HIKE FOR DISCOVERY



A follow-up to my previous post (HIKE! 2/1/08), here's a pic of the brochures and letters sent out as part of LLS's promotional marketing campaign. It's not the best shot, I just snapped a pic from my bulletin board. She's a cutie, huh? I think she was five when they took these pictures as a part of another promo piece. She just turned 7 last month, wow. (Yeah, I'm still bald-ish, haha, and sport different specs [glasses] now.)

(Another) funny story: I stopped in on a Hike Informational Meeting in Pleasant Hill that my sister was attending. I'm signing in at the registration table and the Hike Manager comes up to me and says, uh, hello? Why are you signing in, we know who you are, your face is only all over the place! (I've never met her.) So I got a chance to say hello and thank you to all the Hike participants.

And Trish signed up to hike Yosemite in July(?). Go Trish! Oh my gosh, their training is pretty intense. One of their training days they drive up Mt. Diablo, hike down, THEN hike back UP! Coach says that it's very difficult to 'emulate Yosemite'. Ya think? If you've ever been to Mt. Diablo, that's quite the climb. I've driven and biked to the top several times and it's always a lung-buster, though the breathtaking view from the top is worth it. On a clear day you can see the Golden Gate.

Trish is really excited to get all her gear and to start training. I'll post her website once it's up and running. Yosemite in July will be beautiful. So go do a hike (www.hikefordiscovery.org) or an endurance event (www.teamintraining.org).

Have fun, save lives (like mine). Thanks!

-R

HAPPY VDAY



Yes, I'm a romantic (Roman-tic, get it?) But not in the generic, mass-produced, Hallmark, Zales Diamond, overpriced bouquets, marketing-driven, consumeristic way (chocolate being the exception :) Those 'things' all have it's place. But more the everyday-romantic-in-me that celebrates some of the thoughts below:

True love cannot be found where it truly does not exist, nor can it be hidden where it truly does. - Anonymous

There is no remedy for love but to love more. - Thoreau

The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost. - G. K. Chesterton

Love, and love alone, is capable of giving thee a happier life. – Beethoven

The day will come when, after harnessing the winds, the tides and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of Love. And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire. - Teilhard de Chardin

Smile.

FREEDOM (training update)



There's something about the feeling of warmth of the sun on your face. Quite a change from my last 'monsoon/hail ride'. I was out on a solo 50-mile bike ride today from my house out to Fairfield. Most of the time a solo ride becomes an almost meditative affair for me. Just you, the beautiful outdoors and your thoughts (and cars).

As I rode through one of the neighborhoods, I passed a trio of 10-year old boys on their BMX bikes. Instantly, I was transported back to my summers as a kid, my buddies and I on our ten-speed bikes, with our handlebars rotated up (the 'cool' way back then), riding wheelies, racing around the block, getting home at sundown, but mostly that exhilarating sense of freedom, adventure and discovery.

I think there's still that kid in all of us. Really, that's what the sport of triathlon is, swimming, biking and running, what kids enjoy instinctively. Here I was on my 'serious' training ride, but besides $2000 worth of gear and a several decades of age (yikes), the kids and I were both the same, on our bikes, wind and sun in our face, the freedom to explore, not a care in the world.

HAIL?! (training update)

Did a 45-miler today out in Petaluma. Cold, raining, headwinds and episodes of HAIL! You kind of tuck your head down so the pellets won't sting your face as much, but then it goes through the vents in your helmet and pelts your bald head. At one point the road ahead looked like a sheet of white, it was coming down so hard, bouncing off the road like little white BBs. I was like, 'what the ?' I had to pull off the road and huddle underneath a big tree, it was the only shelter I could find, country backroads and all. 'This is crazy!'

It does make you ride faster, you and the rest of the team just want to get back to your car and into some warm, dry clothes. All my 'waterproof' gear was soaked, head, hands and feet numb, breath raggedly breathing out cold mist, legs flat and fatigued coming off a 6-mile run the night before. You have to make sure you're eating and drinking enough to keep your energy up. You burn a lot of calories trying to stay warm and grinding through the wind. Three and half hours later I finally pulled into the parking lot and let out a seemingly primal, expletive-ridden diatribe. That felt good.

On one hand, probably the most miserable bike ride I've ever done. You either laugh or cry. On the other hand, it's good to train in difficult, adverse conditions. It makes you physically and mentally stronger, more resilient, tough. You look back at days like this with a sense of accomplishment. It's money in the bank for race day. A little sunshine would have been nice though :)

HIKE!





Last year the Leukemia Society asked if I would like to be a part of their new national marketing campaign for Hike for Discovery. Of course I'm honored to do anything I can for the Society. Hike for Discovery is a training and fundraising program similar to Team In Training but you get to hike in beautiful (unforgettable, stunning, breathtaking) locales like Yosemite and Grand Canyon.

Well the website is up and the promotional pieces have already hit mailboxes and businesses. Gilly and I feel like celebrities. People emailing me from as far as Minnesota saying they saw the piece.

Funny story, my brother and his wife are ordering take-out at a restaurant in Emeryville. She glances over at the brochure on the counter and says, 'hey, that guy looks Roman.' My brother is preoccupied with ordering and says, 'yeah, it does huh' and goes back to ordering. She goes over and picks it up and yells OMG! It IS Roman...and Gilly! Cool!

My IronTeammate Beau said it was in their race packet at the Disneyworld Marathon. My other teammate Sedonia wanted to put it in her pocket so she could say she 'ran a marathon with Roman.' Beau wants it autographed (I haven't figured out if he's serious or not.) I told him I wouldn't even charge, haha.

I was even at my gym earlier this week and the brochure was at the front desk (yay 24 Hour Fitness). I tapped the lady there, pointed and said, 'check it out, that's me!' Smiled. And exited stage left as she stood there mouthing 'hey, wow'.

I have a few more stories like that from other people too, old friends, teammates, Gilly's teachers, coworkers. Fun.

Hike is such an amazing and much needed program. I'll try to Hike this year though it overlaps with Ironman, but for sure I'll be keeping in touch with the team throughout the season.

If you're at places like Fleet Feet, Sports Basement, REI, sports stores, restaurants, gyms you may spot the brochure. Or you can contact me and I'll send you one, the Home Office in NY sent me a stack.

I'll put up some pictures of the brochures/letter later but you can check out the website. We're in the banner movie on top of the page, and our picture and story is at the bottom. It's signed Hike for Discovery Spokesperson so since I'm the Spokesperson, you all have to go out there and do a hike :) Yosemite and Grand Canyon. Can't beat that!

Check it out here: www.hikefordiscovery.org