Livestrong Challenge Picture Overload...

I thought I should dedicate a post solely to the pictures we took over the weekend... you can read the recap HERE


Before the Race - so early it was still dark :)

In front of the capitol

Our whole group...

Dave and Della

Newbs and Zeke

Cay and Newbie

Cayla....

After the 5K - Cayla, Newbie and Me

Newbie and Me after the 5K

Holding our posters of our bf we share....

He loves me more :) j/k

Zeke, Papa and Mama Newbie, and Newbie

The 5Ker's... (minus Ciearra's momma)

Just us girls :) Ciearra, Della, Newbie, Cayla and Me

Newbie and Zeke

Cayla, Newbs and Zeke after finishing

Before the race in the staging area


We look so serious...

Headed out for the ride

Lance Armstrong finishing the 90 miler

Me, Newbie, Ciearra, and Cayla after the ride

Me finishing the ride

Newbie crossing the finish line

Ciearra after just finishing

My Favorites....

AH - MAZING.....

Is the one single word to describe this past weekends events.

I participated in the LiveStrong Challenge this weekend with a handful of lovely friends - we all united together to raise funds for cancer research and the LAF (Lance Armstrong Foundation) and also take on a physical challenge of running and biking.

If you are not familiar (although I presume most of you are) the LAF is a non profit organization, founded by Lance Armstrong in 1997 that inspires and empowers people affected by cancer.

Just a brief overview (I stole from the website)

The LAF believes that unity is strength, knowledge is power and attitude is everything. Read LAF Manifesto here. LAF also provides the practical information and tools that people with cancer need to live life on their own terms and also take aim at the gaps between what is known and what is done to prevent suffering and death due to cancer.

The LAF unites people to fight cancer and pursues an agenda focused on:

• Prevention
• Access to screening and care
• Improvement of the quality of life for cancer survivors
• Investment in research

It truly is becoming a passion for me; especially after this last weekend.

To see the community of cancer survivors, individuals who are still fighting the battle, loved ones, care givers, etc was truly amazing. The camaraderie amongst this group of individuals is truly a testament to the impact that cancer and the LAF has had on each person that was there. Cancer, like the LAF, not only affects those that are diagnosed... but all.

We (Cayla, Hunter and I) arrived in Austin late Friday checked into the hotel, visited with Della and Dave, Newbie and Zeke and then headed to bed (we had an early morning).

Saturday morning we arrived at the race site at 6:45ish to pick up our packets and get ready for the 5K. There were over 3,000 people there to participate in the run. The support was also unreal. The streets were lined with supporters, volunteers, friends, family, yellow balloons, signs, etc.... It made running a whole lot more fun for me :) (I hate running remember)

I enjoyed looking around and reading all the signs that were on people's back... let me explain.

At the race start they had a table with little signs you could pin on your shirt that said "In memory of", "In Honor of", and "Survivor". You could take these signs and put the name of the person(s) you were competing for. Most people pinned them on their backs so as you were running you could read who that person was competing in the Challenge for. One little boys said "In Honor of My Mom"... so sweet....

Mine said "In Memory of Jessica Gage Bonesio" (pics to come later)

It made the time pass quite nicely to read these; and also read the shirts of the many teams who had them made. Also very inspiring.

After the 5K we headed for a fantastic post-race breakfast at Austin Java... delish! Then went to the convention center to visit the "LiveStrong Village". The convention center was set up with booths, tables, etc for vendors. (It was basically a vendor-expo). There were all sorts of bike shops, doctors, fitness equipment, cancer centers, etc there advertising and giving free goodies... I loaded up on Aquaphor (which I have an addiction to), cliff blocs and bars, LiveStrong bracelets, and water bottles (seriously every booth was giving out water bottles)

Then we headed back for a much needed nap.... then dinner...

Sunday was the 20 mile bike race and probably the most sobering and awe-inspiring event of the weekend.

The race finish was lined with supporters (again) and yellow balloons - as you came across the finish line they stated your name over the loud speaker and how much money you raised. The lines of people cheering you on was crazy!!! It was so motivating and un real. I just kept thinking... I wish Jess was here to see this!!!

The bike course was hilly (hence the name HILL COUNTRY)... it started at Dripping Springs high school and wove through Dripping Springs... there was a 10mi, 20mi, 45mi, 65mi, and 90mi course. Lance was there... he rode the 90mi. course....pics to come of him coming in from the course.

OMG - speaking of Lance... I totally forgot to tell you that we saw him, up close and personal, on his bike on Saturday riding through downtown... he was literally an arm's length away....so YUM-O :)

The bike start was a little hectic.... we were on about a 15 minute delay...but really didn't start riding until about 1.5miles into the course.... it was so back logged with riders at the start that you ended up walking your bike until it thinned out. It was frustrating.... but it is for such a good cause you couldn't get too upset! We had a hectic morning that morning anyways so we may have all been a little on edge...

