Dedication

The northern team has been very dedicated this week. After a rather trying day on Wednesday we managed to suck it up and do some training. However, Mike took the training to the next level as is demonstrated in the picture below. Even though he was tired and frustrated he still was able to train!

Run Forest... Run!

Justin- I am very very sad that we will be losing you from the TIT team. Like Jen said, I am glad that you are not throwing in the towel completely. We are now down to 4 T.I.T's and that is a critical low. No more dropping. We are locked in at this point.

Two-uh-days up north have been going pretty well... except for this intense heat that is just exhausting to be running in. We (Kesia, Mike, and I) have been swimming in the e coli and I am glad to report that we are ecoli-free thus far! I will continue to monitor the team for health problems and will possibly be doing blood draws if the threat continues.

I was thinking along with my dear friend Kesia about something fun... I would like all of you to let me know of your two favorite songs to run/bike/ walk to. Something that you know you can put on and it will keep you going. We are going to compile the songs and make a CD for everyone to have! (more free stuff for Just)

Someone needs to put up the e coli article on here for record !

Welcome Aboard!

Justin, I think it is so important that you have come to this realization now, as I believe none of your team members would want you to drown! More imprtantly, I think it is great that you didn't throw in the towel all together, and will be passing out with me as we finish the dualathon!

I, too, was experiencing this moment of reality last week as I was running on the treadmill at the gym. I thought that maybe I was in over my head and should just stick to the 5K that I had initially set as my goal for this summer. I felt that I was just overcome by peer pressure and wanted to do what everyone else was doing without thinking about my ability. Thus, I was one email away from ending it all. But, with a caring, "you can do it, just train harder" from Jansen, I was overcomed by peer pressure again =). Luckily I have had a few pretty good training days over the last few, and have put my name back in the hat.

Have a great week training everyone!

Reality

There comes a time in each persons life when dreams do not match reality. I feel I had this time over the past few days. Due to various commitments in my life (school, school, school, etc.) I feel I need to withdraw my name from the triathlon. Because I have not had time to train for the swimming event I feel I cannot safely continue on this path. Kesia and I talked about this last night and I am more afraid of drowning than I have been in my life...and e.coli!

Do not be dismayed however, I am still in for the duathlon (mostly because I want the free shirt, post race food, and other freebies). So, Julie and Jenifer you now have a companion for this race. I just hope you will not be looking for a "running" partner as I will most likely be walking.

I hope I can be a part of this group; even though I am no longer a T.I.T. I still remain a D.I.T.

Have a great day!

If you can't play with the big dogs... then stay on the porch

This week has been full of learned lessons... some harder than others... but still lessons learned...


Monday night we (Mike, Kesia, Justin, Luwis, and I) celebrated Mike's birthday at Dime-A-Dog night at the Clippers game! Mike almost ate a whole 25 hotdogs... and we had lots of fun!

Kesia, Justin, and I got Mike a cake to celebrate after the game which already had "happy birthday" printed on it. We decided to get it a little more personalized so Kesia and I asked the two young gentlemen behind the counter to "personalize" it...

In case you can't see it clearly... it says T.I.T. Kesia was the brave one to ask and the man said "You want it to say what?" We said "we know what it spells but just do it." We may or may not have been judged but the lesson to be learned here is that it does not matter what others think when you are going to lengths for a teammate, you do it because we love each other.

I started my official job as a Y.P. this week and in doing so met a guy who is a hardcore triathlete. He was really excited to find out I was doing a triathlon with the best team in the world and gave me some awesome tips...
The biggest thing he recommended was overcoming the dreaded "brick." He explained that the hardest part of the triathlon is after you get off the bike and you begin your run... he explained something about the muscles basically going into shock and "bricking" and he said if you have never felt it before you do your triathlon then it will knock you down big time. So he said it is important to be biking... jumping off and then start running immediately. He said the first mile will be mighty painful but push through it. We need to practice the brick!

Lastly... the hardest lesson learned this week came tonight after a wonderful and difficult swim with Mike at Alum Creek. It was a hard swim with lots of waves and Mike's injured leg. I was pulling out of the park cruising at 35 miles per hour in a 20 mph zone (in just my swimsuit). I was unaware of the 20mph limit and the next thing I know i'm being pulled over by the park cop. In the 6 years I have been driving I have never once got caught speeding, which is something I do a lot. To make a long story short... I ended up with a $130 park citation for speeding. We need to pull together and do some fund raising to cover this cost. We will sell candy bars or something. Any ideas are welcome.

I thought some mean things about that park ranger... maybe shed a few tears... laughed about it... and realized that my new young professional pay check won't nearly be as enjoyable when I have to write a $130 check from it. I could have easily thrown in the towel and my tennis shoes and quit the triathlon all together but I came home... ate some chicken... and went out for a 2.5 mile run in honor of the officer that gave me my ticket. Two-a-days are IN.

In the words of Men at Work, "ain't nobody gonna break my stride... ain't nobody gonna slow me down... oh no... i got to keep on moving..."

I will see most of you tomorrow at the equator for some more training! Two a days here we come!

A Work in Progress

It seems like the communication between our team has come to a halt! No longer can I trust that every time I log on to my computer there will be words of encouragement awaiting for our team.

I would like to thank Magic Mike and his book, "Mike's Collection of Life Reminders, Quotations and Affirmations"..... I plan to read his book and report my findings each day in this blog. I can only hope that his life book will give our group what we need to continue on training with happiness and enthusiasm.

A team is an intimate place. To work
closely with others, especially thoes committed to the highest performance,
means revealing essential details about who we are, what we know and what we
believe. We put our ideas, values and passions on the line with our teammates - and we hold our teammates gently
as they do the same. In order to foster such intimacy and high performance, we
need to regular, open, honest, communication. When information flows freely, we
can pool our strengths and make progress toward out mutual
goals.

