See Fox Oversleep

I had every intention of going to the gym, biking, running, and maybe even doing a bit of core work.  Instead I overslept!  Booo!  I'll have to do it once I arrive at the hotel tonight at 9!  BOOOOOO!

See Fox miss Bambooooooo

Beau Broermann celebrated his 3rd birthday (which is my 1/2 birthday...eek) and apparently had a good day! 

I got to talk to him for a couple of minutes on the phone...something about dinosaurs in his ear and cupcakes.  Pretty cute and I miss him a lot.  Hope to see him soon along with the rest of the fam!  The pic below is a daily email his preschool sends out to the parents.  Clearly beau likes to be a camera hog on his bday!!!  I like his style!

bed time!

cfox

See Fox Doubt

So I was alone in the pool today and really did a lot of thinking.  Unfortunately I didn't focus enough on my stroke and instead was thinking about my overall training.  When you are in the water it is so different than running.  While running I have so many distractions...you pass parks, houses, trees, war memorials...you know the usual distractions. When you are in the water however, its just you and the black line.  So tonight I started to worry.  "I haven't been doing enough 2-a-day practices" and "I haven't been doing enough long runs (as evident by my last 10k time)" and "I should be so much stronger than this" and "Swimming in a pool is one thing, but open water swimming is going to kick my ass!"  It started to freak me out.

Don't get me wrong.  I know I will finish.  I will start this race in the water and swim strong.  I will be able to bike the 25 miles.  I will transition to my run...and that is where the fear starts to turn into panic.  I wanted to really compete in this race.  I wanted to run strong to the finish line and feel like I had trained as hard as I could and raced as fast as I could.  Unfortunately between work travel and fundraising events and just getting to know new teammatesI know I have skipped more practices than was abolutely necessary.  I know I could be faster and I wish I had 4 more months to train...(well maybe not...those 4:30 AM wake up calls are tough).  

I was once worried about the fundraising but I'm now confident that I will get there.  Now it comes down to me...my willpower in training and overcoming the mental part of this game!  It's going to be hard...but I've got about 28 days to go!  Maybe I should start sleeping in my runners.

OH!  Funny side note as I was walking to the pool today i passed a house and heard a little girls voice "HI." I look around and notice her inside the house with the window open staring out the screen.  "HI!" I almost laugh.  "I'm in a window!" she exclaims...which made my night.  She looked like me at the age of 4 or 5 but with brown hair.  I'm laughing out loud now as I round the house and say "I can see that" and she says "Do you want to come over tomorrow?" and (while thinking "it's a good thing there are bars on those windows cuz who knows how many people she invites over") I said "I don't think I can" and she just said "Oh, sorry." and by then was out of my line of vision.  Throughout my hour swim every time I got too sad about Marianne or too worried about the race I thought of her saying "I'm in a window" and would laugh and choke on water and it would lighten things up.

Hope you are all working hard and having fun!  send more happy thoughts, power songs, and pennies!

cfox

See Fox Sad

I found out today that a friend of my family passed away from stomach cancer yesterday.  She was diagnosed several months ago and apparently the cancer had spread.  She was a wonderful woman and am very upset about the news.  She was intelligent, and giving, and considerate, and an athlete.  She founded a 5k for her alma mater for scholarship fundraising, had recently ran a half marathon, and I have always known her to be very active.

Tonight I ran to the gym (it is a hot night out there) and did weights and stuff.  It was a good night and workout but there were a couple of times that I was really sad thinking about Marianne...I kept going back to one of the main mantra's I've been repeating to myself all summer "I'm lucky to be here and healthy enough to work out."  So chanel her energy and drive to keep moving.  

Cancer Sucks...all forms...and I find comfort in the fact that research on blood cancers can be applied to other forms of cancer.  The fundraising and training is hard...but when I think of all the ways cancer his impacted my friends and family what I'm doing hardly seems like enough...

There will be more. In the meantime keep fighthing in honor of everyone who has lost their battle, in celebration of everyone who has won, and in support of everyone currently fighting!

much love,

cfox

See Fox impressed!

