A post about my biking days... and Lance :)

I decided to take the time to talk about something I did before running. Road biking.  It's something I haven't done in a while, but has helped me to realize that I am capable of doing just about anything if I work hard. I have also been getting comments for wearing my "Livestrong" bracelet, despite all the allegations against Lance.  I wanted to make my opinion known as this is something very personal for me.  So... here it goes...

Shortly after my family moved to Colorado, my mom became very passionate about riding her bike.  She rode in several large events raising money for different organizations, and even got her friends, family, and my dad riding in them too :)  When I was diagnosed with cancer in 1999, she was determined to find a way to help me fight, as well as give back to the hospital that had saved my life.  She created a team, "Meaghan's Modsquad" to ride in the annual Courage Classic that year.  Since that time my mom has ridden every year raising thousands of dollars for the hospital, and of course making the event all the more interesting with the gang of crazy riders each year.  The team has evolved each year and many people we have known for a long time, as well as those we have literally recruited on training rides have ridden in this event.  

I volunteered for the Courage Classic for a few years in a row, and even was given my own title: "Personal Assistant to the Event Director"  A few years later, I began riding tandem with my mom's bike mechanic, Duane and later began riding with Chris, a parent of a member of my school's color guard team.  I loved sharing this passion with my mom and rode in the Courage Classic for several years.   

My mom has always been a huge fan of Lance's.  To this day my mom keeps a life-size poster of Lance in our garage.  When I was in high school I was chosen to be one of the "Livestrong" model patients, and had my picture on the website with the phrase, "I'm Meaghan, and I LIVESTONG" written beneath it.  I attended a few events held in Colorado, and even got to hear Lance speak in person.  

The Tour de France is a race that no ordinary person could complete, let alone win.  No drug, no procedure, and no amount of doping would allow an ordinary human being to get on a bike and ride that many miles and those mountain passes for three weeks straight.

Lance was so focused on what he wanted that he went to crazy extremes to get there. Um. Don't we all?  I'm a girl who needs a latte every morning and a few Diet Coke's each day because I don't have time to get more than 6 hours of sleep each night.  Is that not a little extreme? Every person who has ever risen to the top had to take some extreme measures to get to where they are. Sometimes we are so wrapped up in reaching a goal that we make poor choices.  Lance made a mistake.  There's no question.  But he came clean.  And in my eyes, he's still a survivor and a hero.  So I'm still Meaghan, and I still Livestrong.  

Here are some pictures from my days as a road biker :)

At the top of Freemont Pass... :) 

Sagging to the top of Vail Pass... Not happy. And yes. I wore a crown on my helmet :)

My trusty captain, Chris. The love of my life. Obviously.

Mom and I at the top of Tennessee Pass :)

I'm looking at The Bunny Rock 5k on March 30th for my next race :)  Looking for recruits to run with me.  Been running in the cold... Brrr. It's a little chilly running at night in chi-town, but totally worth it :)

The Shortest 5k EVER! :)

I signed up for this race as a way to motivate myself to keep up with my running.  After I signed up I got an email from a friend I had met a few times running at the track downtown, asking how my running was going.  He mentioned briefly at the end of his email that he would love to do a 5k sometime. Not sure if he was just saying it to be nice, but I took that as a confirmation that he would be signing up for the Polar Dash with me :) He signed up the next day and we both began training on our own to prepare.

I met Erick at Gear Check, switched legs, and we lined up right before the race started.  (I learned my lesson at the Turkey Trot... there IS such a thing as being TOO early.  It was kinda nice starting right away. Less anxiety.  And cold air :P)  The weather was absolutely perfect.  Not too hot, not too cold, a little wind, and a beautiful clear sky over Lake Michigan.  It was a rough start, with a lot of walkers who CLEARLY did not understand the lineup system.  We ran around Grant Park, and onto the path above the lake, heading north and crossing the 1 mile marker.

