Acknowledgements

To my parents: DI AND I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! I doubt we'd be doing this if it wasn't for your lifelong morals, ideals, and support in everything we do. It is because of you both I've always had the courage to try and do the new things that make my life worthwhile and exciting.

To my "better half": I love you. And you love me. And I really couldn't ask for more support than that. Thanks for not making fun of me (other than for blogging) or for ever saying I'm fat. In fact, thank you for always telling me you love me and that I'm the most beautiful woman in the world. I may shrug it off, but for a few minutes every time I hear you say it, I'm feeling like the queen of the world.

To my sister: Thanks for trying to do this thing without me! :P Actually, thanks for showing me that it is possible for us to eat, feel great, AND look great. You are (and have been) my inspiration to continually push my physical limits. You're a gem both in the family and as a friend.

To my triathlon-in-training-friends: Thanks for finally giving in to my constant pestering to do something active besides 12 oz. curls at the bar. Ha, ha, just kidding! Actually, thank you for your constantly humorous support and laughable foibles. You remind me to remain humble and with humility throughout all of this. And it would never be as much fun without you. Never have I ever hurt as much from laughing as I have from lifting. I couldn't be any happier.

To all my other friends: Thanks for rolling your eyes at me, feeding me fried foods, and making me coffee drinks laced in carmel, chocolate, and whipped cream. Thanks for keeping me "real" as I'm going through this. And especially thank you for always being there for me when I'm whiny, cranky, achy, sore, tired, boring, silly, annoying, suddenly absent/missing, or like my otherwise normal self (whatever that may be).

To my dog: Ruff, ruff, growl. Bark, bark, woof, growl. (singing) "Cal-lee-pal, the greatest dog in the world." (end singing)

To Bidwell Park, Chico, CA: Where else is there a better place to practice "Bricks" than One-Mile? Where else is there fabulous biking paths and differing terrain? Thanks for being so bike friendly, easily accessible, and free. You may be a cheap date, but you're a date I'd never pass up.

And thanks to myself! For without me, I simply *couldn't* have done this, for I would not have existed. (Yeah! Ha, ha!) Truly though, I do thank some part of myself for actually filling out the registration and billing information so that I actually have to do all this AND recruit others to join me on this journey. So stoked ... so stoked!