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!

Sad family news....

Early Saturday morning there was an explosion in the garage of my Aunt Linda and Uncle Jimmy's house in Kentucky. Very sadly the dog that I am pictured with above, Sparky, died in the explosion. Their house caught on fire and they lost everything.

It's such a horrible thing to lose everything you own, but I am thankful that they were uninjured. I am very sad about the loss of their dog, because I know how much she meant to my Aunt Linda. They have been married for 49 years and lived in this house for 40+ years, and it's sad to see so many memories gone with the house. My Aunt had my grandfather's purple heart and bronze star from WWII and I am pretty sure that the fire destroyed those along with other family mementos.

The strange thing about this is that this past summer my Uncle Johnny and Aunt Karen who live just minutes away had a fire that started in their attic and they lost everything as well. My mother is obviously upset and concerned about the fact that two of her siblings have had serious house fires. She wanted to know what my plans were in case my house caught on fire. Honestly, I have never even thought about it, so I called my friend Steve who is a firefighter and he gave me the following tips:

-Do not store things that are flammable close to things like your furnace or hot water heater (if you have gas) most fires/explosions start with something that has a fuse like your hot water heater. A lot of people will store things in their garage (gas cans, paint, etc, etc) that will cause a fire to spread quickly and become very dangerous.

- Make sure that your fire detectors are working and that you have a CO2 detector if you have gas.

- Openly discuss a fire plan with your family. It's important to talk about what you would do if a fire broke out upstairs or downstairs.

-Buy a fire escape rope ladder if you live in a multi-story home. Store it under your bed or close to the window you would use to escape if you couldn't make it downstairs.

-Unplug/ power off electrical devices when not using them.

- Don't leave your dryer running when you aren't home. Clean the lint filter and the hose regularly. Don't use fabric softner as it will cause the filter to be covered with a residue. If you use softner, regularly remove the lint filter and clean with soapy water.

You don't think much about things like this unless it affects someone in your life!