Getting 2 Tri/ Raisin Hope

Saturday I was very fortunate enough to be able to volunteer with Mike Lenhart's organization, Getting 2 Tri. If you have never heard of Mike or his group, I suggest that you check out his website. They are incredible people! I was paired up with another guy named Mike to be his "handler". We met up at Ga Tech and the first thing he said was "wow....I really like your legs." Mike was hilarious! I accidentally bumped into his leg and apologized without really thinking about it. Mike's response was "Don't worry, I didn't feel it!" I wanted to know his story but was apprehensive about whether or not it was okay to ask. Mike was a totally open book and happy to share!He is 31 years old and was in the Army stationed in Iraq when his convoy drove over a roadside bomb. He lost both legs below the knee. It happened on August 17, 2007. August 19, 2007 was when I made my comeback race from breaking my leg. Thinking about this caused me to be so grateful and realize how blessed that I am that I was able to make such a good recovery and that my long-term, permanent damage was nothing compared to these athletes. We spent the majority of our ride deep in conversation about our situations, what he felt after his accident, what life is like now, etc. It is amazing to think about what he has been through in such a short period of time!

Mike is training for the 2012 London Paraolympics. He is a hand cyclist and does the marathon event. We went out to the Silver Comet to ride for an hour before lunch. During our ride Mike was really the handler because he has a mirror on his bike. He warned me of cyclist coming, etc, etc. The people on the trail that day kept looking and looking at us and one lady wanted to take photos! Most of the athletes were hand cyclist that were missing limbs or paralyzed, so I guess it was unusual to see so many at the same time!

After our ride we headed to the depot for lunch. That is where I met Saul Raisin. For those of you who don't know, Saul was a professional cyclist who was involved in a horrible accident. He was in a coma and recovered, but had to learn to do everything again. He still has some lasting brain injury and started an organization, Raisin Hope, that raises awareness and gives support to people with traumatic brain injury. Saul is still able to ride now, but cannot compete professionally due to liability reasons. He has switched over to the triathlon world and is competing in Ironman Hawaii! After chatting for a few minutes we decided to head out and ride more. I was REALLY looking forward to him laying it on me and making me hurt, but he went easy on me! He blew through all the intersections (don't worry, I told him that he had to stop!) and I enjoyed listening to him talk about training in Europe, his lactate threshold testing numbers, the book he wrote, and what his life is like after his accident. He lives in Dalton and in September there is going to be a century to benefit his charity. It would be awesome to go out there and support everyone!

On the way back in from our ride we passed by Mike who was testing out someone else's bike that was a "kneeler". As we rode past him he yelled "Danielle, don't leave with my legs in your car!!!!" His legs WERE in my car and I probably wouldn't have driven off with them in the front seat (they weighed a thousand pounds!) The look on the faces of the ladies jogging was too funny for words.

I got my 3.5 hours of training in although it was broken up and took almost 7 hours, but I didn't care. I left the Silver Comet with a renewed sense of appreciation for things in life and a better attitude. Complain about training? Not me!

Guys say the darndest things....

So I am at work (Concourse Athletic Club) and I am watching some guys play Squash (my new fav sport...SO hard!) There is a guy sitting by the wall and I look at him and notice that he looks really familiar. Here is our exact conversation:

Me: "I know you from somewhere"
Him: "Is it because I look like Ashton Kutcher?"
Me: "Actually no....you just look familiar...like one of my brothers friends"
Him: "All the ladies say that"
Me: "Right. Do you know Scott Grabol?"
Him: "OMG!!! Are you Danielle Grabol? I used to be your neighboor! You drove me to school for like two years! You totally corrupted me! You gave me my first alcohol! Are you REALLY Danielle Grabol?"
Me: "SHHHH! Be quiet, I WORK here! Yes, I am Danielle!"
Him: (Standing up and staring at me kind of funny) "I just can't believe it's you....I remember you being a lot bigger and uglier."
Me: "Excuse me?!?"
Him: " I mean I just don't remember you being so pretty in high school."
Then I SWEAR I am not making this next part up. He took my water bottle, opened it and drank out of it! When I looked at him like I was going to smack him clear across the room he said "What? I am thirsty!" SERIOUSLY??

