Many people struggle with the swim portion of triathlon. What can you do to improve? Here are my thoughts on this: first a more psychological tip and then some more practical tips.

In the spirit of full disclosure let me say that I like swimming. I had not thought about this for a while, but my son asked me the other day what my favorite sport is and I said swimming. The reason I start this swimming article with it is because I feel that if you want to become a better swimmer, a love of swimming is going to be a prerequisite. I am sure I like swimming because I am better than the average person at it, so you could argue that is the reason I like it. Certainly no one is born a swimmer, and at some point one has to practice and practice and practice to become better. Which one came first is debatable I suppose, but the bottom line is that it would help if you can enjoy and look forward to going to swim. Let me give you some ideas.

If you enjoy company, find a friend of about your same speed and get them to go swim with you. Better yet join a masters club and you will surely find some good friends about your speed. I coach a masters class with many regulars that use my class to meet and catch up. They become very friendly with each other and laugh, and this makes the whole practice a lot more enjoyable. On the other hand, if you are in need of solitude there is no better sport than swimming. Swim on your own and once you put your head in the water there is nothing that will bother you. I just raced Ironman 70.3 San Juan and had a talk with a local triathlete that swims an hour a few times a week in a nice protected cove with clear water. He finds it to be very therapeutic and he looks forward to visiting the fish. He tells me that the same fish can be found in certain spots of his swim route and he recognizes them. They have become his swim friends.

Once you find some joy in swimming without basing it on performance then you will be free to let it happen. You will come to practice and not be so hung up on improving every day. This will in turn create that pattern that would allow your body to assimilate the swim volume required to develop swim endurance and swim strength. This is the first step to becoming a good swimmer in my opinion. Ideally you will then make swimming part of your weekly routine and swim year round. I know many triathletes that complain about how the swim is their weak sport but at the same time they only swim in the weeks prior to the event and drop swimming over the winter or the off season. This will make it even harder to improve. Of course you will not drop swimming if there was enjoyment right?

If you like to swim and the above does not apply to you as much, then how can you improve? My first thought is to break the pattern. You love to swim and have your lane mates and you always go third. Or you love to swim on your own and never miss. My suggestion is to break that pattern up. Do something different. Masters swimmers tend to swim too hard all the time thus cementing their bad patterns. They can get really fit but speed will not improve if technique breaks down. Lap swimmers, on the other hand, do not swim with enough intensity and when race day comes they cannot access that additional gear. Balance is the key. Ideally you want to combine some easy swimming on your own with drills and some more intense swimming with your friends for that intensity that can only be created with a little competition with your lane mates.

My final tip is to go back to basics. Get your stroke filmed and have someone with knowledge critique it. Find the right drills to correct it. Learn how to float, learn how to kick, and in freestyle it would be good if you could rotate and do exactly what you do on the right side also on the left side. Learn how to properly catch and not drop your elbow. This is what I do with junior kids learning how to swim. If you were never a junior kid learning how to swim then I suggest you try. It's never too late to learn. Many people say that swimming can only be learned as a kid, but I am not totally convinced. The problem is that kids, unlike adults, are taught to learn the basics instead of piling up yards as hard as possible. If adults were also taught to learn the basics and not concentrate on lap after lap to build endurance I bet they can also become good swimmers. It just takes time to do this, and it will only happen if they enjoy the swim lessons as much as the kids enjoy theirs.

Luis Vargas

MarkAllenOnline
Train Smart, Get Results®

If you came from a swimming background, then likely the first leg of a triathlon is something with which you are fairly comfortable. If not, it can bring the most anxiety of the entire day and for good reason. There's no wall to grab ahold of should you feel the need to stop for a moment. The other athletes rarely cooperate in staying out of your personal space. It's easy to go off course. And in most races you have to deal with a wetsuit that can feel restrictive. Here's a few ideas to help you through all those things and get you on the way to feeling like the water is just as much your environment as the road that lies ahead for the bike and run.

