Proud Member of the Century Club (... sort of)

I'm proud to say that being a member of the Century Club (... sort of, it was actually 100 kilometers)means something different to me now than it did in college. This morning I felt as though Marek was challenging me to an endurance challenge. Every time I looked over at him it on his rowing machine it seemed he was looking right at me saying, "You might think your something special but I've been doing this for years" Youth versus valor. Who would win? I knew I couldn't make it much longer without stopping for another drink and as I hit my 94 km mark I looked over and saw he had stopped for a drink. Thank goodness. I had made it. It was just me and the bike again. I don't know whether he was challenging me for sure or not but either way, I beat him. I know Marek doesn't read my blog, but maybe someday he will so I just want to say thanks for the inspiration to keep me on the bike today and help me complete my first century. Below is a video of what my legs looked like shortly afterwards, quivering from the workout, saying to me, "what did we ever do to you!?"

FUNdraising

Deutsche Bank London's matching scheme agress to match charities within the UK. As Blood Water is headquartered in Nashville, TN they don't qualify. I've started a fundraising page on firstgiving.com. I had been looking on the UK counterpart of that website justgiving.com and only recently found out about first giving through my friend Kyle Verumuelen's fundraising efforts for World Vision. Just a quick plug for Kyle, he's running his first marathon this coming October along side his counter part, Ryan Hall who will be running for America in the Beijing Summer Olympics later this year. Kyle is very funny, a great guy, good looking, and one of my good friends. You really should meet him. The video below is an advert Team World Vision have put together gearing up for this years Chicago Marathon.



Kyle is keeping a blog about his training at fakemarathoner.blogspot.com

Cheers,
Scott

Oh and my goal is to raise enough money to build a well. I don't actually know how much it costs to build a well but I'm pretty sure it's about a million dollars. To donate just click on the link on the right side of the page.

Day 61: Eat Drink and Be Merry

If there were one refrain I could give form my latest holiday in Greece, this would be it. Eat, Drink and Be Merry. Solomon's words of enjoying the days of my youth while I had them were constantly on my heart this past weekend. I haven't had a holiday as good as this one in a long time. It was a holiday for ample food, great company, breathtaking views, and enough exploration to make one envious of a Life Napoleonic. Aegina, Mykonos, Poros, and Sifnos were the Islands we briefly graced with our presence on this 4 day Easy Cruise, each island having distinct memories of it's own. On Aegina, it was the seaside taverna where friendships were born, on Mykonos it was the windmills, the local waiter on his break who pretended to run off with Kyle's camera, and Paradise Beach and Club where we danced like nobody was watching, on Poros it was the beach and a great little shopping district, and on Sifnos it was the joy riding and finding hidden treasures of the island (who knew Greece was home to an Ostrich and Reindeer?!). I wrote 15 pages in my journal on the airplane rides home. I wrote all the way from the tarmacs of Athens and Thessaloniki to the touchdown in London Town. Sitting on the bike last night, still feeling a little dizzy as if I never left the boat, I wondered how long I would continue living off the high of this great holiday. If anyone would like more detailed stories of my trip, send me an email or a comment and I'll get out my journal and let ya have it! For all you other casual readers, thanks again for your interest, I should be back on track and approaching Dallas by the end of the week.
Cheers,
Scott

New American Standard Bible (©1995)

Ecclesiastes 8:15 So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for a man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be merry, and this will stand by him in his toils throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 2:24 There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.

Ecclesiastes 3:12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime;

Ecclesiastes 3:13 moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor-- it is the gift of God.

Ecclesiastes 5:18 Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one's labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward.

Ecclesiastes 9:7 Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works.

Boat Cruise on the River Thames, London, American Independence Day

Jack Johnson Concert in Hyde Park, London July 2

Grant and Carolyn's wedding, Chicago, June 28

Day 49: Back on Track

It’s been nearly 10 days since the last time I roused myself to walk over to IRB and make another negligible dent into my cross country tour which actually only takes place in my mind, on a virtual map, and seldom now in conversation. There are no cows staring at me. There are no beautiful sunsets. There is no hail to hide from. There are no parades and no musicals. So long as I’m under this roof, there is no sense of adventure; the elements have been conquered. My motivation is fleeting. There is only the cool, pleasant breeze of air conditioning I feel if I stretch out my neck and lean far enough back and to the left. The only thing that feels real in here is the tinge of pain just under the bone of my right knee. I feel it with every downward press but it doesn’t quite hurt enough not to ride.
I ran into Marek this morning on my way into the gym. Marek introduced himself to me about two weeks ago. If I were to stick with the Average Joe’s analogy, Marek would be the Vince Vaughn of IRB. He’s the man. He walks around like he owns the place (which he might). He’s rowed thousands of miles. He knows what it takes to succeed in the gym. He’s faced the mental and physical challenges head on. He’s the man for the job. I asked him how he had been since I hadn’t actually seen him since the day we met. He asked me how the slacking was going. There was a group of at least 20 kids in there on a field trip so I wasn’t sure I had heard him right.
“I’m sorry?”
“I said how’s the slacking been? You’re biking across America right?”
“Ok. Ok. You caught me.” I said as I lifted my hands as if I had been caught stealing cookies. “It’s been a busy week.”
He raised his eyebrows, unconvinced.
“But I’m back on track now.” I said as I continued on my way into the gym.
After biking for an hour I began to stretch out my back and sore knee near the rack of seven dumbbells which constitutes the majority of the free weights section. Marek walked by and said, “Alright, we’re back on track now. Gonna start riding a few extra miles a day. Good.” He said as he walked into the back room without waiting for my response.
“Yup.” I said, thinking to myself, “I’ll start tomorrow…or maybe the day after.”
It’s Day 49, I should be well over half way, but I still haven’t crossed the Texas border. Fatigue, pain, and worst of all, a lack of motivation are now becoming commonplace. I need a new plan. A new SMART goal. So here it is. I was originally planning to finish my ride at the same time as the Ride:Well Team but since they passed me over a week ago and I’ve been mostly at a stand still since then. I don’t think I will be able to catch up nor keep up with their pace. My new goal is to finish this trek before leaving London on August 23rd. I have a few holidays between here and there so excluding those I should have a total of 41 days left to ride approx. 2,980 km (1851.69 mi), that's approximately 73 km per day (45 mi/day) with no days off. So Marek, here’s my goal: 75-80 km per day: 35-40 in the morning and 40 in the evening. I’ll start on Saturday.