Golfing for Vaughn

Each year our company has their annual golf tournament.  This is a good opportunity for our advisors to have a chance to bring their clients or others with whom they have a business relationship to the course and enjoy a morning of golf.  For this year's tournament I decided to do something a little different.  I felt like this would be a good opportunity to not only have an enjoyable day of golf with our clients and friends but as a firm also try and help Vaughn inch closer to the goal of $15,000 raised for his adoption.

The idea came when I was visiting with one of our advisors about the tournament.  He suggested that we do a fundraiser where we had Nash be involved somehow.  That's when it hit me.  Why not put Nash and I on a par 3 and "help" the teams that come through in hopes that they will be willing to help Vaughn reach his goal of $15,000.  So that's exactly what we did!

We setup on hole 14 at Old Mill Golf Course.  We put these two signs out explaining what our intentions were for assisting each group that came through.  We had Andrea and Ridge there as well as our Director of Operations, Teresa May to help out.  The weather was great and the typical excitement and anticipation of a golf tournament was in the air.

 

So this is how we were planning on helping out.  The tournament was a 4 man scramble.  Each player hits and whichever player had the best shot the rest of the team moves their ball there.  That's where the boys come into play.  When everyone was gathered around the best shot, I'd have the boys toss the ball towards the hole in hopes that we would get the team closer.  Where ever the toss ended up the team had the choice of playing from there as if that was their original shot. In return, we asked that they make a donation to Vaughn for the assistance they received.

I have to admit, I was a little worried on how this would work out.  I worried whether or not the boys really could have enough touch to get them closer.  I also worried whether the boys could last 4 hours.  I'm happy to say that they did amazing!!!

Here's a few of the highlights.  One of the groups hit a great shot and were less than 10 yards from the hole.  With everybody watching, Nash lined up and eyed the hole.  He rolled it at just the right speed and from the release it looked good.  The ball slowly rolled right up to the hole and as luck would have it, went right in!  The team erupted and Nash went into major celebration mode.  He took off running around the green with his arms like an airplane yelling that "he did it!".  Everybody loved it!  High fives and hugs all around.  Nash actually had two "hole in one's" on the day!

 

 

The second highlight was a group that was playing well, but for whatever reason had 4 not so good shots on this hole.  The best shot was off the green a ways.  Not only that but there was a huge drop on the green that really made it hard to play it right.  You would have had to hit it just right and let the ball roll down the hill and turn towards the hole.  Nash took the ball and threw it overhand as hard as he could.  The ball landed perfectly, rolled down the hill, made a big turn and stopped 12 inches from the hole.  Once again the team erupted and Nash went into his airplane celebration victory lap.
 

 

 

 

When we had everybody back at the club house I felt it was important to really try and help everyone understand just what their donations would do for a little orphan.  I showed a picture of Jaymi Bonner and told her story about how she had spent the first 5 years of her life in an orphanage.  Because of a loving family willing to take a huge leap of faith and many people rallying around them to raise the needed funding, she was now home.  Then I had Jaymi and her mom Jeana walk out to the surprise of the group.  It was fun to get to see everyone's expressions as the story unfolded right before them. 

On the day, we raised $1,014.  It's possible that more donations will come in as well as everyone had an addressed envelope where they could send a donation to RODS Racing.  That brings us up to nearly $13,000 of our $15,000 goal for Vaughn.

It's so fun to get to involve the wonderful people that I get to work with in the cause to help these special children find a home.  It's also very rewarding to get to do this as a family and see how each one of my family members can contribute in their own way.  Or in Nash's case today, in a BIG WAY! 

I'm already brainstorming for next years tournament.  How cool would it be to have Vaughn be our special guest...

 

Utah Half Ironman Race Report

Yesterday marked my last race for the 2013 season.  It's been a slower season schedule wise due to the move and new job.  The good news is I'm already signed up for 3 big races in 2014.  My hope is that Andrea and I get to do at least one of these races together. 

This particular race is called the Utah Half.  The swim takes place at the Utah Lake Marina.  The bike takes you through some of the farming country around the south part of the lake.  The run is a gorgeous route along the running trails of Utah Lake Marina.  The transition area is in the same area for both the bike and the run which is great! 

I've always heard that Utah Lake is shallow and can be a little murky at times but I wasn't 100% prepared for what it would be like.  It was a non wetsuit swim because the water temps were above 80.  There were around 350 athletes participating in the race.  Throughout the swim it was crazy to see athletes standing in waste high water right next to you when they wanted to take a break.  I sometimes wondered if I might be faster just walking the swim.  Maybe that's my trick to a faster swim time!  The final 200 yards you actually did just that.  The water was thigh high so we all just started trudging towards the finish.  It was kind of funny because you couldn't run because the water was too high on your legs but you didn't want to just walk either.  After all this was a race!  So you see a long line of athletes slugging along in the water. 

