March 21, 2006

Hey guys!

Just wanted to let you know that our overall fundraising mark for our chapter of Team in Training has hit $150,000!!!! That is so incredible for us, and we're barely halfway into the season!

I was just thinking last night, that I have less than 2 months until race day! I couldn't believe it...where has the time gone? I feel like it was forever last season before race day arrived, but now I'm thinking, wait, am I really ready? I have yet to get in an actual mock-tri practice, but I hope to at least get 2 in before the big day. We've got a bunch of things going on in April, so it'll be a tight squeeze, but I do believe it's a must in order to really be prepared. If you all have a chance, check out www.honolulutriathlon.com and you can see the map of the course for the race. It looks like it will be tough in parts, but fun in others. At least I'm familiar already with most of the course. Lucky me, I have a husband who's from Hawaii...=)

Hope you all are well...

-e.m.y.

March 16, 2006

Yikes! Where is the time going? I have failed to keep up with my blog postings...darn! Well, guess I'm going to just have to capture it all in this update...so here goes:

Update on Coach Lee's father: Lee's dad is in Houston, in the hospital, still awaiting a match for a bone marrow donor. If you are not on the marrow registry, please consider becoming one. Check out http://www.bonemarrowtest.com/ to find an upcoming marrow drive. Just click on "calendar of drives" on the left hand column and select "California" (leave the city blank). A whole list will come up. You could save a life!!!

Update on fundraising: THE GOAL HAS BEEN MET!!!! YAY! Thank you all...the support has been incredible and, even better, donations are still rolling in...

Update on training: we are now in week 9 of training. (Wait, seriously? It feels like week 99). Yesterday, Nalu and I tackled the extreme hill again, with my coach, and even though we had to walk half of it, we made it to the top! Gosh were we glad we did, because from there it was all downhill =). And, the view from the top of that hill in Whiting Ranch is just spectacular. Imagine a crisp, clear morning, sun just peeking out over the horizon...then being able to look out over South Orange County and see for miles...it was fantastic! I realized, also, that so much of that hill is mental. I mean, I had encountered some days last year where I just totally hit the wall mentally and physically, but wasn't really thinking about that this year...until this particular run, where my coach was just saying to me, hey, let it go, it's just a hill, you can do it...and he was right. As I've told many of you before, so much of endurance training is mental. So much. Just how you're feeling that particular day, that particular hour, that particular minute, can make or break your workout. There's so much you have to think about for a triathlon: training, scheduling time for training, equipment, nutrition, hydration, etc...the list goes on forever, and indeed it's a huge commitment to be a part of something like this. It can all be overwhelming. That day I had misplaced my gloves, couldn't find my toasty warm beanie, and forgot the garage door opener to let myself back in when I returned from the run, but still told myself that Nalu and I were going to get up that hill...and what do you know? We did. =)

Ooh, also, I wanted to mention that there's three local Team In Training fundraisers occurring in the next month:

1. Souplantation in Foothill Ranch on April 13
2. Rubios in Foothill Ranch on April 18
3. Cosmos in Aliso Viejo on March 28

Flyers are needed to make sure your payment for dining goes towards TNT, so please email me at miko@cox.net if you are able to make any of these events and I'll be sure you get a flyer.

In the meantime, keep checking out this blog for updates (even if I've been not so good about keeping up with this...forgive me!) and keep little Noah and all of us in your prayers...

Sayonara folks!
-e.m.y

March 8, 2006

Great news folks....we are SOOOO close to the goal! Thanks to some very generous donations from my parents, my aunt Lori and Uncle Stephen, and a favorite family of mine from church, The Okadas...yours truly is almost there! I am so touched by the responses I've received from you all, and it's just as fantastic as last year!

Today was our regular Wednesday morning trail run with the team. About 15 minutes into the run, Nalu somehow got unhooked from his leash and took off after the people in front of him. He disappeared from sight, because the trails are curved and you can't always see what's up ahead. I didn't totally freak out, because he's run away before, but in this instance, I had to factor in the other creatures out there that would love to eat him for breakfast. He'd be one tasty little snack for a mountain lion. Thank God for the herding instinct in him because I soon found him up ahead, following right behind the others who were in front of us before. He saw me, then stopped and waited for me to catch up and just sat there wagging his tail at me, totally letting me put the leash back on, as though nothing was wrong. What a little stinker. We continued on and today, went a little further than usual. Of course, my coach didn't clue me in (I bet on purpose just to test my stamina) that the trail, beyond where we had gone before, was literally straight up hill for a mile or two, on a rocky dirt trail, and was actually mostly mud from the past week's rains...Nalu was looking at me like, yeah right, I am SO not going up that hill. He tugged in resistance the whole way, but I dragged him up, oh, probably another mile or so and just gave up and turned around. You all should have seen how fast he FLEW back down the hill.

Needless to say, we are both exhausted today and I still have to make it to swim practice tonight. Training for a triathlon is no small feat and the word "tired" sometimes doesn't even begin to describe how I feel...but it is still SO worth it and I know what we do at TNT changes lives. And, I also know that were it not for you all, I would not be able to do this, so THANK YOU!!!

Yours truly is turning 21, oops, I mean 28, on March 25, and I know I've talked to some of you already, but for the rest of you, we are having a little birthday shin-dig at the Yoshida house on 3/25 around 6pm, so drop me an email if you are interested in celebrating with us!

Ciao
-e.m.y

March 5, 2006

Yikes! Where have I been? I'm so late with this post...sorry!

Training is going very well... no major bike crashes and no major injuries to report from the Team (knock on wood). Yesterday was a group bike run out by Hicks Canyon, and today I made it through a 9-mile run around our neighborhood. This is the farthest I have ever gone before without stopping, and if I ever doubted the distance all I have to do is check in with that blister on my left foot. The coaches say to increase distance by no more than 10% every week, so slowly but surely I will get to longer distances...maybe one day I will do that marathon I've always wanted to do. =) This is huge for me, because I have never EVER been a runner. Those who have known me for a long time know I would have done anything to get out of suicides (b-ball line drills) and that crappy 1-mile run test you have to take in PE. And I honestly believed running would never help my volleyball game. Who knew this is where I'd be today?

Even though I enjoy running with Nalu, I do really love running on my own...it is my quiet time, if that makes any sense. Just the chance for me to check in with God, reevaluate the past week, think about life, etc...I thank God constantly for just being able to run, for so many people out in the world would like to, but can't.

My coach let me borrow this oh-so-cool nifty device from Garmin which looks like this mini computer on your wrist. It's a GPS system that tracks you and tells you how fast you're running, and how far. It is the coolest thing. There's even this little feature where you select your "running buddy" to run at a certain pace and through out your workout he tells you whether or not you're keeping up with him, if he's ahead, or if you're ahead. Awesome! Sure, it's only a $300 system, but my birthday is fast approaching and it's readily available on Ebay. Oh yes, I have emphasized that very much to Landon. =)

I am so close to my fundraising goal...we are at almost $4000!!!! Thank you all!!!

Here's a website you can go to for updates on our honored hero for this season, Noah Wehner.
http://www.caringbridge.org/ca/noahwehner/
It's a great little journal!

One more thing, I got a very generous donation from a good friend of mine, who is also an extremely talented musician. He just so happens to be married to another extremely talented and beautiful woman who is one of my dear friends from college. His name is Tyrone Wells, and she's Erin (formerly Chang) Wells, also known as Elina. PLEASE check out Tyrone's website at www.tyronewells.com, and also check out Erin at www.elinamusic.com.

That's about it for now. Keep the donations coming! We are almost there!!!

Adios!
-e.m.y.