Bikes Arrived !!!!

Finally we get to the W4L project!

There have been tons of people all contributing to make this work and that has been a blessing to have everyone’s support. Ill thank everyone in a later update.

However, when there are so many people working together the amount of coordinating needed to make things happen can be overwhelming… so when we got the call from Milton at Della Bikes, in Florianopolis, that the 25 bikes from Houstons had arrived it, was a huge relief.



Milton donated the time of his staff to set up each bike. When we arrived, there were 4 people working on getting bikes together and Fe and I jumped in to help as well. It takes about 1 hour to set up each bike so big thanks to Milton and his staff for the help.


We had already organized for 2 of the recipients from the newspaper (Jornal e Diferente) to receive their bikes that afternoon so Fe, Alberto, and myself packed 2 bikes in the car and headed out to make the deliveries.

Our first stop was to Biguacu, Santa Catarina, to the house of Flavio De Souza. Flavio was one of two people who were nominated from the newspaper by people in the community to receive this bike. He lives up in the hillside of a small town and will use this bike to get to his work. He works down in the local lumber yard cutting wood for residential use.


Next stop was to Palhoca, Santa Catarina, to the house of Maureci Pereira. Maureci is 63 years old and works as a brick layer. His specialty is carrying the huge bricks and rocks to and from job sites. He does more manual labor in one week than most of us do our whole lives. He plans to ride this bike the 35 mile round trip to and from work each day. His old bike was so rusted over that the wheels stopped spinning. He was so stoked to get his shiny new bike that he invited us over for lunch any weekend day we wanted.

These little guys were playing soccer in the street out in front of their school right near Maureci's house. They were stoked just to have us take their picture. I think it made them feel famous! I hope he lets them borrow the bike from time to time.

Troy Wenger, Injury Correction Extraordinare

Since football I have been working pretty regularly to get my shoulder in working order; surgery, rehab, rest, weight training, yoga, pilates, cortisone, different rehab, prolo-therapy…..

After trying just about every method of treatment available I was introduced to Troy Wenger, who has done an incredible job helping my shoulder move again. There is no doubt about it, Troy is an answer to prayer!

Over the past couple years I have flirted with the idea of triathlon as I heard so many people, including former athletes, really enjoying the competition and camaraderie that surrounds the sport. But as you can see from these photos I knew my shoulder would never let me swim.

But then about after about a year of working with Troy things started to loosen up and I gave swimming a shot. Slowly but surely the mobility started to come back and I learned how to swim. At first I used swimming as a tool for rehab and then slowly debated whether I could sustain swimming long enough to actually compete in a triathlon.

Keep in mind that from all my experience surfing I knew how not to drown, but I never actually knew how to swim…and had never swam more than fifty meters without stopping in my entire life. So learning the intricate techniques to swimming has been challenging and fulfilling adventure.

Thanks Troy for taking as much interest in getting me well as I do. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I would never have even conceived the idea of triathlon, let alone Ironman, if Troy had not been working on me the last 2 ½ years.

Things still are not perfect but they are much better!

So Many Fruits!

Seriously, you gotta love going supermarkets in countries with tropical climates where the varieties of fruit out number the cars on the road! We picked up a bit of everything including; passion fruit, bananas, acai, acerola, and frozen cashew fruit.

Try this one next time you get your hands on some cashew fruit (same tree as the nut but not the nut, the fruit)

Uma Delicia

4 oz coconut water

4 oz frozen cashew fruit

2 scoops of Manitoba Harvest Pro 70

Brasil: Wild Parties, Gameshows, Fighting Monkeys...this place is awesome!!!! Oh yeah, and the bikes arrived!

Wow. Things are starting to heat up as we get closer to race day. Seems like there is tons to talk about.

Fe and I are trying to mix in some normalcy in between training; organizing the W4L project, going to wild parties, appearing on a local game show, and fighting off the miniature monkeys!


Robson and I getting ready for a quick ride.


This is how you get your uniform ready when you work for a non-profit.


What? A 6 years old's birthday cant be called a wild party? This is Fe and her family...Little Bruno is a nut...he doesn't go to bed until 2am every morning? Who does that?


We actually did make it to a grown up party. Who can say no to free sushi? This is the best marketing agency in all of the south of Brazil...and it just happens to be Fe's brother's....Fabio




Seriously...how did we end up on a game show? That is me in the Top Left and Fe in the middle. Then me again in the yellow and blue LRG polo in the back. Our team lost...but it wasn't my fault. I couldn't understand the questions......



These little rug rats could fit in the palm of my hand....If you look at the picture on the right that is a mommy with two (brown stripes) new born miniature fighting monkeys on her back....radical!


Also...the bikes arrived! Very cool. Full Update on that coming tomorrow!

Valeu!

A Must Read....arent they all?

So we me made it to Brasil! 24 hours and 4 legs later……but hey we made it….and right away sat down for a little cappuccino/empanada combo. Uma delicia!

Tuesday rained as hard as I have ever seen it rain in my entire life! Since the forecasts called for heavy rain through Friday, Fe and I scoped out a local gym where I could get in some biking and running. So locked indoors I was, but that was better than having to battle the rain!

Wednesday we were saw the sun poke her head out early in the morning so we rushed down to the Beira-mar (boardwalk) for a quick ride. Then back out to Jurere to get in a swim. Apparently the weather forecast is not reliable in Brasil either.

This is my version of trying to taunt the IM swim course. Do I look intimidating?

Some of the shots Fe captured are pretty amazing. Good work babe!

And finally…..check out this article that came out in one of the local papers. They are accepting nominations for 2 people to receive bikes through our Wheels 4 Life project.

Sponsorship Week Continues Part 4

I've been a Power Balance Fan for about 3 years now and when I knew I was coming to Brasil to compete at the Floripa Ironman and raise money with Wheels 4 Life, I was sure that Power Balance would be a great fit.