When I got on the bike all systems were check and it was time to go.  This course was flat and fast!  The biggest climb was going over the freeway ramp.  I loved the bike!  I could see that I was kicking out some good splits and my legs felt great so I just kept pushing it.  I averaged 251 watts on the bike and 22.5 MPH.  I finished in 2:22:34.  A new personal best for me. 

The run felt great out of the gates then I slowly started to slow my pace.  I knew I wasn't going to have a stellar run because I haven't got the miles in that I normally would like to have the last few months of training.  There are no shortcuts to trying to put together a good race.  You just have to grind out the training and if you do you will almost always reap the benefits. 

One thing that is amazing to me in each of these races is what goes through your mind during the run.  Every single time about half way through the run you hit a wall.  There's different stages of "the wall" but in every case you have to mentally tell yourself to just keep going.  Logically it seems to make sense to stop and walk for a while.  Your legs hurt.  You can't breath.  It's too hot.  You're thirsty.  You're feet ache.  Your jersey is rubbing your arms raw.  You don't know why you do this to yourself.  You can feel a blister starting.  You think you're going to throw up.  And on and on the list goes.  Here's the thing though.  These are the defining moments of a triathlete.  These are the defining moments in life.  How we mentally push through these temporary setbacks are what defines the very person who we are.  So we push forward.  One step at a time.  One mile at a time and just as it always does....the finish line appears! 

Many times along the way when things seem like they will never get better we receive help from others.  This comes in many forms.  Yesterday I had some special help just when I needed it.  I was at mile 9.  This is when you're so far into the race that you are dying but you still have to run another 4 miles which seems like an eternity.  It's the death zone really.  I was running down the trail and I see a person walking towards me.  Even at that distance I instantly could tell this was a person who had Down syndrome.  As I approached him I could see that he was in his early 30's just out for a morning stroll along the walking path.  He probably didn't even know there was a race planned that morning or just how much of a boost he would give me.  As I passed him our eyes met and we exchanged smiles.  This was all I needed to put things into perspective.  Why I do these races and just how blessed I am to have a son who has Down syndrome.  It was a great moment.  Highlight of the race really. 

At the end of the race I was pushing hard trying to finish strong and had something funny happen to me.  The run course is setup with two loops.  I looked at my watch and could see that I had hit the 13.1 mile mark.  I looked around for the finish line and wouldn't you know it, I had passed the turn for the finish line and was going back for a "3rd loop".  I could see the finish line but I was going the wrong way if I wanted to finish this race.  So I stopped, turned around and started backtracking to get there.

I thought to myself, "so I ran a little extra, no big deal."  It wasn't until I looked at my final race time that I realized that it was a big deal!  I missed my all-time Personal Record for a Half Ironman distance by 23 seconds!  Ouch!  Final race time was 4:53.53.  I guess I will just have to do another one to try and beat it!

I finished up coming in 23rd overall out of 350 racers.  I finished 6th in my age group of 67.  Can't wait for the end of March when I take on Oceanside!

Fruits of our Labors...

There's been a lot that has gone into Racing for Orphans with Down Syndrome.  Lots of times its pretty tedious.  Some days it's not really all that fun to get up early and go out in the cold to ride a bike in the dark.  I know that it's a huge sacrifice for Andrea in so many ways as well.  Probably the biggest challenge for her is putting up with me when I'm tired and cranky from all the training! :)  But she always handles it with a smile! 

Despite any challenges and sacrifices that may be required it's days like today that make it so worth it.  I've been working with our website guys to update our site the last few months.  As part of this update, I've been reaching out to all of our previous RODS Orphans who our team has raced for and who have a family committed to adopting them.  One of our RODS Orphans named Dylan recently had a family from Utah commit to adopt him.  This is exciting news since I live in Utah!  With the help of my sister Lindee Jo, I was able to find Dylan's new mom on Facebook.  I sent her a short message just introducing myself and anxiously waited for her reply.  When Dylan's mom wrote back, I was humbled by just how many miracles I have seen first hand since starting down this journey for the kids.  Please take a moment to read her message:

Hi Brady- It's really nice to get your message! I can't come up with adequate words of thanks for all you have done for our sweet Dylan. It's amazing and humbling what you and Rod's Racing do for orphans. We didn't know that our boy was a Rod's orphan when we inquired about him, but when we found out I've since been trying to think of a way express our gratitude, but I haven't yet because words just don't seem enough.

Although we aren't a very athletic couple I've told my husband Gavin that we are going to have to change that so we can join Rod's team and pay it forward! :) Would it be okay to write a post on Rod's facebook page? That would be a start to expressing our appreciation.

