Mike Across America

Not a single day goes by that I don’t think about or talk about RAAM. This thing consumes me. It’s such a huge challenge and there are so many details that go into making this happen. Where to start?

First – the crew. Jenny Stinson, organizer extraordinaire, has graciously agreed to be my crew chief. This is huge in that whether she knows it or not she’s the “head coach” for this whole event. I trust Jenny without question and know she will act in the best interest for me and the success of this adventure. My wife Karen, son Ben and Ben’s friend Josh are going the whole way, as is my sister Nancy, an occupational therapist.  Harvey and Anita Reibel from Florida are planning to go the whole way as well. Harvey has experience driving their RV, and he will pilot the rental we are getting. And, Jenny’s good friend, Lori Buksar – an RN, is hoping to go the full distance with us.

My best friend Dick Beardsley, daughter Kallie, friends Sue Christianson and Dyann Smith all plan to give us a week of help.  Rich Benyo and Rhonda Provost – with their vast knowledge of ultrarunning in the heat through Death Valley, plan to go the first 3 days with us (across the Mojove desert and into Arizona).

Needless to say I’m blown away with the support and generosity of these people. The RV and two vans have been reserved. Fund raising has started. Sponsors are stepping up to help. This feels like I’m starting a business, and the grand opening is only 7 months away. Lots of planning to do between now and then.

OK, it’s been a while since I’ve put anything up here. In the last month my life has been a bit busy. My job as a Cardiac Rehabilitation Coordinator for the largest hospital in the state of SD has kept me on the go. At any one time my staff of 3 RN’s, 2 Exercise Specialists, and 2 Exercise Physiologists have 30-40 patients who we see 3 times per week in our out-patient clinic and 10-20 patients we see daily in our in-patient program at the hospital. No two days are ever the same and working one on one with so many different people who all have one thing in common – coronary artery disease – is always a rewarding challenge.

Plus I’ve had two nasty colds in the last 3 weeks. The first one took me out for 7 days; the second one took 5 days to shake. My doctor says I probably was not over the first one and then it came back for round two. I’m on a medication called Avelox and it seems to be working.

I guess with RAAM still over 7 months away, missing the training for a few days doesn’t bother me that much. When I have been out on the bike or on the indoor trainer I’ve been feeling really good. I started my resistance training program using hand-weights and a balance ball. The first few weeks were pretty humbling, but I’m making steady progress with reps/sets and will continue this right up to RAAM.

My outdoor biking miles stand at 8582 as of today. My indoor cycling miles (1 hour = 20 miles) is 1240. So all together I’m at 9722 for the year, and I still have 6 more weeks. 10,000 miles here I come.