Two Part Post- Blazeman & a Quick Training Update

A short post covering two things- acknowledgement of the four year anniversary of the passing of Jon “Blazeman” Blais, and a much more insignificant rundown of the past few weeks of training.  I realize it has been too long since my last post, and a shout out to Blazeman and the War on ALS was just the thing I needed to get me back into blog mode.

Part I

Blazeman

If you are unfamiliar with his story, Jon Blais was a special education teacher and lifelong triathlete who completed Ironman Hawaii in 2005, five months after being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.  More commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, ALS is a neurodegenerative disease caused by progressive breakdown of neurons in the spinal cord.  There is no cure for this fatal disease, and life expectancy is typically less than five years post diagnosis.

Jon Blais was said to have always lived life to the fullest, and to me the proof of this is evident in his completion of the most grueling single day endurance test on the planet- Ironman Hawaii.  Jon’s battle with ALS, as well as his courageous outlook on life were brought to the world’s attention by NBC’s coverage of the 2005 Ironman Hawaii.  Fighting from start to finish, this was Jon’s first attempt at Ironman, which he finished by log-rolling across the finish line after more than 16 hours of racing in the windy lava fields of Kona.  Today, hundreds of triathletes honor Jon and the War on ALS by finishing races in the same style; log-rolling across the finish line in races around the world.  To date, Blazeman is the only person ever to have finished an Ironman after being diagnosed with ALS.  Jon Blais passed away on May 27, 2007, but his legacy lives on.  To learn more about what you can do to help defeat ALS, please visit the Blazeman Foundation for ALS at   http://www.waronals.com/index.php

Part II

After a couple of days of total rest following the Gulf Coast Triathlon, Coach D and I slowly took back to light training, trying to shake this bug I had come down with while also trying to preserve fitness.  The past two weeks has been a big block of training that has seen its shares of highs and lows.  Some great high volume/intensity weekend sessions have been tempered by some less than stellar run workouts as I try super hard to acclimate to this North Carolina heat that has settled in over the last week or so.  Two more high quality sessions remain Saturday and Sunday before beginning a taper for the Coliseum Rock n’ Rollman on June 4th.  I am pressing on in search of a balanced 1/2 race performance from start to finish, and I am feeling as if June 4th is going to provide the opportunity.  Stay tuned for a piece on ergogenic aids, and a Brooks shoe review.  http://www.brooksrunning.com/