Posted on
Oct 1, 2009 by maureen
Today is my last day at work before the big ride! I am getting ready to say my goodbyes. I still cannot believe the support of all my friends and family. It is an amazing thing that cancer can do for your life. Cherish each moment and experience as they come, and never have any regrets. I was surprised yesterday by yet another generous offering. Two of my friends from work surprised me with a beautiful jacket for me to ride on my journey. It will be appreciated even more for the chilly mornings. We leave for our 8 hour ride to Hershey bright and early; 5 am to be exact! I am very excited and terrified at the same time. Having done most of my training on park roads and trails, I have no concept as to what I have gotten myself into. I am proud to say that I logged in over 800 miles of training miles this summer but I still question if what I did will be enough to see me through. I guess I will do what my mother told me and pray to my guardian angel to push me up all those hills. I have t... read more >>
Posted on
Sep 29, 2009 by maureen
I am proud to say I achieved a 50 mile ride this week! I left my house on Saturday morning determined to do at least 50 miles. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t exciting, but I did do it. I think I mentioned before that I ride at a metro park across the street from the sub division that I live in because I am a little terrified of riding by myself on the streets alone. If I ride from my house to the beginning of the bike path, ride the path then ride home it is 14 miles. So I rode 50, I think you can imagine what I had to do to get all 50 miles in at that location. Can we say boring! Especially since I have been riding there all summer during my training. I cannot wait to go to Hershey so that I can ride the whole way and only see every tree and house and ant hill once. I also felt good about the ride because the only reason I stopped was that I couldn’t take seeing the same thing over and over. Two days prior to my 50 day ride, Team Michigan rode together and I got in a 47... read more >>
Posted on
Sep 14, 2009 by maureen
I think the one good thing for me is that I have been able to lose some weight doing all this training. I never realized how many calories are burned while riding. According to most sources, it is basically 600 calories an hour as long as you are working at it decently. I have been trying to lose the weight I gained during chemo 3 years ago. I was surprised to learn when I entered treatment, that most people gain weight while on chemo. Once I was done with treatment I started on ovarian suppression which stops the ovaries from producing estrogen and basically puts me into menopause. Well that certainly wasn’t going to help. But riding has definitely helped; especially the longer rides of close to 2 hours. The part I am most worried about for the big ride; are the hills of Pennsylvania. All I keep hearing from people when they ask me about my training is if I was aware that Pennsylvania is VERY hilly and that I better be out there riding for hours every night of the week or I&rsqu... read more >>
Posted on
Aug 31, 2009 by maureen
Never in my whole life did I think that I would be biking 200 plus miles through 3 states. But then again, I never thought I would have to deal with breast cancer at age 35 either. Four years ago seems like a lifetime. My husband Rob and I were just getting ready to celebrate our first wedding anniversary in the new house that we built when life threw me a curveball. When I got the diagnosis my first thoughts were, I’m going to die, I don’t want to die. Then the flurry of doctor’s appointments, surgeries and treatments became my life. It all happened so fast. But here I am today, no evidence of disease and training for my next battle, the rolling hills of Pennsylvania.
When I first heard of the Hershey’s Tour de Pink, I thought it be something cool to try but never really thought I would do it. I told my best friend Chelsey about it and she said, “Let’s do it”. I can’t really say it took a whole lot of convincing, since the ride involve... read more >>