We have never met, but you have made a life changing impact in our lives. One night over a year ago in April I was reading a blog and it mentioned your story in the Desseret News and so I clicked over to read it. Little did I know my life was about to change forever. It was from your family's story that I first heard of Reece's Rainbow. After only a few weeks we were committing to our little angel Harmony and then later in October our other little angel Penelope. Our two beautiful Russian dolls that we pray a plead every day that Russia will get it figured out and we can bring them home. In the meantime, there have been some pretty divine and incredible happenings that have led us to our handsome boy. So, to find out that he was a Rod's orphan feels so full circle because it was your story that brought us to Reece's Rainbow, to our girls and Dylan.
Simply.....thank you.

We look forward to meeting you!
-Mali

Allow me to take a moment to give you some background here.  The very first Ironman I ever raced was Ironman St. George last May.  It was in preparation for this race that we founded RODS Racing.  In trying to share the kids story we contacted all of the local news outlets hoping one would share our story.  Deseret News was the very first news outlet to cover the story.  It's still one of my favorite articles that has been written.  Now well over a year later we just found out that it was this story that introduced this family to Reece's Rainbow.  Within two weeks they committed to adopting a child and later committed to another one!  Unfortunately their little ones they committed to were in Russia and all adoptions there have since been banned.  Heartbroken this family opened their hearts back up and found Dylan.  Ironically enough, of all the many hundred children listed on Reece's Rainbow, Dylan was one who we have chosen to race for as a RODS Orphan.  Dylan's family didn't know that he was a RODS Orphan but it sure seems fitting that he was! 

The purpose of RODS Racing is to raise funding and awareness for Orphaned children who have Down syndrome.  It's easy to track the success we have raising the funding but many times we can't quantify how much good comes from the awareness side.  Do you remember the part in Dylan's moms message that said she was introduced to the news article by someone sharing the RODS Racing story on their blog...?  This proves once again that it's by small and simple things that great things are brought to pass!  Whoever it was that shared the story, I just want to say thank you! 

Nash just celebrated his 6th birthday yesterday.  Andrea and I reflected back to when he was born.  What a wonderful 6 years that it's been for our family and everyone who's life has been touched by our little Nash.  We love you buddy!  We are so thankful that you are our son and that we are your parents.  Here's to many more years of service for all your little buddies.  We couldn't do it without you!

What better way to celebrate a birthday than going fishing!

2013 Boise 70.3 Race Report

With my family's recent move and my job change, I wasn't even sure if I would be able to compete in the Boise 70.3 this year.  I continued to bike and run after Kona but definitely not at the volume that I did in 2012.  About 2 months ago I decided I needed to buckle down and get some more structured training in so I could give Boise a shot.

 

This is my 4th year competing in Boise.  This race has had a run of bad luck with the weather over the years.  The first year was extremely hot and windy.  Year two was actually perfect.  Year 3 was freezing cold, rainy and windy.  This year was back to the hot and windy category.  It was manageable though.  Every time I am in a race that is windy I always compare it to the St. George Ironman last year.  Once I do that I feel a lot better about the conditions!

 

The day before the race was busy from early until late.  We got some great exposure for RODS in this race.  I got to be on the Kevin Miller morning show to share an update about RODS.  The Idaho State Journal also did a story you can read HERE. 

 

 

 

In the afternoon I was fortunate to get to do a story for Channel 7 News.  You can watch that story HERE.

 



 

Towards the later part of the day, I took my bike up to Lucky Peak reservoir to drop it off for the morning.  I decided I'd ride my bike from the parking lot to the drop off area which is only a few hundred yards.  Normally I walk it.  I'm glad I jumped on it because I found that I had an issue with my front derailleur.  I couldn't get it to shift to my big ring which is a problem.  I actually had this happen just this last week.  I took my bike into a new bike shop here to get fixed.  Unfortunately they didn't fix it.  So back to Boise I went.  I took it down to TriTown and Antonio worked his magic for me.  Antonio is an incredible bike mechanic.  

 

 

Race day came and I was ready to go.  Brynlee and her best friend Bailey came along for the entire race.  They also had a special friend with them, our very own Spuddy Buddy.  Having our premier sponsorship for RODS be Idaho Potatoes, it seemed fitting that Spuddy Buddy would be part of the days activities.

We had 4 of our RODS athletes racing in the Boise 70.3.  Pictured here is Brian Preece, and Trace Dandrea.  I couldn't find Tucker Botkin for the picture but he was out there battling along side us in his first 70.3 race.  Trace has raced in this race every year since they started 6 years ago.

Water temp was 60 degrees which was really nice for this race.  Last year it was a balmy 52.  After the initial shock it actually felt pretty good.  This was the first time that I've swam in open water since Kona.  Our age group go "cute" pink caps. 

