friends, family, and a dude with a mohawk

Last Wednesday, as I approached the Whippoorwill playground a couple of miles from my apartment, I noticed a guy probably in his twenties who appeared to be at the beginning of his personal mohawk journey. He struck me as a serious looking fellow, so I was surprised when, as I got closer, he stoically extended his arm over the short chain-link fence to give me five. I was more than happy to oblige. I don't know why he felt the need to offer a hand slap, but it struck me as oddly meaningful.

I wanted to post that story so that I would have a record of the event and also to highlight the fact that encouragement in my training has come from a lot of different sources.

One of the more obvious ones has been my fundraising page. As of a week ago (and only about two weeks after sending out my fundraising e-mail), I (or rather, my donors) had surpassed my goal for World Vision. The speed at which this happened, everyone's generosity, and their well wishes were all both inspiring and humbling. It's nice to know that I have so many people in my corner, even if some of them think I'm nuts. My intent is to put together more of a concerted "thank you" effort, but for now I would like give a quick shout out to my donors. Your donations and kind words are very much appreciated and I will do my best to honor them as I train and race.

If you have not yet donated but would still like to, please feel free. I have fulfilled my obligation to World Vision, but additional dollars will help just as much to provide clean water to those in Africa.

Cheers.