First start with what you can do before the race to get comfortable with open water swimming. If you know you will be using a wetsuit, spend some time in it at a pool and do the following test. Warm up then do a set of 3-4 100's at a comfortable pace that you know you can replicate without the wetsuit on. See what the average time per hundred is. Now put on the wetsuit and then repeat the test. Almost 100% of people who try this test swim faster with the wetsuit. This is important. Even though a wetsuit can feel restrictive you will swim faster with it. That is comforting!

If you swim slower with the wetsuit, there is a strong possibility that it does not fit you correctly. It could be overly small (too restrictive) or it could be too big and have places where you catch and gather water inside the wetsuit. But generally this test will give you the confidence that even though swimming in a wetsuit is different than without one, you are going to go faster with it.

Next up is to try to find a body of water where you can actually do a few open water swims. There are a few great benefits of doing this. You will get used to swimming without having a momentary break every time you would normally be doing a turn in a pool. You can practice using a slightly more relaxed stroke than you would use in a pool as well.
Open water swimming is also a great chance to learn how to look up while swimming to help keep you going in a straight line. If you find that you keep bending to one side, it is likely because you are breathing mostly on one side. Try breathing on both sides and see if that helps straighten out your course. It also benefits you by giving you time to practice keeping your stroke long, which is usually the opposite of what happens in the first moments of a triathlon when the adrenalin is pumping. Think relaxed and long. If you don't have access to any open water, the next best is if you can do a few workouts in a 50m pool. The length is long enough that it starts to get you ready for swimming without the turns to rest.

On race day your placement in relation to other swimmers is important. Try to gauge the swimming ability levels of those around you. Of course this is not always possible, but generally the fast folks start to move toward the front of the swim start and the very slowest gravitate toward the back. Placing yourself next to people who are likely to swim your same speed is the best way to be moving with the current so to speak. It helps to minimize you having to pass through slower swimmers and it helps avoid getting in the path of someone who is indeed faster.

When you are in the race if someone does inadvertently tug on your foot or bump you from above with their stroke, as best as you can, try to maintain your forward momentum. No one has a brake light on their swim cap to alert those behind you that you are stopping. If you stop dead in the water then there is a much higher chance that someone behind you will end up swimming over the top of you. Of course if you need to stop to adjust your goggles you must do that, but generally keeping forward momentum is good for having your swim take place with the most ease.

The final bit of swim advice for everyone has to do with how you pace it. The first 500m of a swim is usually the most important in helping set up a good swim time. You will likely have some nerves going, which ends up masking the real pace that will be best for you in those opening minutes. Regardless of the distance, try holding back a few percent from the pace you feel is the right one for you. Make it seem just a bit easy. Once you have swum about the first third of the swim, then start to build into a faster pace if that feels appropriate. Find a rhythm in your stroke that is race pace but that is also feeling relaxed. Then with about the final third of the swim to go, if you feel you have some extra let it rip! That's the time when the nerves will be gone and you can accurately gauge the exact right pace to finish the swim strong and be ready for the bike.

Enjoy!

Mark

MarkAllenOnline

Often we talk about the training. The getting up early. The pushing through, the fatigue, the soreness. What we don't talk enough about is what brings it all together. The recovery. REST is a four letter word in this society of type triple A athletes, and trust me I am the captain of the club. At the same time REST is critical if we want to build fitness, and get stronger and faster.

There are different kinds of rest. These days the keyword is recovery…. active recovery to be exact, and for good reason. There are times when we do have to completely rest. At QT2 we give our athletes about 2 days completely off per month. That shocks some people…. that insinuates that we are balls to the wall the other 28 +/- days of the month. Not so. We utilize recovery days, our infamous Zone R.

In our world zone R is easy. Not conversation pace easy, opera singing easy. Our athletes who typically run 3-3:15 marathons off the bike…. will run recovery runs at 12-13 minute miles. My rule on the bike is that Zone R means HR and watts below 100.

