ecuador thanksgiving

so, i'm off to ecuador tomorrow. my sister is down there teaching, so i have graciously volunteered to head down there and celebrate thanksgiving with her. i'm pretty sure that we aren't really going to do anything american-like for the day.





i'm not a big fan of the traditional thanksgiving dinner. turkey doesn't make me jump for joy. i do really like stuffing and veggie dishes. basically, i'm saying that it isn't going to sadden me to be out of the country.





so what do i know about equador? well, it is named as such because it lies on the equator. (yes, i am a bright one). it is located in south america. i have been to peru, but never to equador. take a look at the map below for your quick geography lesson.

it is the little one blue one just north of peru. i love geography! i was the nerd in 9th grade that just soaked up that class and then i took it as an elective in college. so fun!

now, this travel is going to be difficult to keep up training. fortunately, i have planned ahead for this and factored an extra week in. i'm going to try to keep active anyhow while i am there. i've got to go finish packing. have a happy thanksgiving!!!

why triathlon?!?!

some of you may be wondering, why triathlon? sometimes i wonder that too. i was a swimmer in high school and tried my hand at pole vaulting. i held my own but then ended up breaking my nose the week before graduation! i have never been a runner and my cycling experience is limited to two events: a bike trip with the church youth group to chicago and a hilly hundred in indiana (of which i only completed 50 miles). they weren't lying, it was hilly! angie (my college roommate) and i still laugh about that.

since moving to houston, i have had more time on my hands. i volunteered to help with a triathlon a year ago and ended up completing it instead. it was a lot of fun. since that point, i have completed 3 more of longer lengths. i have also begun to hate running less. i have completed 2 half marathons this year (austin and chicago). it has been a fun year in that aspect.

so, i want to do a 70.3 triathlon. this is shorthand for a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. it totals 70.3 miles----all completed in 1 day---ideally a half day. so now you understand more of the challenge ahead of me! please consider donating to pancreatic research!

New to Blogging

This is my first blog ever. It is a little overwhelming to think about opening myself up to the entire world. Now, I don't anticipate that happening....but the fact that it is even a potential is mind boggling! I don't understand technology, so this is a good stretching experience.

I'm not even letting you all know that this blog exists for at least a month or two. I have to ease myself into it.

You might be asking, why this cryptic title? This is going to be a theme throughout the next 5 months. I have just started training for a triathlon while raising funds for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (thus, the pancan reference). This organization raises money to support pancreatic cancer education, awareness and research. Check out the website www.pancan.org for more information. I'm sure I'll talk about it along the way as well.

Why do I care about pancreatic cancer? I don't have a family member that has passed away from it, so why the interest? I do have a lot of people that have become my friends that have either passed away or are currently battling the disease. I work at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston as a Physician Assistant. I work specifically with Gastrointestinal Cancers and I see a lot of pancreatic cancer. I love my patients and I want there to be more treatment options and more survivers. I want patients to know that I am pulling for them.

Ideally, I want this experience of training for a big event to be something that friends and family of my patients get involved in. I am hoping that they will support their loved one that is fighting hard with a donation in their honor. So many times, friends and family don't know how to respond to a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and this is a way that they can tangibly be working toward improving their outcome.

Check out my fundraising page at www.firstgiving.com/pancan Search my name Heather Carlson and you will have the opportunity to donate to great cause. If you are convinced yet, it is okay. Hang with me and hopefully you'll see how hard I'm training and how much work their is to do before we improve the outcome for people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.