Our morning started out just fine... drove 30min. out to the course, parked without hardly any issues. Began getting ready for the ride into the staging area (about a mile or so) then I realized I had lost the car keys. While tearing the car apart and every bag in the car I still couldn't find them.... Cayla realized she had a flat tire on her bike so we had to change that.... meanwhile I'm still looking for the keys. I was about to say "f" it and make Zeke and Hunter look for the keys when I realized that I put them in the pocket of my jersey... seriously Allison??? These pockets are supposed to be handy dandy - but I clearly never use them or else I probably would have checked there first...oops! But we found them and were on our way.

The staging area to the start line was PACKED with riders of all levels, a ton of pros that were riding the 90miler with Lance...I wish I could have been up there to see all of them. Then towards the back were all of us 20milers and 10milers. There were riders of all shapes, sizes, and ages... There was one kid who participated in the 10mile ride that I swear had just taken the training wheels off his bike. There were dads that had the carriers strapped onto their bikes in back with their kids in tow... professionals, grandparents, all sorts of people... all riding for the same cause.

Seriously - you should all join my team next year and participate in this incredible event.

Registration opens December 1 for next year and you bet your ass I will be on that list.... Team Tri for a Cure in full effect!!!

OH AND...THANK YOU THANK YOU TO ALL MY DONORS.... PLEASE SEND ME YOUR ADDRESS; YOU WILL BE RECEIVING SOMETHING EXTRA SPECIAL FROM ME AND OUR TEAM SHORTLY :)

Pics to be posted soon....keep checking back!!!

Tri #4 - the sunday monsoon...

Last Sunday was my 4th tri since April - During these last six months I have experienced a tri in the freaking cold, a little rain, a beautiful day .... and Sunday was a monsoon!!!

The race was set to start to 8am (late for a tri start time) transition opened at 6:00am... we arrived at 6ish... already soaking wet from loading our bikes and such...

Needless to say - I was not a happy camper... rain is great when you can lay around in sweatpants all day, watch tv, doze in and out of consciousness while watching movies...however; it is NOT optimal weather to be swimming, biking, and running.

During the pre-race meeting we were told that the bike course was cut short by 7.8 miles due to high water on the low crossings....about 3 1/2 feet of water stood stagnant at one of the crossings...and I'm pretty sure you utilize a bike and not a kayak during tri's :)

So the bike course was 6 miles instead of 13.8.... bummer....

Other than that things went realtively well... swim was good... I had a 6:30 swim time which was way better than what I had been averaging in the pool when I went to swim... I averaged 19mph on the bike (which I was ok with considering the conditions)...and the run was WAY better this time than my last tri (which I sucked).... all and all it was a great race for me.

The rain held off until the beginning of my run when the skies opened and buckets of rain fell on my lovely body as I pounded the pavement. Then it stopped... which was great... except I was carrying pounds of water weight during the rain... hey whatever... beggars can't be choosers!

We took no pictures (it was a monsoon people) so I have no pictures to prove the craziness that was this triathlon.

I did however BUY A CAMERA!!! (not that I had it during the race - clearly!)... So now I can post my very own pictures rather than stealing them. I bought this before my trip to California so go ME!!!!!

No pic of the week this week... I can't find anything good..... check back!

I get hurt so you don't have too...part 3!

This sees to be a reoccurring theme on my blog.... remember HERE and HERE...

Last Sunday - Cayla, Tommy and I went to have a serious bike ride on the Trinity Trail. I hadn't been on my bike since my last tri the end of August (approx. 3 wks). We rode 22 miles from Ft. Worth to Benbrook and back (22 total).

It was a GREAT ride... we had a nice flat road to work some sprints, a few biatch of hills to work on strength, and subsequently super fun downhills (which are my fav.) all in all it was good ride.

About half way through the ride we stopped and saw the space shuttle being piggy- backed over an airplane... it flew right over us! It was so cool - it was flying from CA to FL and stopped in Ft. Worth at the base. It was amazing!! I had never seen a space shuttle before!!!!

Anyway - I digress....

With about 2 miles left in our ride we were on the home stretch. If you are not familiar the Trinity Trail is a little wider than a sidewalk...but wide enough to ride single file and have riders riding both ways. So we were riding single file.. Cay, Tommy, then me... when this group of riders (3) ... who i'm convinced thought they were "professional" ... were coming up on our left going the opposite direction of us.

