THANK YOU

On Jan. 20th I sent out an email to all my freinds, family & co-workers about my fundraising efforts for this season, in just 10 days I have raised $935. I have been fundraising once a year for the last 3 years for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and each season I am just touched at how generous everyone is and continues to be.

Thank you so much for continuing to support me and LLS. ....Karen Bednarowski, Rich Brooks, Brenda Donato, Mark Goldberg, Amy Goldman, Brian Kinion, Ben Langel, Phil Lee, Brandy Regan, Ken Reicher & Rudy Van Pelt.

If you would like to donate you can go to the following link:
http://www.active.com/donate/tntgsf/tntgsfCSantos1

OUCHIE...

.....I HATE clipless pedals :o( I decided yesterday that I should probably get out and ride my bike before I actually have to ride with the team. I needed to figure out how to use my new shoes, clipless pedals and just get used to all the stuff on my new bike. I have to ride this Wednesday night and I didn't want to have to figure all that stuff out on my own and in the dark. So, Rocky went home and got his bike. He was going to be my teacher for the afternoon since he has been doing this for a while. I got on all my gear on, which took about 45min because we had to make sure my helmet was nice and snug. We headed over to the Iron Horse Trail which happens to run right behind our condo.

I get on the bike, clip in the left pedal, start pedaling and clip in the right. It wasn't as bad as I thought....until Rocky told me to try clipping out and stopping. It was more like clip out and tumble hard on the ground :o( thank god we were on the trail and not on the street somewhere in the middle of traffic. I checked to make sure I was okay and tried it again. This time I clipped in the right pedal and then the left. That seamed a little easier for me. I was going for a little bit and then Rocky told me to try clipping out again and stopping. Once again I managed to clip out okay but didn't stop and slammed into the ground, this time on my right hand side :o( urrgghhh. Of course being a girly girl, I wanted to cry and go home but I didn't. I once again checked to make sure I was okay and didn't break anything and I got back on the bike. I tried it again with a few more tips from Rocky. Guess what? This time....I DID IT and then I DID IT again...woohooo. Then we went home because everything started hurting :o( from my first two meetings with the ground. I am going to practice in my living room just clipping in and out of my pedals and on Wednesday I will hit the trail again and hope that I can stay vertical :o) I love my new bike, it feels awesome and thanks to Rocky ALL of my stuff is now on it.

my left knee :o(

my new bike :o)

Kick Off

Our Kick Off Celebration for the Spring Season was on Saturday. We met in the big ballroom at the Oakland Marriott. First all of the teams meet in one huge room, tri, run, walk & cycle teams. We listen to someone talk about the cause and why we are all here. We also get to hear one of the team honoree's tell us their cancer story. They get everyone pumped up for the new season and tell them our secret hand shake which is actually just a really loud GO TEAM!!!! which we will hear a lot while we are out on the road training. After the big session we break out into smaller rooms with our team and meet our mentees. They get to meet the rest of the mentors, coaches and team honorees. I now have 8 mentees :o) and I am very excited. I got to meet 5 of them and 3 weren't able to make it so I will meet them later. I have a great group and I think we'll have lots of fun training together. Our official training starts next Saturday although we do need to start working out this week to get us used to the routine of having to workout 6 days a week. I can't wait.

Week 1
Monday - REST
Tuesday - Swim 20 min easy
Wednesday - Bike 20-30 min easy
Thursday - Run 20-30 min easy
Friday - Swim 20 min easy
Saturday - Triathlon University (we learn about everything we'll need this season)
Sunday - Bike 30-45 min easy

I know I can do it, I did it before.......

........I can do it, I WILL do it....this is my little friend, Vanessa Wittmer's, mantra and guess what? SHE DID IT....I received an email from Trish, Vanessa's mom, earlier this week and Vanessa is officially in REMISSION...woohoo....and as Trish said "she is now on the road to live a fresh new life".

Here is a picture of Vanessa and her sister Salina at one of our runs. It was pretty chilly out but they were out there cheering us on and supporting us.

