Question: what sucks more than training for a triathlon?

Answer: NOT training for a triathlon because money gets in the way.

We had to make a difficult decision over the last few weeks, and have been toying with how to let the “non-TNT” world know.

The way that Team in Training works is pretty cool: we fundraise, they support, we train, they coach. Depending on the event chosen, each participant is responsible for raising a specified amount of money. A small part of the funds raised is used to cover participant training expenses (the time of volunteer coaches and other support staff) and event registration, while the vast majority goes directly to medical research. Eight weeks into the training season, participants are presented with a “recommitment” opportunity. It’s a time to reflect on how training and fundraising have gone and determine if it’s feasible to commit to the remainder of the season. Recommitment also means that each participant personally guarantees that he/she will meet his/her fundraising minimum by the end of the season. If a participant is not able to come up with the money from fundraising, then he/she commits to paying the remaining balance from his/her own pocket.

When our recommitment deadline approached in mid-March, we spent a good deal of time crunching numbers, checking and rechecking the calendar, and really examining the next few months from all sorts of angles. We’d tapped out nearly all of our donors, and while we were willing to get creative to raise more money for a tremendous cause, time is not on our side. My brand-new job and Rob’s ongoing job-hunt alone suck up a decent chunk of time. Sadly, adding a six-days-a-week training schedule (at 2 to 3+ hours per day!) and a lofty fundraising goal just proved to be too much. We realized that we’d have to make an adult decision to not recommit for the Spring 2011 season.

There is some good news, though! In speaking with the managing director of our Team, we were offered the option to defer our participation for up to one year. This means that while the big bucks we’ve already raised (thanks to you!) are already hard at work to fund medical research for a cure, we are able to rejoin Team in Training for a future season and will have a $3,250+ “head start” on our new fundraising goal.

Rob and I have loved, loved, loved the time we’ve spent on the Team. Being a grown-up isn’t easy, and we’re really disappointed that we can’t manage to fit everything in as we would like…but we’ll be back. And we’ll probably hit you up for money ; ]