Lance Armstrong recommended that I watch this...must say I'm impressed...I'm close but still can't quite do this on my road bike!

See Fox with a little spring in her step!

The weather makes a huge difference!  I mean the fact that I dont have to put 2 layers of fleece on to walk to the pool at 6 in the morning is enough to make my day.  This morning the walk was cool and peaceful!  I loved it. 

  

Practice wasnt my strongest.  I wanted to stop the entire time, but I somehow managed to talk my self into staying strong.  I actually finished the practice which is a good thing.  After being out of town all last week and missing practice I think my arms got lazy.  I wasnt supposed to swim today at all.  Instead I have a 60 minute run on the agenda...but I plan to do that later.  For now, I'm just happy that I got one last swim in with Kait before she leaves (tomorrow) for her race.  She is trying to qualify for the San Fran Tri which I totally believe she can do!

ok...back to work.  

send your pennies, powersongs, and good luck wishes!

cfox

See Fox sacrafice sleep...in the name of the blog???

OMG...its almost midnight and I'm still updating!  Have to give Jeff Bell credit for the 2 latest editions to the playlist.  ACDC and Bon Jovi were both his call and great additions!  Add them to your workout list and think of us!

And Emily...give girl talk another chance!  They are soooo fun on a run!  

See Fox surrender her soapbox for a moment....

INTRODUCING SARA GIMMY!!! (aka TC Gimmy, TC Gim Gam, and work out buddy)

I asked my friend and teammate Sara (pictured above teaching us to change a tire) to write a guest blog for me and here is what she has to contribute!

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I like peanut butter. I mean, I really like peanut butter. I'm a little partial to Skippy, but I do enjoy Jif or even store brand. Sometimes I'll opt for Smucker's for the natural variety.

 

You know, I always enjoyed my Skippy smooth PB: its texture, its artificially sweet flavor, its nutty scent, and its ability to make anything taste like heaven. But for years, I consumed those protein packed calories aware of said protein, a touch of sodium, and a fistful of fat. And for the longest time, I never really thought about it. 

 

And then came triathlon. 

In case you didn't know this, triathlon is essentially code for: We put peanut butter on everything. We encourage you to eat peanut butter at all meals. In any form, at any time of day. It has to do with the protein and caloric content. We like both of these things in endurance events. But that's the last that I mention anything about the nutrition facts. They don't matter beyond this point. Instead, I will share with you wonderful thoughts about peanut butter.

This one time, I was running with my friend, Kait. And naturally the conversation turns to peanut butter and she says, "You know, the average lifespan of a jar of peanut butter in my house is about two weeks."

I said, "Is that a long time or a short time?"

She says, "It's so fast!"

I said, "Oh." A jar of peanut butter lasts about one week in my fridge. And I don't share it with my roommates.

So where does it all go? Let me tell you...

I used to be a fan of the smooth variety, as I mentioned. But last summer, I stayed at Suzanne's house before the New Jersey State Triathlon and she told me not to bring any peanut butter (pre-race food of choice, normally on a rice cake) because she had some in stock. About 4am on a Sunday morning, I met Skippy Super Chunk. It was a life changing experience. I never liked chunky peanut butter, to be honest. But something about the super chunk made my tummy happy (maybe it's relentless chunk? I just don't know). I use Super Chunk a lot like I would with the Smooth PB: on a rice cake, on a spoon, in a recipe for peanut butter balls, on an apple, celery, or a banana. Sometimes with jelly, it can be a little much. But if sugar is your thing, then don't let me stop you.

Sometimes, I try to be health conscious and eat the natural peanut butter. You know, the kind that has the oil on the top, and you get shoulder cramps trying to stir it without pouring the oil over the sides the first time you open it. Now, I find the natural peanut butter is great on bananas, particularly bananas that have ripened further than most. On a rice cake, it can be a little dry but adding jelly makes all the difference. I think once I put it in a smoothie with a banana, soy milk and a tablespoon (or two) of chocolate syrup. Yep. I really like peanut butter.

