Gratitude 07/29/2010
Everyone has now moved on, appropriately so. I still feel compelled to put down some thank you thoughts. Like always, will ramble. First, of course, goes to God. His strength and mercy is motivation in itself. He brought us together and guided us safely. We were just tools for the day. God is good. As for my wife, Sheri...I can't say enough about her. She does all of the dirty work behind the scenes to make this kind of thing happen. She holds the house together through the training and obsessing. I always push her to her limits and she never gives an inch. And when the big day arrives, she shows up ready to tackle any challenge because she knows how important these crazy things are to me. She made the whole trip, awake for the entire time, focused. supportive and cautious. She had the power of veto at any point and didn't take that lightly. She knows more about this stuff than most of the endurance athletes out there. I'm sure that when she married me and we started a family, at no point did she envision the idea of ironman races and ultra events being such a big part of her life, normal (and, unfortunately, daily) conversation. Let's face it, it's a little more work than the normal mom/wife has to deal with. Thank you, Sheri, for being the wife that you are, the mom that you are, and the voice of reason that I so often need to hear, whether I like it or not. Your support and love is unconditional and I thank you so much. Keith Cowart and Rick Tindol get a huge shout out, too. Both of these guys were kind of the heads of the Atl side and the Sav'h side, respectively. Keith would have no part of anything short of being there for the whole trip. And, when he was still considering racing his oly tri on Sunday, I was aghast, and a little concerned, so glad he made the trip and was there for this. I'll make that oly up to ya, maybe even race it next year! Keith will be doing his first Half-Ironman at Augusta70.3 on September 26th, first of many to come, I'm sure. And Rick....Rick heard this idea a long time ago...and as crazy as the idea was, he jumped right into it as if it were normal and reasonable...as if to say 'YEP, COOL, we'll pull that off! No Problem!' Website/route/logistics/driving/unameit...no questions asked, fixed, done, what's next?! Rick is training for the NYC Marathon in November, real excited that he's into the long distance stuff, great trashtalking opportunities! My nephew, Brett Fultz, also made it the whole way from Atl to Tybee at golf cart pace. He did a great job, worked so well with all of the others, very proud of him. He did earn the honor of being the only one who took a nap on the trip, on top of all of our gear. Though a brief nap, he will hear about this forever! He's gonna try the tri thing and knowing Brett the way I do, he'll do it right, a good attitude and stick-to-it-tiveness goes a long way, in sport and in life. Eddie Wilson came with Rick from Sav'h. This marine 'gets' the idea of a challenge, especially when it is applied to a good cause. He has a huge CrossFit challenge that will benefit The Wounded Warrior Project and The Lance Armstrong Foundation, https://rapidgiving.com/fundraising/page/427/going-for-300. Eddie understands that no goal is impossible if it is for a higher purpose or cause! Great to see you Eddie and thanks to Ellen for coming out to support us when we hit Savannah! Chris Hart joined us early and stayed for more than half the trip. As a physician and a triathlete, he was crucial for his judgement on where that 'danger' line was. His background was a security blanket for both Sheri and I, and he nailed that IV when he had to! But, more importantly, he's a great friend and I was honored that he worked his schedule clean just to be a part of this. I look forward to training and racing with Chris in the upcoming seasons. He, also, is prepping for his first Half-Ironman at Augusta70.3 in September. One of the greatest treats of the whole thing was having my son, Evan, chip in for most of the ride. Evan has a ton of other things that he could have been doing, but he chose to be with us and he did a superb job. I will always remember rolling on the bike and taking bottle handoffs from E. He'll see it as no big deal, but I see it as a privilege, and I will cherish it as only a dad can. Thanks Evan, very proud of you. Zack and Lauren came down and gave us several good hours. And they helped by giving E a ride to Nana's to catch some sleep before the home stretch. I know they think we're nuts, but I think they dig that, too! Thanks ya'll. Others who joined in for the trip were Ben Bondeson and his son, and Joaquin Marrero. Each of these guys helped pace me on run and bike, respectively. Great to have ya'll around. Jim Stone and Michael Hickey, also, came down to throw some support out there. Thank you for the help. Joanie and Jerry, thanks for all of the support and help. Thanks for putting the crew up the night during and