Uncle

There...I did it. I cried uncle today. Bike - 26 miles, a continuous hill incline that I'm pretty sure peaks at a height comparable to Everest (this is just a guess, no GPS or altitude equipment was used in the process), and heat coupled with a pasting of humidity. My legs have given up. I may walk with a noticeable awkward step and limp the rest of my life.

Next week, tune in as I cry for my Mommy.

DONATION PAGE(by clicking here)

Sometimes Thank You Isn't Enough

I was excited this morning to get an e-mail from a very close friend of mine, Ev, who is traveling in Europe. She has a blog set up documenting her travels. Ev told me she had put up a special post on her site...so I checked it out. She had posted about my training and fundraising and asked her friends and family to check out my site. As if I wasn't thankful enough to see that she had done that this morning....I went to update my site a few hours later and I saw something that has left me incredibly touched:

Someone anonymously donated $250 to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through my site.

I have to assume it came as a result of Ev's post...and that makes it even more special. Someone, who knows almost nothing about me, was so generous as to donate that large sum...and did so anonymously. I cannot thank Ev or that person (or persons) enough. I reposted the article about Kati Fisher (immediately below this post) as a result of this donation. Whoever you are - Kati is a perfect example of the lives you just touched. You just gave hope to more people...more children. Thank you...from the bottom of my heart.

This is why I train...

This is why I'm doing this (click on link below). Please help if you can by clicking on 'CONTRIBUTE TO CAMERON' on the right-hand side of this page.

Click on this to read the news article about Katie pictured above

DONATION PAGE(by clicking here)

Reminder -

Remember, you can donate here:

DONATION PAGE(by clicking here)

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE HELP WITH ANY AMOUNT!!!!

Exhausted?

No...not really. Instead, I feel like whatever comes AFTER exhausted. Today's run practice was intense. I don't know why. I struggled. BUT - here is where I need to throw out some acknowledgements.

Marsella - she's always there to offer me some encouragement with a giant smile on her face...definitley keeps me going.

Katie - she's always there to ask "what the hell is going on here!?!?" when she thinks I can pick up the pace...definitley scares me enough to have me pick it up a little.
I told Katie she was going to make my blog tonight. I don't know if she knew why...but now its clear to all the world.

Tomorrow - the Advanced Swim. That's right...Cameron's swimmin' with the big boys (and big girls....but not big in that way...they're all in great shape...but big in a big way...uhhhhhh...you know what I mean).

10-4...over and out.

Unbelievable

Every time I think my donations from friends are finished (they've either donated or decided not to donate by now - I thought), I'm blindsided by the amazing generosity of another one. My old buddy from high school and current Orange County resident Jeremiah Johnson (like the mountain man) added $100 to the total raised!

He donated it with the express condition - "if you use it to gamble Cameron, I get 50% of your winnings." That raises two issues - (1) does he think I have such a gambling problem that I'm going to gamble with donated money? (2) how cool is it that he's so confident of me winning, he didn't say "don't gamble it," he said "i get 50% of your winnings." I wish I had that confidence in my blackjack skills. Well - I wouldn't even think of using donated money for gambling...and his donation took the grand total raised up to $712. That's 16% of my grand total. This is an awesome start...but I NEED EVERY BIT OF HELP FROM EVERYONE I KNOW. 84% is a LONG way to go.

By the way - swam a half mile the other day...no sweat (and no, it's not b/c it's impossible to sweat in a pool). I mean it was easy. Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself....but I think I turned the corner on the swim deal.

More Thanks...

I wanted to thank my friends John and Derek for their recent donations to the cause. John came in with $32 (the weird amount gives you some insight as to how weird John is) and Derek blew me away with a $50 donation. Derek really wanted to be on the leaderboard on my donation site...and he successfully kicked John off. I'll take the money however I can get it...even if it's just an ego thing for the donor. By the way - this is Derek...

From my buddy Turtzo...