For the record:  I adore Sara Gimmy and want to be like her when I grow up and I'm insanely jealous that I wasn't on this particular run with the girls!  

To follow Sara's blog check her out at: http://runsararun.tumblr.com/

See Fox Sweat

I had a crazy work day today and by the time I got home from Baltimore I decided I just needed to rest...so I did.  And before I knew it 8:30 had snuck up on me and I hadn't worked out all day. I was talking myself into the idea that one night off wouldn't hurt me...when all of the sudden my brain was overturned with the following thoughts in immediate succession...1) taking the night off will not help you finish the race strong. 2) cancer sucks and you are lucky that you are healthy enough to work out today! 3)  If you hadn't taken so many running days off you would have had a better time at the Remember the 10.

Damn It.

I have to do it.  So I jumped up, ate a banana, got ready and was headed out the door by 9:50. I ended up clocking a faster pace than usual and felt good on my run to the gym.  I told myself I would run back but didn't believe it.  Today's schedule called for core training and 50 minutes on the bike.  I didn't do any strength work but did abs for a minute before jumping on the bike.  I did an hour and kept my RPM at about 100 the whole time so it was tough but felt good....AND I ended up running the whole way home.  So today was a 3 mile run and a 18 mile bike.  I had the resistance pretty high so I feel good about my performance today.  I do need to be at the pool in about 6 hours...so that will kinda suck but Kait will be there with me so it will be pretty fun...and besides: I want to finish the race strong, cancer sucks, and I'm lucky to be healthy enough to work out, right?  

Lots of love to my cheering section!  (especially Em for keeping me entertained on facebook all night) Adding new songs to the mix tonight!

See Fox in a wetsuit...

Ok...so honestly...you will NOT be seeing me in a wetsuit unless you show up at the start of the Cap Tex Tri on memoial day.  Not so sure I'm interested in posting that online!  I hardly slept last night (maybe 3 hrs) but forced myself to go to practice regardless and was given my TNT wetsuit before practice started.  Putting the suit while completly drained of energy was tough...but getting in the water was FUN!  I felt like aquaman...and I'm confident it made my stroke impecable!  Lots of fun.

I'm supposed to run today but I think I am going to try to get to a yoga class instead...I need to stretch out my sore legs

Ohhh.. one more thing!  The Tri team in DC this year is divided between 2 different races.  About 60-65 percent of my teammates are doing St. A's tri in Florida...NEXT WEEKEND!  So this was the last training swim that I had with most of them.  I'm excited for them and our practice was lots of fun...they took the lane ropes out and we did group start...were everyone crowds together adn swims at the same time...so i took a couple of kicks and punches and choked on some water...but survived.  Getting nervous about the actual race!

cfox

P.S. This is my coaches idea of how we should train...he didn't have the American Gladiator sticks...but kickboards do the same thing!

See Fox 10k.

Ok...so this year the Remember the 10 race was a new course which was better in a lot of ways...and worse in a couple of ways. I pretty much ran with Emily Bynum.  She is one of my all time best running buddies.  My running hasn't been as consistant as my swimming and biking has been during training so I'm really happy to have that 10k behind me.  Em is a great running partner...talks to strangers on the course with me, tells me I'm a rockstar everytime we finish a hill or kilometer, reminds you of the cheese fries and beer waiting for us at Eskimo Joe's, and pretty much keeps me preoccupied.  Now I need to figure out how to smuggle her onto the race course in austin because after 2 hours of swimming and biking I will need the help.  There will be lots of pictures to come!

We started out in the back of the 10k pack and spent the first 30 minutes focusing on the next person I wanted to pass.  We just kept picking them off.  The second half hour was a bit tougher...but it was fun to run through campus!  My legs were never really tired, it was more of keeping my mind in the game.  I just don't know how I can hate and love running so much at the same time!  

I will be completing a LOT of running over the next month to make sure I'm ready for this!  