"But I don't even break a sweat" They cry. Exactly. In fact when I do a Zone R ride I do it on a spin bike with zero resistance. I wear a hoodie because if I develop a sweat… it means I am going too hard. Zone R helps us … sit down for it… recover from the previous harder efforts. It encourages the blood to flow, which carries all of those waste products away from our healing and strengthening muscle fibers.

All of this is very layman…. but you get the point.

I might train hard, but I recover even harder, and that lesson has not been an easy one to learn or stick with. You balance the creeping feelings of "I have not done enough" with the knowledge and proof of what recovery does.

During recovery weeks I keep my frequency the same. I shorten the duration and or the intensity. I work harder on nutrition because I need the nutrients to help my muscles heal from the previous training block. When that healing occurs we go forward stronger. I often fall into the trap that many others do… I try to get more things done outside of sport, and often times that leads me into a hole. Thankfully my husband can call me out on that one pretty quick.

My recovery week this week was good. It's the first time in many years I have to balance the physical demands of teaching spinning and training. As long as I just keep it a zone below theirs, which is doable I just have to REMEMBER…. it's fine.

I got a massage for the first time in four years (don't ask) from the incredible Kara Calabro at Midtown Athletic Club. I highly… highly recommend her. She knows her stuff, especially when it comes to athletes.

Lastly… if I could afford Recovery Boots…. those would be something I used on a daily basis. If you have the cash for them, they are invaluable. (my mortgage and car payment take priority however!). The benefits of recovery boots are tremendous!

I always tell my athletes and my group-ex classes….. getting them to work too hard would be the easiest thing in the world. I can get anyone to commit physical suicide. I am not in the business of being the hardest group fitness instructor. I am not in the business of being that kind of coach. I am in the business of helping athletes become fit and healthy and achieve the things that their training and abilities will allow them to achieve.

Recovery is a big part of that process, and not one to be ignored.

So rest up!

Mary Eggers is a 38 year old age group triathlete, race announcer, writer, mother, wife, triathlon coach with QT2 Systems, yoga teacher, and nurse. As the race announcer for the Score This Multisport Series in Upstate New York, she's been in the sport for over 17 years. She's a 6 time Ironman finisher and Kona qualifier, and has raced everything from sprint upward.Mother to 12 year old Luc, wife to Curt, she calls Rochester NY home. Ironmomma.com

This past sunday I was fortune to take part of the inaugural Mercuryman half-ironman on the Grand Cayman Island. I was a welcomed guest of the race directors which made sure to provide everything a world class organization should. The event ended up being an experience and not just a triathlon race. The Cayman Island is a British Territory located in the Western Caribbean Sea and the Seven Mile beach on the West coast of the Island is one of the Top Ten beaches of the Caribbean. It's also known as a major offshore financial centre with over 270 banks located on the Island! Once you get to the Grand Cayman and arrive on an outdoor-Kona-alike airport you know you are about to face a one-of-a-kind experience.

The Reef Resort - the race host hotel - although not Four Season-luxurious is definitely worth every penny. If the clean, kitchen equipped and spacious appartaments weren't enough, the beach front windows give you the true Caribbean/Paradise experience. Plus the week schedule of the resort's activities would have kept me busy if I didn't have to swim, bike and run around the Island. Unfortunately I could only fly in on Friday and had to rush back into training on Monday so i couldn't take advantage of everything both the Resort and the Island had to offer. Although its January and its right in the middle of my winter re-built leading up to my first Ironman (Texas in May) I still took the race as a serious hit and was an awesome ice breaker for 2013. Racing this early motivates training and the weather the island offers is a cool "chill" (as in good) for those who are still dealing with freezing temps back at home. I knew the performance itself wouldn't be world record breaking but I guess my white, European and almost translucid skin winter color would take a huge boost of tan lines.