also giving us a place to crash for a few hours after, until we had to head home. No man alive could ask for better in-laws. You guys mean so much to me. I need to thank Kim Cowart, Michelle Hart, Kris Tindol, and Ellen Wilson, also. We all lead very busy lives with family and work. And for these women to give their blessing to their husbands to go away for the weekend to help with this was a huge sacrifice in itself. Chores, errands, daily activities carried on and they took it upon themselves to carry the load while we were out putzin' around rural Georgia. Thank you so much. Chris Settles dropped off his magnetized safety strobe light the night before. This was nice to have on the top of the truck, 'cuz I don't know if I could take anymore of the flashers. MThanks, Chris. And to John Steiner for riding with me over the last 20 (?) minutes into Tybee. Ironically, John is the fella who introduced me to this sport. And, he was kind enough to let us crash at his beach house right after we finished, until we were stable enough to drive back to Nana & Papa's. Thanks, John. A special thank you to Kim White for all of her help with the flyers and graphics. It was so nice of her to donate her time and energy to this, very kind. Her work was 'top shelf' and I highly recommend her if you need anything done in the graphics world, http://www.chicgraphicdesign.com/. Thanks, Kim. To an old friend, Robbie Byrd, and all of the fine officers that escorted us in from Statesboro to Tybee, thank you. That was very exciting a special treat, not to mention how safe it made it! And Dad, thanks for the support and believing in us. I know that the task at hand seemed a little too big at times, but, in God's will, we 'gotter dun'! Thanks for the hard work, talking it up all over Savannah. Mom would be proud. And to everyone else out there who donated time, $, and prayers, thank you so much for helping this ragtag crew pull off something this nutty for a GREAT cause! I believe that we did get that kick into cancer's gut! One good shot was all I asked for and ya'll did GREAT! THANK YOU SO MUCH! 3 Comments A Wiser, More Condensed Review! 07/18/2010
Wow, been trying to find the time to put a report up and the bottom line is that I don't have time to write the 'book'. Too much happened to try to put in just a couple of paragraphs. So, here's an abbreviated version. Forgive me if I leave some stuff out, feel free to 'comment' those things in.... way back when, when I shared the idea with Matt at All3sports.com, he warned me that the logistics of this thing would be as hard as the training, he was absolutely right. Final Logistics and busy work led to 0 workouts for the last 4 days leading to the event. God's way of making me chill. Sheri and Evan did a great job helping me pack the truck and get the fluids ready the night before. Brett rolls in late, say 'hi', off to bed for 6 hr nap. So, to keep it short..... easier (and too quick) thru the first bike...quick transition at 'granny's' driveway in the middle of nowhere....big hot hills for the first run scared my hamstrings, but made it thru, think Hart joined me on this run....next transition was slower, got some food in...second bike was hot, enjoyed getting the handoffs from Evan, really cool to have him chipping in, steep hills are giving way to longer graded false flats, Milledgeville crampapalooza, got IV at Flash Foods Gas, changed cooling strategy for the bike to match the run...transitioned at Zaxby's in Sandersville, close to halfway, ahead of schedule, driver's got some food, I got some IcyHot muscle cream...next run with more friends, this was the best feeling run I had, cooler, flatter, steady, Sav'h guys met us at this part....don't remember the next transition, know it was dark, heavy icy hot on legs and some room temp IV fluids induced some scary shivering that motivated me to get riding to warm up...next bike was in the dark of the night, good friends riding with, under the stars, weird animal sightings, roads pretty quiet, Brett sleeping in the back of the truck, legs heavy but roads starting to flatten out so pace is still solid, getting close to Statesboro for the next transition...picked up our first police escort at the start of this run, looks like it'll be the last of the runs, so that gamble paid off, this run was about to do me in, slow pace that was varying too much, a few minutes of death march then a few minutes of 10-11 min/miles, good chattin' with buds, Sheri hanging tough leading the drive, those 2way radios were invaluable, then shuttin' down around the 1:40 mark of the run, trying to stay vertical to the early transition at that street lamp, barely made it... last of the IV in, some fluids & food, feeling the worst of the journey, Sheri considering calling it if we don't have a backup liter of fluid to travel with, officer saves the day with a hospital run, buys us time to rest, by the time he gets back, I'm feeling better knowing that the