Fundraising for the Philippines

It's truly amazing to see all the fundraising opportunities that are popping up all over the internet for the Philippines for relief from Typhoon Haiyan. From free voice calls and text messages via AT&T, Verizon or Sprint, free shipping from LBC or you can also donate directly to the Red Cross Typhoon Appeal. My two favorite are from the folks at Ironman and San Diego Bolt Complex. Click on any of the images or the links to proceed and support this cause, country and people ((I was born and raised in San Diego but both my parents are originally from the Philippines. This is a cause and time that holds dear to my heart. I would appreciate any donations you can make)) I also have friends that I can get you in touch with that are accepting donations and shipping every week as well.

From the Ironman Foundation:

To support victims of Typhoon Haiyan, IRONMAN and The IRONMAN Foundation want to provide one meal a day for 1,000 families for a month. We need your help to achieve that goal. We’ve teamed up with a Philippine non-profit organization dedicated to fighting poverty, Gawad Kalinga (which means "give care").

Your $30 contribution for one shirt will feed a family of five every day for a month.

From San Diego Bolt Complex

We, the BX, will donate ALL proceeds to this organization, http://www.savethechildren.org. Millions of vulnerable children are at risk in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan. More than 300 miles wide, the typhoon left a deadly path of destruction in its wake. In response, Save the Children is working around the clock to help children and families with emergency assistance during this difficult time. Thank you.

A friend of mine composed a bitly bundle that is showcasing all the Philippine Charity Tee Shirts. I'm sure with all the various tee out there, you can easily pick one!

Ride w/ me this Saturday!

I was thinking of making this an awesome type ride where if you beat me, I have to buy you lunch, but I'm thinking that it might get a bit costly. So instead, I'll buy a round of beers if you come out and ride! My plans for this week are to get re-fitted on my bicycle, and get a quick tuneup (it's been about two years for a professional tune). During the Week 6 ride, I didn't feel that good in terms of positioning on my bike and even had to stop and raise my seat a couple of times. Definitely frustrating. The ride this Saturday is Week 08 of the Spring 2011 San Diego Century Training series sponsored by Trek San Diego and will once again start out at Peet's Coffee in Torrey Highlands. This is a 55 mile ride slated to ride past Top Gun/Mission Valley and include the La Jolla Loop. It's going to be a great morning with temperatures in the low 60s with a slight chance of rain but I'll be crossing my fingers. I'm hoping that the forecast improves but that it doesn't get too hot. Last ride, I ran out of water at 10 miles to go and my Garmin Edge 500 said that it got to around 89.5F!

The full details of the ride can be found here. I'd love to see you out there w/ me and a few of my other friends. And hey, while you are at it, check out my Tour de Cure fundraiser page and support me in my ride. Just head over to http://main.diabetes.org/goto/elijah. Any donation would be awesome!

Trek San Diego Century Training Week 6

I started receiving emails about Trek San Diego's weekly rides but it wasn't until today that I was able to finally participate and ride with the gang. This ride was setup as Trek San Diego's Century Training Week 6 // 45 miles. I invited a few people but when it came down to the final start, it was Matt Krawczak and Brian Dudley that showed up. Granted it was an early 7:30AM start but it was all worth it. I went to sleep a late last night clocking in only 5 hours of sleep, which on a scale of 1-10, only ranked about a 6. Maybe it was the anticipation of the ride or maybe the fact that I ate an entire California Burrito at 12:30am which served as my carb loading.

I woke up at 5:30am without an alarm and couldn't get back to sleep so I just gathered my things, drank some juices, ate a Fiber One bar and headed out. I still felt full but excited and when I arrived at the parking lot, it only got more more energized.

Starting out the ride, we kept a casual pace saving the energy for the climbs that were along our route. An easy pace throughout until we got to those hills. If you click on the map below, you'll be able to to go through the entire route along with my speed, elevation, heart rate and cadence charts along with a temperature chart. I'll rate this ride also a 6 out of 10. I haven't ridden in such a long time and I've been only targeting 1-1.5 hrs so this was a challenge. Good company all around made it a great ride followed by some burger goodness at Islands!

There are more rides coming up so check out the schedule and don't forget, this training is all for my goal of riding the Tour de Cure Century this upcoming May 7th. Support me by donating anything from $1.00 to whatever you can to help and find a cure for diabetes. Click here to reach my Tour de Cure page.