Whitney et. al., Diana

Everyone have a GREAT day!

Our supporters...

Jenifer's awesome post led me to think about posting about our supporters...

The northern team has needed some motivation this week so I thought I would share it with the entire team...

That picture of Shelia is awesome and motivating as well! I almost forgot I had that picture... I can't believe I have not brought it out before now!

Just wanted everyone to know I am wishing you all the best! Give me a call if you need a pep talk!

-- Reagan

First Time Blogger

Hi all of you Triathletes in Training! I wanted to write a message because I have never had a blog before, or even a myspace or facebook account! Thanks Ashley for setting this up!

I decided that the treadmill would be better today than pushing the running stroller, so I hit the gym for my workout! It was nice because it is air conditioned! I set out thinking I would run 3 miles, thinking I needed to start getting used to that, but 2.2 miles later, I decided I was done! I was satisfied with that though because I ran the last 1.2 miles at a faster pace than I am used to, 8:45 min per mile. Then, I did some upper-body lifting and some ab exercises. Nice to get some use out of that gym membership!

Camping was fun! Thanks to everyone who helped me keep an eye on Reagan, she is such a camper. I just want you to know she was sitting on my lap earlier picking out everyone's picture from the blog. A special thanks to Kesia who helped locate Oliver at 4:00 am. And, Kesia, quick update, as last night, you are now Reagan's best friend. And Scarlet is her favorite dog.

Good luck to all of the swimming triathletes tonight! Although I know it would be so much harder for me, sometimes I wish I could swim so I wouldn't have to run twice during this triathlon!

Have fun!

Rosie...

If you see this bike... make sure that you follow the culprit on it and call for back up.

No Planet, No Party

Touche Justin.

That was the best update I have ever read, and very encouraging.

I also had a encouraging night last night, with a lesson to be learned...

I went to my home church which is 7 of us and what we really are is a social justice group/ bible study. Only three of us showed up last night and found out that my friend Jonathan had his bike stolen that morning. Now this is not just some bike... this bike was and is his pride and joy. He built this bike from the ground up, and adored her. Her name is Rosie... and she is missing.

We decided that we would eat dinner real fast and go on Rosie Search 2008. And that we did. We biked about 15 miles all over downtown columbus checking all the hot bike spots (Bodegas, Tip Top, Monday night ride) and had no luck. We posted flyers and hung signs and looked at every biker we passed... and even followed a few... but we turned up empty handed.

We made our way down to High and Gay St... had a few drinks at Tip Top... and started our midnight journey back to Clintonville.

Lesson to be learned: When a teammate, friend, fellow bible study-er has a crisis, especially about a bike... that issue needs to take precedence. We need to drop what we are doing and be there for one another. We need to bear eachothers burdens.

Another lesson to be learned: Monday night ride is sweet. If you have no heard of it its just a bunch of bikers (60-70) who meet at 10pm down near campus area and ride the city. It is not an intense ride... but they usually go about 20 miles and I think it should be our next team building exercise/ adventure.

Another lesson to learned: Tip Top sells $1 drafts of Pbast to people who bike there... dually noted.

There is nothing like a mid night ride through downtown Columbus on a night like last. We should all do it in the very near future as a team... and maybe even hit up the TipTop!

Swimming night tonight! See you guys at 6!

Ash

Leaving Home

I got home last night, late after a day of work and school. After sitting and talking with Kesia for a bit I decided to go for a bike ride. Although I did not want to leave, and she likewise did not want me to leave, I felt it was important for me to go. She and I both knew although I would return, I would eventually have to leave again. And sure enough, when I woke up this morning I had to leave again. It is difficult for me to leave time and time again but I know and Kesia knows that at times it is important to leave. At times I must spread my feeble little wings and go out into the mean cruel world and live a little.

After a bit of time and 8 miles on my bike I decided to return, it came as no surprise that Kesia was still there. She knew I would return and I had no intention of leaving for good. I was changed when I returned; I was tired, a little sweatier, and a lot smellier.

So why this strange little story? No reason really I just thought it might be an important lesson for some of my fellow T.I.T. members to hear. We leave our fellow members, family, and friends, but it will not be forever, we will all come back someday. We will change when we are gone; however, when we come together again we can have a good time and talk about what happened when we were apart. Although Kesia was not fond of spending time too close, since as referenced before I was a lot smellier, I had fun telling her about my ride…

Until Next Time

First official TIT post

We have been talking about making this blog for weeks now... so here we are!



I don't have any pictures of Julie or Jansen so please send them soon so we can put you up here!



As our readers may or may not know... we just had our T.I.T. camping retreat 2008. It was pretty successful. We spent some good time training on Saturday morning in the lake and Julie and Jen got some running in. Sunday, however, we mostly enjoyed the sabbath and did not train.



We did many team building exercise... which included set up on Friday, "Put your hands in the fire if..." on Saturday night, showering with Shelia on Sunday, and lifting each other over trees on Sunday.



We had a few challenging moments... and as Mike and I were talking on the way home... people's true character comes out while you camp. It is a stressful adventure but we made it through!



Highlights of the weekend:



- Horn honking on Saturday night... enough said.

- Oliver's prison break at 4am

- Laney covered in feathers

- Raegan

- Mike and Jansen... enough said.

- Hugging it out

- Thunderstorms and rain showers that didn't rain on our parade



I am sure there were many more... please feel free to add to the list.



I had a wonderful time building team with my TITs this weekend and look forward to another retreat soon!



The northern team

-ashley