Fundraiser, More Like Awesome-ness RAISER!

Hello, friends!  First off, I just want to say THANK YOU so much to all of you that made it out to the fundraiser last Thursday!  We certainly put the "fun" in fundraiser!

This is the first of a few fundraisers for "Team Jo&Em."  I've never thrown a huge fundraiser before...so I had no idea what to expect.  It took a lot more prep time and effort than expected.

I went to the dollar store to get donation buckets, raffle tickets, and poster supplies.  I also spent one whole afternoon visiting local businesses, whore-ing out the fundraiser as much as I could (hey, it's for a good cause!).  Thankfully, many businesses responded by donating gift certificates for the raffle...including Mama Rojas, Panera Bread Co., Red Carpet Car Wash, Massage Envy, & BJ's Brewhouse.  Thank you so much!

Like I mentioned earlier, I've never done this before so I had no idea what to charge in terms of donations...so I just guessed!  I had a sign saying "No Cover, Suggested Donation $10" at the door and sold raffle tickets for $2 and 3 for $5.  We also sold "Triathlete" drinks and shots in which a portion of the proceeds went directly to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  I don't know what was in them, but they were bright green, fruity, and delicious.


I had no idea how many people would show up and how giving people would be.  Right off the bat, the "regulars" at friends pitched in with donations at the front door.   I think we made $200 in the first 15 minutes!  Thank goodness for my parents at the front door handling the donations and raffle ticket sales.

 Joleen served as a guest bartender at "Friends" while I joined the band to sing for most of the night!  The picture above features the head musician, Brent Saulsbury, with "Team Jo&Em."  I sang along with Brent's band and the bar's house band, "The Clique."  Everyone did a fabulous job!  I would have taken pictures with the whole band...but I swear, I was running around like a crazy woman all night!  Between performing, raffling items, and mingling with viewers and friends...I was about to pass out by the end of the night!  It was like doing a half ironman!  ...Or not!  I had a blast though!

A big thanks to Mike Scandy (on the left) and Friend's owner (right) for letting us host this event!  Mike's father died from Leukemia so this cause is near and dear to his heart.

 I was really surprised by the turnout!  As predicted, there were 2 waves of people.  First, the ones who have to get up early for work...and second, the night owls that work late and stay out late!  The OCCC Triathlon Club came out to the event (above)!  I love these guys!  The triathlon community is so friendly.  I am so blessed to have so many great friends and co-workers!  Thank you again for the support!!!

So here is how it all went down.  The band started playing around 8:30 that evening and I decided to jump up and join them around 9.  I may not remember the exact set list, but we started out with my classic, "Black Velvet," by Alanna Miles.
2. "Don't Stop Believing" - Journey
3. "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" - Pat Benetar
4.  "Eye of the Tiger" - Survivor
5.  "Before He Cheats" - Carrie Underwood
6.  "Rolling in the Deep" - Adele

 Then I took a break, had a drink to calm the nerves, and chatted briefly with friends!  They did a great job getting donations from the crowd!  The above features some of my Chi Omega sisters!

 I even had a few friends from Norman drop by!   And of course, familiar faces from NewsChannel 4!  (Sorry they look like zombies...the camera on my phone sometimes does that when it's dark!)                    

So after a brief break and a few raffles, I jumped back on stage for a long set!  These songs may be out of order but I'll try my best to remember.

1. "When the Lights Go Down in the City" -Journey

2. "Last Name" - Carrie Underwood

3. "Need You Now" - Lady Antebellum

4. "At Last" - Etta James

5. "Bad Romance" - Lady Gaga

6.  "Beat It" - Michael Jackson

7.  "Billie Jean" - Michael Jackson (Unexpected, fibbed the words!)

8.  "Some Kind of Wonderful" Grand Funk Railroad

9.  "I Will Survive" - Gloria Gaynor

10.  "Ice Ice Baby/Under Pressure" - Vanilla Ice  (So apparently I do NOT know the words!)

11.  "Hotel California" Eagles

12.  "Rolling in the Deep" - Adele (again!)

At this point, my voice nearly quit.  I don't sing regularly anymore so I was putting it to the test!  In order to appease my friends, I sang one last song - "Black Velvet" before the band took over to close out the night.  By 1am, the band quit playing and people slowly started leaving.  I was exhausted and ready to go home!  My mom loves counting money so I let her take care of the tally.  The grand total? (Drum Roll).........................$1,316.50!

Hooray!  So it was a long, challenging night...but it was all worth it to see $1300 go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!  Since I planned and executed this whole fundraiser, Joleen is in charge of the next one.  We will announce it soon...all I can say is that it involves WATERMELONS!

Thank you for all of your donations so far!  Please donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society...my goal is $5,000 and every dollar counts! Just click here!

Don't Text & 'Blade

Thank you for all of your donations so far!  Please donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society...my goal is $5,000 and every dollar counts! Just click here!

Hello, friends! So...it's still blazing hot out.