The Swim

The swim took place on the East coast of the Island, where a natural reef forms a small "bay" in front of the Reef Resort. The choppy water (due to high winds that troubled the island this weekend) made up for bit of a zigzaggy route. Someone told me a former Olympic swimmer was participating on a relay and immediately after the start I identified a "swimmer's stoke" on my left (for the record, a swimmer stroke would be really long, calm, high elbow, etc). We ended up meeting after the race. Darren Mew, a friendly former British breaststroker in Athens '04 now retired and enjoying life on the Island as a coach. So back to the race, I went straight to Darren's feet and drafted the entire course.

The Bike

With a nice cushion out of the water, I knew it wouldn't take a record performance to maintain that lead until T2. I had a loaned bike and position wasn't great either. However, it's was still a race and it's still everyone trying to get to the finish line first, including 3-man relay teams. Whenever the gun goes off, I always enter in race mode, doesn't matter if it's a world championship or a beer mile. So with my head down, I went through the bike course as fast as I could. The heat and the wind started to pick up as the race progressed and the pancake flat course along the coast made up for a great effort. I applied the normal nutrition (half a bar, gel, gel and lots of energy drink per hour) while dodging the numerous wild roosters on the road. Kind a of like Mario Kart trying not to hit the hazards. I came to T2 with over 4 min over the next man in.

The garmin file for the ride:connect.garmin.com/activity/264706265

The Run

The finisher tshirt described the run course as a "wall of heat". I couldn't describe it better. The temperatures rised up to 100oF and even the locals were surprised by the brutal heat that took by control the entire Island. January is the coolest month of the year on the Cayman Island but it felt like human BBQ. Considering the extra weight I still carry along this time of the year, if someone had sparkled me with some cinnamon and sugar, I was a running French toast. A dry one, like it was left on the table for a few weeks. In terms of heart rate I managed to sustain a reasonable effort (and even rise it by the final stretch) while still feeling dehydrated the entire way. As the season progresses, this will be the type of curve I (and coach) will want to see on my runs. I'll try to make it a little faster to the finish line though. Nutriton was pretty simple. Three gels and fluids as much as I could get (clearly not enough).

The garmin file of the run: connect.garmin.com/activity/264706251 (I stopped the file a bit before the finish line)

Overall

I took the win in 4 hours and 11 minutes. It was an amazing experience and I will want to come back and redeem myself on this same course. It is too early in the year to be smashing races. I'm now back to Clermont, FL, where I will remain and resume training until my next race - San Juan Ironman 70.3.

Pedro Ribeiro Gomes is a 28 year old triathlete from Portugal, currently based out of the US and focused on Ironman events. You can follow Pedro on twitter (@krepster) or find him on facebook.com/krepster.

Lance competed in this weekend's SuperFrong triathlon and took home the title in a record time of 3 hours, 49 minutes and 45 seconds. Here is KFMB Channel 8 San Diego's race recap.

San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com

Xtri Contributor and close friend, Trent Theroux, suffered a life changing spinal injury 10 years ago. From this accident, Trent realized, "The irony of spinal cord injury is this - in one second your life changes. Everything you know is gone and it takes more than you know to start again."

Please take a moment to listen to Trent's remarkable story and please support in his attempt to raise $50,000 for RISE Above Paralysis. All donations go directly to RISE Above Paralysis (GBCNSCIA) - a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. All donations can be made here. Thank you for your support!

BacktoBlock.org

In the water, Michael Phelps is a force to be reckoned with. But his dominance in the pool isn't just a physical attribute. Phelps's exacting mental standards and preparation propel him beyond other swimmers.Read the article or see more in this series on speed.

Photos by: Jeff Tracy and Steve Morse

It's not often that I struggle to find the words to say after an event. Today I am struggling. It was so much more amazing than we could have ever imagined. Sit back, grab a good latte, and thank you for allowing me to share this experience with you.

The Race

I don't have much to say about the details of the race. It's really well documented as many of you have seen and read. Click here for some of the video coverage and click here for Lisa Barnes' play by play. She captured every single moment of the actual race. Also try googling "Eggers vs. Armstrong", we seem to be hitting the CNN airwaves!