end is 1 bike away, roll out feeling decent...stomach not interested in taking any more sugary fluids, only thing that I could tolerate was a handful of pnut m&m's and some ice cold water, that would get me about 20 min of steady effort + 10 min of cruising, pause, repeat, yawning starts, hard to stay awake, then familiar roads and sights!, made it to Joanie and Jerry's house and they are all out there waiting, quick hugs, Evan rejoins the truck, pickup police escorts thru Bloomingdale, Pooler, and Garden City! Very Cool! flat roads allow pace to pick up, make it to the downtown Sav'h area to ride past the local Saturday morning group that I've ridden with many times when visiting, shocked to see how ez it was to roll thru Sav'h and towards the beach, Steiner finds us around Wilmington Island and rides with me to the beach, caravan happy to see the end is near! more police jump on after we crest the last climb of the bridge at Tybee, and now just an ez roll down Butler Ave to the last left that took us right up to the Tybee Pier! unofficially, something around 24:20 coolest thing was to see so many people of all ages and backgrounds, who didn't know each other, work so well together to make this work, very motivating! had plenty of ipods to use...NEVER used them!..we were focused, communication was vital and sharp. 103 degrees in Milledgeville, bike #2. strange sights abound, though I missed the lady who was standing in a circle of goats, taking their pictures with her phone, in the middle of nowhere... traffic was amazingly polite, usually only got rowdy when motorists would get mad at a car that would refuse to pass us tons of support on the roads, waves, yellow bracelets, Dutch... good catch by the crew when cramps hit and I couldn't pedal nor clip out, superb job. within the first hour, thought I had left my phone on the top of the truck, E found it, and I almost ran a busy stoplight when I was looking at the computer, Sheri/Keith saved me on that one. Zack ran past me like a gazelle in Sperry's. And Lauren must think his family is nuts. Brett ran a very long way in my backup shoes that are 2 sizes too small. He's gonna try this tri thing.... Ben was all lit up with his running vest, sorry about the cussing around the cramps... Joaquin looked great on the bike, we're gonna have to get him out for some more riding... Rick and Eddie came through like gangbuster, escorting and pacing us to Savannah, Rick has the NYC mary in November, this definitely is not the usual training day for him, Rick handled all of the logistics from the Sav'h side of this and bailed me out on some of the website stuff. Eddie, so good to see him, loves his CrossFit! Eddie ran solid for that 3rd run, I slowed him down...and thanks for getting Ellen out there, I thought I saw her at least 5 times at different places is Savannah...Rick was unpacking for his new house the next day.... Dad's hug at the end 'bout killed me. Steiner let us cool off at his beach house for a few afterwards....thank you so much Evan donned Eddie's GT cap.... Sheri.....gets her own special section once I figure out how to say it all.... race report 07/15/2010
This will wander. Get over it. The week leading up to July 9th was too hectic. The 2 week taper was going fine for week 1 and I had just finished a perfect little training weeked over the holiday break. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday were a wash. Too many logistics to be finalized, too busy at work, too much groveling to Sheri for her patience,etc. Decided it was better to focus on getting some sleep, eating right, and conserving the energy that I could heading into Friday. I could feel the anxiety in some of conversations that I was having with my friends and family. But, I felt we had done about as much we realistically could do to prepare for this. I knew it would never be completely perfect, so there were some loose ends that I chose to leave hanging. It was time to let this super crew just do their thing. I was as ready as a busy husband/dad/worker could be and I felt very confident with all of the folks who would showing up to help. Spent most of the evening packing the truck. Evan and I mixed the bottles (Gatorade/CarboPro/HornetJuice x 24, and water/nuun x 24), Sheri worked with the car markers and getting the other stuff that I take for granted ready. Didn't even print the maps til 10pm the nite before. Brett rolled in from work at about 11, earlier than I thought. We spent a few minutes talking trash and we all hit the sack. I woke around 6 and woofed down a couple of eggo waffles/pnutbutter/banana/honey and sport drink for breakfast. Start time had moved from 10, to 7, now to 8 (couldn't drop the dogs off til 7:30), and by time we picked up some b'fast for truck, got Keith, dropped Avery off at Isabelle's, we rolled out of the park at Lake Lanier right around 8:40. All times are unofficial. I was nervous at this point but was trusting in the foundation