Why being incredibly overweight is not a bad thing when competing in a triathlon:
click here

Dear Mike... (my brother)

I'm covinced you're the only one that reads my blog...so I figured I'd address this post directly to you. Not that I have anything specific to tell you personally...it's just that...well...why address the whole world when only you are looking...that'd just be rude.

I just got back from a 3.5 mile run. Nothing big. But it was nice after a day of Bar review. We had a 4 hour lecture today (Saturday) to start it all off...then 5-6 hours worth of personal study time. Can you believe even our weekends aren't sacred anymore!?!?

Yesterday I went on a 16.5 mile bike ride. That was awesome because I felt really good during the whole workout. I don't want to jinx myself, but I think the bike may be my best leg of the triathlon.

I don't know if it's mental or actually physical...but I feel better during all my workouts. Granted...I've still got a loooooooooooooong way to go...but I guess it's better that I feel good now instead of bad - otherwise it'd make it super hard to increase the workouts. On a side note - there is no other time in my life that P. Diddy's reality t.v. show about putting together a girl group would ever be so appealing as it was today when I was procrastinating about starting my Bar study. Even the most ridiculous shows become worth my time when I know it's either that or determining whether the power to adjudicate actions where two or more states are involved, which would include actions to adjudicate border disputes, is vested in the judcial brach by Article III of the Constitution or the Due Process clause...or both. (The answer is 'A', for you non law-schoolers....I think).

Mistake #1

Alright - so I think I've got this "triathlon training" all figured out, right? No.
Tuesday nights are our coached swim practices. Lots of technique drills...not alot of distance swimming. In short - Tuesday nights are fun pool nights...or...they were fun pool nights.

Take this Tuesday for instance. My buddies are tackling the Luigi's Pizza Challenge (2 people, a 30" pizza, 1 hour, and no leaving the table - for a free t-shirt and entry into the Luigi's Pizza Hall of Fame). I figure I gotta eat...plus, it'd be a nice humorous break from Bar study. So I go to watch, decide I can eat a giant slice of pizza (when I say giant...I mean giant - that's what Luigi's is famous for) b/c I've got "fun pool night" coming up.
I get to practice...we talk a bit about swimming stuff...coach has us jump in the pool and do a warm up. I'm a lap into my "warm-up" when coach pulls me out and tells me to head down to the other end of the pool. Sounds like I'm in trouble, right? I am. But not in the way you're thinking. Turns out...coach likes where I'm at with my swim...and he thinks it's time for me to "step it up" and swim with the big boys. Great...I had to eat a massive amount of pizza on this night!?!?

About 1/2 mile later I finished my practice. I will not eat that much 15 minutes before swim practice again. I will not eat period 15 minutes before swim practice again!

Just got back from the swim. Swam the equivalent of a half-mile. I have no idea how I'll ever make the mile.

update #1- what I thought was a half-mile was actually somewhere just over a 1/4 mile. I'm screwed.

On Saturday we did a biked 20k time trial (approximately 12.4 miles). That's half the distance of the bike portion at the actual triathlon. The time trials are grueling b/c you're expected to go as fast and hard as you can while maintaining your speed. Finding that perfect balance of work and preservation of energy is tough. I came in at 44 min 31 sec. That's an average of 16.75 mph.

I was pretty tired afterwards...and my legs are killing me today. I was planning on running with some team members on a cool hiking trail today, but b/c I'm hurting I plan to hit the pool instead to practice my swim. If you do that math (and assume that I improve my bicycling and can maintain a speed near what I did yesterday), the bike portion at the triathlon will take me about an hour and a half to complete. That'll give me plenty of time to question why the hell I ever decided to do a triathlon.

How much is a life worth?

This is why I'm doing this (click on link below). Please help if you can by clicking on 'CONTRIBUTE TO CAMERON' on the right-hand side of this page.

Click on this to read the news article about Katie pictured above

Here she is...

Did I say patriotic or did I say patriotic?! Look at her...a finely molded aerodynamic bicycle that screams "RIDE ME!"
(appreciate the color coordinated helmet)