Thanks to the viewer that sent me this one! I feel like this is for real.  It's Murphy's Law that Joleen and I chose possibly the hottest summer on record to train!

Okay, I've been slacking a bit in writing! Sorry! But here's what you've missed.

So last Tuesday, July 12 we had several severe storms pop up right over the metro.  This was great news in terms of localized rainfall and rain-cooled air!  My training buddy and co-anchor, Joleen Chaney and I decided to go on a bike ride. Rain-cooled air created temps in the upper 70s/lower 80s...and let me tell you friends, it felt GLORIOUS!  We did about 30 miles. Yay!

I had several workouts inbetween and then I participated in our group ride that was temporarily moved to  Friday night.  Nate, Patty, & I biked with Steve Schlegel for the first loop.  Murphy's Law that a minute after Steve left us Patty had a flat!  Nate and I combined our knowledge to repair her flat.  Way to go TEAM!

This allowed me to go out on Friday and celebrate my Chi Omega friend, Lacey's birthday.  The theme was "white trash."  As you can see, I took it to the extreme! NASCAR style!  Normally, our TEAM trainings are early on Saturday, so I try to go to bed early, like a grandma.  This was a nice treat.

So I decided to go on a bike ride Sunday night during my dinner break.  I must say, Lake Hefner provides some interesting entertainment.  No, I did not see this Batman dude.  Yes, I did almost get hit by a rollerblader that was texting.  Hence the title "Don't Text & 'Blade."  Seriously, it's dangerous!  And quite stupid!  I know rollerblading is a great way to exercise, but honestly, I am surprised at the amount of people participating past the 1990's.  Perhaps I need to give it a whirl and not "hate!" hahaha

Right now my parents are visiting from Chicago!  There's not much to do in this heat...except go swimming in the pool and go out to eat!  If you have any suggestions, please let me know!  I took them to Oklahoma's Oldest Bar, Eichen's Chicken in Okarche, Oklahoma.  It's not exactly triathlete food...but it's delicious!  It's a rare treat. They were impressed!

They will be attending the fundraiser tomorrow (Thursday) and so should you!  Please consider attending!  If not, you can always donate to "Team Jo&Em" at http://pages.teamintraining.org/ntxok/retriokc11/teamjoem

Thank you friends and have a good one!

Summer from HELL!

Thank you for all of your donations so far!  Please donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society...my goal is $5,000 and every dollar counts! Just click here!

We had our TNT group ride Saturday morning at Lake Hefner starting at 9am.  It was already very hot at this hour.  In the last post I wrote how I worked out on the hottest day of the summer...well, Mother Nature slapped me in the face with the hottest day in 15 years! WHAT?! We reached 110 degrees on Saturday.  No wonder I went through three water bottles!  I had to stop and refill at the golf course's country club.

BONUS! "Team Jo&Em" had personal bests on Saturday!  Joleen went around 3 times and I went around 4.  I kept up with my fundraising mentor, Alicia for the first lap - averaging 22 mph!  That's a quick clip for me!  Then I spent 2 laps with my buddy from last time, Taylor, before he ventured ahead of me.  He said the quote of the day, "you have a bug in your teeth."

By the fourth lap I was thirsty, hot, slower, and covered in Lake Hefner gnats!  Ew!  But 38 miles is an all time best...so I'll take it!  All I have to do is add on 18 more miles (2 more laps around) and I've got the race distance covered! Woo hoo!

Speed Up, Grandma!

We had our TNT group swim practice on Monday.  Coach Ryan encouraged speed work this time around. I haven't done true speed work since high school swim team so this was fun! It brought me back!  We did a 300 meter warm up, a few drills,  5 - 75's with a short rest in between, 6 - 25's sprint with 20 seconds in between, and finally, a 200 broken up into 25 sprint 25 recover and repeat.  This may sound like a foreign language if you are not a swimmer...but it's easy to catch on once you practice.

Coach Ryan did a great job helping Joleen with her stroke work.  She is looking much better considering she started with little technique.  Coach helped me with my stroke.  I am crossing over slightly and need to widen my arms a bit so that I pull straight down and not across and down.  I also need to push the water all the way back instead of stopping by my hip.  I will work on it!  My teammates love/hated me for bringing homemade chocolate chip cookies to practice!  I know I loved it!

NOW TIME FOR AN EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT! YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED....

So I've never thrown a big fundraiser before but I knew I wanted it to be something fun where people aren't pressured to donate.  It's always been a dream of mine to sing with a band....so I will be living the dream and raising money for a great cause!  It's a win-win!  If you can't make it out you can still make a tax-deductible donation! Just click here!


Thanks friends!  Stay tuned and have a good one!

I KNEW IT!

Told you Arcadia Lake is shady.  Met there for training today and we couldn't swim.  Here's why:
http://edmond.kfor.com/news/families/e-coli-bacteria-found-local-lake/80644

So Janna, Taylor, Nate & I went for a run instead.  Taylor was my running buddy.  We stuck together through 4 miles in what turned out to be THE HOTTEST DAY YET! OKC shattered the old record of 106 degrees set back in 1996 with a new high of 108.  No wonder it was so challenging to run! I'm glad we didn't pass out!  We stopped in between laps for water breaks.  I guess it's better I didn't know the temperature.