laid over the last 9 months. Not just pounding out miles, but rehearsing the weird situations like dark/heat/lack of sleep, etc. And SO many people were pulling for us, it would have to be REALLY bad for us to stop. Though, Sheri had the power to call it at any time if it looked too bad. Riding by the lake for the first 5 minutes was beautiful. Knew it would change quickly. Riding out of the Buford/Dacula area went much smoother than I expected, lots of support on the roads. The whole journey nearly came to a crashing halt when I looked down at my computer and nearly ran a red light. If it weren't for the honk from Sheri/Keith, this whole thing would have stopped before it began. This, actually, pumped me up. I knew I could trust them to watch over me, I could now concentrate on riding/running. They weren't going to slack on the job. We had rolling hills and the sun started beating down. I didn't want to think about what I couldn't control. All I could control was execution...fluids, pace, discipline. Monroe comes and goes, thank you Monroe for letting me clog your roads, my apologies. Before I knew it, we blew by the goal mileage. Good or bad? Easier than I had expected, but was I pushing it harder than I thought? I was open to nailing the 4 bike stretches so that I might get to Tybee before that 4th run. This first bike stretch had me thinking this would work. We stopped in Mansfield and turned left on a newly paved Hwy 142, silky smooth, Chris Hart soon found us and we discovered that he has the ultimate pacing auto. His FourRunner allowed Sheri to sit in the back with the hatch window down, just 5-10 feet ahead of me, as we roll between 18-21 mph! Perfect for my situation. After 4 hours, roughly 75-80miles, we found a shady driveway, had a quick meet & greet, and transitioned to the run. This was, by far, the quickest transition of the day. I underestimated the value of a slow transition. I remember Brett warning me that this coming stretch looked like a roller coaster from Six Flags. I chose not to look. I kept looking at Evan to see if he was miserable, surprised to see he was doing ok. Everybody looked good. I warned them 'here comes the REALLY slow part'. Immediately, my left hamstring tightened up, and I hit survival pace up those first few hills. Knew it was gonna be a long day, and going too slow now may be the difference later. It was hot and grueling, hot and hilly, but I was surrounded by great friends and family, just keep moving forward. The hills started to level out and my run actually started to look like a steady run, huge confidence boost. Zack and Lauren showed up, suhweet! He wants to ask Sheri how to help so he jumps out of Lauren's car and goes running by me in his Sperry's, like a day at the beach. He may have run circles around me, don't remember. I think this is where Zack started driving Hart's car and he hopped out and joined me for the rest of the run. Big Help. Don't remember much about the chatting, just that it felt like a normal training run out in the boonies. Sheri, Evan, and Keith kept giving us fluids and hitting us with the sponges. These ice cold soaked sponges were a lifeline. I looked forward to every 15 minutes when I would get one of those gems! Finally, we found a small shady spot on the side of the highway to change to the bike. I sat down and could feel some cramps thinking about popping up in my hamstrings. Had a few bites of a sandwich, bottle of nuun, and just cooled off for a few minutes. The crew did a great job having the bike ready to roll as soon as I got up. Not too bad, ahead of schedule even with the late start, survived the hottest run, and now back to my favorite part.. the bike. I was happy to get on the bike, I didn't feel bad at all, I swear. But, let's cut to the chase...roughly 30 min in and my right calf cramped, teaser, worked it out while still pedalling. No prob. Better slow down if this is happening. A little work on some graded inclines in Milledgeville and, KABOOM, cramps like I've never had. Both calves, both quads, both hammy's. At the same time. Clipped into the pedals, I couldn't break free, traffic everywhere, hollering at the truck for help, coasting, Keith (?) hops out and grabs the bike, easing it to a stop while I'm locked in a standing position waiting for the cramps to subside. Doc says we need shade, cool down and IV. Legs working again, I offroad my tri bike to this Flash Foods Gas station about 100 yds away, hit the shade right by the side of the road. The cars pull up, get all of the med stuff out, and within a few minutes Hart has an IV in my right arm. Then, more cramps. Sorry about the cussing, guys! Tried to keep it G-rated. Ice under the legs, Brett stretching them out for me, Evan about to pass out from the IV sight. What a sight the passing cars must have had! Thanks Dutch for the fly-by donation! 45min to an hour later, we're rolling. Feeling better, we believe nutrition was pretty close, counting on those being heat cramps, time will tell. Felt pretty good through the next few towns, getting soaked on the bike as well now. I had a blast getting the rolling handoffs from Evan and Keith. They did a great job. Can you believe we didn't have a single dropped bottle/sponge on any of the bikes?! Still working on this..stay tuned.... aaahhhhh, forget it, this is taking too long! see the And, Rick's Turn... 07/15/2010