See Fox Celebrate

Every year in April I head back to Oklahoma to run in the "Remember the 10" memorial 10k in Stillwater to honor the 10 men who were a part of the OSU basketball team that died in a plane crash January 25, 2001.  The night before my friends and I always get together for dinner (and sometimes drinks) and this was a great reunion and celebration for so many friends who haven't seen each other in a while! I sure do miss them all.  We laughed a lot Friday...and geared up for a great run in Stilly.

In this picture is the entire group sporting their Team in Training bracelets! From top left: Byron and Allison Wilkes, Toni Weinmeister, Me, Emily Bynum, Justin Anderson, Carrie Williams, Sarah Clinton, Jeff Cohea.  Middle: Brooke Chapel.  Bottom left:  Ginny Cahalan, Dunkin Wilkes, Kenny Ginn.

Thanks friends for being such great cheerleaders.

See Fox's cute mom...

Here is an email I just got from my mom.  I recieved a donation from her online a few minutes ago and emailed to ask why she donated for a 2nd time....this is her responce:  

On my way back from dropping Silvia (her car) off to get her insides tuned, I thought I would get a Starbux and a nice sandwich as a treat. Then I decided to come back to my office and just eat what was here and make a donation instead. But I clicked too fast and missed my opportunity to add the above comment. I thought it might inspire others to make some little sacrifices in the name of your fundraising! Love you, Mom If at first you don't succeed, Tri, Tri, Tri again!!!

What a great little momma!

See Fox and Kait

Here is a pic of Kait and I at our fundraiser a few weeks ago...I'm holding raffle tickets and a yummy Kaits Cocktail!  This is the night I lost my debit card the first time for the month...anyone want to guess why?

See Fox Focus on Fundraising...

Team In Training is the most successful endurance training fundraising program in the world...obviously...but the money raised is very real and every dollar has an impact on someone's life.  Every dollar raised gets us closer to a cure, so i wanted to share with you our own TNT economic breakdown -

The Power of Donation:

$25 - Covers the cost of one prescription co-payment
$50 - Covers the cost of one CT scan
$75 - Covers the cost of one tissue typing test that is used to become a bone
         marrow donor
$100 - Helps supply lab researchers with supplies and materials critical to
           carrying out their search for cures
$150 - Provides for 5 patients to make a First Connection with a trained peer
           volunteer patient/survivor
$200 - Provides funding for a Family Support Group Program for one year
            while mediated by a trained facilitator
$500 - Provides a patient with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma financial aid
           to support medical treatment and travel to medical appointments for
           one year - Wow!

See Fox's Hero

I met a girl on the way back from Boston last week that goes to Boston College and is training for The Marathon!  We chatted the whole way to DC about training and race day and how exhausted we always are.  Since then I've been following the ramp up for this coming Monday's race!  Here is a link to an Runner's World article on Kara Goucher!  She is amazing and one of my personal heros!  

http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/microsite/article/0,8029,s6-239-506-0-13108-0,00.html?cm_mmc=women-_-2009_04_15-_-women-_-ARTICLE:%20%20Fast%20Learner

Fire up for Boston!

cfox

See Fox Slack...

I'm on the road at the moment and didn't get to the hotel until about midnight Monday night.  Tuesday morning I was up at 7 and on the treadmill.  Throughout the day I could feel my muscles tightening...should have stretched and Monday's training certainly contributed!  So this morning I woke up at 6:45 with plans for another morning run...instead I watched the news.  I mean I had to catch up on the pirate nonsense!  I am planning to run tonight...but I also need to let my legs recover for Saturday's 10k.  yuck.  Maybe I can find a pool to swim in tonight!

In the meantime...enjoy one of my all time favorite youtube videos...a LiveStrong Commercial! 

And don't forget to continue fighting cancer!

cfox

See Fox Stand Tall...

So I woke up, ate breakfast (pb and toast and an orange), and ran to the gym.  It is a beautiful cool morning so I had on my fleece and my headphones and was rocking out to Junior Senior and taking in the sights.  The run from my house takes me by the SEC, Union Station, Senate Buildings, The Capitol, etc.  Suddenly, I was overcome with a sense of pride.  I was so scared when I started this process that I wouldn't have the resolve to finish.  I'm a month and a half out and I know that I'm going to be there on race day!  I already have raised over $2,000 and can't let the people down who donated to support me.  I've been dedicated to swimming and biking and feeling very strong.  And so now I'm in the home stretch... just need to pick up on my running to make sure I can finish out the 10k and I'm good.

