Brick workouts, and riding down MoPac!

We had a brick workout today where we ride an 8 mile loop down MoPac, then run for 10min (about a mile)... Then repeat! Wow, lots of fun.

One little problem: I replaced my pedals with clip ins, but the bike shoe cleats were not the right kind. No wonder I couldn't figure out how to clip in! I ended up wearing my Asics running shoes and using them on top of the clip in pedals... Not ideal, but I managed to get done!

It will be hard to complete my workouts alone in Florida, but the show must go on.

I also found out this weekend that my Aunt Mary who is 59 is training for her first tri as well !! How cool is that? She lives in Miami and I hope we can do a tri together in June.

Capitol 10K and training fun

Wow what a busy month! Today Calvin and I ran the largest 10K in Texas, the Capitol 10K in beautiful downtown Austin. It was packed, a huge number of people and weird ones!

We saw a crazy fun bunch from HeB all dressed up as fruits, veggies, a cornucopia, and a bunch of people dressed like bananas. There were a couple dressed up as Manning and Tebow in football uniforms (those pads must chafe), and the guy dressed as a banana pushing his dog in a wheelchair. A group of people were wearing flesh toned unitards and looked naked! They were keepin' it weird here in Austin.

I loved all the unofficial bands playing on front porches of homes, the street corners, parking lots, and the back of a truck. How about the unofficial cold beer station? They were right across the street from the cops, gotta love Austin.

We finished the race in our best time yet, despite the fact that Calvin hasn't run in over 6 months! He's gonna be sore tomorrow :)

Training is going well, especially the swimming, which is something I was concerned about.

And another surprise, look who just signed up for the Austin 10/20!

The Diva Dash with my girls!

I am so excited! Today I registered for the Diva Dash with some of my friends. This is an adventure/obstacle race, which is only 3 miles in length, but containing challenges all throughout.  The plan is to get all prettied up for the race and do it as a team!  FUN FUN FUN!!  If anyone else wants to join, we are at the 11:15 wave. Let me know if you've signed up so that I can invite you to the pre-race party!

Diva Dash Austin to sign up and use coupon code IMADIVA to get $10 off!

I am so thankful we have had such amazing weather yesterday and today, and now an extra hour of daylight.  We can hopefully not have to run track practice in the dark anymore.

Saturated

Today we rode bikes in the rain and got completely soaked.  I am so excited about today because I got to ride my new bike for the first time.

Last week, I completed 9 miles in 64 minutes.  Today, we had to cut our workout short due to the thunder and pouring rain, so I only rode for 41 minutes, but still completed 9 miles!  What a difference a bike makes!  I still need to make a few modifications, get some clip in pedals and shoes, but I feel confident the new bike will serve me well for the race.

We had a good turnout for the workout even though it was pouring and has been raining all day for the past two days.  We are relentless for cures!

Race Registration update

Wow what a great weekend I had and the wonderful Texas weather did not disappoint!  Calvin and I spent the weekend in Dallas, and although I did not get my run in, I got to swim here:

Wow, what an amazing pool at the Omni Dallas.  Nothing like swimming on the rooftop amongst the beautiful skyline.  We had a great weekend. This means I have to do the weekend's workout today. :\

Our coach encouraged us to get registered for the Capitol 10,000.  So for the very first time, I'm registered for this race!  This is a long standing Austin tradition here.  As soon as I get a coupon code, I'll get registered for the Rookie Tri as well.  We are going to do both events as a team. I am super excited!

Lastly I'm shopping for some more bike accessories. I'm going to learn how to ride clipped-in!  Woo hoo!

First Brick Workout - Cycling Rookie!

On Saturday we had our first brick workout.  What is a brick workout? It is when two sports are combined on the same workout.  We went down south to the Veloway and rode bikes for an hour, then we went on a 10 minute run. 

I am a novice at this whole tri thing and have never rode my bike on asphalt. I have a mountain bike and hence have always rode on trails.

