Flu Fighters

Wow, what a week!  Kayla has had the flu since Monday and I (Casey) have been in Dallas all week. I was able to get my Wednesday workout in, but drove all day Thursday and missed my 5 mile easy run.  When I got to Round Rock, I came home to a house full of sick!  Eeek!!  Calvin is very sick as well as Kayla.  Now 6 hours later, all the sheets have been changed, the dishes done and the entire house has been Lysol'ed.  My prayer is for Kayla and Calvin to start feeling better and that Alex and I don't get what they have.  Should make for an interesting long run on Saturday --- it will be a new personal record for both of us: 8 miles!  I am pretty excited to see my teammates for our first run in Georgetown! Yippeee!

We are super excited about our upcoming fundraisers, the Wine Tasting on March 31st and Casino Night on April 2!  Please join us in one of our fun-raisers to beat cancer!  If you have an item you would like to donate for our silent auction, please let one of us know.  We are super grateful to all of our silent auction donors as well as sponsors and you will be recognized during both of our fundraising events. 

Here are some details about the wine tasting:
Where:
Water 2 Wine
2000 S. I-H 35
Suite H1-2
Round Rock, Texas 78681
PHONE: 512-310-WINE(9463)

When:
March 31st, 2011 from 5:30 - 7:30 PM
I would prefer if you RSVP so I can let Water 2 Wine know how to plan for staff, so please RSVP by March 25th if possible.

Ticket Price:
$25
You can pay at the door (Checks or Cash), or donate online.

Includes:
Unlimited wine tasting and snacks
Silent auction will also be taking place

Why:
To beat cancer!

The Main Event

Saturday, April 2 we will host an evening filled with fun, friends, and fund-raising all for a great cause!  We will be hosting a Casino Night at Antonio's Mexican Restaurant.  This will be an evening that you will not want to miss, and entry is only $50 per person.  Please see the website for more information

Road-rash, Rain and Records!

Today was our mission workout where we honor our heroes.  I ran today for my dad who is currently undergoing chemo for lymphoma.  Wow, what an amazing run! Calvin and I ran 6.6 miles together and then ran the last mile with the entire team - including the triathletes and cyclists for our silent walk/run.  It was a great time to reflect our mission - to help save more lives from cancer.  Hearing nothing but the sounds of hundreds of feet, all walking together for a common purpose was really awesome!

About the title of this post... we had a little bit of a scheduling issue and missed our Thursday 4 mile run. We decided to do it Friday evening, which left us with some pretty sore muscles Saturday morning.  About a quarter mile into the run, my ankle buckled from under me and I took a nasty tumble down Mesa Drive.... OUCH!!!!  I still had 6.75 miles to go!!!  So now I've got this lovely road rash on my knees, hands and my back (how that happened, I'm not sure).  I did what I always tell my kids when they fall down: "walk it off".  I started feeling better a few blocks away and picked up the pace to a normal run. We ended up running 6.6 miles because I messed up the program on my watch, oh well... the good thing is, we finished the run (in the rain) AND it is a new personal record for both of us! 

I burned 1100 calories in the run, and Calvin about 1450.  Needless to say, I didn't have any qualms about indulging in a donut at the team breakfast, it was very yummy!  Afterward we got cleaned up, picked up the kids, had lunch and went to the Austin Marathon Expo.  I have never been to anything like this before, it was really neat to see all the products and gear targeted toward runners. I bought some new clothes and we got free samples of Body Glide, bars and energy drinks.  We'll need them!  Before we left, we went by the Team in Training booth to give a shout out "Go Team!" to our teammates.

We ended up with a very active day, taking the kids to the Austin Children's Museum and Zilker Park, and I ended up burning over 3200 calories - that is alot for me!  Normally I burn about 1800 if I don't have any exercise. 

Lastly, I wanted to put a teaser out there about our fundraising events. Calvin will announce the actual events, but save these dates:

• March 12th - Team Garage Sale - Casis Elementary
• March 31st - Wine Tasting Event at Water 2 Wine
• April 2nd -- the Big Surprise!

I can't wait to share some of the details, but I gotta be quiet for now.  Thanks again for all your support!!  <3

Dallas mid-week workouts

I'm here in beautiful Downtown Dallas.  I have to admit that I thought there would be slim pickens on trail running, but I found this wonderful Katy Trail right in the heart of downtown.  Not only is it paved, but there are two surfaces to choose from. They have concrete and a runner only spongey type surface.  There was still ice on the trail from the sleet and snow storm two days ago and it was a very cold run.  I was so cold that I did not want to slow down, for I feared I would freeze to death.  I made great time on this run but had no cool down since I was already cold.