My mentor mentioned to me the other day that he thinks I don't give myself enough credit.  That I accomplish things and say "oh, anyone could do that."  So on my run I started realizing what this race really represents to me.  It will be at the tail end of my 4th year in DC.  Since moving here I have made some great friend, I have pushed and challenged myself, and I have proven that I can stick through tough situations in order to reach my goals.  My first year here was pretty brutal, but I made it through.  Now I have friends I can call when my laundry machine breaks and I'm leaving town in less than 24 hours and have no clean clothes (thx keosha) or those friends that I can have a great meal or happy hour with, or watch college basketball with, or go for runs or swims with and feel perfectly at home.  Its hard trying to make a life for yourself...and I'm actually proud of how far I've come!  

So I walked into the gym standing tall and feeling proud...and then Abu reminded me through my training session that I have a long way to go.  That's the thing...its not so much that I think "anyone can do this."  I just know "I can do better" and "I can be more".  So here is to a week full of great workouts and continuing to progress!

Love you all!  send love, pennies, powersongs!

cfox

See Fox Swim Solo.

Today was my first solitary swim workout in months.  It was nice in some ways...if it is just me and the girls we can get chatty.  However, its nice to have someone to chase when the others are around.  

Today's swim ended with another 20 minute swim and 10 minute swim right after.  I rested a little longer between the two but did the same mile swim.  My arms were really tired.  They have been getting a pretty tough workout lately...this week I'm on the road all week so I might get to a gym 1 or 2 nights, but mainly I think i'm going to be running on the treadmill...hoping to gear up for my 10k.

love you all.  keep the sweet emails coming!

cfox

See Fox S-O-A-K-E-D!!!!

Well the rain was...interesting.  On one hand I seriously felt hard core at several points in my ride for braving the weather.  On the other hand, however, it sucked!  By mile 3 my butt and lower back were drenched from the water my back tire was flipping up.  My mile 5 the front of my legs were drenched and my capri work out pants were plastered to my shins.  Mile 7 brought a very uncomfortable dripping sensation down the arch of my foot.  My socks were getting cold at this point and the toe of my shoes were squishy.  By the time I finished I was literally soaking wet at every layer.  Yuck....because then I had to get off my bike and run for 20 minutes.  I lost the mental battle eventually and didn't quite run the whole thing.  It was something about the amount of water that was flying out of my shoes every time I would swing my leg forward...or maybe the fact that I could see water bouncing out of my shoes every time they hit the pavement.  Eventually, the part of your brain that just keeps saying "this is crazy" is shouting over the part that says "I'm a finisher!"  At the end of the day I survived and did finish AND NEVER WIPED OUT.  But I will need to focus more on running this week!

I'm glad I went today.  Aside from training in difficult weather conditions I also had an interesting and valuable experience on my bike ride.  We did about 2.5 miles from the start out to a loop.  The loop we did was around 7 miles.  I did the loop 2x.  On the first loop I was trying to focus more on my cadence and wasn't wanting to play around in higher gears.  It wasn't until one of the bike coaches rode by me and slowed down to chat that we started talking about my gearing. 

I explained that I was horrified that I was going to fall on such steep and WET hills...there was soooo much water...and as a result wasn't wanting to mess with gears as much...and because of the hills I didn't want to switch into the much higher gears since I always seem to drop my chain when I do that.  (Additionally, one of my team captains had told me to stay in the lower gears on one of our previous rides...so I listened.)  We rode together for the next 5 miles or so and talked all about gearing.  She was explaining the mechanics of the bike in a whole new way to me.  It was sooooo enlightening!  Ultimately once we really started cranking she pointed out that we were riding about 10 miles per hour faster than when she first joined me.  And because we cranked into a better gear I was actually exerting LESS energy!  It was a great lesson to learn!  Now I just need to bike on flatter courses so I don't get too used to coasting downhill...or in the event of heavy rain....breaking downhill!

