zoom zoom

Dave and I spent the last few weekends training for the Million Dollar Bike Ride. Last year, I participated in the race, which is a fundraiser for rare disease research hosted by Penn Medicine. This year, Dave was joining me, and we both set ambitious goals. It was a fun opportunity for Dave and me to check out some of the bike trails in Long Island as we geared up for the race (33 miles for me, 73 for Dave).

Here we are biking along Jones Beach:

We also found an awesome path from Bethpage up to Syosset and then down to Massapequa through the Massapequa Preserve. The route reminded us of Ann Arbor's Arboretum, with its leafy canopy overhead and babbling stream alongside. I didn't know there were places like that nearby in Long Island!

The bike ride has become quite the family affair. My cousins and aunts and uncles came from all over the country for the event. This year, even my dad participated! Can you believe that this is us?? Now we just need to teach my mom how to ride a bike. We all rode to raise money for the LAM Foundation, which supports research on the rare lung disease lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). My mom was diagnosed with the disease in 2003, and we ride in her honor! Please donate if you can.

S. came up from DC to ride with me. There's no better distraction from grinding up steep hills with failing legs than catching up with an old friend. Thanks for coming, S.! The ride began at Penn and then went north through Chestnut Hill, back down through Manayunk, and along the Schuykill in Fairmount Park. We saw construction sites, trailer parks, mansions, some bad areas, a college graduation, and horses frolicking in the fields.

And here is Dave, crossing the finish line after an epic 75 mile ride (he got lost at the end). I was a little worried while we were waiting and might have considered forbidding him from doing such a long race without proper training again, but he felt so accomplished afterwards that I held my tongue.

It seems as though this will be an annual event. Who wants to join me next spring?

father-daughter run-walk

I was sad to leave Dave behind in Ann Arbor, but at least I got to come to PA to visit my parents. This afternoon, my dad and I "ran" a 5k that benefits the patient services work of his clinical practice. It was HOT - over 80 degrees! Last year, we participated in the same race, but did the walk portion, for 2.5k. This year, we increased our ambitions, and ran-walked the 5k.

Here we are, looking fresh and optimistic pre-race:

And, well, post-race:

After a shower and a smoothie, though, we're feeling much better. Maybe next year we'll run the whole thing!

Time to say goodbye...

...to Michigan! Dave brought nearly all of our furniture to NY last weekend in a moving truck, and I drove him back to Ann Arbor, where we've been this past week. He still has another 3 weeks of work left here, and I'm heading back to the east coast tomorrow. But while I was here, we had a chance to visit old haunts and relive favorite traditions.

Perhaps you'll recall previous posts about our Annual Fitness Day. We usually try our attempts at athletic glory in the summer, but with being apart and being exhausted from work, we didn't manage it. We did get to the park for an hour this week, though, for some tennis, baseball, catch, frisbee, and football. Here I am, demonstrating my best Little League pose:

We returned to the restaurant, Cafe Zola, where we first met (over brunch with mutual friends in Spring 2007) and went on our first date (in March 2009) and ate on the day of our engagement (May 2012). The food is tasty, but kind of overpriced. Ugh, brunch.

And my favorite Michigan tradition of all: getting in the car and taking a day trip to random places in the state and surrounding areas. This week's destination: Grand Rapids! We went to the Meijer Sculpture Garden, which was very well done. We enjoyed exploring the gardens, admiring/mocking the sculptures, and soaking up the last bits of Michigan summer.

This GIANT bronze horse is the realization of an idea originally proposed by Leonardo da Vinci.

 Yeah, neuron!

"The Director"

It's not our final Michigan adventure, I'm sure, but it was the last that will begin and end in our Ann Arbor condo. There's a part of me that's sad to leave, but I'm also so eager for our lives together to begin in New York. I only have to be patient for another three weeks, but it's hard to keep it together. One final push...

Million Dollar Bike Ride

Last weekend was the big day: the charity bike ride I had been "training" for! It was the Million Dollar Bike Ride, sponsored by Penn Medicine to raise money for rare disease research. My mom was diagnosed with the rare lung disease lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) over a decade ago; the disease has no known cure, and little federal funding is available for a disease that affects a relatively limited group of women. It is only through the efforts of a small group of dedicated researchers, supported in large part by private funds, that even one treatment has been discovered recently. Our team of riders raised money for the LAM Foundation, which will direct the funds towards LAM research.

It was a beautiful day for a ride. Once I put on the race jersey, I felt that I had achieved peak sportiness of my entire life. I did only the shortest option (11 miles), and it involved pedaling up at least one hill, so I felt like it required plenty of effort! The route began on Penn's campus in West Philadelphia, wound past the zoo, and into Fairmount Park. It was fun to go past sites that were all discrete in my mind: the Please Touch Museum, the Horticulture Center, the Mann Music Center, etc. I'm inspired: this race was ostensibly the "first annual," so maybe I'll try to go even further next year! Anyone else want to join me?

Go team!

With my parents

S. came up to Philly to do the ride with me – except she went for 35 miles! Way to go!!!

two wheels

I went biking today with Dave. I'm going to pretend that I typed that nonchalantly, like this is a totally normal thing for me to do. There it is.

We went for a nice, leisurely 10-mile ride along the Huron River:

Deep and Wide

Shallow and Narrow

There were close encounters with nature:

And an old historic mill at the end of the route:

This was our longest ride yet, and its length permitted me some time for thinking. Here are a few of my thoughts:

• I'm going up a hill. How do the gears on this thing work again? Now I'm going down a hill! Stupid "adult" bike!
• What happened to the kickstand? Stupid "adult" bike!
• That's a very small child ahead on the path. Could I be described at the moment in any way as "careening" or "out of control"?
• Wheeeeeee!

I do hope I'm growing in confidence, and could someday go for a ride without needing step-by-step instructions from Dave. The next goal: to ride my bike in a designated bike lane on the road to another park. It's only a short stretch during which I'd need to share the road. Wish me luck, and no wobbles!

Fourth Annual Fitness Day

It's that time of year again: time for Annual Fitness Day! I wrote about our Fitness Day last year. This year's festival of athletics took place on a cool and overcast day – it was more pleasant for exercising, but precluded the time-honored "sun was in my eyes" excuse. Nevertheless, I proclaim this year's Fitness Day a success:

• Tennis: we maintained a rally of 60 strokes, shattering our previous record of 23!

• Basketball: After I was trounced in a game of Horse, we devised a new handicap for me. Whenever Dave makes a shot, I have to stand in the same spot and just get the basketball to make contact with the rim. Less dignified, but hey, I finally won!

• Catch: we successfully tossed and caught a baseball 31 times in a row, shattering our previous record of...3.

There was also baseball and Frisbee. You know what else made this event a success? The First Annual Fitness Day ended with my catching a baseball with my face, bursting into tears, and asking to go home now. If we can end Annual Fitness Day without tears, fights, or injuries, we go home with our heads held high.

But now we're starting to feel more ambitious: should we add new sports? Volleyball? Soccer? Or <gasp> make this a semi-annual occurrence?? Please, let's not get ahead of ourselves...