This is what my set up looks like:

Yes, a mountain bike with a trailer and a 30 pound princess.  When I do my workouts at home, I pull Kayla in the trailer, and we hit the trail on 3406 and ride west toward Cedar Park, or we go to the Brushy Creek Trail.  She loves it! 

Apparently, mountain biking and road biking are not created equally.  I had no idea how much harder it is to ride a mountain bike than a road bike.  So out on the Veloway, it is a paved track about 3 miles long, and everyone kept passing me even though I was pedaling really hard. Part of this is admittedly me not really knowing how to shift that well, but part of it is the heavy bike, the tires, etc..  So I rode about 12 miles and was worn out.  I got passed by my teammates several times! I know some of them rode at least 6 or 9 miles further than I did in the same amount of time.

This is me and my coach Marco coming up this really steep hill

After we rode, I was able to run a mile in 10 minutes, so I wasn't as tired as I thought I would be, but I was really discouraged.  I called Calvin and told him I think I should switch events to the Sprint distance because there's no way I was gonna be able to ride 40K on this bike and then still be able run a 10K --- AND finish within the allotted time. 

Well by the time I got home from practice, he had picked out a road bike for me, we went and got fitted at Bicycle Sport Shops, but I ended up getting this one:

It is really nice for a first road bike. I opted to not spend the extra $$ and get a tri bike because I wanted to do a couple races and see if I actually like the sport. Ha! So far I'm loving it.

From what I understand I can't ride this one on the same granite trail that I ride my mountain bike on, so I haven't figured out where in Round Rock I can ride.  If you know of a place, let me know :)

Its all about technique

Everything we do is all about the technique. If the form is bad you hurt somewhere. In running its the knees or feet. In swimming it's the shoulders. I started having some pain in my shoulders after swimming, so I had Calvin take some video of me during the last portion of my workout, to see just what I am doing wrong.

Wow, a video is worth a thousand words. Not only is my head coming too far out of the water when I breathe in, but my left arm is completely straight. As I found out the hard way, this is apparently a no-no. But hey at least I'm sporting a purple TNT swim cap! Go Team!

As an aside my fundraising letters went out this week! Contact me if you want one and haven't received yours yet. This year instead of the lime green ribbon for active treatment of Lymphoma, I have included a purple ribbon for Lymphoma remission! God is good!

Inspiration, Perspiration, Dedication

This past week has been tough trying to get my workouts in while traveling. I was able to cycle and run, but did not find a decent place to swim in DC.  When I got home on Sunday, we were under a winter advisory. It was a beautiful day, then all of a sudden we had sleet!

 See what a pretty day it was?! I took that picture out on the toll road.

Yes, the sleet hit during our pool workout.  The strangest sensation of swimming in a heated pool outside, and when you come up for air, you get sleet in your mouth.  When it was time to get out, we had to shake the ice off of our towels and my dry clothes were full of sleet. Brrr!! That's dedication.  We had a huge group show up and everyone completed the workout.

 Here's my bag with the sleet on it! Overall we had a great time.

Inspiration
This High School senior is undergoing active treatment for Leukemia and managed to have a record-setting season

NFL Patriots' Marcus Cannon was chosen as the Patriots’ Ed Block Courage Award winner, while undergoing Lymphoma treatment.

Go Team!

First Team Swim Workout

Ahhh alas, we had our first swim workout with the team.  I have never swam competitively or really that much recreational either.  I took swim lessons when I was really little and it is crazy how much I remember. It was kind of like riding a bike. I have to say, our neighbor Ginny Milford who taught me how to swim did an excellent job.  Some of you may remember my days at UT when I was diving, but we really did not swim. Then there's my experience in open water. Usually we are taking Barbie (our boat) out and I like to float in the water and try to keep the lake water from getting in my beer. 

