December Musings

No real theme other than it is December and almost the new year.

We got to go to the Coronado club again this year with the awesome Santa.

Nolan did not think he was that awesome. Similar to how Colin used to be.

He did a little better once there was a buffer between Nolan and Santa.

The whole clan

Lisa also took the Family to the Kemah boardwalk with the cousins, PapaPat and Nanny Susie (I was at work). And they ran into some beauty pageant winners. Miss Texas and Miss Teen Texas
Colin was not pleased to be taking his picture with them. He was trying to pretend that he was not with his family but on his own, but when mom made him take the picture it ruined his game. Thus the pouting.

Although he thought he was a stud on the way home for talking to them. I don't think he got their digits though.
Nolan was pretty pleased with the experience as well.

Before xmas we got to go to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Front row seats thanks to PapaPat.

The wife and I waiting for the shindig to start. Yup front middle, that's how we roll. Maybe 2 seats from the exact middle.

This is their bad@ss violin player. She had skills.

This guy sounded like James Earl Jones.


Lastly, playing with your cousins all day and night can really wear you out over the holidays if you don't train for it.

Tri Strikes Back

Lisa has jumped into triathlon with a vengeance. She has been diligently following her coaches workout schedule and she has not missed one team practice. She recently got a bike fit done and it helped improve her speed by 2 mph. She is improving each week. Please visit http://pages.teamintraining.org/txg/lavatri12/caughran to support her efforts. She is more than 50% there. only 3 months until the big race. . .

Of course there are some downsides to her getting into training. Like when her gear strikes back.

I think maybe the bike rack wasn't happy that it had to carry a pink bike and wanted to let Lisa know how it felt about it. I could have been a careless valet, but I think the bike rack was peeved about something.

Arizona

Transition at IMAZ

A few weekends back, I left my family at home and headed to Arizona for glory. The timing was terrible for my wife. Nolan was just diagnosed with Asthma, had a virus and Colin had a rash and a fever. So being the great dad that I am I left on my trip and left the problems at home (Note: Nolan got diagnosed while I was gone and the rash/fever appeared while I was gone. Nolan did have a cough before I left).

Why go to the desert when Houston was becoming one? Well it wasn't to learn about desert life, but to ride 111 miles at the Tour de Tucson as part of raising more than $3,000 for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society via Team-in-Training. As a side motive, Tucson is only 2 hours from Tempe, host to Ironman Arizona which was taking place the same weekend.

So I was off to Tucson to meet my team, and by meet I mean get to meet them. I was a bad participant this event and only participated in one team ride. This was not because I did not like them, but because I was training for other events (Nation's Tri and Oilman 70.3). It was great to meet finally meet the team. Everyone was very nice and supportive of each other. In addition to skipping team training, I didn't really prepare for a century ride. My longest ride before the race was 66 miles and that was on my carbon triathlon bike, not my old aluminum road bike that I hadn't ridden in 7 months. I did get the old bike fitted the night before shipping it to AZ, so I wasn't doing things the way TNT prefers. I couldn't ride my Tri bike since Aerobars are not allowed in the race.

TNT was cool about letting me ride even though I did not train with them and had not prepared on the bike I was riding. They took my word for it that I was good to go. I was aerobically speaking good to go, but boy did I suffer on that bike. My body was not happy about the bike or the amount of time I spent on it. My left hand went numb in the first 9 miles (not a good sign). My lower back was killing me for the last 40 miles. I had to stand up and do a kind of hip thrust to the handle bars every few minutes to relieve my back. Not a good sign.

Lisa said not to wear these bike shorts (since it looks terrible) but they are the most comfortable I own.

I did finish in 5:43 which was good enough for Gold level (Platinum was sub 5, Gold sub 6, Silver sub 9, rest bronze). I think I was the 4th or 5th TNTer from our chapter to get gold since they started doing this event. I was the only one from our chapter this year. Towards the end I was just aiming for being sub-6 and not really pushing it hard.

We had to cross two drive rivers that really killed my average mph.

