Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I'm training to participate in the Capital of Texas Triathlon on May 31, 2010 as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives.

I have completed 3 Half Marathons since November 2008 and while it was personally rewarding to complete those events I found this organization that will allow me to raise money for an issue that has touched my family. I know that training for this, my first triathlon, is going to be difficult for me and at times I may ask myself "what have I gotten myself into?!" But when those moments happen I will think of my sister Courtney who exemplifies what doing something truly difficult is all about - that is what will get me through the rough patches during my training.

Our family has been touched deeply these past two years - we have witnessed our hero Courtney and the graceful way she waged her victorious battle with cancer. We have seen how our other hero, Tracy, literally gave a part of herself to help her sister. And we have seen how great our family really is as everyone pulled together to support one another. You can read about Courtney's journey here:

http://www.courtneysbattle.blogspot.com/

This is my small way of contributing to a group who is trying to find cures for these diseases.

I have set a personal goal to raise $4,500.00 for this amazing cause and I am asking you to please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission.

Feel free to contact me at: cdcallanen@satx.rr.com if you have any questions.

Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thanks for your

support!

Update! February 7 -

First of all - thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has donated to the LLS! I cannot express how touched I am at all of your support. The many notes that I've received have also been so inspirational. I have to tell you - they really helped this first week of training. It was quite a week - I went running in freezing weather and learned my first lesson of this adventure - dress for the weather. I know, duh, right? But dumb ol' me figured - heck i'll be warmed up in no time...turns out not to be the case. :-) I learned how to maintain my bike - even changed a tire. I hope I never have to do that for real. Then I got the flu so I missed swimming on Thursday :-(. I was better by the weekend though and rode my bike 9 miles on Saturday! Then on Sunday I ran 3 1/2 miles - properly attired I might add. Not bad eh? This coming week things seem to be getting into full swing - running 2 days, swimming 2 days, biking on Saturday and 2 days of yoga. Thanks again for supporting the LLS. It means a great deal to some very special people.

Update! February 21 -

Thank you to everyone has donated. This really is amazing! We are starting our 4th week of training now. In the past 2 weeks I've ridden my bike 37 miles, run about 14 miles and swam more laps in the pool than have in years. The newest "thing" Coach Marion introduced after cycling was running immediately afterwards. That was a strange sensation - like running on rubber bands. Looking forward to what next week brings.

Update! March 10 -

What an amazing past 2 weeks it has been - I've ridden my bike 60 miles, run about 14 miles, went to 2 spin classes (talk about hard to keep up with - yikes!) and swam many laps. The pool at the JCC is an outdoors one - and quite an experience on some of our cold winter nights. The coming weekend brings a 40+ mile bike ride and daylight savings time - which means bike riding after work in the evenings begins. So a fun month is ahead. Thanks again to everyone who has contributed - we are way over the $3,000 mark! Awesome!

Update! March 27 -

We really did ride our bikes 41 miles a couple of weeks ago in Castroville. I could not believe it! Since then swimming has gotten a lot better (I got promoted out of the guppy lane!) and running after both swimming and biking isn't as awkward as it was a few weeks ago. One of the many great things about this team is that each week someone dedicates a Saturday practice to the person they are doing this in honor of and today it was for Courtney.

This week also marked the ½ way point of the training and we had recommitment where everyone decides if they will stick with it (I am!) and I am also proud to say that I have raised the most money so far – over $4,000!

Thanks to everyone (especially Leticia, Lindsey and Cristiana for being so great with me being gone a lot!) for all of your support these first 8 weeks, it means more than I can say.

Update! April 29 -

What an incredible last month this has been. First, we reached our goal of $4,500!! I am so happy about that. It means so much to me to see this much support for such a great cause.

In the past month training has focused on more combination workouts - running and biking; swimming and biking. Then again some of the swims have gotten pretty long too! For the first time ever - I swam a mile. Another first - wearing a wetsuit and swimming in the Comal River. It was weird at first, like wearing a koozie! But lots of fun after a while.

There are only about 30 days left until the event in Austin! Seems like I've come a long way since February!

Thanks again everyone for your support!

Update! May 9 -

Happy Mother's Day! What a week! I swam in both the Comal River and Boerne City Lake. Very different experiences and a lot harder than swimming in the pool. The river has a current to swim against and the lake had waves that made breathing a challenge at times. It is still weird wearing a wetsuit, but with it on in the lake I'm confident that I'll be able to do the swim in Austin. Summer seemed to arrive in San Antonio on Wednesday - it was HOT during our ride and run. Probably the hardest practice yet - the heat just wiped me out very early in the ride. Not a good feeling. But the "good news" was that this was good for us to experience since it can be hot during the Cap Tex. I love how the coaches always find an upside to the things we do! :-) Only 3 more weeks!

Update! May 26 -

One more week until Cap Tex! What a great past couple of weeks we've had with some pretty long training sessions which was capped off this last Saturday when we participated in the Rockin R Sprint Tri in Gruene - my first official triathlon! It was a 275 meter swim in the Guadalupe River (which was running fast from all of the recent rain) followed by a 13.5 mile bike ride and a 3.3 mile run. It was so fun crossing the finish line - what a huge confidence booster for next week, as well as a great reminder that all of the practice really has paid off. So if I can remember to stay calm in the water next week, I should be just fine :-) And as of today, we have $5,165.40! I have to say, all of this support is truly inspirational to me - so thank you everyone.

Final Update!

I did it! I actually finished the Cap Tex Triathlon on Memorial Day! It was an amazing weekend - Leticia, Lindsey, Cristiana, Mom, Dad, Virigina, Kelley, Courtney, Todd, Kylie, Miranda, Emma and Adian were all there to cheer. The event itself was so much fun. Tons of people wearing purple LLS outfits from all over Texas and the country. What an incredible feeling it was crossing the finish line. I want to say thank you to everyone who contributed to LLS. Your donations really make a difference in the lives of the patients and their families.

If there are any of you who have been following my progress and the idea participating with Team In Training has crossed your minds - you should go to one of their meetings! It is the experience of a lifetime. Everyone from the staff to the coaches to your teammates are wonderful people. You will love it and at the end of the day you will cross the finish line at a triathlon, marathon or century ride and be amazed at what you just did.

I couldn't have accomplished this without the support of Leticia and my girls - Lindsey and Cristiana. I was out of the house a lot this spring either early mornings, late evenings and most weekend mornings and I want to say Thank You for supporting me. I am so blessed to have the 3 of you in my life. Love you.