After our workout we had a picnic/grill out.  Because we were in a National Park we had the benefit of bathrooms and covered picnic tables.  Lunch (at 10:00 am) was yummy and I had a great time chatting and catching up with everyone.  I could probably go on with other stories for hours...but I think I need to rest!

off to nap!

send love, support, pennies, powersongs, and anything else you think could help!

much love,

cfox

PS...this video shows a brief glance at the conditions I was practicing in...only it was really raining!

See Fox Scared.

I was up at 6:00 am and texting Kate by 6:45 asking if we really had to make it to practice.  It was raining hard and I couldn't imagine being on the bike.  Now we are on our way out to Prince Edward's Forest and it is raining pretty hard.  

For those of you who have known me for any length of time you know I am accident prone.   Cycling 20 miles on hills in a pretty heavy rain just sounds like my own personal hell.   I'm bound to fall.  With my shoes strapped down and gripping that handlebars for dear life I'm just hoping to stay upright!

signign off...time to get out and prep for the ride...cross your figners for me!

cfox

Kitty is my brother-in-law's mother and is pictured here with her mom and my honored team member, Shirley!  When I told Kitty that I was racing in honor of her mother this is what she had to say:

Tina, With tearful heartfelt thanks I so appreciate your dedication. I have had a hard time with the cancer again in our family ( gregs sister Terri, like a sis to me too). I really loved my moms sense of humor and fight she had while trying to kick the cancer that took her. She was so fun and I miss her so much. I remember her saying at the beginning Kitty somehow its not fair to have two cancers is it?? And I said no it isn't mom but we will fight it and give it our best shot. She had the chronic leukemia for 12 years then developed the inflammatory breast cancer, the worst you can have, not detectable by mammograms.  When she was in florida after her radiation and chemo was done it was taking over her whole body. She ended up in the hospital with the cancer blocking her bowels and had to have surgery fast. We threw everything in the car and drove straight through to the hospital in boca raton fl. and arrived that morning before she went to surgery. She was joking and looked pretty good for all she was dealing with.  It was the best thing I ever did. She had such a tough time after that just trying to get her well enough to fly home to be with her family was rough. I flew in a two seater medvac plane, with two nurses. I had to be in the co-polit seat and was scared but felt a peacefulness just being at her side. She was always such a great mom. I got to share alot of fun times in the last 7 years with her before she left us. I am so glad she is out of the grip of that cancer, its so awful to see someone you love go through that.

  She had to go into the icu in florida and I stayed with her through it all, never left the hospital but twice in the 3 weeks of the last of her days. She said she wanted her private nurse by her! For all she did for me it was the best to give back to caring for her and helping her by just being at her side.  I could write a book about the experience. I stayed with her in florida, on the plane, ambulance ride to the hospital and then she got to come to her home to share her last days. Tough as a nurse knowing when death is near and its your mom. She was 76. I will send the paper obituary we wrote its was good closure.

 It was so great the Jeff got to fly out to see her, Sarah sent pictures of the boys and a video of Grays birth which my mom loved seeing. She loved Jeff and called him Dr. Mcdreamy!! He was her first grandchild.  Jeff and Sarah called when Gray was born and asked my mom to name him, She liked the name Bennett Gray and said call him Gray!! It was a very tearful time. I loved that Sarah was so great to allow Jeff to come out when she just had a baby!! He saw my mom one weekend and flew back the next weekend for her funeral.

  My mom wanted to be a journalist! She sang beautiful and was in plays in High School. She also sang on the radio!! We always had music in our house and I know alot of the old songs from musicals from her singing them. I wish to this day we had recorded her singing, a beautiful voice!! Oh and she did scuba diving in florida!! Got her certification and loved diving. She also loved children and acted like one herself, I am alot like her!! She even went on roller coasters in her 70s with her grandchildren!! The boys called her The Great!! My mom taught herself how to type and when we were bigger got a job down at the navel base.