The douche bag in the back of the pack, thought he would be cute and try to pass his friends but waited too long and for me to avoid hitting him head on I tried to ride the side of the trail. He missed his passing opportunity and hit me.... and knocked me off my bike. I fell straight flat dab on the concrete.... and yell a very loud explicative that starts with an "f" and rhymes with sucker....

I got up...pissed and now bleeding on my white handle bar tape..... and continued riding. Maybe 45 seconds passed and the douchey "professional" biker road up behind me and asked if I was ok. Here is our dialogue...

DoucheyBikerGuy: "Are you Ok"
Me: "yes"

DoucheyBikerGuy: "Are you sure; you have a strawberry on your arm?"
Me: "yes; I am fine"

DoucheyBikerGuy: "are you sure; you are bleeding"
Me: (in a majorly irritated tone) 'yes; if I wasn't I wouldn't be back on my bike"

DoucheyBikerGuy: "i'm sorry - I was just day dreaming out here... it's a nice day"
Me: "have a nice ride"

I quickly picked up my speed and got away from him because if I did not get away I was going to wrap my bike around his neck and throw him on the concrete.

I was so mad. Who "daydreams" while operating a moving vehicle!! I know it isn't a car or anything but someone could have been seriously hurt... what if I was a little kid??? There were plenty of little kids on the trail that day and he could have plowed over any one of them.

I was ticked... .and I still am to tell you the truth.

Anyway - here are some pictures I took tonight of my injuries.

The palm of my left hand is scraped and grossly bruised (you can't tell from the picture.. but it's green/yellowish now)

My left knee is scraped up... and I have a bruise on my hip.... I didn't take a picture of the hip bruise because honestly it's more on my arse and I don't want to plaster pics of my arse on the internet....

oh and my left elbow is all scraped up and has strawberries (or raspberries...which ever...)

Hand

Hand pic #2

Elbow....

Elbow #2

Knee...

Dolce...

I finally bit the bullet and bought my new bike... Her name is Dolce :)

I took her for a spin on Saturday morning and we are already in love.... a relationship made at Plano Cycling and Fitness on Friday, August 14 :)

I love her... and so does my body...

Pic(s) of the week

My pics of the week are themed in nature... :)

As you know if you've been reading for awhile, I am a big supporter of the LiveStrong and Lance Armstrong Foundation.

A few months ago the girls and I started discussing participating in the LiveStrong Challenge in October. The LIVESTRONG Challenge is the Lance Armstrong Foundation's signature fundraising event inspired by hope, courage and the perseverance of Lance and the nearly 12 million Americans affected by cancer. We take to the streets on bicycles and on our feet, uniting individuals to stand together to fight cancer. The LAF and LIVESTRONG believes that unity is strength, knowledge is power, and attitude is everything; which I completely agree.

Jessica was united in strength by her friends, family, loved ones and even strangers; she educated herself about her disease and empowered herself to fight as did her family; her attitude was COMPLETELY unwavering and admirable. I learned more from Jessica and her family than I ever thought was possible; however I do not want others to have to feel the pain that this disease brings not only to the patient but the family and friends as well.

It is important to me to do what I can to "pick a fight with cancer" and help find a cure. I truly believe in this cause and this fight; and I hope you will unite with me to do what you can.

I hate asking people for money - I've only done it one other time; when Jessica was raising money for the angel adventure walk last October; which is another amazing cause. The National Brain Tumor Foundation is another great non-profit group that fights for brain tumor patients and raises money to find a cure.

I hope you can help - any amount is appreciated... $1 will go along away in my book.

Thank you for your support, prayers, love, hugs, flowers, etc over the last 2.5 years. As you all supported me and Jessica in her fight for the last few years; now it's time to unite and fight with those that are still undergoing treatment and fighting their own battle so that we can TRI for a cure!

Click Here to donate and see my personal page: http://austin09.livestrong.org/allie0622

Click Here to donate to either me or my teammates and see our team page: http://austin09.livestrong.org/triforacure

Buffalo Wild Wings made my pic of the week because Newbie has been so gracious and found a sponsor for our team jerseys! One of her friends in Beaumont owns a few BW2 I believe, and he has agreed to sponsor us!!!! That is so awesome and we are so excited!!! THANK YOU RAJ AND NEWBIE!

Hooters, North Richland Hills is also a pic of the week, because my friend Chris is the GM there and he has awesomely agreed to host a car wash and bake sale and all the proceeds go to our fundraising efforts!!! We are hoping that car wash will be in August and the bake sale in September! I am so excited that Chris has graciously offered this to us and is helping us out to raise money for this event. THANK YOU CHRIS!!!!

Thank all of you again for your support, love and prayers!