In other, better news, I PR'd last Saturday at Silver Comet 10k. 48:33, 7:49 avg pace. Didn't feel as bad as I thought it would. 9/89 in my age group and 39th female overall out of 400 something. I was surprised, I usually place much lower in running races. Guess the speedsters all ran the CRR 10k the week before.

Water logged.....

Now that I am a seasoned masters swimmer (I have been swimming it for a month!) I will admit that I absolutly cannot swim on my own. It's like the worse feeling in the world to go into a pool and have no peer pressure.

This week was SUPPOSED to be a recovery week. Week #12 out of 20 in my half-Ironman training plan. What's that mean? 8 weeks left until Gulf Coast! Coach Pete doesn't believe in "recovery" when it comes to swimming. So that means that my swimming yardage for the week is currently 7500 yards with one more swim left! Yesterday's main set was 15x100 at hard effort. I didn't swim that hard though because after that we still had to do 4x300's at our best pace. I was so afraid of burning my arms out that I took it relatively easy. The wonderful (and surprising) thing was that my "easier" pace now is what I would have considered my all-out pace last season! Can I just tell you how much I heart master's? Even the times where we have to swim backstroke and breaststroke? Anyways......

Tomorrow I am PR hunting at the Silver Comet 10k. This will be the 4th 10k that I have ever run outside of triathlon. It's probably my favorite distance in running. A little bit easier than a 5k but no where near as time consuming as a half-marathon. It's right in the middle, you know you worked really hard, but not too hard to need to climb down that stairs backwards. Since it's flat I am thinking my odds of setting a personal record should be pretty good. I got a massage this week and my quads are WAY more tender than I would like them to be the day before a race. Hope to see you guys out there!

Funny (and random) story. I am at the Concourse getting ready to swim and a woman asks me "Excuse me, but what type of cellulite creme do you use on your legs? They look great!" Me: "Oh this isn't from a creme. It's from working hard." Ha...ha...some people want the easy way out of everything!

Amazing, incredible baby Ashley....

I have to admit that it's a funny feeling seeing Ashley. From the moment Karen knew she was pregnant Ashley is ALL that we have talked about. 9 months of baby talk makes you very anxious to meet the little bugger! Friday night Karen checked into the hosptial and I watched a movie with her and her husband. Saturday she was being induced and we weren't really sure what was going to happen, but she made me PROMISE that I would be there with her....so I was there! Like really there, as in there for 19 hours. Holy moly. That was a long night. Karen had some excellent pain control by the wonderful labor and delivery nurses at Northside hospital so she slept through a lot of her labor. The rest of us? We sat up watching to size of her contractions and placing bets on how much the baby was going to weigh.

The action finally got going around 1:30 a.m. Honestly, it was no where near as bad as I thought it was going to be. Karen kicked everyone out of the room except me, her husband, and our other BFF Christy. I should have read a book or taken a class or something, because I didn't know the breathing patterns, or how fast to count, or anything other than the nurse handing me a leg. I realize this may sound weird to some of you, why would you want your two best friends watching something like this? You have to understand Karen. She doesn't do pain alone. Ever. When we were in high school I would go to the dentist with her because she couldn't stand the thought of having her cavities filled. So we are friends like that!

Overall the experience was pretty amazing. Karen's husband was a rock. Totally incredible. They are so much closer after the experience. I am still in a bit of shock and awe and have to say that being a woman is really awesome. No offense to men, but y'all just couldn't hang with the whole birthing of a baby.

The baby? Ashley Madeline, 7 lb 14 oz (Karen's sister in law won the pot of $60 for guessing the weight) she is angelic. Red hair, blue eyes, rosey cheeks and a little red nose, it really makes her look perfect. I have been to see her everyday and it's hard to not take her home. Even her cries are perfect~ sounds like a little bird chirp. I am sure that all this will change in time, but I am enjoying my new goddaughter in all her perfection right now!