 Wanted to let you know she spells the name Bernier. Not sure if I told E right or if he just transposed the i and n!!  Eric and Seth are so great, they always bought her pink roses several times, esp on our trip to DC.

  T, I love you dearly for this. From the heart, Kitty and Greg   Will send pics and paper clippin later

See Fox Stronger

Although my arms are still pretty stiff after yesterdays strenght training, I must admit that I felt great in the water.  No lane ropes again, and we did a 20 minute swim.  I could be off by 100 on either side, but I counted 1100 meters.  The race is about 1600 total which means I'm on pace for a 30 minute swim if the water conditions arent too bad.  After a 1 minute rest we did another 10 minute swim and I finished 550 meters.  So that puts me at a mile swim!  I'm excited.  For those of you who voted that i could do it in under 30 minutes...well I sure hope you are right...it is my goal!

I'm certainly feeling stronger than I have.  My stroke started to fall apart in the middle of the 20 minute swim, but I made up for it in the 10 minute swim!

In honor of my renewed strength today...enjoy a little Kanye on the playlist...another favorite powersong!

See Fox's Honored Teammate...Grandma Shirley

Meet Grandma Shirley...or Shirley Beriner pictured above with Eric (brother-in-law's brother) and Seth.  Great grandma to my newphews!  She battled with cronic leukemia for 12 years and was always full of life!  I'm racing in memory of Shirley! And will keep Kitty (her daughter) and the rest of her family in my heart as I train and Race!

Lots of love,

cfox

See Fox Swoon

I mean he is soooo dreamy.  I have no other reason for this post....but it is better to think of Ryan Reynolds during a run than the pain in my ankle!

See Fox Excited!

I just found out we have a practice swim in Barton Springs the day before the race!  I'm soo excited!  I posted something the other day under "Things I want" on the right column of my blog...but i'm throwing a new picture out there because I'm so excited!

I HEART B.S.!

See Fox Singing in the Rain

After I left Abu and the gym after an exhausting but great workout it was raining pretty hard and my place is 1.5 miles from the gym.  So i wrapped my cell and ipod in a plastic bag and started running.  I HATE running without music (the race will be tough) so I started singing to myself.  Avril Levine - Girlfriend was stuck in my head since it was played during my last set of my circuit so that kept me entertained running across the mall and up capitol hill.  So now my runners are soaked, I'm starving, and I'm not sure how I'm supposed to get up and make breakfast!

While I was at the gym Yale Scott, Karen Ross, and Devin McShane all donated!  Thanks for your support guys!  Fire up for fighting Cancer!

Love you all!

cfox

See Fox Sing...

Mix Master Kenneth Ginn provided the following list of powersongs...chime in with comments to let me know what you think!

Cake - The Distance
Gorillaz - White Light
Justice - (play these 2 tracks back to back) Genesis & Let there be light
LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk is playing at my house
LL Cool J - Mama said knock you out
OutKast - B.O.B. (bombs over baghdad)
Queen - One Vision
Veruca Salt - Seether
Junior Senior - Move Your Feet
Ghostland Observatory - Rich Man
Ghostland Observatory - Sad Sad City
Ghostland Observatory - Heavy Heart
Green Day - 2000 light years away
INXS - New Sensation
Matisyahu - King Without A Crown
MGMT - Kids
Moby - Body Rock
Muse - Hysteria
Muse - Knights of Cydonia
P.O.D. - Alive
Pearl Jam - Do The Evolution
Pete Yorn - For Nancy
Ryan Adams - So Alive
Saul Williams - List of Demands (this is the song from those Nike Spark Training commercials)
Simian Mobile Disco - Hustler
Smashing Pumpkins - Zero
Snoop Dog - Who am I? (what's my name)
The Sounds - Seven Days a Week

Knights of Cydonia is at the top of my list...and is now on my playlist!   (mainly because it makes me think of Guitar Hero and anything that keeps my mind off of running makes the list)

Keep them coming!  Songs and donations!

cfox

See Fox Easy on Sunday Morning!