ok... i waited until i finished mine before i read eddie's and i'm glad i did. otherwise, i would have felt compelled to change a few things because it sounds like i copied off his paper. i guess we were in the same car, seeing and doing the same things. anyway, here are my notes and thoughts of the event: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I guess for me it really started a few years ago when you mentioned that we should run an ultra, and not just one of those wussy 50k jokes. My first reaction was “Chris is off his gourd.” Little did I know. Then there was the facebook status update towards the end of the year (2009) that stated “Chris Hardbeck is going BIG in 2010.” In retrospect, that was the understatement of the decade. Sitting in the truck waiting out the rain before the Savannah Bridge run in Dec 2009, you explained to me about Bricks4Hope. This was the first time I’d seen you since your mom’s funeral, and Kris’ cousin Megan had slipped into what turned out to be the beginning of her final decline. So doing something to help cancer research was definitely on my radar, and I never had a second thought about helping out in any way I could. As “B”-day approached, and I kept staring at the route and reading your training reports, I never thought for once that you would fail, I just wondered just how ugly it would get, and how long it would take. Those suffering with cancer probably are thinking something similar. July 9th, 2010 - I wake up and started checking facbook and twitter for updates on start. Nothing. I finally call Sheri at about 9 and she tells me that you’re off, traffic is heavy but polite. I check back in at noon and you’ve already transitioned to the run. Sheri says it’s hot and hilly. 80 miles on the first bike leg and I’m thinking “Crap... he’s going too fast and is going to pay for it later. Oh well, he knows what he’s doing better than I.” Half-day at work, run home and pack my ‘bricks’ gear. Then tape boxes for the impending move. Keep checking facebook... pics coming in... first IV dripping.... uh-oh.... but all seems well after the next update. Eddie arrives to pick me up, and we’re off. Nervousness on the way up, not sure what we’re about to get into. Crap... I forgot my Garmin... wanted to make sure we stay on pace in case I get to run. Oh well, nothing to be done about that now. Try to get online with Eddie’s laptop and broadband card. Weak signal won’t let me pull up the route I save to google maps. 0 for 2. Lets call Sheri to see where you are. Eating at Zaxby’s in Sandersville. We are still 30 minutes out of Sandersville. Had hoped to beat you guys there, but we’re not far off. As we pull into a parking spot at Zaxby’s, we see the support truck pulling off. Eddie needs to pee, and I’m fairly sure you’ll be running now, so we have time. I need to pee too. This level of detail is really not necessary in this report, but let’s just go with my stream of consciousness for now, and I’ll edit later (doubtful). Get back to car and have missed Sheri’s call. Call her back, and she tells me what I already know... that you guys just started out down 242 on the run. As Sheri answers on my call back, I can see the flashing lights. This is it... the Bricks caravan! Sheri says that you have runners with you now, and that we should run ahead and scout turns. As we come to the back of the caravan, we pull over and Sheri brings us a radio. “He’s being hard-headed and is not eating/drinking like he should” she says. I don’t eat or drink as I should either... but I don’t tell her this. Sheri has her ‘game face’ on, and I will not mess with this. Radio in hand, we pull past and we see you running for the first time... looking strong. We zip down 242, i make occasional stupid comments into the radio, then I realize that A) you are going 5mph, B) we are going 50 (Eddie drives like an 80 y/o woman) and C) these radios don’t have a very large range. We pull over at a church at MM10 to wait at Jackson Church. Then I realize that we’ll be waiting a while. We call Sheri, she confirms that radios have a 1-2 mile range. We come back down to the caravan, and decide to go all the way to Bartow for the next turn, about 12 miles away. We get there, scout the back-2-back turns, then decide to get some coffee, etc before it gets too dark and we get too busy. About the time we pull up to the gas station, Sheri calls, wondering about what to do at the church. “Keep on going” I tell her... “you won’t turn again during the run segment.” Two and a half brewed pots of