Blogger Down

Peeps. You need to go here and give Jane your best wishes. She was hit by a car while riding her bike, and now her Ironman Austria dreams are in limbo.

Jane is a remarkable story of personal change--going from sedentary to MS150 to half-iron triathlon in one year, and doggedly training through difficult times for an Ironman this year.

Give her your love, and hey, let's be careful out there.

Someone You Should Know

This is the Chelly--a tri-chica unit made up of a Chau and a Kelly. They are two of my new Texas homies. Although we all raced at Buffalo Springs, I did not have the chance to meet them until Ironman Wisconsin, where they both dominated the dojo and had a great first Ironman.

Chau, in the black, is a blogger known as PinkGuruGal, for obvious reasons. She lives in a tri-commune, works as a local news reporter, and writes a fantastic blog. Visit her, give her some comment love, link to her, and subscribe to her RSS feed. You'll love PinkGuruGal and her writing.

The Athlete Within

I've got some downtime right now on my business trip to Austin. Although Austin is triathlon central for the Lone Star State, every trip I make to Austin seems to be star crossed. Above all else I need to practice my open water swimming, but this is the second trip in a row that Barton Springs has been closed due to flooding. And I havent' seen Desiree Ficker running at Town Lake. Rats!

So, I'll take this opportunity to do something even more important than swim training. I will introduce you to a new friend that you really ought to meet.

You will recall the miracle of the couch cushions last week that allowed me to exceed my MS150 fundraising goal. I mentioned that within 3 minutes of putting up my plea for help, a person I had never met hit the fundraising link and put me over the top. After I blogged about that, they mystery person contacted me--and you need to meet her too.

Her name is Crazy Jane, and she is one of those wonderful transformation stories that you will find if you hang around the MS150 or triathlon. In her words, Crazy Jane has changed from "someone who almost failed physical education in high school, always sedentary, could sit on my ass for 8 hours and just read, 100 lbs overweight to someone who goes to the gym often, obsessively cycles, has a heart rate monitor, did her first MS150 and now training for triathlons. I have a bike tan now." She has discovered the athlete within her, and she likes it.

She introduced me to her blog, and she is a wonderful writer; but, she was reluctant to put the blog out there because she is not (yet) some experienced tri-studette who gobbles up Iron Distance events.

But, you know, I'd much rather read the journey of someone who is becoming something new and wonderful than a self-absorved Iron Athlete who has (or thinks he has) already arrived. I know that you feel the same way. So, (with her permission) I am encouraging you to go visit Crazy Jane, put her in your favorites or your bloglines or your google reader subscription, and give her some comment love. You will enjoy her journey.