First things first….. we need to be honest…. Mr. Armstrong was gracious in this competition. He had very good reason to come here and kick my ass. I have done a lot of trash talking. Now I won't say he threw the race. He might have eased up slightly… but he made me work for that win. With all due respect he's much more talented than I, he is a swimmer as he's come back to triathlon, and he could have absolutely destroyed me. I am not even a good kicker.

During the actual race he was talking to me…. saying come on Mary! Come on Mary!!! Had I been able to breathe much less shout something to him it would have been along the lines of shut the hell up Armstrong. Since I was kicking at about 900 times my lactate threshold however, I couldn't. Let's give proper credit here, he knew why he was here and it was much more important than a 50 kick. I knew that whatever game he brought, I had to bring my A game. You don't dare a 7 time Tour de France winner and bring a B game. (My A game might be his D game, but that's life).

So a big kudos to Mr. Armstrong for having the graciousness to make it fun, and for making me work for it. Believe me I did.

What was it like to Meet Lance Armstrong?

Believe it or not I wasn't that nervous. We've been in contact over the last 5 weeks and even that morning. The amount of people who were there in the lounge we were waiting in made me nervous. As soon as he walked in, he shook my hand… I think he gave me a hug but my memory is not clear…. and I felt at ease.

I have always been mindful to not be that fan who rushes up to him screaming "Oh my gawd I am your biggest fan.." and rattle off his stats. I am sure he knows his stats and if he doesn't…. well then there is always Google. I was careful to give him space, because everyone wanted his attention, wanted him to do this and that….. so I backed off as much as possible. I did have the opportunity to talk to him and I kept it about the event and I made sure to let him know we have raised $51,000 as of an hour before the event. He was really happy about. THAT was speaking his language.

I found him to be very kind, gracious and very interested to meet the teens. He shook all of their hands and took this gorgeous photo with them after the race. They were totally over the moon. They had a poolside spot for the whole thing. One of the girls said to me… I just hugged Lance Armstrong. That's how it should be.

The Money

Mr. Armstrong talked about the obligation of the cured. He told the story of the doctor who on the day of his discharge told him that there were two exits from the hospital. The private one, where no one knows you were here, no one knows you had cancer, and you quietly go on about your life. The other door is the public door. Where there are people waiting for you and you share your story, listen to others and essentially "pay it forward" when it comes to cancer.

He chose the public door. Thank God. Thank God he did.

We have so much power as a human race, especially today…… to help one another.

We raised $51,000 without the help of any local running store, bike store….. no one. To be fair I am sure everyone comes to stores asking for donations. There are budgets and economies and each does their own thing for charity. So I totally understand. I just want to make this point….. we did it on small donations.

Ever hear the story of the optimist and the pessimist? While the optimist and the pessimist were arguing whether the glass is half full or half empty, the opportunist snuck in and drank the water. While people are out there debating on the value of social media…. we snuck in there and used it to stage one of the greatest fundraising coups ever seen. We had one anonymous donor give us $5,000. Our teammates pooled together their money at Qt2 and donated another 5. The Zimmet group matched total donations for a total I believe that was $2500. (More on some of the things that some of our local companies did this week). One woman donated $10 five times over the past 5 weeks. Most donations were $5-250. This money came from your pockets.

To me that demonstrated again, the power of people. Regular people. You and I kind of people.

While I was at the reception last night a woman grabbed me by the arm. She was elegantly dressed to a T. She wanted to know how I managed to raise that kind of money in 5 weeks, what was my strategic plan?

I looked at her. Here I was standing in a 10-year-old black dress, clip in hair (That's my pool to party secret… shhhhh) and I was half the woman this lady was. I smiled. "We did it by asking." And that is the God's honest truth.

I begged, you shared. Teens Living With Cancer raises $51,000 PLUS.

The speech

During his speech Mr. Armstrong stated that the highlight of his trip was the Duel in the Pool. As I said above it was not because of the race. He explained that his and my paths crossed on Twitter and because of that we not only raised all this money, but we are expanding Teens Living With Cancer to Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, filling a much-needed hole in what I consider to be the forgotten age group of cancer victims (age 13-19). He, like we were… was astounded at the power of social media. How it has shrunk the world and connected us all.

