Video Documentary from our week in St Bernard Parish

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SBP and some cool stuff...

Well, the donations keep rolling in. I havent had the time to update my numbers yet, but it's safe to assume we are over the magic number of $12K. That means, through all of your efforts, we have raised enough to build a house. Some family is getting back into their home because of this silly little project.....very cool.

When the kids and I visited St Bernard Parish back in July, we worked on the home of David and Ivette Delgado. They were living in a FEMA trailer in their front yard with their 2 kids since Katrina.

Angelique - 8 DJ - 5

We spent the week working under Spencer, a 21 year old kid from Minneapolis. Spencer worked and lived in New Orleans for The St Bernard Project through Americorp and was paid about $150 a week.

The kind of leadership skills that a guy like Spencer is learning in a situation like this is invaluable. When I see some of the "spoiled brat" labels that get thrust upon this next generation, I think of Spencer, and have hope for the future. There are a bunch of Spencer's down in New Orleans right now, working for nothing, getting people back into their homes. The future of New Orleans is a bit brighter because of him. The Delgado's future sure looks brighter.

Well, in my original post, I promised the IM-SBP top ten a very cool St Bernard Project visor. Matt at Headsweats (http://headsweats.com/) is rushing the order so they'll be ready for Kona. Check this out:

The top ten is going to be tough to crack. I wont give specific names but I will say the going rate for the top ten is about $500. Imagine that, you can help some family like the Delgado's get back home and get a cool visor! If you are planning on being in Kona for the race, I'll be sporting one on the run too.

Training wise, just a few hard days left before I shut it down and start to rest. I have had some questions about caloric intake recently. During one of my harder training days recently, I counted calories and got up to 8000 for the day. Not exactly Michael Phelps territory, but a lot of food none the less. When you start to ad intensity into training towards the end, you're ALWAYS hungry.

Until next time, still taking donations...

Matt

The Last Loooong Ride

Last Friday was my last really long ride in prep for Kona. Here are the stats:

5 hours 37 minutes.
107 miles / very hilly course.

The bike in Kona is really the first determining factor for me going under 10 hours. Basically, I have to have a good enough bike to put myself into a good position to run about a 3:10 marathon. Doing the math, that means I'll need to start the run at around 6:45 race time or sooner to have a shot. With an hour swim and transitions, that means I have to bike the 112 miles in around 5:30. The conditions on the bike course could be the x factor in this whole plan. If it is super hot, humid, and windy (very possible), it'll be tough. I'm hoping for good conditions, but on race day, the conditions are what the conditions are. Part of doing well in Ironman is just focusing on the stuff you can control.

Anyway, long training rides are frickin hard. I am glad their over with.

Fundraising update:

Pledges for finishing: $7455
Under 10 Kicker: $6320
Total Possible: $13775

I have some press going on this week and a few heavy hitters to hit up so I am hoping for a good $$$ week.

Check in tomorrow as I'll post some cool stories about our trip to St Bernard Parish last July.

Still taking donations...

Matt

Thanks and Keep it Coming

Alright Folks, we are just a few days into this effort to raise some money for the St Bernard Project and hopefully get myself around the course in Kona. I have been pleasantly suprised by the rapid response and enthusiasm by the network of family and friend contibutors.

Here is what it looks like so far:


Pledges for Finishing: $5025
Under 10 Hours: $4225
Total Possible: $9250

As you can see, my under 10 hours kicker money is significant. The pressure is mounting.

Training wise, I have about 10 hard days of work left before I start to taper. For those of you unfamaliar with triathlon mumbo-jumbo, tapering happens about 2 weeks before a race. You'll reduce training volume the closer you get to race day. I t allows the body to rest up and hopefully get ready to produce the best race. I guess I also should stop eating chocolate cookies at some point also, that might help to.

I have had a great response from the folks at St Bernard Project from this effort. For those that want to watch a quick youtube on SBP, check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y95VhOFpgQE

Lots of work to do!

Cheers

Matt

Comlpete an Ironman -> Rebuild a Community

This year at Ironman Coeur D Alene in June, I qualified for the 2008 Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii to be run on Oct 11, 2008. My wife and son will be coming out to watch and it should be lots of fun (for them!). For me, I have been training for this for a while and am looking forward to suffering like a dog for around 10 hours in the sun-baked lava fields of the big island (ouch). The Ironman is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, followed by a full marathon (http://www.ironman.com/).

This year, shortly after I qualified for the World Championships in June, I escorted 4 high-schoolers (Sonya and Luke Falcone – my step kids & Meaghan and Noah Allyn – their cousins) to St Bernard Parish outside of New Orleans. While there, we worked through a great local non-profit (http://www.stbernardproject.org/) to help re-build a house destroyed by hurricane Katrina in Chalmette, La. St Bernard Parish was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. It was under 20 ft of water, which rendered 100% of the structures uninhabitable. While services have been restored to the area, many of the homes have yet to be rebuilt. We found many families with children still living in FEMA trailers on front lawns, in front of homes that looked much like they did only a few months after the storm. The people of The St Bernard Project have picked up where government services couldn’t and have already helped close to 150 families get back into their homes. Through generous donations from individuals and corporations, the tireless work of their staff, and an army of volunteers, they are able to rebuild a house for about $12K. While they have done lots of great work, there is still much to do, with close to 100 families on the waiting list.

So, I had a crazy idea that I could combine these 2 events from the summer of 2008 and use the Ironman to help the people of St Bernard. Here’s the deal, I would like your help raising some much needed money for The St Bernard Project. How about we make a deal that if I finish the race, you’ll donate some money to SBP?

Also, I might need a little extra motivation, so how about we do an “Under 10” kicker. As in, if I can drag my body around the course in under 10 hours you sweeten the deal (maybe an extra $10, or $100, or double it!). I completed Ironman Coeur D Alene in Idaho in June in 9:49. But, Kona is a tougher course.

For those of you that are the “Ironman – SBP Top Ten” (the top ten donors), I’ll send you a very cool St Bernard Project Visor.

You can simply send an email to ironmanstbernard@mattgiven.com and let me know your plans. I’ll follow up with the best way to get the $$$ to SBP. (All doantions are tax deductable.) Then, on Oct 11th, follow me on ironmanlive.com. After the race, I’ll update everyone on how we did. If you know of anyone else who might be into helping, please feel free to forward this email. Thanks!

Luke / Sonya / Meaghan / Noah / David (Homeowner) in St Bernard Parish – July 2008

Thanks in Advance!