coffee, three 64oz gatoraides and a bag of Doriotos (Mr. Dragon’s Fire Chips) later, we’re off. We crawl back down the road (seriously Eddie, Chris is probably going faster than us now), coordinate with Sheri that we’re nearing the 2hr mark and need to find a transition spot. Luckily, Eddie’s aforementioned snail’s pace pays off... he had marked the approximate 10mi mark from Zaxby’s and had previously spied a gas station near this point. I knew having a Marine on board would pay off. Semper Fi. The flashing light of the Riddleville crossroad was soon accompanied by the flashing hazards of the caravan. We hop out to anticipate your arrival. I must say that everyone seemed more keyed-up than I would have imagined. I guess everyone was ready to get out of the car after the run portion. And as I type this, I realize that we (Eddie and I) never experienced a run portion at running pace... we were either not present (run leg 1), scouting ahead (run leg 2), or running (run leg 3). I guess they were ready for the change. The transition was a whirlwind of activity. You arrive and give us hugs (holy crap, he’s sweaty. I’m not afraid to some sweat, as I sweat profusely myself, but am just not accustomed to hugging sweaty people when I’m dry). Very soon, you get hooked up to the IV. Eddie and I receive a crash course in plugging an IV into a pig-tail. Syringe to blow out any clots. iPod cord for IV bag hanger (again, those Marines are a handy bunch to have around). Sheri says that we will take lead position for you, Keith and Juaquin. A slight bit of nervousness, as we go from joking around in the car to having three bikes on our arse at 20mph. Man it would really be a downer if we cause Chris to smash into the back of the mini-van and bring the Bricks adventure to a screeching halt. We get moving, and muddle through the first 30 minutes trying to figure things out. We are either way ahead, or about to have you guys smash into us. Eddie is driving, I am spotting. At Kris’ urging, I remain buckled at all times. I am turned round backwards looking though the back window, as this affords a better view of all three cyclists instead of one (or none) that happen to be far enough over to see through the side-view mirror. (NOTE FOR BRICKS 2.0: Van with a swivel captain’s chair would be choice.) I tell Eddie to slow down or speed up to keep you guys in the sweet spot. I do this in many different ways, with verbose and lengthy commands. He suggests curt commands to facilitate this communication, and as such, we fall into a pretty good groove. We approach Bartow, the location of the dual turns. You take a whiz at the first turn. As we approach the second, some of the ‘inhabitants’ of Bartow are taking a leisurely stroll across the road. We slow enough not to hit them, I assume that we’ve not killed the three of you, and we roll on. Later down the road we hear the request on the radio that there are cars that need to pass and to let them know when is good. Not sure if it was the first or second one we let by, but as soon as the car pulls out and starts to pass Eddie calls out “NO NO NO HOLD HIM OFF!!!” At this point I dodn’t bother keying the mike, as I knew there was nothing to be done. Luckily, the car Eddie saw approaching slowed to a stop and pulled of the road to let the passing car by. Afterwards, the silence in the car was broken by the radio “Well that didn’t work so well!” The hours seem now to have zipped by. When the three cyclist dropped to one, it was much easier on us, if not you. We could concentrate fully on one bike, and things seemed much easier. Those times when you were right up on the card were pretty cool, and at times, surreal. I could see your face clearly in yellow when the hazards would flash... at times I thought you had a grimace of pain on your face, but the next flash of the lights would reveal that you were as cool as a cucumber and seemingly hitched up to us getting a ride.. Getting to Millen, we decide to go down 25 to hit the 4-lane road. This eases my mind, as it will be less likely to send another approaching car into a ditch. As we start to turn on 25 I see the ‘road closed’ sign. I’m thinking “CRAP” but then remember that they’ve been working on this bridge forever, and that they’ve finally routed traffic to the new side as they work on the old. So after the bridge we open up to 2 lanes on our side and the cars can pass safely. Time to call THE MAN in Statesboro. My contact tells me his officer is waiting near the bypass. I was thinking he was going to pick us up much sooner, but I’ll not argue. He also recommends routing us onto the bypass, which he thought was safer. I thought it was longer (1.5mi). He was very accommodating and let us cut right though town. We transition just short of the bypass at William James Middle School. Cpl. Williams meets us here. He seems unimpressed with our sojourn until he learns that you started at Lake Lanier and have not stopped since 8:40am. He