triathlon

You are currently browsing the archive for the triathlon category.

October 14

October 14, 2009 in cooking, creating, family, triathlon | No comments

Wow, so what do you say after being MIA for a few months? If you could just fill this out with what you’d want to hear then we can move on.

In no particular order, here’s a quick look into what I’ve been doing. I played tourist in San Francisco with my buddy.
100_1087

I’m not sure I realized the Full House exterior was from San Francisco. Such a cool park is across the street.

100_1097

I signed up for some classes at the local community college in Fashion Design. I’m re-taking Advanced Flat Pattern as a refresher and just to get to know some new people. It is way fun. My first garment is due at the end of October and will come from this board.
100_1127
Here’s a close-up.
100_1133
A lot of the designs are from Pattern Magic. I’m so excited to finally get to working from that book. I am also working hard to get a block that fits me so I can actually wear these designs. I’ll keep you posted!

I’m also taking Draping. There was a bit of a learning curve, but I’m loving it too.

For a design competition I got to repurpose some articles of clothing. I used this dress.

100_1101

And this shirt.

100_1106

And made this dress.

100_1113

I didn’t win any prizes, but I have a fabulous new dress to wear out of things that were otherwise going to be taken to a charity.

I’ve been enjoying the bursts of cool weather with cafe viennois and hot teas. Yum. I recently heard someone talking about cherry cocoa, so I may have to try that out too.

100_1121

I’ve also branched out my baking and have learned to make rather tasty pizza dough–I love 101 cookbooks recipes, and wheat baguettes (with a recipe from French Women Don’t Get Fat). Yum!

100_1123

I get to celebrate my birthday and Eric’s 4th anniversary of his cancer diagnosis today. Always a bit bittersweet and emotional. Glad he is doing well.

We finished our triathlon at the beginning of September and I made this thank you card for the people that made donations. I really enjoyed making the card, and got lots of rave reviews on it, so I will probably be working on more fun photo/word collages soon! The triathlon was fun and we had a ton of support!

Thank You

For a birthday gift, I’m enjoying a subscription to WWD. Love it! I hope I can keep them read as I get a new one daily!

100_1134

And I got my very own French Press coffee maker. I can’t wait to use it!

100_1135

Peace,

^_^

Keeping Busy

July 20, 2009 in triathlon | No comments

So this is my first week off in a bit. I was supposed to work, but our enrollment was a bit lower last week and this week so the other teacher and I took some time off. She had last week and I got this week. It works out really, because I’ll be in Long Beach at the end of the week for the Quilt Show. I’m super-excited too! If you are going to be there too let me know and we can try to get together for a meal or coffee break at sometime.

After a bit of a overwhelmed-induced freak-out, I am well on my way with vests. I have made 12 out of 26. I intend to finish the smalls and larges today, that’ll put me at 18/26. Since they aren’t due until August 7, I think I’ll be great.

I had a fundraiser at a piano bar for Team in Training last weekend. If you haven’t been to a dueling piano bar, I highly recommend it. Most places don’t have a cover, so they aren’t expensive. Essentially there are two pianos/players and the first one starts a song either through a request (the highest tip goes first) or of his/her choosing if there are no requests. Then after the song, of if someone tips more than the original song the other player plays a song. Some of the songs are silly, some of the words are rearranged, but it is a ton of fun and usually results in a group sing-a-long. Lots of fun.

100_1007

Here’s player #1

100_1008

Player #2

Here’s a bit of a video of one of the songs. I’m not sure why I chose this one to video tape. The next photo may better explain the situation. :)

On to that next photo.

100_1009

Here am I and Tiffany, my fundraising partner in crime about to take a “chemo shot.” It was the shot de jour and we got a lot of the proceeds for this. It had some Jose Cuervo, Jack Daniels, and Jim Beam. It was nasty–hence the name, “chemo shot.”

