Going to Hawaii for the Ironman

It's been a long time since I've blogged about anything, hopefully I'll go back and log what's happened in the last year, but this week it's all about doing the Ironman in Hawaii and raising money for the Special Olympics.

When Lindsey and I got married we decided there are a few things we wanted to do to establish our family legacy...kind of nerdy to think about it now, but doing the Ironman is one of them. Hopefully we have the ability to do a race every 5 years, but this year is the only year that we could do the race in Hawaii. So I applied for a lottery spot. One the application for the lottery spot they ask you why you should be considered; my two main reasons were, #1 the day of the race is our Anniversary and #2 we wanted to raise money for a special cause.

Back in April we found out that I won the lottery spot and training would be start. It started of with 5 days of training, most days were single event training days doing a small runs, or bike rides. Other days I would combine two events. I also started leaning out my diet...

So we decided to raise money for the Special Olympics. We thought about raising money for JDRF or Foundation for Blind Children and even Phoenix Children's Hospital. When I finally made a decision, it came down to my childhood experiences with the Special Olympics. My Mom would have a few Special Olympic athletes stay at our house for the week for the Special Olympics. It was always one of the best weeks of the year. I were always better for being around them and laughing with them.

Going into to this week my mind is reflective of a few things. The hard work I've put into this years event. I've push myself a little harder, stuck to my workouts, and tried to stick to my diet. I'm really thankful to the people that have made a sacrifice to make a donation to Kona Ironman for Special Olympics. Every week we are blown away by the people who have donated...especially in the tough economical times. I've had a handful of high school friends that I have not seen in 15 years make donations that leave me speechless. Most of all, I appreciate my wife being patient for the past few months. I wake up at 4:00 to go on a bike ride or I'm at the gym until 10:00 working out. With her being pregnant...it's been a test for her. She has definitely been a champ.

So this week I'm going to log a little bit every day and let everyone know how things are going!!!