perks up and jumps on board the Brick Train. Eddie and I join the running fun and head on down the road. This was my favorite part, mainly because we couldn’t really talk with you while you were on the bike. Running early AM while everyone else is sleeping has always been enjoyable. Never thought it would be so with a cop chasing me. Keith joins in, Brett cranks some Joan Jett at the perfect moment when things seemed to lag a bit. Several trips up to the mini van for water/gatorade and to check on Sheri. We pass the south end of the bypas and up a small hill. Shortly after this we slow it to a walk and look for a transition spot. A light ahead on the right looks promising. We direct Sheri to the location and pull in. A bike shop. Perfect. IV hooked up, and we’re hydrating. Another good idea from Eddie - see if Cpl. Williams can score another IV bag, just in case. He flys down the road to the hospital. He returns with a blanket, plus. Statesboro blues is playing on the radio. You look like crap. To be expected, at this point. I was relieved to see you back on the bike, because you looked nothing like what you did while you were laying down getting your IV. Strong. We also took tail position, which was a lot less stressful. Cpl. Williams drops us at 46 where we turn east. I’m thinking we are home free. Sun will be coming up soon, and as long as we can get close before it gets hot, we got this thing. A few yawns start popping up in the car, so we hook up the iPod and start pumping some tunes. Couple of cold coffees are poured. Sky is starting to lighten up ever so slightly. Chris is swervering back and forth. Wait... don’t run off the road. We stop. Pee. I think Eddie and I do as well, for urinal support. Turn onto 80. Man we’re so close I can smell it. We stop at Sheri’s parent’s to pick up Evan. After this point, you seem as strong as any point that we had seen you. I guess family has that effect. We enter pt3 of the bricks route - The Home Stretch Coordination with Pooler PD got a little crazy when my phone mic went out and Ofc.. Jason Parrish and I were left screaming ‘Can you hear me?’ Once I used Eddie’s phone, we got hooked up with the squad cars just in time for a gas break and to let Eddie use it use it. I spoke w/ Ofc Parrish, who told me he thought he was meeting a harley, not a bicycle. Big difference there, Ossifer. Rolling with Pooler and Garden City PD was cool. Felt like we were some real somebodies. Familiar sights were good. Still strong on the bike. Cut-though in Garden City to Old Louisville road was seamless, and fairly traffic free. No escort meant stopping at traffic lights, but this gave us time to communicate w/ you to see that you were still strong. Last stop before Savannah for a ‘penny-beer-night’ stop let me know you had your sense of humor back (if not a sense of decorum - Sheri was the very model of a proud spouse at this point). Big pelaton coming from opposite direction at MLK. I found this amusing for some strange reason. Here is a group of, I don’t know, 50 riders? Seeming very self-important. Facing off with one rider, a truck and a minivan. Just rolling by, don’t mind us. I’m sure they had a big ride planned that day. Back in the lead, the minivan was. Hole. Bump. Hole. Stop. Repeat. Zig at East Broad, zag at President Street. Yes, they smoothed out the train tracks, didn’t they? Islands Expressway toll bridge. Wilmington River bridge. Hey look.... there’s John Steiner. Bull River bridge. All my worries about this small point were for naught. Tybee road. Despite a 20-car backup, nobody passes until the passing lane. Cool, and I’m still not sure it happened. Lazareto Creek bridge. Tybee Island. Tybee PD ahead. Several times the lead copper seems to slow to a crawl, which means you almost have to pass us. A long night, but now the end is flashing by. Speed limit sign with radar tells me we’re going 20mph, which is confirmed by gps. Still doing 20+ on the flats after 24 hours - would not have thought it possible. Big turn on Butler Ave - there are the palm trees and the Atlantic ocean. Are we gonna be able to get left for the turn to the pier???? Lets veer left and find out. Yep, we’re in, and no screeching tires. No bouncing bicycle. Steiner peels off. Tybrisia Avenue seemed much longer at the end of the Tybee half-mary. The circle. Then.... done. Just like that. What to make of it all? It will take a while for the scale of this feat to sink in (not to mention the scales of your feet ;) I think for now I’ll use this as a ‘teachable moment’ for the boys. Don’t know if you’ve read any Shel Silverstein... I love his stuff. Anyway, I think that on the page that has “Listen to the Mustn’ts” I’m going to inscribe: “Bricks4Hope - July 9&10, 2010” Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be. Way to knock it out the park, man. Proud of ya. Rick Tindol From Eddie's Perspective... 07/15/2010