Note my name at the top and that other name at the bottom. Yes that is The Barry Bonds, Home run king and 7x NL MVP. I road with him for the last 10-15 miles and beat him to the finish. This might be the high point in my cycling career. (The time says 5:46, because it is based on gun time even though my actual time was 5:43)

The rest of the day was spent chilling at the TNT tent waiting for the rest of my team to finish (and getting adjusted by a Chiro, it was awesome). Almost 6 hours later our last 4 came in (2 participants and 2 coaches). Unfortunately it was after 6pm, so the race was officially over. Even though it was over, they did not quit and continued to the finish. It was impressive that they did not give up. I don't think I would have liked being on the bike for over 11 hours.

The next day was Ironman Arizona. The 2 hour drive was faster than I expected since the speed limit is 75 mph on I-10 in AZ. It was pretty much at the limit of what my rented Toyota Yaris could handle. I watched the some of the race. I watched Leanda Cave win it for the women.

Cave as she is making her final turn to her 2011 IMAZ Win

I talked to a few of the spectators to get an idea how the sign up the next day would go. They said that people get there between 6:30-7am to get in line. That was not the news I wanted to hear since I had to drive from Tucson and would have liked to sleep in.

They next morning I get there and get in the general line. The volunteer line is a mile long. I wait 4 hours to finally sign up for the 2012 IMAZ. The people in line with me were getting really frustrated with WTC because they are supposed to check for volunteer shirts and wristbands to make sure that volunteers in line are actual volunteers, but they did not check for wristbands or check volunteer lists. So people that should be in the general line were in the volunteer line making us wait. A few people in line had friends that did this just by borrowing a t-shirt. It was very annoying. Luckily I was able to sign up despite the volunteer line continuing to grow. The online sold out in less than 10 minutes. Luckily a few friends were able to sign up (Thanks super fast corporate internet). Even the foundation slots sold out the next day.

On the way back to Tucson for my flight, I saw a few dirt devils (dirt funnel clouds).

Mark your calendars, 11/18/2012 Ironman Arizona 2012.

Sprint to the Finish

This past weekend marked the end my first Triathlon season. It was a very successful season where my training really paid dividends as the season progressed. I did two events with TNT (Lonestar 70.3 in Galveston and Nation's Tri in DC) and raised over $7,500 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

I did my first race on Oct 2010 with the Katy Triathlon at Firethorne. This race was just to try out triathlons since I had signed up for the 70.3 with TNT. In April I did my first Half Ironman (70.3) in 5:45 minutes. It was a fun and difficult race. I did a bunch of Sprints/Olympics over the summer. I promised the wife I would limit my racing to 1 race/month. I really enjoy racing and basically drank the Triathlon Kool-Aid.

In June 2011, I bit the bullet and invested in a triathlon bike. It wasn't cheap, but in hindsight I wish I had done it sooner. It was totally worth the money.

"The Mistress" - According to the wife because I spend all my spare time riding it.

I had some success over the summer with a few podiums and a 1st in AG at the Clear Lake Int'l Triathlon on what was the hottest day of the year. I had a few races that I was just outside of the podium but they were still good races.

After the 2011 Nation's Duathlon (The swim was cancelled)

My final race of the year and my "A" after my other "A" races earlier in the year (Lonestar 70.3, Nation's etc) was Oilman Texas 70.3. The weekend leading up to the race was the Katy Triathlon at Firethorne. I didn't really want to race the weekend before a 70.3 but it was the 1 year anniversary of my first triathlon and so I had to race. The race went really well. Last year I finished 21st in AG, this year 2nd. But second wasn't easy. There was a literal sprint to the finish with another guy for 2nd place.

I was ahead and started my kick to the finish, but he immediately started sprinting and pulled ahead.

This is us battling to the finish.

Here is where I barely pulled ahead at the finish.

After Firethorne, was Oilman 70.3. In just over 6 months I could see how much I improved in my racing at the 70.3 distance. In Apr 2011 I did lonestar in 5:45 and in Nov2011 I did Oilman in 4:59:08. Just about a 46 minute improvement. I finished outside the podium, 4th in AG and 15th overall. But I was very close to 5th in AG. This race was also a sprint to the finish. albeit not really a sprint as neither I nor the 5th place guy had much left in the tank to sprint.

This is me going to the finish with 5th in AG a few yards behind. I had just passed him.