I love today.  Was in the water by 10:30 with Kate and got in a good 60 minute swim...then I walked home and fell in love with the day!  It is the first day that I was able to wear flip flops!  I got home, cleaned up and made breakfast then spent the day walking down the mall, watching all the crazy tourists, and catching up with Andre 10k!  The weather was perfect and we ended lounging on the mall and soaking up sun...then we walked back and grabbed beer and munchies!  

So now I'm catching up on emails and watching Baby Mama for the first time!  See?  Perfect Day.

Tomorrow morning is personal training with Abu (also known as "try not to pass out or throw up and never say I can't" hour) and then an hour bike ride!

lots of love, cherry blossoms, and blue moon with orange!

cfox

See Fox Jam...

Thanks to my boy, Kevin Manning, for the best email I got all week...and the only one with powersong suggestions.  Please notice the addition to my playlist:  When a man loves a woman...and Blame it on the rain.  Apparently the latter works best on repeat, and the former when you are training with my little, Justin Anderson!

Send your favorites and I'll try to incorporate!

See Fox Smile...

Before I went to bed last night I was thinking about how all my blogs lately have been negative.  So I decided that this workout today and my post would be positive.  Then I woke up when my alarm went off at 5:00 AM and I lost my resolve.  Five hours of sleep isn't enough for me to be peppy! I finally recommitted during the hour drive to Poolsville, MD...being sleepy wasn't going to ruin my ride!  

The cold and the wind were unexpected but I mustered the determination to get through it.  The kids training for my race didn't start riding until almost 9...so I cheered on the group thatstarted first and was practicing transitions.  When it was our turn I sucked down an energy gel and got to peddling! The hills were killer...but so was the wind...at one point I was having to peddle pretty hard on a down hill portion because the wind was so strong.  Other than that the ride was beautiful.  I did 26 miles and then ran for 15 or 20 minutes and am exhausted but proud with my performance today.

To all the girls that ran the Ringling 5k...at one point I turned a corner on the bike and  it felt like that long stretch at the back of the race where we turned around and I immediately wished we were sitting in front of Em's with shotguns and/or Sangria!  I miss you all tons!  Then the next turn was this beautiful stretch of green pasture blowing in the wind....which pulled me back from my Oklahoma daydream...sorry!  Nothing against the great state of O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A...it just looked nothing like the country side off I-35! :)

I feel good now...then again I'm in bed and about to take a nap!  YES!!!!!!!!!!!

love to everyone!  send your pennies, love, and powersongs!

cfox

See Fox Struggle...

Ok...I'm wicked sore from core strenght training and practices this week.  I'm way behind on my fundraising and I'm just spent from work and travel!  I need a pick me up...so start emailing me your favorite powersongs, or motivation on how to keep going, or just something silly and fun.  I'm posting my favorite youtube clips here...it is for a marathon (or The Marathon rather) but it gets me fired up.

Enjoy...and keep sending the love, and the pennies!

cfox

See Fox EXHAUSTED...

ok...practices are getting tougher and I'm spent!  I almost rolled practice this morning, but with only 1.5 months left i thought it wouldnt be the best idea to skip...it woudl start a bad habbit.  Kait and I pushed through a tough swim and then I grabbed stuff for breakfast on my way home.   I'm sore all over from my training session yesterday and I didnt even get to do it all out!

i'm getting excited for austin thought...and for seeing friends...i hear that Kenny, Ryan, and Allie are all coming for the weekend!  Should be lots of fun!

cfox

See Fox Dizzy

Today was no fun.  I had an appointment with Abu (my personal trainer) this morning and i was dizzy and feeling queezy the entire time.  This is after a 9:30 run last night that left me feeling sick.  I'm not sure what is going on...might just be exhausted after lots of travel, hardly any sleep, and bad eating for a week or two. 

So I pushed through the work out and made my way home.  I'm planning on meeting Yale Scott for dinner tonight and then I will swim tomorrow morning and run at lunch.  I have Friday off and then a long ride on Saturday...I feel like I should be able to relax a bit this weekend!

Gotta clean up for the night!

keep sending your love...and your pennies!

cfox