Still early, but not so cold ...

Call it global warming, or just the normal variations in climate that occur during the life cycle of a planet. Nowadays it seems like everyone is hopping onto the global warming bandwagon, but back in the day when Pluto was still considered a planet, we were happy to get a warm day in December. The good news is that at least for this week, our outdoor training sessions were a little warmer. At least on the weekend.

On Wednesday we had a 30 minute out and back (OAB) run. That means we run for 15 minutes out and then 15 minutes back. Right when we turned around at the fifteen minute mark, it began raining which then turned into hail. At that point, there's not much left to do since fifteen minutes in the rain is still fifteen minutes in the rain.

However, Saturday was a completely different story. I checked the weather before leaving my apartment and saw that the temperature was 52 degrees Fahrenheit. The GTS was changed to a run session from a bike due to the rain from the previous night. The run workout was a series of four ten minute OAB run with squats in between each set. After the second run, I was down to just a t-shirt. It appears that global warming is short lived as next week has the temperatures back into the twenties. Hooray for under armour cold gear and sugoi jackets.

Call me crazy ....

Call me crazy, but I decided to sign up for another Team in Training event this year. I will be a mentor for the Summer season with the NYC triathlon team. The seasons for spring and summer overlap for about three months between March and May, so I will probably be doing double training sessions on some days. Some people will probably think I am crazy, but I am looking forward to it. Besides, if I am going to do a half-ironman distance in June, then I will need to get some more training in before that.

This week was a nice and wet run in central park. While the group was slightly diminished due to the holidays and the weather, those who showed up were in great spirits and slightly damp. This weekend is scheduled to be our first bike session so I am off to try and get some cold weather bike booties for my shoes. Happy Holidays to all.

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And so it begins ...

8:00 am on a cold (low 30's) Saturday morning usually finds most of us sleeping in bed or at least thinking its way too cold to get out of bed. But the better way to spend an early cold Saturday morning is to join all of your friends for a leisurely jog through Central Park as we begin our training for the Capital of Texas, St Anthony's and Gulf Coast Triathlons.

That's right yesterday was our very first GTS or Group Training Session. From now, until the race, I will start off Saturday early in the morning with a GTS. Either a run or a bike or a bike/run combo known as a BRick. Today's training was a social run (with some squats and walking lunges thrown in for good measure) although many of my friends may find it to be an oxymoron to include social and run together. The purpose of this run was to get to know our new teammates and to begin to acclimate our bodies to the training that we will be doing for the next six months.

The other thing that happens at the beginning of most of the group training sessions is the mission moment. This is where different member of the team speak about their personal connections to the cause or why they are training. Many people on the team have very personal connections where parents, children, siblings, other family members or loved ones have been personally affected by leukemia, lymphoma or other blood cancers. One of the things I learned last year when I did my first triathlon with Team in Training was how many people I know had personal connections.

At yesterday's GTS, one of the honored teammates gave the mission moment. The honored teammates are cancer survivors who are training with us for these events. He spoke about during his chemotherapy treatments, when the doctors would ask how he was doing, his response would be "Can't Stop Now." During this season, if a run get hard or our legs get tired during the bike, or we feel we can't swim another stroke, the little voice that says "You're tired, why not take a break" is replaced by a new voice, "Can't Stop Now".

This time it's for Bar-B-Que!!!

Austin, Texas. SXSW Music, Film and Interactive Festival. The Elvis Presley Memorial Combo at Chuy's. The Bats at the Congress Avenue bridge. The family style all you can eat BBQ at the Salt Lick. These are just a few of the memories that I have of previous trips to Austin. Now, its time for another one.

This May 2008 during Memorial day weekend will be the Capital of Texas triathlon. I'll be joining with Team in Training again for to raise money for the leukemia and lymphoma society to train and complete an olympic distance triathlon. For those of you new to this blog, that means I'll be swimming 1500m, biking 40km and running 10km. This is the same distance as the NYC triathlon last year, but this time in Austin.

Since the race is in the spring, we get to train in the winter. I picked up some new cold weather training gear this past weekend to last me through the winter months since our first GTS (group training session) will be this coming Saturday at 8am. Yes, that's right, 8am on a cold (forecast is around 32 degrees) Saturday morning in Central Park. So keep coming back here to read about this next round of training. On the plan for this coming spring/summer is the Capital of Texas Triathlon in Austin, the NYC Triathlon in NYC and possibly at least one half-ironman triathlon. Thanks for reading and remember, if you are willing to donate on my fundraising page to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the I'll do the work of waking up and running on a cold Saturday morning.