He gave me one of the highest compliments I have ever been given. His words have had me in tears most of the day. He said that I was authentic and that I was passionate about Teens Living With Cancer. My initial reaction was to disagree, but I understand that there are times when a thank you is appropriate.

I struggle with being called a hero. I struggle with being called an inspiration. When people say something like that I interpret it to mean WE. The Teens. The teens are the heroes and they are the inspiration. I didn't do anything inspirational or heroic. They did. They stared down the barrel of the gun we call cancer. They fought the fight, they survived.

When I think of authenticity….. I think you are or you are not. It's not something I aim to be. I am or am not. When this all began my only worry is that Mr. Armstrong would think I was some crazed fan who was out for personal gain. His saying those words allowed me to finally relax about it. I felt like he got it, he got me. Through however he came to that conclusion, I felt very honored to be given that compliment in that setting. Thank you for that Mr. Armstrong. I will always remember that, and I will always hold myself to that standard.

Mr. Armstrong quoted Muhammad Ali "Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth". He talked about how we need to take care of one another, look out for each other. It doesn't take a lot of money. Sometimes it takes hitting share on Facebook, sitting down on the couch and listening, sometimes just a smile and a hug. That's how we can take care of one another, that's how we can make this world a better place.

A young lady asked him what his greatest accomplishments were. He said Father, Cancer crusader / Livestrong / and cycling. It was important to him to communicate that while he was grateful for what cycling has done for him and given him…… his priorities have shifted his goals have changed.

A young girl the age of 12 asked him what it was like to not be able to have kids and then be able to. I can't recreate the scenario but it was possibly the most hilarious scene ever as Mr. Armstrong apologized to her for swearing in his book, as she told him she was reading it. He asked if her parents were there as he delicately walked through the experience of being deemed infertile and then fertile again. Best Q & A ever in my opinion.

The Teens

At the end of the speech they rolled the film of the Duel in the Pool, although Mr. Armstrong had already revealed the winner on twitter.

When it came to the part of the video that pictures of Melissa were shown (Lauren and Doug's daughter, who died at age 19 and inspired Melissa's Living Legacy) I watched as her father looked down, and her mother put her face in her hands. They were sitting in front of my father and I. In front of 4,500 people her story was told, and how Teens Living With Cancer was born and where it is going was explained.

The teens sitting around us all looked at one another. One turned around and looked at me. This was the defining moment of this journey, at least for me.

We are not a big corporate foundation. Some places have $100K to use to organize a fundraiser. I am a volunteer, this is Lauren and Leah. Melissa's father and brother made the awards, her brother did all the website design and Duel in the Pool logos. Lauren and Leah worked tirelessly for five weeks for this endeavor. We are grassroots, like real grassroots. This event and Mr. Armstrong helped to shine a spotlight on this foundation and the programs we can offer through Teens Living With Cancer. That was their moment. That was our moment. It was like….. wow…. we have this voice.

What's next

We have no idea. Everything throughout the past 5 weeks has led to this point. We had no idea we would wake up this morning to messages from friends in New Orleans and California and Georgia that we were on CNN, and other news channels. Will it raise more awareness? More money? Will it open doors? We don't know.

For me….. I will continue my work with these Teens. This is what I am passionate about, this is our crusade and what we have done if nothing else is shown ourselves that anything is possible in this world with a little hard work.

In my dream situation I would love a position where I could continue to develop fitness programs for teens who are post chemotherapy or in treatment. I feel that's a place I can contribute best. It allows me to combine my experience as a Nurse, Fitness consultant, coach, etc. (I don't need a 6 figure salary. Just enough to cover my family and a good dental plan mouth reconstruction so stinks).

I will continue of course to do that right here too. But just in case the folks at Livestrong are reading! I have a lot of passion for Teens Living With Cancer, for this age group, and to try to help them through something I know something about.