I was first turned on to the difference Power Balance makes while surfing. I put a charged sticker back by footpad and another right under where my front foot. I seriously felt like I couldn’t fall off my board. All the chatter was gone and I was surfing as good as I ever had.

Since then I don’t have a pair of shoes without Power Balance, and I always wear the pendant too. Keepn' the charge close to the heart!

Just look at all these little positive charges! No wonder Troy looks so relaxed!


Brasilians go nuts for this stuff and Power Balance is doing really well down here. So the last time I was by there office I made sure to grab a couple extra bands just in case I needed to barter for some bike parts!



Thanks to Troy and Ryan for hooking it up!

Sponsorship Week Continues!

It just keeps getting better! Sometimes I wish I could eat more so I could down all this goodness at once!

Hemp is one of the most dense forms of protein in the plant kingdom, plus it assimilates super fast. These days I prefer vegetarian forms of protein over chicken and steak so Manitoba’s products are super crucial to my diet….and because they are plant based it gets right in to my muscles to restore growth.

Thanks to Mike and Kelly for making this happen. There are a lot of Brasilians that are very thankful for the work you are doing down here!

Erin Bakers Breakfast Bonanza

Sponsorship week is turning out to be quite nice!

Got a box from Erin Baker with all kinds of amazing goodies that are all super effective for Ironman/Triathlons.

Truth be told I have been hounding Erin for a couple months now to send a few samples my way so when I finally got the box I dove right in.

The cookies are a perfect combo to all the bars that I will be eating during the 6 hour + bike ride. Their super tasty, have the right amount of carbs, and pack really easy on the bike.

And for the Protein Granola. Well I am pretty much a granola expert after eating acai bowls for the last 10 years and this stuff is tast-tay. Not too sweet, and lots of protein compared to other granola. Try it with adding some of the Manitoba Hemp Pro 70. Makes the acai bowls all buttery and creamy.

See how nice it is to have all these food companies as sponsors?....I promise I'll share if you want to try.

It really is nice to have the support of some of the most progressive companies in the world!

Thanks Erin!

So Fresh and so Clean Clean - Dr. Bronners Box Arrives

Got a box of goodies from one of my sponsors with some supplies for the race!

Dr. Bronners makes amazing products. I have been using their soaps, shave gels, and lip balms for years now so having them as a sponsor is awesome.

Their products are totally biodegradable, so for all those trips down to Supai, camping in Yosemite, or washing off down by the ocean, their stuff is perfect. Plus they have some amazing scented stuff too, and a lot of the oils in their products are hemp, olive, palm, coconut, jojoba, and essential oils. And its all ORGANIC.

So here is how this stuff actually comes in to play during my training

The Soaps - swimming in chlorine filled pools is horrible. Without fail I am lathering up and showering off right out of the pool with either the Citrus or Peppermint.

The Lotions - I have had serious problems sleeping at night if I swim late in the day cause the chlorine dries me out so bad. So the Bronners lotion line is keep to rehydrate my skin so I can sleep like a baby!

The Balms - A TOTAL LIFESAVER!!! Riding for miles and miles takes a tole on the undercarriage. I'll will take a tin, usually of the mild Baby Balm, with me on long rides and drop a dollop in between the pistons to make sure things are lubed up well. Nothing worse that chaffing from a bike seat!

The Shave Gel - Hot Digity! I finally found a sport where I can shave my legs and its cool to do so! Ha. But seriously, for my face, or legs, their shave gels are the best I have ever used, and they last forever!!!!!!! (maybe that's cause I only shave once a week) They also have the same nice fragrance as the soaps so it leaves me smelling nice for the Mrs.!

Thanks to the Bronners Gang for coming up big!

Scotty

20 days left

Good Golly......Its go time baby...

Last weekend was my last big weekend of training before the race. Today starts at 3 week gradual taper that will allow all of the work I have put in over the last 5 months to sink in and take hold.

Nostalgia set in as I buzzed through same training roads I had traveled over and over again. The memories from the 300 hours that I have spent training were many. I felt like a warrior, on his last day, before leaving his training ground and heading out to war.

I have swam 150,000 meters, biked almost 2500 miles, and ran 425 miles. All in preparation to become an Ironman.

The wise quote "Life is a journey, not a destination" has proven so true training for this event. The journey has been the best part!

Thanks to all the sponsors and supporting companies along the way that have help me. Power Balance, Manitoba Harvest, Sambazon, Dr. Bronners, Coco Hydro, Sol Raiz Maca, Clif Bar, Erin Bakers Granola, Oakley, X-Terra Wetsuits and 2XU race apparel.

woohoo!!!!

Spectating at Ironman St. George

Fe and I had the chance this last weekend to bring Sambazon out to the Ironman in St. George, Utah. It was a great way to mix work and pleasure and it was my first chance ever seeing the Ironman race live

First things first, huge congratulations to all the people who raced. Seeing the intensity and the rigor that the participants put their bodies through is incredible. Big, small, short, tall, round or 100 lbs....everyone out there is fighting for something,f and somehow, clear as day, you can see right in to the window of their emotions and experience their fight with them. Powerful stuff!

Thank you all for the inspiration!

Got some sort of stomach bug for a couple days and had to skip a couple training sessions. It was hard to take it easy with all the excitement around but listening to the body's need for rest is as important of a discipline as perfecting swimming, biking, and running.



Looking forward to a big week before I start the 3 week taper.

Big ups to Michael Weiss, the IM St. George Champion. So he tells me after the race he drinks two bottles a day...ha...who knew?


A friend of mine,Ty Zulim, celebrates with the family, while this couple takes the first step to starting a family of their own, just after they crossed the finish line.