See Fox Sweat

I ran to the gym tonight at about 7 and was on the stationary bike for 55 minutes (including a 1/2 mile cool down) and logged 15 miles.  This gives me hope.  If I can ride with the same intensity during my race I could do the entire bike portion in 1.5 hours.  I know that the computer on the bike can't be trusted and I probably didn't really go that far or that fast...but its good for my mental game!  My friend Kait was there and we kept each other laughing...I'm so sad she is training for a different Tri!  It would have been nice to have her and the rest of my team around...

speaking of...i owe you more pictures!

See Fox Sprint...kind of!

Good morning!  It's 7:15 here and I've been home from practice about 15 minutes ago.  My arms are like jelly.  I had no energy to make breakfast but knew I needed something in my system so I settled for a cookies and cream powerbar and a nap...and I'll make breakfast when I get up.

Practice wiped me out today! Lots of sprinting.   Apparently the last 2 months of swim workouts were developed by our Coach Megan.  This month has been developed by Coach Mike who must be interested in seeing someone sink!  I must admit that it's nice to really get a workout.  I can see that I'm improving, but I really think I need to work on building strenght in my arms outside of the pool....or maybe I should drink less on Monday nights!  (Conference in town and too many glasse!of wine made it tough to sleep and tougher to wake up!)

I think I need a nap before work starts!

Send your love, and your pennies!

All my love,

cfox

See Fox Stronger!

Sunday's hour long swim was a tough one, but not only did I manage to get to the end, but I feel like I had a really strong swim.  Just to give you an idea of a typical Tuesday or Sunday swim:

Warm up: 5 minutes.

4 x 100, rest interval 10 seconds:  Each 100 gets faster.  Start at an easy pace and last 100 should be a sprint

500, at a level 5

4 x 100, rest interval 10 seconds:  Each 100 builds...so the first 25 is easy and the last 25 of each is a dead sprint

700, at a level 5

cool down.

Doesnt sound like a lot...but believe me...its tough!

I'm feeling stronger and on my way to a Wii Tennis tourney!

Love it, love you, love the beautiful weather...need to get outside!

send love and pennies!

cfox

See Fox's Bike Coach

Ok...so jeff is only 1 of 4 Bike/Run coaches...but he is the most important one of all.  I met Jeff almost 3 years ago while living with Jill Stephens.  They are coworkers and Jeff would join the 2 of us when we hosted cocktail parties, at events around town, we even convinced him to go speed dating with us!  He is a fabulous friend to have...and when I ran into him at Eric and Seth's going away party (they sold him his condo) we started talking about his TRI world.  I mentioned wanting to get into swim practice and he pretty much had me hooked as soon as he suggested Team In Training.  But look at him...could you say no?  He is a machine!  Great motivator, amazing athlete and my favorite coach by far!

More friends and team mates in pictures to come!

Go Team!

See Fox Climb!

Today was the first time I made it to a team bike workout!  It only took 2 months!  I was scared out of my mind.  I tend to be a pretty clumsy girl when walking in my runners...so just thinking of strapping my feet to pedals and let me glide downhill at 25 mph (or faster if I pedaled) makes me break out in a panic attack!

I was out of bed before 7 and rode with the coaches out to the starting point about an hour outside of DC.  We were riding in a rural part of Maryland that was beautiful...IF YOU LOVE HILLS!!!!  When I told people it was my first ride they all looked at me like I was crazy and a couple people asked why I picked this practice.  (Main reason:  Its the first one that wasn't slated to be 10 degrees!)  

Good news...I survived.  I dropped my chain right from the start so one of the main coaches stopped to help me which turned into a blessing....because before the end of the street she dropped her chain as well (just meaning the chain came off the gears) and so we started about 5 minutes behind the pack.  It gave me time with her to go over gearing...it gets complicated when you have about 23 gears.  Within 5 minutes my thighs were burning as I was climbing my first substantial hill.  My coach warned me as we started that I might have to walk it and to not get discouraged...but I wasn't having that...made it to the top and enjoyed the trip down the other side.   I was riding my breaks on a lot of the descents...but my focus for this practice was gearing...and I'm feeling great about it at this point!  Maybe next time I can focus on speed.

At the end of the Hour and 40 minute ride I took a couple minutes to strip off my jacket, helmet, etc and jumped out on a new trail to run 15 minutes!  It was a tough brick workout but a lot of fun at the same time.  Having a team to train with is encouraging and distracting and getting to meet someone new on the trail to talk to is always a nice way to zone out!  However after 15 minutes I was wondering how I could tack another 5 miles at the end of my workout.  Building up to this is tough...but I have faith that my team will get me there.  And for those of you who see me in Austin...prepare to be amazed!

I love you guys and I'm starting to love TRI's

send your love and pennies...

cfox

PS.  pictures coming soon!

See Fox Celebrate

My favorite part of Tuesdays is meeting at the Tombs for drinks at 9 after the evening swimmers are done with practice...great beer specials, wings, and hummus!  Worth the lost of sleep!  

i love my cap hill crew...its fun to have a stable group at this point!

time to sleep!

cfox

See Fox Colder than Cold

My legs are still trying to thaw out and I went for my run in 2 layers of pants...its just freaking cold.

So here is the latest: 

Sunday i swam just under 2 miles when i practiced on my own.  It felt good but man 3000 meters is exhausting.  I walked to and from the pool and then had dinner with friends.  PF Changs would normally get a few complaints to my friends since there are soooo many local options but I was excited about the brown rice and protein combo!  That night it snowed 8 inches and I fell asleep watching the flurries swirl around the street lamp outside my room and worrying about how I was going to make it to the gym in the morning.  

