Vegas, Vegas, & A Triathlon

April and May have been really busy months for me with a number of trips that were personal or business. Over the last weekend in April David and I went to Vegas for the Stupid Cancer OMG Cancer Summit for Young Adults. The OMG Cancer Summit is "the premier oncology conference and social networking event for the young adult cancer movement".

 

 

Stupid Cancer Co-Founder in a Glam Runner Tutu

 

 

This was our second year coming to the conference and I enjoyed both attending the various sessions and meeting and spending time around so many other "young" (under 40) people going through cancer. My favorite session this year was the same one as last year titled "Cancer as Chronic". In this session almost everyone in room was in the same boat as me. We're fighting chronic/incurable cancers, living three months at a time between scans, and trying to enjoy a normal life in the mean time. Looking around the room you would have never guessed what had brought us all together. For the most part everyone looked healthy. One of the panelists even commented on that and everyone nodded in agreement. Some of the other sessions we attended were Cancer and the Environment and Cancer and Fertility.

 

 

Bumping Into Diane in Vegas!

 

While we were in Vegas we also happened to bump into my friend and former coworker Diane who was in town for a dental show. We crashed her reception one night and had a drink with her before heading off to dinner. We had dinner at my favorite restaurant Jaleo the first night and Rx Boiler Room the second night.

 

 

Selfies With the Husband

 

 

After coming back from Vegas I was in San Diego for a couple days before it was time to head back there again. This time for work to exhibit at a medical conference. Two trips to Vegas in one week is one or two trips to many, and by the weekend I was ready to go home. Especially since the day after I got back from Vegas I had my first triathlon of the year!

 

 Running on the Strip - Vegas Trip #2

 

 

I got home from Vegas late Saturday night and was up bright and early on Sunday morning for the Spring Sprint Triathlon. This was my first triathlon in almost three years, and was the first of three that I am doing this year as I progress up to a half Ironman distance race in July.

 

 Tri Gear Ready To Go

 

The hardest part of a triathlon for me is the swim. I'm not a great swimmer and I HATE swimming in the ocean. The water is murky and cold and having plants and who knows what else touch me in the water really freaks me out. I've been taking private swim lessons with a coach for the past few months to work on my technique and speed, and hoped between that and my single brief open water swim a few weeks before the race I'd be fine on race day.

 

 

First Time Back In The Ocean!

#oceanselfies

 

 

Well .... I ended up freaking out in the water. I can usually calm myself down and just get through the swim at a decent pace, but during this race I felt like I was hyperventilating the whole time. I could never catch my breath and ended up breaststroking for about half of the distance. Oh well, it was slow but I finally got through it.

 

 

Happy To Be Out Of The Water

 

 

The bike was a bit better although I've barely been riding my bike. I signed up for the San Diego Century next weekend to help keep me accountable on my bike training. Um, it hasn't. Prior to the Spring Sprint I probably rode my bike four times all year due to travel and various other excuses.

 

 

Having Fun On The Bike





 

 

The bike portion of the race went fairly quickly and as usual I was so happy to finally be running. At least I know how to run! The race overall was short and the swim was 400 meters, the bike was 10 miles, and the run was 3 miles. My goal for the race was to finish between 1:15 and 1:30 and I came in at 1:23:52. I'll take it!

 

 

Best Part Of A Triathlon - The Run!

 

  

After the race David and I went home to relax for a bit but later that night we were back on a plane again to head to DC. What a crazy week! We went to DC for three days to do advocacy work on behalf of the National Brain Tumor Society. More on that in my next blog post!

 

 

My Triathlon Cheerleaders Tara & David

 

 

In the mean time, we are now two months away from my half Ironman distance triathlon Barb's Race. All participants in Barb's Race are required to raise $250 to go towards a cancer charity in honor of Barbara Recchia, a long-time race volunteer and committee member who has unfortunately been faced with cancer twice. If you are interested in helping out with my fundraising you can access my page here.