 

I felt good during the swim but based on my time in the water, I must have felt anything but good.  This was actually the slowest 70.3 swim I've ever had, including my very first race I did 4 years ago.  Not sure what happened, but luckily the race doesn't end coming out of the water.  I saw somebody using a snorkel during the race which was pretty funny.  I didn't think these were allowed, but I might be wrong.  Maybe that's the key to getting a faster swim time!

 

This picture is about 38 miles into the bike.  I was feeling great on the bike.  Being a slow swimmer has its advantages.  You get to pass a lot of people on the bike!  The wind was strong all throughout the bike course.  The nice thing is it was either in your face or at your back.  That is a lot better than being a cross wind.  Those can get a little dicey. 

 

 

By mile 45 I was averaging 21.5 MPH and on pace to have a personal best on the bike.  My legs felt great and my heart rate was in check.  My nutrition was dialed in perfectly and I felt like I was going to have a great run.  That's when something went wrong.  There is a small bike path that takes the athletes under the highway.  It's a small and narrow path that you have to go slow on.  There is a little climb at the very end.  That's where I really hammered down on the pedal to gain some momentum up the hill.  The only problem is the bike crank completely seized.  I almost biffed it since all my momentum completely stopped.  I thought I had dropped a chain and that it was jammed in my crank.  That is a somewhat easy fix.  I jumped off the bike and looked down.  The chain was in place so I started to look for what the problem was.  I thought to myself, "hurry and get this fixed and it won't be an issue.  You might lose 30 seconds."  I stopped my watch and started investigating the problem.  That's when I saw it.  My back tire was completely wedged up against my back fork.  The alignment was way off.  I knew at that time that this was a big issue.  I carried my bike up to the main road where there was an aid station.  Some of the volunteers rushed over to help me out.  We popped the back tire off and started to see what we could do.  Minutes were passing by and so were dozens and dozens of athletes.  We adjusted one of the alignment screws and it seemed like it worked.  I jumped on, started to pedal and it popped right back out of place.  I did this 3 or 4 times and every time it went right back out of place. 

 

By this time, I knew that any hope of a personal best was out of the question.  I had to regroup my thoughts and evaluate the situation.  If I didn't get this fixed, I wouldn't be able to finish the race.  That couldn't happen.  I continued to work on the bike and got the wheel to somewhat function.  It was still rubbing on the fork but I could muscle through it.  I knew I only had 11 miles to go.  I decided that even if my bike wasn't up to speed I had to get to the run so I went for it.  Luckily after a few hundred yards it stopped rubbing and I was able to get to the run portion without incident.  I lost 26 minutes on my little bike debacle.

 

Our great friends the Morris' were out to support us in their RODS gear!

 

Coming into the bike transition I felt a huge sense of gratitude.  Even if I wasn't going to have my best race, I at least got to finish the race.  I didn't hold anything back and got onto the run course as fast as I could.

 

Boise has the best run course I've ever been on.  Most of it is in the shade and it's right next to the river.  It's all on the greenbelt which makes for good places for spectators to watch.  Throughout the run I was feeling pretty good but still encountered the typical challenges that always come up during an Ironman.  It takes 2-3 miles to get your legs back after a long bike ride.  There are many many times that you have to fight the thoughts that come to mind about just taking a little break and walking for awhile.  Then around mile 8 my legs start to hurt pretty bad, especially my quads.  That's all part of the fun though.  Those are the times when you really have to remember why you're doing this.  It's a time when you learn the most about yourself as well.  I've found that as long as I smile, keep positive thoughts in my mind and just keep going, the finish line always comes.  These races are about doing your best given the circumstances you face.  Regardless of the adversity we face, we must keep moving forward!

 

The best part of the entire day was at mile 12.75 of the 13.1 mile run.  I caught up to Trace.  He has been part of RODS since the beginning and is a huge support.  He's a great athlete as well.  We got to run the final part of the race side by side and cross the finish line together.  If I didn't have the mechanical issues on the bike we wouldn't have been able to experience that.  I'm thankful that I got to have that experience!

The Olmos' were also at the finish line.  They are also RODS members and great supporters of the cause.  I'm very appreciative of all the incredible support that I had out there during the entire race.

 I'm pretty sore today, but just like after all the races before, I can't wait to get out there again.  We are making much progress with RODS Racing because of these races and our incredible athletes and sponsors who support us.  I am also extremely appreciative to all the individuals who have donated to our RODS Orphans.  We are racing for Vaughn right now.  We have 7 children who have been adopted now because of all those who have believed in our cause.  We have a lot of great things in the works and most importantly are having a great time during the journey!  Until next time...