It's a good life!
It was Friday afternoon when we departed for Gulf Shores, Alabama. It was our second trip in back to back weekends. We didn't say much to each other, and my Dad was driving to give us a chance to rest. As usual, I fell asleep, as is customary on every road trip that I go on! I kept talking to a good buddy, John David Johnson, throughout the whole trip - who acted as one of our assistants for the weekend, along with my Dad. We stayed with John David's wife, two adorable kids, and his Mom, who made sure that we were well fed for the race. We arrived about 9:30 Central time, and 30 minutes later I was in the bed. We woke up the next morning at 4:30 am, threw on my All3 Sports gear and got straight in the car...but first John David had to make his coffee... typical! We did our registration and got everything ready for the big event.
On the way to the race, I listened to one of my new favorite songs - "A Good Life" which really embodies how I feel about our incredible movement. I think our friend Jill Poon described in a post how this song can sum up how we live each day. We can make that choice on our own how we want to take on each day and this day was looking to be special...
All of a sudden we were off. We did the swim, which had a lot of waves that made me a little scared at first, but I just kept telling myself "just get in it... just get in it!". JD and my Dad got completely soaked, but we never looked back.
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| Surf board might have worked on that wave... |
The swim was relatively low stress...for me at least! Brent seemed to be cruising along in his Blue Seventy Helix and before I knew it we were coming into the beach for the swim finish. Then it was off to the first transition which went smooth, with help from our great Sherpa crew! (more from the Sherpas at a later date)
The bike felt great in the beginning but by the end I was very tired, and my gluteus maximus (haha) started to hurt. My first race on the bike seemed to be easier than today but we pushed through the small rolling hills and on towards the bike finish.
Overall though being back on our Freedom Concepts tandem bike was great and I can tell I am getting stronger in the saddle. As we rolled into transition all the volunteers were waiting on us. They had been something else on race day and we really owe it to Team Magic for putting on such a great race. As we loaded into our jogger and grabbed a little Gu Energy for the road it was time to push the effort. We wanted to finish the race in a faster fashion than the last and it was going to have to happen on the run.
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| Thanks Albopads! Those things make life great in the chair! |
Before the race started we had talked with our coach Matthew Rose and the goal for the day was to manage it all for the run. We pushed out of transition and I was talking to Brent letting him know how I felt. We were taking on a lot of fluids and Gu to keep the effort up and as we passed some ice towels we covered my legs and head to cool me off. IT WAS HOT! As we crossed the finish line we realized that we had our best time ever (with a longer swim), and we and we even placed first in our division!!
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| Finishing at "The Hangout" |
Again a special thanks to Team Magic for an incredible race experience and to the awesome Sherpa Crew of John David Johnson and my Dad! With the help of all our sponsors and countless others the race day experience is all the better. This has been a fun journey and is only just beginning. It's a good life!
We race and we grow
Hello Kpeasey blog nation, I hope everybody is doing well, and please excuse my absence from the blog. We have been working on a lot of projects in anticipation of a big fall schedule. Evan, Brent, and I competed in a 4 mile fun run two weeks ago. Lekotek was the sponsor of the event which is very near and dear to my heart because they help me with my handicap accessible technology. It was a blast to be out with my brothers for the first time since the triathlon. We were laughing the whole time just the three of us and it was great to be out there together. Even my dad joined in the fun as DJ of the event. Great to see him spinning like his old Syracuse days!!
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| Look at him and Evan bring back the Jock Jams |
Unfortunately, the New York Marathon, which we intended to race in November, had some rules that we could not get around and we have had to take that off of our schedule. We greatly appreciate the opportunity, and we hope to race one day with them in the very near future. Thank you to the New York Marathon people for helping us try to get it worked out. This past weekend, we had a race with Team Hoyt VB in the Virginia Beach Rock 'n Roll half marathon.
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| That's me in yellow with the rest of Team Hoyt VB |
What an incredible group of people both runners and volunteers. The Virginia Beach chapter of Team Hoyt aides the physically challenged in running events in the area, and we were very honored to be their guest this past weekend. They take great pride in what they are doing and we couldn't have been happier to join them. Even more exciting our cousin and friend Paul McNulty (read his guest blog here too) joined us as well who had his personal best of 1:51.
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| Here is the McNulty Family with Son Kyle, my brother Brent, his fiance Erica and my father (our sherpa!) |
On top of all of that we improved from our last Half Marathon effort by over 22 minutes and came in at 1:44!! It was incredible, and it just felt good to be out there. The weather was great. Nice, cool and crisp! It allowed us to get into a groove and go for it.
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| We ran alongside some very fast runners. What a great experience! |
One of the best parts of the weekend came off the course when I got to meet baby Kyle. There are a handful of young kids in my life that I absolutely adore, and this one is one of them. One of the sweetest, happiest babies that I have ever met, and he had a t-shirt that says K-Peasey is my hero. Having Paul his wife Abbey there in support was tremendous and always wonderful to be with family. Even more exciting was the chance to meet baby Kyle. Paul and Abbey have named their son for me and I was honored to be able to race in front of him for the first time with his father.
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| Meeting Elivs was cool too... |
Thanks to my good buddy, John David Johnson and his son, my boy, Logan for taking us out for a practice swim for our upcoming triathlon, the Alabama Coastal Tri, September 10th in Gulf Shores, Alabama. I am extremely pumped for my next Tri and look forward to racing again next weekend! I have not had as much time on the bike since our last race, so it will be fun but something I have to get used to again. The jogger felt good in Virginia Beach and even with a little soreness I think we are ready for the run portion. The fatigue is something I look forward to as it means that I am working hard in those races and that is important as we continue to do more of this.
