If you or someone you know is suffering with Type 1 Diabetes, there are many support groups available. Please refer to https://www.jdrf.org.au/type-1-diabetes/support-groups

I admire people who choose to raise money for a good cause without any selfish/personal reasons behind it. Unlike those who raise money for personal adventures, tax sheltering, or personal fame there are people who are rational, kind, and good-hearted in charity campaigns. This week Fi and I donated $100 to Alicia Shoulta’s charity http://pages.lightthenight.org/va/hroads17/TeamRWBHamptonRoads who continues to pursue raising funds for good causes this time the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, last year I raised $500 for the Wounded Warrior Project when training for IRONMAN Cairns, and in my first Boston Marathon I ran for the Esplanade Association raising around $2,500. Today was no different as long time Coyle-Crew member, supporter, and amazing person Deb Page sought to raise awareness and money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation of Alice Springs. And her specific pursuit is awareness of TYPE 1 DIABETES. You know, that genetic condition with no cure? Unlike the totally preventable TYPE 2 DIABETES plaguing many of the fattest nations.

During the closing of the event I was reminded of a mate of mine Will Shoch. I rowed with this man at Northeastern University in Boston, MA and I remember a time when we went camping together at New Hampshire for the Sugarloaf Marathon. It was May 2010. I ran a 3:16 marathon, 2 weeks after I ran the COX Providence Marathon in 3:18, which was 2 weeks after I ran a 3:12 in my 2nd Boston Marathon as a then Qualified Athlete. And Will ran the half marathon up at Sugarloaf in around 2hours and as a Type 1 Diabetic. Nothing prevented him from competing in a Top 10 Division 1 Sport in College nor prevented him from running half marathons. And, that was the type of awareness that Deb looked to spread today.

This was at least the 5th annual running of this event. I ran it in July 2012 in 1:24:59 four weeks after my first IRONMAN Cairns in 10:08. I then had i hiatus till last year where I ran it hard in a time of 1:18:18, two weeks after IRONMAN Cairns in 9:46, and then again this year two weeks after in a time of 1:17:00 and IRONMAN Cairns in 9:45. Last year I had 14 days off of running then ran this “fun run” hard and of course injured myself for the next several weeks. I also ran it on HR of 147 and cadence of 167. But this time around I ran 8X covering 51.2 miles (82.4km) since the IRONMAN Cairns, ran it faster, to a course PB, 2nd Overall on Strava, and HR of 141 or 6BPM lower. My cadence was also improved to 171 as that has been a focus point.

We woke at 7AM for the 8AM start. Medium RedBull, english w/ Jam, and drove 5min to the start. Deb and our friends like Lynnie/Pete and their crew were there, we donated $ to enter and at 8AM we took off right behind Jamie Lines. This wasn’t really a race, just an awareness event, and Fiona and I used it as a tempo run. I told her to run it at Zone 3 tempo and she understood her HR zone based off of her Lactate Threshold Heart Rate form prior tests. She stayed slightly ahead of me for 2KM and then dropped off as she starts to build back her fitness; I knew she was going to quick. Then it was just me w/ Jamie 400meters up ahead and passing some earlier runners and walkers for the next hour. While there were possibly 50people over the 17km run/walk and optional 10km run/walk, I personally found the turnout quite disappointing. But many of the serious and top runners of town turned up like Emma, Fiona, Brad, Jamie, myself and I saw later on in the day that Shane and Mark ran as well thanks to Strava. The point to point course on continuously fluctuating terrain on a bike/run path is beautiful as you head west from Flynn’s Grave to Simpsons Gap. For a great cause, an exceptional course, and a free event with amazing breakfast thanks to the sponsors like Exact Carpentry who had also sponsored Karen McPherson, Fiona, and Myself in our shirts we used when going to the IRONMAN World Championship, I wish I understood where all the other runners were and why they were not there.

In the end, we used this event to train for our next “A” race, IRONMAN Arizona and I’m glad we did because this run was the 16th fastest & longest run I’ve ever done. It’s for reasons like this why we have an incredible triathlon season ahead of us over the next 5 months including: 1-half ironman, 1-70.3, 2 Sprint Triathlons, 2 Olympic Triathlons, 2 half marathons, 2 5KM’s, and of course IRONMAN Arizona. We will soon depart Alice Springs moving to Sahuarita, Arizona and we can’t be more excited. We have bought a brand new 30′ RV and a 4bdrm house in the heart of USA Triathlon. And many of my readers have a free place to stay, anytime, and for as long as you’d like. Stay tuned as there are many triathlon, running, and training adventures coming very soon!

One week down, 21 to go. Week 1 of PREP: 18 workouts over 19.2 hours including 45.5miles of run (73km), 150miles of cycle (241km), and 7.58miles of swim (12km).

Lastly, I received an IRONMAN All World Athlete status update… I’m currently ranked 1st in the USA (of 277) and 2nd in the World (of 1,309) for the Male 30-34 Age Group. So please subscribe to my blog and join me on this journey as a self-coached, “mostly” vegetarian athlete.