The important stuff first. I've decided that my RUS charity will be Jamal Place, a group home for troubled boys and young men on Chicago's west side. Jamal Place makes positive changes in the lives of boys and young men through superior residential care, individual therapeutic programs, quality educational opportunities and extended family resources. Jamal Place helps young men become caring and responsible citizens. (I admit borrowing all that from JP's website.) Anyways, I was previously involved with Jamal Place, primarily as a donor, and got to know its founder and Executive Director, Ann Deuel. She's incredible and may be the most dogged and indefatigable person I know. She has no agenda other then to do what is in the best interests of the boys and young men at Jamal Place. She's in a constant battle to find funding to keep Jamal Place open, especially these days. My goal is to help as much as I can through the generosity of my friends, family and anyone I can harangue in to donating money. I encourage you to visit Jamal Place's website to learn more about it and make a donation.... pretty please! http://www.jamalplace.org.

On to the other stuff... last weekend I did the "Whirlpool Ironman 70.3 Steelhead Triathlon presented by Pizza Hut" in Benton Harbor, Michigan. That's the actual, official title. Guess they've got to keep the corporate sponsors happy, altho I have no idea what the "Steelhead" part means. The 70.3 part comes from 1.2 miles swim + 56 mile bike + 13.1 mile run = 70.3 miles. That means it is really a 1/2 Ironman. The real Ironman is 2.4 + 112 + 26.2 = 140.6. The company that owns the "Ironman" brand created the 70.3 series a few years back. Kind of a smart move because they can put the Ironman logo (the infamous M dot above) on races that are 1/2 the distance of a full Ironman. Why go 140.6 when you can go 70.3 and still get the same cool finisher shirt?

As for the race itself, it was great. It was well organized. The course was fast. Lots of spectators. It was my friend's first triathlon in 9 years so going slow and pacing ourselves was the theme of the day. We also didn't train too seriously, so it was just a matter of finishing. We endured a downpour for the first hour, some bike breakdowns (why do I keep getting flats!), intestinal issues that led to potty stops, and the usual unexpected issues to deal with, but we finished strong. I'm a happy camper.

Next up, the NYC marathon.

Later!