I’m still down about $1300 from my fundraising goal. Fundraising has been tons trickier this year. If you donate at least $25 on my site here. I’ll make you one of these lovely photo charms and string it on a some sort of ribbon or leather necklace. You can e-mail me a photograph or I can also design one around your initials, an interest, etc. If you donate $50 I’ll make you two, $75 for three, etc. This is only good until midnight Wednesday (because I may have to get more supplies at the quilt show) so be sure to donate soon! Also, your donations are tax deductible!

Peace,

Katy

Creative Fund Raising

June 18, 2009 in triathlon | No comments

Being in the the Silicon Valley area of California, there is a lot of creative fund raising going on for Team in Training. For example, tonight I’m “selling”-for a donation-Father’s Day Cards at our Thursday night track practice. Complete with a stamp and post office drop off. These cards are way too cute to keep to myself–and I love how simple they are.

100_0900

100_0899

100_0898

The fund raising on this event is going particularly slowly. So I’m looking at any option I’ve got. I’m even considering doing what one past participant did and wearing my wetsuit around for a week straight. It was very successful for him, but I’m not sure I could pull it off myself–those things get a bit hot and sticky!

Other creative fund raising ideas on the docket are a fundraiser at a dueling piano bar and a good old-fashioned talent show. Thankfully I have someone co-brainstorming and planning these events with me.

Let me know if you’d like to donate and I can ship a few cards your way. Or I can write your note and send them directly to your friend/father too. The least I’ll do is send you a sweet (as in very cool) hand-written thank you!

Peace!

Sidewalk Cafe

May 13, 2009 in cooking, triathlon | 1 comment

100_0819

So all of this Paris talk has gotten the best of me. We had to hop on down to the local cafe that makes French macaroons and have ourselves a few. Pistachio and raspberry were the flavors we chose. Yummy. Though, the pistachio one did remind me of the pistachio sugar-free instant pudding I am really fond of. Not sure why.

Here’s Eric acting interested, he wasn’t up for photo opportunities today.

100_0821

That’s his clenched, “Okay I’m smiling,” face. Cute, no?

In other news, our bike ride today was fabulous. Though afterwards I got as sick as I’ve ever been and still don’t feel great. I don’t think it was necessarily related–but man it sucks.

Eric is excited to start his next season of Team in Training. He’ll be a web/photo co-captain and honored teammate. I’ve considered joining him, but am not sure I can raise the fund raising amount necessary–it is more than I’ve ever raised, but not “official” so I can’t say here–to participate in the two events he has eyed, Pacific Grove and Big Kahuna. I may have to train solo and not with Team in Training. The fun thing about being involved in Team in Training in Silicon Valley is everyone is an entrepreneur. So lots of fund raising happens in non-traditional ways. Like the guy that wore his wetsuit everywhere for a week and when asked why, told people about Team in Training. I may have to jump outside of the box and try something beside begging friends and family this time. We’ll see.

Peace!

Catching Up

May 7, 2009 in leukemia, running, triathlon | 2 comments

I feel like I’m always catching up. Maybe I should stop going places on the weekend so I can instead sit in front of my computer and keep this thing updated. Nah, I prefer traveling. :)

100_0804

Here was our car after we picked-up borrowed sleeping bags and air mattresses. It had been full of cans and bottles to drop off with our recycling friends. They take the bottles and cans we collect and then donate the CRV and recycling monies to MS charity bike rides and Eric’s Team in Training events. They had $500 to donate to Eric’s tri this time!! Unfortunately, Eric got to talking didn’t pass the recylcables off so they had sat in our car a few days. Our trunk smelled like a drunk. It was gross.

100_0806100_0807100_0811100_0810

Random shots from the weekend. The Avia (shoe company) Wildflower Triathlon was tons of fun. The course was incredibly challenging–lots of hills, some trail running and a steep boat ramp up after the swim into transition. Eric loved it and is already signed up for the Pacific Grove Triathlon in September.

100_0808

Dane and Blaine from this season’s the Biggest Loser were participating in the long course (half-Ironman) race on Saturday. They looked good. They said they have lost 300 pounds combined since the season started. Amazing!

