On Your Mark...

Welcome to my inaugural blog entry for Tri for a Cure! I am excited and proud to announce that I have officially committed to competing in my first olympic-distance triathlon to help raise money for the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society. This event helps me achieve two personal goals : 1) to be in the best shape of my life (I turned 40 this year, and am trying to stay ahead of the aging process!), and 2) to contribute both my time and money to support a worthy cause. Talk about the perfect fit!

So here are the specifics:

1. The event takes place in Chicago on August 30, 2009.


2. The event segments include swimming (1.5k / .93 miles), biking (40k / 24.85 miles), and running (10k / 6.2 miles).


3. My goal is to raise at least $2000 for LLS... and frankly, I hope to blow that target out of the water!!!

Now... about the blog. I will post my training trials and tribulations throughout this process (theoretically 6x per week), and promise to keep it brief! Hopefully, you will follow along and cheer me on as I get closer to the event.

I also hope that you will choose to contribute to this worthy cause! Here is the link to my contributions page: http://pages.teamintraining.org/il/chitri09/swerntz.

Please donate... even if it's just a small amount... every little bit helps!

One more thing... I would like to thank my brother Brad for loaning me his AMAZING triathlon bike for this event! Brad is an accomplished triathlete, and I am honored that he is allowing me to use his Cervelo P3 Carbon triathlon bike. Check out the picture of me going through the 'fitting process' last week. Hopefully, Brad will forgive me for the minor damage I've already inflicted as a result of my virgin trek today. (Brad... I'll tell you later... PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!!!)

That's it for now... thanks for joining me on this exciting adventure!