW!!!! I have been saying that a lot lately! I am totally overwhelmed and amazed at the generosity of my friends and family! I thought I might be setting my fundraising goal too high at $5,000, but to my surprise, I surpassed my goal in just one week!! WOW!!!! Since it is still months away until my actual ride in Palm Springs, I had to increase my goal. I mean I can't stop now!

Every time I speak to someone who has either fought a blood cancer or someone who is currently fighting it, I come to realize it takes a whole lot more than my $5,000 to help these cancer fighters!! I've decided to raise my goal to $7,500. Yeah, I know the donations are going to slow down, but I'm not going to stop trying to get folks to help me fight this cause!

Thanks to the generosity of so many people, we are making a difference! If you haven't donated yet, please know that every dollar counts. In it not the amount that matters to me, just knowing that I have your support in this battle against cancer is enough to keep me motivated to keep training to make that 100 mile ride in Palm Springs in February 2010. You can go to my donation web site at http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/tdps10/hdeguzman to see how much I've raised so far.

Thanks again everyone for the support!

Together We Can Fight To Save Lives

Well, I decided to create this blog to allow all of my family and friends to track my progress in my quest to raise as much money as possible to help fight leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma. I am not much of a blogger or social networker or whatever the technical term is. But because so many of you have generously donated to my cause, I feel like this is our fight and I want you to feel that way. So, hopefully I can find the time to keep you all updated and describe my experience. Thanks to all of you who support me in this journey!

As most of you know by now, I joined Team in Training (TNT) in October 2009. I put away the golf clubs for now and am training with TNT over the next few months to do a 100 mile bike ride in Palm Springs on February 13, 2009. I am doing this for a lot of people, including my two fathers who both passed away from cancer. For more details on my fundraising and my personal story, please go to http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/tdps10/hdeguzman

Ok, so now the truth? There is one other very important reason I want to blog this experience. There are so many people that I have met in my short time on the team that make me realize that there is still not enough money to fight this battle and it will take more! So, this will hopefully serve to get people thinking and realize, like I did, how important it is to continue the fight to find a cure for these blood cancers. If you haven't donated yet, there is still a lot of time (February 1, 2010 is my last day to accept donations) so please read on and check back frequently. I will hopefully do a good enough job describing my experience and relaying the experience of some of the cancer survivors and current cancer patients that you will in fact donate. For those of you who have already donated, I truly appreciate your generosity. You already know how important this is to me, but more importantly, to the people who are living this nightmare today! Please help me spread the word and pass this info on to more people and help me ask for donations!

Thanks again, I hope you take the time and enjoy my updates throughout the season! See you at the finish line in Palm Springs!