I had a personal trainer session on Monday and my trainer swore he would be there no matter what.  So I bundled up (jeans over the running pants, hiking boots, coat, leather gloves, etc) and pushed myself out the door.  1/2 way there trainer called to cancel so I hurried to the gym and  I jumped on a stationary bike and road for 50 minutes which turned into about 15 or 16 miles. Then I did some weights for my arms and walked back home!  Monday night I went to my biking coaches house to watch the Bachelor and drank like 3 glasses of wine...by the time I got to bed I had 4 hours to sleep before my swimming wake up call. 

4:30 came to early but I managed to get up with enough time to grab breakfast and get out the door.  It was freezing again and when we got to the pool there were no lane ropes.  This meant that the wake from other swimmers wasn't controlled and it felt like an open water swim.  I choaked on so much pool water that I never felt tempted to open my bottle of water through out the practice!  And I usually take down 2/3 of my nalgene!  I got home ate, worked, and at 5:00 pm was out the door for a 50 minute run.  It's just soooo cold.  My face was stinging but I forced my legs to keep moving.  I was 15 minutes in when I made the executive decision to swing south in front of the capital and head to my new gym...where I stripped off my top layer of fleece and jumped on a treadmill.  For my last 30 minutes I did a 5k which felt good but the last mile was tough...the pads of my feet were throbbing so I broke it up with a run/walk alternating every quarter mile.  When I left I grabbed a potbelly sandwich to go and walked the mile back home in the dark...Colder still!  But the reward was 30 minutes of August Rush and my turkey on wheat before jumping in the shower. 

I'm now getting ready to meet my training group for drinks in Georgetown...train hard, play hard is the motto...although I like to add sleep hard and eat lots!  My body is calling for more fuel these days!  I'm guessing that I'm burning at least 1500 calories a day with my exercising...plus extra throughout the day walking to and from metros, etc!

with that said I need to finish my water and dry my hair...before you know it I'll be back in the cold snowy air!

all my love, send your thoughts and pennys.

cfox

See Fox Cringe!

Woke up with some sore muscles!  I mean like laying here my muscles are exhausted and crying out for a full on massage from Becky Ginn!  I tried drinking sangria last night in hopes that it would relax me and my muscles!  It did get me drunk but it didn't do much to alleviate the pain!  

I have to swim at 3...but last night was drinking with my team so I'm not sure how many people are going to show up.  

I think i need a nap!

cfox

P.S. I never fell asleep but I did get to the pool by 3. I was thinking about the milage I covered in the last two days during training. I biked 26 miles ran or walked 6 miles and swam 1.5. So 33.5 miles. I don't travel that far in a given week in car, metro, bus!

See Fox Brick!

So I'm not sure if I should actually use "Brick" as a verb...because in my mind it is technically a 4 letter word!  Saturday workouts now consist of 2 events back to back...these are referred to as your "brick workouts"...i have a feeling that it is because your legs feel like bricks when you transition.  I've been logging lots of 2 practice days where I swim in the morning and run at night...but today I biked for 100 minutes and then went straight into a 15 minute run.  It doesn't sound too bad, but after the first 60 minutes my legs were tired and I was starting to doubt my abilities on the run.  

I'm delighted to report that I survived both...in fact I felt really great about it all.  My training partner Kait...who is a survivor...is great motivation.  We chatted through the entire work out and would cheer on people whose paths crossed ours along the way.  It was pretty fun if you ignore the intense burning in my muscles.  Tomorrow is a 30 minute swim, but I plan to do the full 1 hour work out to make up for a run I missed earlier this week due to work and a much needed happy hour!  I might even try to make it to yoga...the legs are getting tight!  

wish you guys were here to see this nonsense...i love and miss you all...

cfox

See Fox get motivated!

An email from a friend of a friend!  

KA: pls send to the marathon, century, alumni, etc. groups....

I am sitting in Houston, TX at MD Anderson with my dear friend Desiree who has relapsed a second time with lymphoma. The first time she fought was two years ago when I met her beautiful face. We were fast friends as we had so much in common. She has been a close friend, a fellow triathlete and my running buddy for 2 years. Desiree and I signed up for Ironman AZ this November to celebrate her victory over cancer….she will not be able to race due to the relapse. As well, she has 3 beautiful children. Ages 6,8 and 10…… Today we found out that not only is she stage 4, but it has spread to her brain. I am sitting in the waiting room as she goes in to receive a 4 hour transfusion. Even though MD Anderson does a lot of things right…being in a hospital for JUST cancer patients will never feel ok to me. It makes it real, it brings it all back home. 

I wanted to send word to your athletes. The injustice that cancer serves is not fair. And I am angry. I have observed since 9 AM and watched the walks of all those facing treatment, good news, bad news, new protocol….Cancer does not discriminate. Where I sit right now there are young and old, black, white & asian, upper class and lower class. Cancer doesn’t care that the economy is tanking or that we are trying to figure out a new health care system. Cancer doesn’t care if you have 3 children or hopes of having children one day. As active as it is…it has no REAL face. It carries the face of way too many people. There is no sense in who or why it chooses and that makes me angry. Nobody deserves this. As I walked around today and saw that MD Anderson has to add 600 more beds, my stomach dropped. I mean…they ONLY serve cancer patients, have an entire FLOOR for lymphoma and they need 600 more beds??? Apparently there is a waiting list, which is why I bring my friend down for one day (3 hour drive one way) because a bed overnight is not an option right now.

I have been around cancer for about 6 years now. My brother, my grandfather, myself, my Dad….many close friends and those from afar and I won’t ever get used to it. I don’t want to. For those of your athletes that might need that extra push out the door to their Finish Line in May….maybe this email will help. My friend Desiree will not be able to train or run for a long time as the road ahead of her is quite long. Will you get out of bed and do it for her? Will you get out of bed, train your asses off and hope for hospitals with empty beds? 

I would love that. 

Colleen