I was asked to be the race announce for the bicycle races on Sunday.  I don’t have a lot of experience as a race announcer, but I couldn’t say no to this.  Here’s how the games were described to me (stealing now from the e-mail I recieved)…

“I promise that this will be a very special experience for you.  All participants in the race have received a life-saving organ transplant.  And, cheering them on will be their own families who came so close to losing them, as well as living donors and the donor families in attendance at the Games.  These donor families have lost a loved one and, at one of the most difficult points in their lives, chose to donate the organs of their loved one so other individuals could live. 

The Games is all about the celebration of life!”

The U.S. Transplant Games open on Friday and run through Wednesday, August 4- if you would like to more about the games- go here.

The article talks about the disappointment we felt when we didn’t get the Olympics and then how we moved forward- knowing that we have an Olympic Caliber route right here in our back yard. 

They talked with Robbie Ventura- who designed the course and Mayor Dave who has taken the energy created with the Olympic bid and focused it on other cycling ventures- in particular Ride the Drive.

And they talked about the Centurion.  The Centurion race is a European style bicycle road race that will happen on Sunday, August 8- starting at the Middleton Municpal Airport.  There are three routes to choose from, ranging from 25 to 100 miles- the difficulty level goes up along with the miles. 

I rode the main loop of the 100 mile course last weekend.  As a bit of a preview- I can tell you that it’s a tough course.  Lots of climbing.  My team started the ride in Mazomanie and did one loop.  About 7 miles from the finish I bonked.  Hard.  I was dizzy, my legs were wobbly, I couldn’t focus.  It sucked.  A friend let me draft off her for a while until we caught up to the rest of the group.  At that point we rested for about 5 minutes before finishing the rest of the ride.  I was fine after that, but the point is- I bonked.  That hasn’t happened in a long time. 

We’re riding the course again this weekend, only this time doing two loops.  I promised the group that I would be better prepared this weekend.  Last weekend I ran 10 miles before the ride and I had run a fast 10 miles the day before.  None of that this weekend.  I’ll concentrate on the ride and hopefully things go better.

Back to the New York Times article- if you would like to see the whole thing, check it out here.

I missed the Boston qualifying for Boston on my first try- in Arizona earlier this year.  I was right on track through 20 miles and then things went bad.  Really Bad.  I missed it by almost 20 minutes.

I hit all my goals at the Door County Half Ironman a week ago.

So now it’s back to the first goal.  And this time I’m doing it at the Chicago Marathon with Team In Training.  Team in Training raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society while providing coaching and support to athletes as they train for big events like marathons, triathlons, century bike rides and more.  You can make a donation to my Team In Training efforts here. (please make a donation to my Team In Training efforts)

I spent a good part of this past weekend running.  Running fast on Saturday- with the Team in Training team.  I did 10 miles at an 8 minute per mile pace.  That is exactly the pace that I need to hold for the marathon.  I know 10 miles is nowhere near 26.2 miles, but I was happy to hold that pace for 10 miles considering that I haven’t run since Door County.  I did another (close to) 10 miles on Sunday, this time much slower as I went out with the “My First Half” team on Sunday morning.  Even though it was a slower run- I still felt really good about this one- back to back 10 mile runs was tough- but I made it through. 

I finished up Sunday with a 35 mile ride with a few friends.  We’re all getting ready for the Centurion Bicycle Race in two weeks- so we headed to the West and climbed hills.  Lots of hills!  I nearly got sick at one point, and my friend Julie had to pull me (I drafted off of her) up to the rest of the group.  After a little rest, I was good to go again and we hit a few more hills before calling it a day.