left.right.repeat group -closed - Full of a bunch of winners...YEAH! (Page 40)

Wonderful report, Marianne! I'm glad it was so much fun! You've earned that good time with all your hard work! I sure enjoyed reading about it, and it inspired me to keep on!

 Thanks for the concern guys. We had some tropical weather, for sure. The power went off often, for short periods, and the tornado siren sounded several times. But other then a trashy yard, we have no problems whatsoever. I sure feel for Lousiana.

Katy and Seth made it back to Tallahassee save and sound on Monday night. We had an awesome visit.

Go Bryan, GO!

sTRIve!

PS - How cool it would be for all you brothers to "Tri" together, Leston! Hope you can!!

Flipper - glad everyone is okay.

SpeedboatMavPhelps - again....what a job....were you wearing one of those fancy Speedo Lazr speedsuits from the Olympics or what????

Leston - good job on the wiring.  You will do great next year - remember, it's about attitude.  As far as being a newbie last year - thanks for the comment but you all have no idea how much I respect each of you and what an inspiration you are to me.  The foam roller will be a little uncomfortable as you hit the pockets of damaged tissue, you break this up and that allows new supple pliable tissue to regenerate.

Dan - did you really offer to strip Mav?????  ROFL

sTRIve

Did you notice that we're now onto page 40 of this discussion thread? There's one group that is onto page 70 (my, my they must be a chatty!) but otherwise we seem to be one of the more active mentor groups.

Preparing to "batten down the hatches" as Hurricane Hanna is expected to make its way up the east coast this weekend. It'll have been downgraded to a Tropical Storm by the time it gets to our cooler waters but we're still expected to get some wind and rain.

Dan - noted that Kwame Kilpatrick finally copped a plea deal yesterday and resigned as mayor of Detroit. What a saga!

Have a great weekend y'all.

FBP

Leston - if I recall correctly - you are a BABY - so don't give us that OLD crap.

See ya, Kwame - good riddance

FBP and Mav - stay dry

sTRIve

FBP - good to hear

Mav - it looked like you got wet yesterday?????

Great race and race report mav!

I can tell you from experience that charity programs like the Crohns & Colitis, Team in Training (Leukemia), Team Diabetes, etc. are wonderful not only for the $$ raised but also for the awareness they build and - not that you need any encouragement on this last one - for the positive example they set about the benefits of healthy active living.

Heard this morning that a city 70 miles from us (Saint John) which is right on the coast (Bay of Fundy) got 140mm - almost 6 inches - of rain in a couple of hours yesterday. Yowser.

Ran 10k yesterday and will try to get to the pool at lunch today. The Tri at Colby College in Maine is no longer in my plans - Mrs FBP can't go and the trip would be a little too much for the family budget at this point so think my Tri season is over with only 1 race under my belt. Not to worry though as there'll be lots more opportunities next year and lots of running races still to do this year.

Have a great day y'all.

FBP 

FBP - looks like we are going to dodge the big bullet of Ike.  Supposed to get some rain but we will see what happens.

FBP - thank you SO much for my  Terry Fox coin.  That is SO cool.  What a great gift.  It will be my bry tri token from this point forward.

Chain falling off - while continuing to pedal slowly, shift the front derailleur to the opposite ring.  Quite often, the guide moves enough to glide the chain slowly back onto the ring and you can continue your ride.  Obviously, this is tougher going uphill.  It works really well on my tri bike with the bar end shifters but at least give it a try the next time you drop your chain.