Note: My wave started 4 minutes after the overall start, so for my time it was 4:59.

All in all it was a great season. I really enjoyed the training and racing and feel I might be in the best shape of my life. I highly recommend doing a triathlon if you have any interest. The mix of swimming biking and running really helps with injuries since you are always cross training. I am a better runner now with less running mileage so less wear and tear on my knees. I hope next season goes just as well.

Whats in store for 2012?

Jan12: Houston Marathon
Apr12: Lonestar 70.3
May12: Ironman Texas
Summer: Sprints/Olympics
Sept12: Maybe Nations
Nov12: Ironman Arizona

You can check out my race reports and training log at http://www.dailymile.com/people/DukeofTexas

My wife is also trying out tri's with TNT. This is her with our honored teammate Luca.

You can follow her progress at http://www.dailymile.com/people/LisaC31 and donate to her page at: http://pages.teamintraining.org/txg/lavatri12/lcaughran

Halloween 2011

Halloween just past and for someone that has given up candy, it is a difficult holiday. I gave up candy for Lent in 2010 and I have only had candy twice since then. Once for a church social that we had a competition that included m&m's and if you know me, you know my competitive side over takes me at times. So I had forgotten about my ban of candy until after the competition. The second slip was also in competition. At mile 22 of the Disney Marathon they were giving out herseys and I was starting to struggle and that sugar was just what I needed. I also gave up Soda but will drink a coke in the late stages of a race as it is considered magic fuel in marathons and Ironmans. I haven't done this but I wont rule it out if I feel I need it.

Yes that is a Guinness in Nolan's hands (unopened) He really impressed that first house and the dad gave him his "candy" from the Fridge.

We had a very nice Halloween this year. We had a super hero theme. Little Colin was Spider-man. Nolan was Wolverine, Lisa was the Flash (I think she mixed up what flash meant when she bent over to pick something up at one point) and I was also Spider-man.

I mean we both go by Colin why not both be Spider-man.

Colin really embraced Trick-or-Treating this year and we went with a group of friends. He was all about getting the candy. Since I am not a big fan of Sugar, we picked out a few of his favorites and I took the remainder of the Candy to work to share with co-workers. He did not like this idea. He was like "What are you doing with my Candy? Those are my chocolates!" So we had to put the bag back in his trick-or-treating bucket until after he went to bed. I also took out 5-6 pieces for Lisa.




I was forced to pull an empty wagon all night since the little ones jumped in the other wagon and the older kids decided they would get more candy if they walked.
What a cute Wolverine and lady bug/butterfly. Next year Nolan is going to be a Honey Badger.

Horses

A good friend of ours had a birthday party at the Police horse barn. Although it was a billion degrees out, the kids had a great time seeing and feeding the horses. Nolan loved them and Colin liked to look at them but was not a fan of touching them.

Here are some pics.

Here is Colin petting the first horse.

Here is Nolan petting a horse.

Nolan is in love.

After more aggressive horses, Colin isn't as happy to pet them.

Nolan getting some love from Clyde.

Run in with the LAW!

Fall Creek has a nice little park that hosts a concert every Friday night in May. This year we really made an effort to go to each one since the boys love it so much (The boys missed one though). Well i can't say the music was the best, but the atmosphere was great. The kids run freely, dance, play etc. People would bring glow sticks/rings and the kids loved them.

Here are a few pics of the boys at the park.


Well one night at the concert, Lisa asked me to get something from the car. When I got back, a Police officer was at our spot in the grass with Colin. It turns out, Colin wandered off, got lost and went to the police officer to help him find his mommy. We were proud of him for knowing to go to the cop. The cop even gave him a sticker.


Later Colin made a new friend and they played like crazy. They would run through the woods and bushes like animals. We ran into his friend again at Chick-fil-a and they got their faces painted.

After this photo, they went to the playground and played "Spider-man" which basically entailed them beating the $$$$ out of each other up for 20 minutes. I have a video of it on Lisa's phone that I will try to post. (not sure if I can). Amazingly they were laughing the whole time.

The pool is also now open. Colin and Nolan love it and Nolan likes to attack Colin in the water (with Mommy's help).