Have an awesome weekend!!!

Livestrong Challenge HELP!!

Need ideas for a team name for our Livestrong Challenge we are doing in October. We are doing this in memory of Jess and to help raise money to find a cure for cancer.

Brainstorm and leave a comment with your idea...

***Weekend update to follow later.... so fun in NOLA****

We picked a team name... TRI for a Cure...

visit our team page at austin09.livestrong.org/triforacure

Visit my personal fund raising page at austin09.livestrong.org/allie0622

Tri #2 - "Control the Freakout"

Well this weekend marked tri #2 .... Here are the deets (details for those of you who don't follow my lingo)

Who: Me and Cayla....
What: Playtri Festival - included My First Tri, Sprint, International distances as well as swim races
When: Sunday, July 5, 2009 - 7:03am start time
Where: Las Colinas, Texas - Marriott Las Colinas
Why: Because we are dumb, crazy, and just plain stupid... but we love it...well after we are done we love it!

Sunday started off early.... 3:45am my alarm went off. As my darling friends were just going to bed after a long night of drinking games and celebrating the 4th of July - I was waking up to "Boom Boom Pow" on the radio/alarm clock.

I jumped out of bed... jumped in the shower... I know who showers before a 2 hour workout... but it's a must for me on race day for two reasons:
1. It wakes me up... did you see what time my alarm went off
2. I need my hair wet to french braid it

After my shower - I outfitted myself in my new tri-gear. Same shorts as last race but new improved and super cute top :) See to the right...

I loaded my bike rack and bike on my car on Saturday night so I wouldn't have to worry about it on Sunday morning. I still did though and checked to make sure I didn't miss a strap to secure it and make sure I had my lock, etc. etc.

I tripled checked then double checked my check list... I'm a super list person so I had to make sure I had everything from toilet paper to my race belt.... and I was out the door at 4:20am.

There is not very many people on the road at 4:20am...

I got to the race site, parked, got my gear, put in my ipod and headed to the transition line. I waited for Cayla to get there so we could rack together... supringsly she was race #59 and I was #58 so we rack together.

Cayla got there we got body marked, racked our stuff, and frolicked in the rain. Oh yes my dear friends, it started raining. As if I wasn't nervous about this enough... it started raining and continued to rain right up until we jumped into the water.

We waited in the parking garage while it rained and until we had our pre race meeting. While we were waiting we saw, not ONE but TWO cars, try to attempt to drive up the ramp and lost their bikes and racks into the rafters of the parking garage. Finally after the second person hit the rafters with their bikes the race director posted someone at the entrance to stop people from driving up the ramp if their bike was mounted on the roof. I felt so bad for these people... their thousand(s) $ bikes ripped off of their car and hanging in the balance... ugh what a way to start a race day!

We had our pre race meeting...and headed to swim the start.

CONTROL THE FREAK OUT...

I said on multiple ocassions as we overlooked the swim area... "Cayla I don't want to do this".. "Cayla why do we do this"... "Cayla are we stupid"...

500m looks alot shorter in a pool

We jumped in - heard the gun and took off...

The rest is history... but I'll explain anyway :)

The Swim was good ... I freestyled probably 80% of it... which I was proud of. I have said on multiple occasions that I DID NOT and still don't think I was prepared for this race. I should have trained harder and trained more... but I finished and that is what mattered. I hadn't been in a pool in I can't tell you how long until Saturday. I swam a quick 500m at the gym just to make sure my new googgles worked. Other than that it was about training in open water rather than for distance.
Time: 13:54 500m
Goal was under 15min
ACCOMPLISHED! :)

The bike - felt great! My bike is old and slow and heavy so I could have performed better on a new bike... which I am still contemplating buying... but overall I was proud of my performance. It rained the whole time we were on the bike so that sucked. Between getting splashed by the puddles and the constant spitting from the sky it was not the most favorable conditions but it could have been worse I guess!
Time: 46:10 - 12miles
Goal: under 53 min.
ACCOMPLISHED! :)

The Run - I hate the run...I felt like shit during the run actually.... and my time showed it. I am not even going to make excuses... it was awful
Time: 36:59
Goal: 32 min.
FAILED :(

Total Time was 1:40:09 - not to shabby I don't suppose... I wanted to be under 2hours and so my overall goal was attained!

I'll have pictures soon!

weather update...

Now the high for Sunday is 99 - but partly cloudy - so this could be good... I'm hoping for high 70's low 80's during race time...

Water temp was at 90 degrees on June 25th... it will be nice bath water temp.... anyone wanna throw some bubbles in???

Here's where I'm going to swimming: ICK....

awesome...nasty...run off lake... ICK ICK ICK