100_0809

Here’s are ghett0 tent. It was actually a great tent, but we ended up with an extra tent pole that we just assumed wasn’t needed anywhere–when in fact it went over the entrance to keep water out in case of rain. We improvised with duct tape and trash bags until some let us in on that spare pole’s purpose. I think we’ll be camping plenty as it was great fun, but we’ve sure got a bit to learn yet! Like the tarp underneath should be no larger than the tent so rainwater doesn’t pool under the tent. Thankfully, it didn’t rain too much and only rained on Friday.

I’ve been busting my behind this week to get back into training mode. I’ve been lifting weights, ran once, am swimming this afternoon, and had a crappy bike ride today. The first time I rode in California was AWESOME. It was with a group and I managed to keep up and everything. This ride was terrible. I think I was trying to do too much in the ride. First my gears were being wonky and made hideous clicking noises as they refused to shift. Then it was my first ride with my new bike computer and I immediately realized that my natural cadence was at 65, not anywhere near 85-110 range Eric said it should be in. Add to that my intense fear of hills, and it was not pretty. I haven’t even put my clip less pedals on yet. Oy vey! I will keep working on riding though, because it is definitely my weakest triathlon discipline and I know I can do it. Does anyone have any training websites, books, or anything to suggest?

Peace,

Katy

It is that time again…

February 21, 2009 in leukemia, triathlon | No comments

Team in Training schedules are all over our place, gym bags litter the floor, our garage is a mess of bike parts, replacement tubes and some busted tubes–that darned glass in the tread. This time, however, the athlete is Eric. The Silicon Valley team is a bit different than the Gateway team, but just as awesome. Saturday mornings start with Eric snoozing his alarm at least 800 times. We are both up by 7 because of this. :) He runs, swims, and bikes with the team and gets home around noon. Today he pulled out the grungiest, ugliest sweatsuit I have ever seen after he got back and had showered. Thanks, mom. I think it was something she gave him to keep warm in St. Louis, where we tried to use as little heat as possible. I teased him mercilessly, and he didn’t care. He was spent.

His joints are sore from the medicine before a workout happens. His GI track is always on the fritz and it is never predictable. In the middle of a bike ride or swim, it doesn’t matter. But he loves it. He loves their “hang with the gang” time after Thursday core/track workouts. They talk life over a few beers. I’m really proud of him. I know he hides a lot of how he is feeling physically so I imagine it is worse than I’ve described. But Eric refuses to use it as an excuse. Won’t you please visit his fundraising site and donate something? Even if it is just an encouraging comment. He has this easy to remember url redirected to the site. www.ericbeatsleukemia.com

I’m sitting out this season, because I found myself being a bit bossy, who knew? :) , to him about training regimens and whatnot. I want him to enjoy the experience himself. Who knows, maybe next time well do the Long Course, half-Ironman and eventually we’ll join the Iron Team.

Peace,

Katy

I’m a triathlete

May 19, 2008 in leukemia, running, self care, triathlon | 6 comments

Eric spoke at the pasta party–pre-race. He mentioned how because of Team in Training, he is able to be on medication that keeps him alive. Everyone was teary-eyed including him. My mom and dad were in Memphis all weekend cheering me on. It was fun to spend some time with them, even though I was slightly nervy until the race started.

Race day started bright and early with a 3:15am wake-up call. We met in the lobby at 3:45. Got to the park, and off-loaded our bikes and got the tires pumped up and pedals put on.

3:32:32. My goal was 3:30 and I was well on my way to getting there but had a difficult 2nd half of the run. The heat got to me–and I have a pretty nasty sunburn. I did apply sunscreen, but not frequently enough.

Here’s me at the finish line, trying to run without puking. Crazy that despite that, I am already ready to sign up for another race and trying to figure out how to increase my times!

Here’s me before the swim. I didn’t realize I would get a little motion-sick in the water. And the swimming portion is definitely a full-contact sport. Lots of people got kicked in the face, swam over and what-not. Who knew?!?!

Here’s me zooming in on the bike. I rode it in over 16mph, which is 2mph faster than my 15.5 mile race 3 weeks ago!! I got to say hydrating on the ride certainly helps!

Thanks again for all the well-wishes and support.

Peace,

Katy