And then we have a guy by the name of John Schultz. I have run into John at 5 or 6 races so far this year. In every race thus far he has won his age group and in a couple of races he has received additional special recognition. John is very distinctive because he always races in red shorts and no shirt and you can pick him out of any crowd. Oh yeah, and John Schultz is 77 years old. Up until this week I didn’t even know his name and we simply referred to him as “77 year old guy”. Earlier this week while parking my car on my way to work in downtown Wilmington Delaware, who do you think I saw ? You got it – 77 year old guy. I felt compelled to walk up to him and say hello. This idea played out much easier in my head because I practically had to sprint down Delaware Ave. just to catch up to the guy. But I did eventually catch up to him and introduced myself. He actually lives four miles from where I work and was sporting his Sunset Challenge race tee shirt from this past weekend. He was an incredibly nice guy and almost seemed a little shy or embarrassed that I would have remembered him. As we parted ways he said to me with a big smile, “hey there is a local 5k here tonight if you are interested”. I can only hope and pray that I am still doing what John is doing at 57 or 67, let alone 77.

Every race has its share of athletes who struggle at the very back of the back and who seem like they may not even make it to the finish. To see them walking the street you would not picture them participating in a triathlon. But that’s the beauty of the sport. It is very accepting of any and all comers. I am far more inspired by the woman who finishes long after everyone else has with a smile on her face and feeling empowered as a result than I am of the elite competitor who smashes a course record.

And then we have the elite athlete who does smash a course record, but who is so humble that he doesn’t like to talk at all about his own accomplishments. The kind of guy who would rather give back to others and to the sport than to call himself an elite. I know one guy that fits this description quite well. But I won’t even mention him by name as that kind of attention would only make him feel uncomfortable. He knows who he is and how I feel about who he is and what he does.

For the most part the next six weeks will be more training than racing for me. The fall is pretty full with long distance racing for me and it’s time to bulk up some of my training miles. I love long distance training and racing. It’s very therapeutic for me to be on my bike for hours at a time. You tend to figure a lot of things out during that time and gain valuable perspective which is useful in all aspects of life.

I am starting TODAY off the right way with peace and quiet, my dogs, and coffee. (and you folks). But the big ticket item today will be launching my kayak a couple of miles down the road at Beasley’s Point. There is a nice small beach down there that is perfect for kayaking and open water swimming.

Tonight I need to head home so I can connect with John Anderson and a couple of other cyclists for tomorrow’s cancer bike ride. Keep your fingers crossed for OK weather. I’m sure we will have plenty to share from this ride. Wet or dry, I’m looking forward to it. It will be good fun and a nice 66 mile training ride while helping the cancer cause.

Last weekend my wife and I were helping out the race director and her husband at the Avalon Islandman triathlon. Midge and Tim Kerr are GREAT friends and GREAT people who totally GET IT.Tim has been giving back to the community in various ways for over 20 years. (see www.timkerrcharities.org for more on them)  Avalon is one of my “give back” races that I work and support but don’t race. So I was helping Tim organize some athlete awards when I hear Midge call my name for an award for going “Above and Beyond”. Awards like this and the one that I received from Team in Training a few weeks ago mean more to me than any performance based award.

This was already a special race because we were using it to recognize the late Brad Schoener, and Brad’s wife and family were there to support and present the awards. Although I still don’t feel my actions warrant an award, I am really touched that someone gave me a nod like that simply for doing what I love to do. So my point is – yes – you can make a difference simply by harnessing what you love to do.

As a quick side note; Earlier this week we also met Tim and Midge for dinner where we discussed everything from raising kids to racing. Earlier, this year I had  introduced the Kerr’s to Anne Mahlum of Back on My Feet (www.backonmyfeet.org) who will have huge representation at Tim’s 7 Mile Run in September. As I was going into a little more detail about Back on My Feet and how their program works, Tim chimed in with this comment “Well, why don’t I just send busses up to Philly to pick up all of the Back on My Feet athletes so they don’t have to worry about transportation”. Need I say any more ?

Life is good and I am surrounded by great people.