It has been a pretty tough week for me personally and professionally....nothing that can't be overcome but ..... on Sunday, I was stung by a scorpion on my left arm near the wrist, on Monday, I ran on the treadmill, went to spin class, ran more on treadmill, cooled down, stretched, went down to the locker to find my locker broken into with my suit pants stolen, along with my car keys, house keys, Rolex watch and my wallet......several hours later, police report filed and credit cards cancelled I got to bed.  We also lost a large amount of revenue at work this week.  Finally, some of you may know, I am in the investments business so 9/11 has special meaning for me.  We had a large presence in World Trade 7 and I had personal friends who got out, but will forever be changed by that day.  You may have also noticed the market was pretty volatile this week.  Now, I have shared all that crap but here is the icing on the cupcake.  Last night, we hosted a client appreciation event for 400 clients with our guest speaker being a man named Leo Thorsness.  Google him if you would like to read about him.  Here is his story in brief.  In Vietnam, he was a Wild Weasel pilot seeking out surface to air missile sites and trying to destroy them by getting them to shoot at him so they could locate the sites.  Pilots flew 100 missions and then rotated home.  On one of his final missions, he had a wingman shot down and he defended the pilot and rear seater as they fell to the earth under parachutes.   He was flying against MIGs - they were real fighters - his plane was more of a bomber - he was at a supreme disadvantage.  He killed several MIGs, then strafed the ground to protect his friends, called in the rescue mission, then went and refueled from a tanker, came back, fought some more MIGs, got some help finally, was out of gas again and called the tanker....another plane reported being even lower on fuel, Leo gave them the tanker - they hooked up as they ran out of fuel - Leo and his rear seater, Harry, flew up to 35000 feet so they could glide more distance when they ran out of gas.  They were hoping to get into Thailand as it was friendly territory.  They ran out of gas and coasted into their landing at their airfield.  It was for this action that Leo was awarded the Medal of Honor.  On his 92 and one half mission, he got shot down.  He says 92 and a half because he didn't get to make that landing.  He and Harry ejected from the plane 150 knots faster than was possible (at least that's what the experts thought at the time).  Harry hurt his back severely and Leo's knees were blown out horizontally at 90 degrees from his thighs - the wrong way - they were shot at all the way to the ground and captured.  He spent 6 years as a POW and finally, after torture and a gruelling existence he returned home.  His story is one of an AMERICAN HERO.  I met Leo about 7 years ago and am never bored listening to his story.  It is AMAZING.  He said a few things that resonate with me always, but here is one.....he says he carries five words in his pocket at all times - "do what's right - help others".  I try to live my life by that creed.  He also told about carving a whole in the mortar of his cell with a rusty nail he found to be able to peek outside through his own peephole.  One of the attendees asked him if he was able to keep the nail - he replied, "no, but I can draw you a picture of the small amount of branch I could see when I looked out that hole."  Finally, one other thought.  Leo said, "I can honestly stand before you and tell you since I returned to the United States in 1973, I have NEVER had a bad day."  What an unbelievable, incredible, inspirational story.  If you want to know more, let me know or google him as I said.

I am proud to say, Leo Thorsness is my hero.

sTRIve

Wow, Bryan, sorry to read of your troubles this week but thanks for posting the story about Leo. I did as you suggested and "googled" him. What an incredible individual !!!

Tomorrow is the annual Terry Fox run all across Canada and in many locations around the world so you can guess what I'll be doing tomorrow!! Weather forecast is miserable but that's no impediment.

My son Chris plays his first high school football game today. He went out for the team at the last minute so likely won't see the field much but that's OK. He's been coming home exhausted every night, getting his homework done (whichn the past ws a rare occurrence!) and going to bed. HS football here is nothing like it is in he States - they'll be lucky to get 200 people to the game.

Starting to get excited about the Learn To Run class that starts next week. So far I have 7 registrants and expect there'll be a few more in the days ahead so it'll be a great sized group.

FBP

Well, I didn't realize it was the Terry Fox run day but I did 9 miles this morning.  I love that coin....I will carry it all day since it is his day.

We are probably not going to even get rain.  Debbie went to the wedding in Chicago and O'Hare is flooded.  She couldn't get out of the airport for quite some time.  But now she is on her way to the hotel.  So she left to avoid the hurricane and may get stranded in Chicago....go figure.....a fitting end to this week.

Now, get off the internet and go workout or stretch or hug your family or something productive for crying out loud!!!

sTRIve

Had fun at the Terry Fox run. I opted for the 5k route and finished it in 28:15. Decent crowd of walkers/runners/wheelers doing either 1k, 5k or 10k. Started with a few words from a 2-time cancer survivor - has had BOTH legs amputated - who is now completing a PhD in nursing specializing in cancer research. Fantastic.

Where are you all? No posts in a couple of days. I have some cool news to pass along.

Last evening I had a call from Myra, the blind lady (65 years old) that I was a guide for in two half marathons last fall. This month she will complete her year-long adventure of finishing a 1/2 Marathon in every province and every territory of the country (OK my american firends - 1 point for every province you can name, 2 points for every territory you can name !!). Her next challenge? A sprint triathlon next July. Why'd she call me? To ask if I would be her guide. Yes, yes, yes!

The event will be in Parry Sound, Ontario so I will have to pay to fly there but it'll be worth it.

Sticka