Spring Season is HERE :o)

WOW I can't believe it's time to start a new season. My Fall Season Run Team isn't even officially over yet. We have finished all our races but our end of season party isn't for another few weeks. I will miss my team :o( boo, hoo. I have been with them for 3 years...YIKES!!! I must like this endurance sport thing. Our Kick Off celebration is tomorrow at the Marriott in Oakland and I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone. I am a mentor this season, as of now I have 6 mentees that I will be helping out with finishing a triathlon. Shoot I need my own mentor considering this is my 1st triathlon also. I am sure we'll all do fine though. I have spent the last few weeks gearing up for this season. I already had my running stuff and swim stuff but I had to get a new bike and all my gear for it. WOW I can't believe how much stuff you need. I think after many trips to the bike shop and them taking all my money I finally have all my stuff. At least I hope so because if not I'm going to have to eat bread and water for the next few months. I'm really looking forward to this adventure though. I'll keep you posted. Have a great weekend.

Donate at - http://www.active.com/donate/tntgsf/tntgsfCSantos1

Fundraising

TNT trains me and in return I raise money to find a cure for Leukemia, Lymphoma and other blood related cancers. Here is the letter I sent out to all of my family, friends, co-workers and anyone else who is interested in TNT and in donating to a great cause.

January 23, 2006

Dear Family, Friends and Colleagues,

Hello! I’M BACK, for some more early mornings and lots and lots of training and of course raising money for a great cause. This year I’ve set a new goal for myself, an Olympic Distance Triathlon on May 7, 2006. It’s called the Jamba Juice Wildflower Triathlon…The Wildflower Olympic Distance Triathlon is an amateur age group and relay team event. This world-class course includes a 1.5K open water swim, a 40K (extremely hilly bike course) and a brutal 10K run course…YIKES!!! As you can see I’ve got my work cut out for me. You have all continued to support me throughout the last 3 years of my training and fundraising and I’m hoping that you will continue to do so throughout this new journey. With your support I raised over $2500 last March and I finished 2 Half Marathons and 2 Full Marathons. I was able to set a new personal record at the Kaiser Half Marathon and at the Napa Valley Marathon.

This year I will again be completing my event in memory of Cole Regan who lost his fight to M5 Acute Myeloid Leukemia on July 28, 2004 he was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, just seven weeks after being born. I will also be running in honor of my friends: Vanessa Wittmer (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia), Vanessa finished her last round of chemo about 2 months ago. Rich Brooks (Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia). Rich continues to be in remission after taking Gleevac. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society played a vital role in the development of the drug, Gleevac, by funding its’ research. Brenda Donato (Acute Myeloid Leukemia). Brenda is doing great after having a stem cell transplant in June 2005. She walked the Arizona Rock & Roll Marathon on January 15, 2006. Debby Greer-Costello, diagnosed with Leukemia October 22, 2005. She will be finishing up Round 5 of chemo this week and then in 4 weeks will have a bone marrow transplant, more chemo and a heavy duty radiation. Her journey with this ugly disease has just begun but she is hopefully that all will turn out good and she will one day be in remission and back to a normal life with her 5 year old daughter. This season I will be a mentor for the Spring Triathlon Team and I have committed to raising another $3000 to help find a cure

LLS, a national voluntary health agency dedicated to finding the cause, treatments and cures of leukemia and related cancers such as lymphoma, and myeloma. Leukemia is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. It kills more children between ages 2 and 15 then any other disease. Over 100,000 Americans will contract leukemia - and more than 57,000 will die from leukemia or it's related diseases this year, making it the fourth major cause of death in this country. Over 75% of the donations will go directly to research, patient services, professional education, advocacy, and community services.

You can donate online, follow my training and check out photos by going to the website listed below. I will keep it updated on a weekly basis.

http://www.active.com/donate/tntgsf/tntgsfCSantos1

With your generous support, I will cross the finish line at the Jamba Juice Wildflower Triathlon and we will help contribute to the finish of leukemia and lymphoma.

Sincerely with much thanks and appreciation,

Claudia