I will leave you with this picture from the newspaper, "USA TODAY."  What's wrong with this picture?

Have a good one...and keep cool!

Thank you for all of your donations so far!  Please donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society...my goal is $5,000 and every dollar counts! Just click here!

Pump It Up & Don't Drink the Water

Please donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society...my goal is $5,000 and every dollar counts! Just click here!

Hello, friends!  I hope you are gearing up for a fun, safe 4th of July weekend!  U-S-A! U-S-A!  I've had a pretty good training week and have a few things to share.

Monday: 2700 m swim at OCCC, averaging 10 mins/500m

Tuesday: 1:20 run around Lake Hefner.  Due to a cold front, we were a few degrees "cooler" and the winds were light.  I slept in a bit since it was storming that morning so I didn't start running until 12:30pm.  It was very HOT by the end of my estimated 6 or 7 miles.  Thankfully a TNT friend, Taylor, spotted me along the way while cycling and let me have a drink of his water!

I may need to invest in one of those water bottle belts.  Apparently Fergie did.  Awesome.

Wednesday: Cycling at Lake Stanley Draper

One of my new TNT buddies, Heather, and I met up for a ride at Lake Stanley Draper since we go about the same pace.  Afraid of falling again (read the last entry!), I only clipped in once and didn't clip out until we finished.  Each loop around the lake is about 14 miles of hilly terrain and we did a little over 2 in a little over 2 hours!  30 miles!  That's the most I've ever done! YAY!  I couldn't have done it without a buddy.  I likely would have stopped before then...either from my butt hurting, boredom, or both.  We talked almost the entire time, except steep hills when we were out of breath.  Towards the end of the ride both of us were hungry.  I am going to practice using those 100 calorie gooey gels next ride since we will have to refuel several times during the half Ironman.

To celebrate our 30 miles, we stopped at 7-11 for gummy bears and slurpees!  Okay, so it's not healthy but the sugar helped after burning a lot of calories!  We agreed to do this again after her wedding and honeymoon.  We may even go for an extra lap the next time around!

Thursday: Pro Bike & Open Water Swim

Last entry I talked about "Astronaut John" at Pro Bike teaching me how to use clipless pedals.  This time I returned to the shop for several items and a free tutorial on how to change a flat tire.

In this picture he's attaching my new bike computer.  It cost around $30 and tells average speed, max speed, distance, ride time, and time of day.  I intentionally chose the one without temperature because in Oklahoma summertime, I don't want to know!  John says from his experience, wired computers have less problems than wireless...so wired it is!

I also purchased a bike pump for around $35.  The first one we used kept flying out, making a loud noise  and freaking me out!  Thankfully he found another one that worked like a charm.  He says I should check the pressure on my tires about once a week.

This is not a picture of my purchases but quite similar.  I bought a flat tire repair kit, including plastic sticks to help pull the tire off, a mini CO2 bottle for quick inflation, new tube (hidden under the rubber to actually inflate the tire - I did not know this until I got a flat!), and bag to put all of this in along with my car keys, cell phone, and possibly snacks.

In a recent entry I wrote about my first flat.  Thankfully I was with a group of cyclists so they fixed it in a cinch.  If I had a flat riding alone, I would have been screwed!  So I had "Astronaut John" teach me how to do it.  It's too long of a process to write about here, but there are plenty of tutorials on youtube or just ask another veteran cyclist.  The only intimidating part for me is figuring out how to properly put the chain back on and off.  John suggests first putting all of your gears on the lowest resistance setting before fixing your flat.  I will try to remember all of that!  Hopefully I don't get another flat anytime soon.  Before heading out the door, John hooked me up with 2 gels (chocolate agave and raspberry) and Chamois Butt'r  on the house!  THANKS!

Open Water Swim

So I read on TRI-OKC's facebook wall that there was a splash'n'dash (swim and run) practice at 6:30pm in Edmond Park.  I have never been to Edmond Park, so I am not familiar with the area.  I paid my $6 park entry fee and could not find the club for the life of me!

I found 2 beaches and neither one of them had triathletes.  Triathletes are usually easy to spot by 70.3 stickers on their car.  Defeated, I decided to make the best out of the situation.  I knew I couldn't bike or run because we were experiencing record heat that day and the temperature was still around 100 degrees.

So I decided to grin and bear it!  Open water swim time by myself!  I'm not going to lie, my biggest concern was the water quality of Arcadia Lake.  It's mucky looking and I've heard some horror stories of people throwing trash and dirty diapers into this lake.  I just made sure to keep my mouth closed swimming!

HOO!

Our group ride is tomorrow morning at 9am so stay tuned for the next entry!

Until then, Happy Independence Day! God bless America and thanks to our troops!  Have a good one!