Eddie and Rick joined us at the halfway point to get us to the end. They did an awesome job. Both of these guys have offered to throw together these recollections without collaborating with each other. Pretty cool idea. Here's Eddie's: Subject: Long and Rambling Recollections from Friday and Saturday
Guesstimates 07/06/2010
Let's pretend that this works out... we should get to Mansfiedl/Newborn 11ish Shady Dale 1ish Eatonton 1:45ish Milledgeville 2ish Sandersville/Tennille 7ish Riddleville 7:45ish HALFWAY POINT!!!! Wadley 8:45ish Midville 9:30ish Millen 10:30ish Rocky Ford 12 am Statesboro 2 am Bloomingdale 5 am Pooler 6 am Savannah(Liberty St) 7-7:30 Tybee 9 ish NOTE: Obviously, as the day wears on, these times will drift one way another. There will be UPDATES on FACEBOOK and TWITTER (@Hardbeck), to give anyone an idea of how far....AHEAD...of schedule we might be ;) Packin', and Feelin' the Love 07/02/2010
One week out. Taper is scary. Hard to do short, ez workouts. Constantly fearing the fitness is slipping away. Just have to trust the system, the one that says you've been building for 9 months and now you rest for 2 weeks...Luckily, having done a couple of long distance tri's, this is not a new fear. This is one small example of the discipline, to NOT go long no matter how bad I'm wanting to. This week has been filled with a couple 45 minute bikes with some accels, a couple of 30 minute runs, and a couple of swims. I'll do the group ride Saturday, maybe Sunday, and next week the stuff will be shorter than this week. Did some practice packing the truck. I think we can get everything in one car, with plenty of room in the double cab for the drivers. Will finish picking up goodies this weekend, oddball things like Uncrustable PB&J's, soups, potatos, chips. Trying to get as much stuff pre-made so that we aren't bombarded with things-to-do on Wednesday and Thursday (cuz, I still have a job to do at work, too). Big storm rolled thru last night. Got me thinking. A storm during the day is one thing, but at 3am on dark, foreign roads could really slow things down. And...moving on...that's the type of thing we can't control, so I'm not giving it anymore energy than that brief wondering. And finally...its pretty evident that the day is nearing. Lots of concerned friends and family out there. Funny stuff, tho. Love that Kim, but she's praying that I endure long and violent vomitting, thus forcing a medical emergency that will cease the efforts early. And, then there's Joanie...she's suggesting to my wife that it might be wise to push me down the stairs, hopefully breaking an ankle, and thus, ending this whole thing before it begins. Yep, that's my mother-in-law! It will be an adventure, a journey. One hurdle at a time. EZ pace will keep the engine cool, cooling techniques are in place, nutrition is in place (predictable, at least up to the 17hr mark), got plans for the dark. And, of course, there are some unknowns that we just won't know about until we reach them. More soon. Sheri's Day 07/01/2010
Happy Birthday Gorgeous! Spent most of the day hangin' with my crew. Birthday gifts, dinner, birthday cake (birthday cake is the exception to any diet/tapering rules!). Ansley did good with the personalized M&M's, Evan was spot on with the Barnes & Noble (Nook) gift card, and Avery did a superb job painting her a Mommy/Avery portrait on a perfectly square piece of scrap drywall (!). I think Sheri had a good day. Final Route 06/30/2010
A little tweaking on the routes. If you've bookmarked the old ones, throw those away - they will not work. Use these instead: Part One - Lake Lanier to Mansfield Part Two - Mansfield to Pooler Home Stretch - Pooler to Tybee A Couple of Things That I've Learned 06/28/2010
Last 'big' workout was yesterday. Only 'big' workout left is July 9th, in survival mode. Taper will be filled with shorter workouts that have very brief accelerations to get the heart rate up, figuring out the spacing in the truck to get all of the gear in it efficiently, ironing out the last few driver details. And, probably most importantly, copious amounts of groveling to my darling for putting up with this (and me ). Can't thank her enough, literally. Some things I've learned: red bull goes with anything; no matter how quiet you think you are at 3am, you're not; the lab foods are very good, real foods are better; we have a ton of good friends with a great sense of adventure; we have a ton of crazy friends; ease of digestion goes way down as intensity goes up; funny looking clothes are worth the trouble, you don't have to go hard ALL of the time; consistency is the foundation to results; life won't always allow you to 'chill' after a big workout, get over it, it was your choice to get out there; there IS a fight out there against cancer...and it will help our kids and our kid's kids. | C. HardbeckJust an average joe, diggin' the multisport lifestyle, tryin' to take a one time punch at cancer. ArchivesJuly 2010 CategoriesAll |
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