I seriously doubt my heart rate got up to 232 as displayed in the graph. There are some known issues with the heart rate monitor when running in cold weather.  It leveled out after I warmed up and bodybugg says I burned nearly 600 calories.  I think I'm starting to get in shape!

I am pretty excited about the Dream Marriage conference starting tomorrow night!  We will have to figure out when and where to work in our Saturday run - 6 miles!  We may be back to Katy Trail.

-Casey

Mid-week workouts have been great, but it sucks doing them alone!

Tuesday was a cross-training day for us.
I did an hour on the eliptical, then lifted weights. 

Wednesday was a speed drills day.
I did about 4.5 miles of sprint/jogging intervals

Thursday was a slower recovery run.
I did a 1 mile walk, 4 mile run, 1 mile walk (totaling 6 miles)

Tomorrow I will be traveling to Dallas to meet Casey.  We will be attending the Dream Marriage Conference this weekend.  I guess our 6 mile run on Saturday morning will have to come very early!

Hope everyone is having a blessed week!
Calvin

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Girl of the Year

This is why we do what we do!

Balcones Woods Hill Workout went great!

Last week, Calvin had posted that this was the hardest run of our lives, but its a new story this week!  We ran the same course starting at the Schlotzsky's at Balcones Woods and ran through the neighborhood behind there.  I am definitely questioning the accuracy of my Garmin Forerunner's heart rate monitor, I don't really think my heartbeat was over 200, it was saying I was peaking out at 216.  I may try placing the strap on my back next run. 

We finished the same course that we did last week a full 7 minutes faster!

 I am very happy with the way this workout went. Our pace was alot better and we both felt great afterward.

Thank you all for your support!  Now I've got to get some work done and work on the fundraising for this week.

Calvin Toole: Believe

Calvin Toole: Believe: " Recently my wife and I have been spending quite a large amount of time training for several marathons to be completed in 2011.&..."

Snowy Brushy Creek Trails, absolutely beautiful! Great 5 mile run

I have to admit I was little nervous about running in 32 degree cold, but after layering up and running, I got really hot after the first mile and had to start de-layering.  There was still some snow on the trails which made the run even more fun, for the nostalgia of running on top of snow. 

I paced up with Ninfa from the team around mile 1.5 and enjoyed chatting with her while we finished it up.  It was a great workout, burning over 600 calories.  Afterward we all had breakfast together and shared fundraising ideas at Waterloo Ice House. 

I am looking forward to seeing the team at Monday's hill workout! Go Team!!

Why I will be running in 32 degree weather in the morning

Some people think we are crazy for wanting to run a marathon.  It does take a long time and dedication to training.  Why should I get up every Saturday morning and be running by 8:00?  I run to raise funds for and awareness of cancer.  Cancer has destroyed so many lives and nearly taken so many others.  Today is World Cancer Day.  Today, I stand up for my Dad, my grandmother and my great grandmother who have been affected by cancer.  I want to do something different to help, to change a life, to change the world.  Because I am not a scientist, I can't just figure out how to cure cancer. I'm an ordinary person with a big heart.  With my heart, I will do something extraodinary over the next 5 months.  I will dedicate my time, my life, my talents and my heart to put funds into the hands of the people who need it to finally find a cure for cancer.  Please join us in this fight against cancer. <3

Who is LLS and what does LLS do?

2011 Team In Training Information Video

Garmin Forerunner has arrived!

The Garmin Forerunner 305 arrived yesterday and Calvin was so nice to charge, configure and have it ready for our workout.  We started at the Schlotzsky's at 183/Balcones Woods in beautiful NW Austin.  I was hurting at the beginning of the run and I can now understand why!  My heart rate is shown in red, was over 200!!   In the chart below, the top picture is a map, the road on the right is 183. 

The graph below has my heart rate in red, green is elevation and blue is pace.

 

As we were climbing the hills and hurting, I thought about how so many people are battling cancer. My pain is insignificant in comparison.  I am so energized by helping others find a cure for cancer! :) 

Here's a picture of just a small portion of our team at the workout. We are on the top row.  Thanks Samantha for taking the picture!

Go team!