Our team had the annual Ride n Tie event today. I had no idea what to expect with this training except that we were told that we had to pair up with someone, have a mountain bike between us and dress in costume! Costume?? Yes, this team really likes dress up! I was paired up with Angela who also has the same mentor as I do. We decided in honor of Lavaman and Hawaii, we'd go polynesian style! We were Team Aloha!
The object of Ride n Tie is to do 3-4 laps around a 3 mile trail with your teammate by biking or running. This was new to both Angela and I so we had no idea how to strategize the course. So, during the first lap we sort of followed what others were doing. Also, we only had one bike between us so the person riding had to ride and leave the bike along the course for the next person to find. The next person had to be aware so they don't run past the bike. Once a lap is finished, there's a transition point which entailed arriving there together with your teammate and doing a particular task assigned by the coaches.
What we decided to do is run with our helmets on so we didn't have to keep switching helmets. It's really awkward to run with a bike helmet... oh, and I forgot to mention that we stayed in costume during the bike/run! You can only imagine the strange looks we got from the non Team in Training folks walking or running along the trailhead.
The team gathered together at the end and Coach Mike said that besides this event being a fun bonding experience with teammates, it also provides a learning experience on how to transition from the bike to a run. It was fun but it was a very tiring workout even though we only did 9 miles total. As we felt exhausted afterwards, we came back to reality as we were able to hear Vanessa Ingardia, an honoree and Lavaman teammate speak about her experience with cancer. I mentioned her in an earlier post so I've heard her story before but hearing it again, made me teary eyed again. It's cancer survivors, like her who are so thankful to us for raising money to help provide funds for support and research. She said that she should've been gone 16 years ago if it weren't for the research and clinical trial drugs that were made available to her. So, seeing her biking and running alongside me is another reminder how important this mission is and why we do what we do! We want more people to have as much life in them as Vanessa does!
Aloha,
L
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