When we got to the turn around on the lake path, I felt a little confused.  The Monster Dash (same racing company) used an almost identical route on paper, but it seemed like we turned around a lot sooner today.  I didn't think much of it, and we kept going. We ran under the bridge, bringing us back into Grant Park.  I assumed we would take another loop around the park again, when it became clear that we were finishing.  I looked at Erick and said... "Um. There's no WAY that was a 5k!? We didn't even pass a Mile 2 marker." Erick kept saying, "I think we're done! This is it?! This is the finish line!" We crossed at 29 minutes, and got our medals, when they made an announcement: "We would like to apologize for the confusion.  If you were in the 5k group you either did a 3k or a 7k." We looked at each other and started cracking up. So the Polar Dash 2013 marks my first 3K race :)

We ate pizza afterwards (another tradition of mine) and laughed a lot about the "shortest 5k" we've ever done. Erick and I have a similar pace, as we are both more concerned about taking care of our body than making perfect time.  We decided to keep each other motivated through email updates on our training progress, and talked about doing another 5k together.  He's convinced I should do the 7k Shamrock Shuffle, with 30,000 other crazy Chicago runners.  Ha. We'll see about that :)

Some awesome pictures of me and my new running buddy Erick :)

  

Before the race started :) Note new pink ear warmers.  They were made for me.  They even have a hole in the back for my ponytail. 

             After our 3k...The girl taking the picture thought it was awesome that we wore matching neon shoelaces. My response... "Uh... We did? Oh. Um. Ok?"

 

We had to :P   

 The best part of the goody bag! Penguin hats!

The classic "catch me!" shot by the backdrop :) Another "Meaghan 5k" tradition

Back to training...

I've really struggled this week realizing my need for independence and space from the people I love the most, my family.  Being home was perfect.  It was the break I needed and was filled with love and encouragement from my family.  I enjoy being in the middle of the craziness, where everything (including trips to Walmart to return the vacuum "somebody" broke sucking up Christmas tree pine needles) is an adventure.  But part of me really yearns to be out here busting my butt and working towards my dream of becoming a psychologist.  I've been working through some of this guilt, and learning how to let it go.  It's important to desire independence at this stage of my life.

I think my body is ready to go full-force into life again.  I'm a bit unmotivated being on break, and getting myself to work on cover letters and my CV for next year's practicum is difficult.  This week practicum starts up again, and then school, and of course working as well, so I'll be busy again in no time. 

I have been running, however, and my leg has been feeling pretty good.  I even got myself up early on Saturday and ran a quick mile before starting my day.  i found some great neon-green zebra print "cheerleader" spandex to wear underneath my liner in order to run more comfortably :)

Erick emailed me to let me know that it's supposed to be 50 degrees Saturday! :) (I mean... i could have checked on my fancy phone...)  Anyways... I'm very excited to be running in decent weather (hopefully :P).  I'll be sure to update after the run :)

After taking some running shots, Katy wanted to take a few pictures of me switching legs, in order to help others to understand what it looks like, so I thought I'd include them here...

Running into the new year...

I'm back in Chi-Town after an awesome vacation in Colorado with my family.  I had an interesting time at both airports on this trip... Anyone who has metal in their body can testify that getting through security can be a complete nightmare.  On the way home I think my running leg which was packed in my carry on received more attention than I did.  However, on my flight back I spent 45 minutes waiting in line before receiving a full body pat down and watching the TSA dude unpack everything I had because I refused to be "Cast Scanned."  Um... Sorry airport security... My doctor informed me to avoid all unnecessary radiation to my body.  I have become quite talented at pretending to care what ignorant people say, and laughing appropriately at the jokes I've heard 4,000 times.  (Or you could just pat me down and send me on my way without talking...) After they decided I was not a terrorist, I got to sit on my bag while the TSA man tried to zip it back up. I tried to tell him...

I have had some issues with my prosthetic over the last few weeks, the most difficult being skin irritation.  One fine day last year, my leg felt very loose and even friends at school noticed I wasn't walking correctly.  I got home only to find out that the liner I wear underneath my socket (It holds my leg on with suction) had torn and I basically had been dragging my 7 1/2 pound hunk of titanium/carbon fiber around rather than walking with it.  I took an emergency day off school and was fitted for a new liner, but since this time have had a really hard time getting used to it.  I have run a little, but really have not been "training."  I'm trying to start up again this week, with some new ideas about how to take care of my skin.

While I was home over the break, a good friend of ours Katy Tartarkoff, did a photo shoot of me running, changing my legs, and a few with my family.  Check out some of the shots she took of me below.

My first 5K of 2013 is the Chicago Polar Dash :) I'm excited to start fresh this year.  The goal is to run at least 5 "5K's" in 2013, and I'm attempting to run an entire 5k this year, without stopping.  I signed up for the Polar Dash with my friend Erick from the track. We want to start this year running and it's exciting to run with a new partner.  I'll be sure to update afterwards with pictures and of course crazy stories :)

Awesome shots Katy took :)

My new inspiration to run.  My sister gave my mom and I the idea and we made these over break.  Each time we run we add 1 stone to the jar :) (I'm such a "visual" person...)