Anyhow, we had a great turnout even though it was 44 degrees outside and raining, and yes we swam outside.Once we got in the water, it was a comfortable temperature for swimming.  I have to say, the Rattan Creek Pool is pretty amazing for what it is. Its hard to believe it is open year round, and free!  What more could we ask for?

I am happy to report that I did not drown, and I was able to keep up with the workout. I think we must have swam about a mile or so. My body was pretty tired at the end since I am not used to doing a cardio workout with my arms.  The drills that the coaches and mentors taught us really helped me feel even more comfortable in the water.  I think I'm going to switch from the Sprint distance to the Olympic distance.

So excited to learn all the new drills and can't wait for the next swim workout.  To my marathon friends who are reading this -- if you want to switch to the Tri team, DO IT!  Don't be afraid of the swim.  The coaches and mentors are awesome!

Tri gear and fun run with the team

We are in our second week of training now, and met this morning for a run workout and shoe clinic. Town Lake trails are awesome as usual and it was nice to have some company.

Afterward, Calvin and I went to Jack and Adam's Bike shop to get some aero bars for my bike. I will be riding my very nice Gary Fisher mountain bike which isn't exactly ideal for a triathlon. I'm hoping to make a few modifications to it to make it more comfortable for racing.

After swimming on Wednesday I realized I need some goggles and I am badly out of shape for it. So today, we bought me some nice goggles and a pull buoy that can double as a kick board. I didn't even know what a pull buoy was until today, there is so much to learn.

Lastly us the reason why I train is to help find cures for cancer. There have been many people in my family who have had cancer and I feel like it is a worthy cause. Because I feel so strongly about it, I have decided to participate in a preventative study, you can too! They are looking for 30-65 year old individuals that have never been diagnosed with cancer, who live in Central Texas. Again this is a study on preventing cancer. More info here : http://m.cancer.org/Research/ResearchProgramsFunding/Epidemiology-CancerPreventionStudies/CancerPreventionStudy-3/index

If you would like to make a donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, please click the link above. Your donation is tax deductable.

Thanks for following my blog, and Go Team!!

Kick-off, the season has begun!

I am so excited about this season, trying something new for the first time.  We attended the kick-off event and saw several of our teammates from the marathon season last year, heard an insirational message from our honored teammate, and had a great evening with friends.

We had our first team workout on Saturday, and I got to meet several teammates, captains and mentors and of course one of our coaches, Marco.  Calvin got our bikes tuned up and we went out for a 10 mile ride on Sunday.  Overall a great weekend!

Pre-Season team workouts

The season does not officially start until January 28th, but there's a bunch of us so excited about this season, we are having pre-season workouts.  Of course, its just an excuse to get together and eat a good breakfast afterward.

I met a couple at the workout where the husband has survived Hodgkins Lymphona, but while he was being treated, lost his cousin.  He also lost his neice to Leukemia.  Keeping it real here, cancer is a terrible thing, its why we do what we do, to beat cancer.

Relentless for cures!

-Casey

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!

I realize I've been bad about updating the blog, but we did meet all our goals for 2011.  We ran Zooma half marathon and San Diego full marathon.  We ended up changing events from Las Vegas to San Antonio and ran that one in November.  The most important thing to report:  My dad is now cancer free!

Feeling strong early on!

Feeling a little broken down by mile 26, but determined to finish strong!

Ahhh, we made it!

November - Rock N Roll San Antonio, finishing strong!

Celebrating the race with the Taggarts!

Hello 2012!  This year we have decided to partner with Team in Training again to fight blood cancers! Although my dad is now cancer free, he must continue the maintenance infusions to ensure that the Lymphoma does not return.  Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has funded the drug that is being used to treat my dad, and I want to ensure that LLS has the funds it needs to advance the mission.

I also learned in 2011 that my step-sister Jennifer was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she is now cancer free.  Cancer is a real threat and a worthy cause to raise awareness and money for research and supporting patients.

Please support me while I train for the Capital of Texas Triathlon and partner with LLS to find a cure for blood cancers. Go Team!