Thank you

Thank you to so many people for so many things. Thank you to Lauren, Leah, Doug and Matt for all of your hard work. To the families of Teens Living With Cancer for the support. To the University at Buffalo for allowing us to crash the party and helping us make this event a reality, to Roswell Park Cancer institute for expanding TLC.

To our Teens….. for being the true heroes and the true inspiration behind everything. You guys are what this is for, and what you had to go through to be part of this is not fair, not right. Together we fight back and together we raised the middle finger to cancer yesterday.

To my Mom, Dad, Aunt, Husband, Son. For teaching me to dream and keeping my feet on the ground. Curt Eggers…… you said from the beginning that he would say yes, that we would hit 50K and that this would open doors for Teens Living With Cancer. You have that intuition and I thank you for that.

To each and every one of YOU. Who shared, retweeted, donated pennies, helped spread the word.

To Mr. Armstrong…. for answering that tweet. You said in your speech that you were so glad that you did, and trust me so are we.

More thanks are on the way as well as more pictures. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Together we did this. Power of the people.

You can still donate by the way…… www.teenslivingwithcancer.org

The most important rule in competition is knowing your opponent. I know exactly what you have been up to this week. Thank you Strava. And….." Juan".

Riding 112 miles in 95 degree heat. A little ride with Bo Jackson. Then this tweet:

Shouldn't that be part of the "Sh*t triathletes say video?" Welcome to triathlon Mr. Armstrong.

Five weeks ago I issued you a challenge on Twitter, and much to my surprise……. you accepted. Since then we have raised over $40,000 dollars for Teens Living With Cancer and Livestrong. A media storm has stirred up all around us and we have been able to shed a big spotlight on this organization and these Teens.

I am incredibly grateful to you Mr. Armstrong. I know your schedule this weekend and that you are doing this is really above and beyond. Thank you so much for accepting the challenge. But I am not going to take it easy on you.

Here are some of the teens who will be there on Saturday.

To say they are excited is an understatement.

I am extremely proud to be able to represent them. I am honored beyond words to be able to lead this charge. To be very honest with you Mr. Armstrong this age group is the forgotten age group. If you take a good hard look at programs that are available for ages 13-19…… they are just not there. Your Livestrong program is awesome, but it begins at age 18.

You know as well as I do that once you have cancer you are at higher risk for developing a secondary cancer. And you know as well as I do that our biggest weapon i fitness and nutrition. We created our TLC Fitness program for that very reason and throughout the entire study we watched them grow in more ways than we could imagine. We were able to give them lifelong tools, real experience and a team atmosphere in which to develop those skills that will carry them forward.

Thanks to you Mr. Armstrong we have been able to raise $40,000 and we may even hit $50 by race time. My original goal was $1,000. We won the minute we exceeded that. Additionally we are bringing a chapter of Teens Living With Cancer to Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo. Because of your name and because of Livestrong….. we were able to do that.

Livestrong has been incredible to us. I understand that folks might try to view them as a big bad corporate entity but you have to look at what Livestrong has done and has meant to so many. It's more than rubber bracelets and T shirts. Livestrong has reached far and wide with programs and grants to not only further cancer research, but works darn hard in all aspects of Cancer.

On behalf of all of your fans I would like to thank you for founding Livestrong. You could have easily taken your winnings to texas and gone on about your life. instead you have done more than any athlete I can think of.

It took staring down the barrel of the cancer gun…… but you are the commander-in-chief. Those of us who live in this world…. we thank you.

Thank you for that, for accepting my challenge and for taking the time to come to Buffalo and share with all of us. You are a busy man and you certainly didn't need to do it…. so again we thank you.

As far as the race. Your little tweet didn't stir me. I am not afraid of you and your psychological warfare.

If nothing else, one of us has second place sewn up.

I will see you on deck Mr. Armstrong. Bring your kick, you'll need it. (and thank you again!)

Your Friend, Mary Eggers

pre race video (thanks Leah!)