Tribute to a Hero

Today, soon to be 63 year old Diana Nyad ended her quest to be the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage. This was her 4th attempt. According to her website, she was in the water for 41 hours and 45 minutes. She swam over 60 miles before being pulled from the water because of sharks, storms, multiple jellyfish stings, and severe sunburn.

Did I mention that Diana turns 63 tomorrow?

Simply amazing

You can read about her adventure here.

Here is a news clip about her adventure.

On another note....

I had an awesome weekend in La Crosse Wisconsin. I participated in a 100 mile bike ride as a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). JDRF holds about 5 of these rides a year throughout the United States and this has become the largest. There were a record 425 riders and we were able to raise well over $1 million on this ride alone. It was a great feeling to be able to participate in this event.

My 100 mile ride went fine, we had a great time. But it was nothing compared to what Diana Nyad has accomplished.

Support sign from a T1D child, very inspiring.

This was a stop at mile 40, still feeling good.

Going for the balding mowhawk look :-/

After the ride, we found a place famous for their bloody mary's.
For the record, it was awesome!

Trail Porn

Beautiful morning for a run!

Here are some pictures from Grand Trace Conservation Area today.

See the moon in the middle?

Mother Nature added some obstacles today.

Gorgeous Day!

How much for this ride? Two Bucks!

Hills!

No shortage of hills!

The grass (weeds) in some areas was waist deep.

Breaking the Slump

My first order of business....
It's crunch time for me. On August 18 I will  be cycling 100 miles in order to help raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. My goal is to raise at least $3,000. I am close but I need some help. Please consider a donation. Click here to donate!


On another Note:

Training for your "A" race is a huge commitment. It means early bed times on at least one weekend night due to a long run the next morning, juggling work and family commitments in order to get in that crucial mid-week tempo run, and of course, the forces of nature battling against you.

For me, once the big race finally comes and goes, I have found that I go through a cycle. My first instinct is to find another big race in which to participate. I am fired up and energized from my accomplishment. Then I figure why not, I am already in great shape. No sense in wasting all that hard work.

Then comes the downhill slide. I find that I don't want to work so hard anymore. I need a break, I need to have some fun and not feel obligated to run.

After my 50K back in May, I still enjoyed running. I managed to fit in a half marathon and a 5K within a little over a month after. Then came the crash. I didn't feel very good and really didn't feel like running.

So I didn't.

Except for an occasional run here and there, I pretty much stopped running and working out for about  3 weeks.

The good thing is that never once was I afraid that I wouldn't get back into running. I knew I would when I was ready. I am easing back into it now. I even started a couple of my runs this week before 5am. Once I can get out of bed, the morning runs are nice.

They help keep me balanced, take the edge off.

I am back, and I have a plan.