The Kyle Pease Foundation is continuing to move in the right direction and we are planning more to help grow the cause and will continue to update the website with information. We are continuing to work on many events for the fall, including a bowl-a-thon, and will be looking for ways to get others involved too. As always, thank you for your continued support and we can't wait to race.
-Kyle
"KPeasey"
What does KPeasey Mean to You
Hey folks!
As we prepare for our half marathon this weekend we reached out to good friend Chris Jones to ask what his KPeasey band means to him.
Be sure to follow our race this weekend and remember KPeasey as you go through each of your days.
-KP
What Does KPeasey Band Mean To You?
The KPeasey bracelet is a great symbol of what Kyle embodies as a person. When you wear the bracelet you have no choice but to uphold these traits that Kyle expects of himself. Setting your mind to do something and completing that action is KPeasey. The bracelets are also a constant reminder that things can always be put into perspective. People are drawn to Kyle because of his attitude. Wear the bracelet to a Braves game, on Marta, around Atlanta, chances are pretty good you’ll run into somebody else who knows what KPeasey is about. The brand that is “KPeasey” is recognized everywhere, and people are proud to represent it, I know I am. Not everything in life is meant to be easy, but without a challenge not everything is rewarding.
As we prepare for our half marathon this weekend we reached out to good friend Chris Jones to ask what his KPeasey band means to him.
Be sure to follow our race this weekend and remember KPeasey as you go through each of your days.
-KP
What Does KPeasey Band Mean To You?
The KPeasey bracelet is a great symbol of what Kyle embodies as a person. When you wear the bracelet you have no choice but to uphold these traits that Kyle expects of himself. Setting your mind to do something and completing that action is KPeasey. The bracelets are also a constant reminder that things can always be put into perspective. People are drawn to Kyle because of his attitude. Wear the bracelet to a Braves game, on Marta, around Atlanta, chances are pretty good you’ll run into somebody else who knows what KPeasey is about. The brand that is “KPeasey” is recognized everywhere, and people are proud to represent it, I know I am. Not everything in life is meant to be easy, but without a challenge not everything is rewarding.
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| Kyle with Chris and Wife Colleen |
Foundations, Marathons and more to follow!
Hello friends
Its an exciting time of year for Team KPeasey. We are gearing up for our fall races, getting organized as a group and even adding some new races.
First and most importantly the newly formed Kyle Pease Foundation has now been created. We are a 501c3 not for profit foundation with the goal of improving the lives of physically challenged persons. We want everyone to be able to live life to their fullest and to share their gift with the world!!
Check me out signing the IRS paperwork!
We will be updating our website with more information but if you would like to make a tax deductible donation email us at
. As we get our foundation going we will continue to get out there and race to help grow awareness to our cause and to help raise more money towards the greater goal of KPeasey. It is certainly very important to me that I am able to help others in the way that so many others have helped me and could not be more excited about the Kyle Pease Foundation. We will keep everyone updated on fund raising, and events. Where there is a wheel there is a way!!
Sign here right?
But that's not it folks...there is even more exciting news to come. Throughout the year Brent, Evan and I have been working hard to get into the
. Yep the New York Marathon that had over 45,000 people cross the finish line last year. That same one!! Well thanks to our new friends at
we will now be participating on November 6, 2011 in the Big Apple for our first Marathon!! So game face is now on...
Foundations, Marathons and racing...its what we do. Thanks as always to everyone for the continued support.
Look forward to updating everyone soon with updates on our foundation.
Best
Kyle
Walking With KPeasey
Friends of KPeasey
Hello KPeasey Blog Nation. My name is Paul McNulty and my wife Abbey is a cousin of the Pease's. We live in Delaware and don't get to see Kyle and the rest of the family as much as we would like to, but we are in contact almost daily. Kyle asked if I would mind writing a Blog entry for him and I let him know I would be honored to do it. Kyle wanted me to write about our newborn son and my training for the 1/2 marathon I will be doing with Kyle and Brent in VA Beach, Labor Day Weekend. I told him I would write about that but I also felt compelled to write a few words about Kyle Pease. Kyle never ceases to amaze me with his ambition and drive. Kyle is the main reason I have been training extra hard for our 1/2 marathon together in September.
When there are days I don't have the motivation to put in the extra mile or two or the extra set in the gym, I look at that Blue Bracelet on my wrist and use Kyle for inspiration to keep on going. Kyle has made such an impact in our life that my wife Abbey and I named our son after him.
Kyle McNulty will meet Kyle Pease for the first time in VA Beach and that is going to be a great day. It is truly special when one person can much such a positive impact on the lives of numerous people - including strangers. Each and everyone of us should use Kyle's (along with his entire family and support staff) amazing accomplishments as motivation for ourselves when we think we cannot do something or think we should not put the full effort in. Let's go VA Beach!! Until then, Keep on Keeping on!!
-Paul McNulty
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| Check me out training in the KPeasey shirt! |
When there are days I don't have the motivation to put in the extra mile or two or the extra set in the gym, I look at that Blue Bracelet on my wrist and use Kyle for inspiration to keep on going. Kyle has made such an impact in our life that my wife Abbey and I named our son after him.
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| My son Kyle, and yes he rocks his KPeasey blue too!! |
Kyle McNulty will meet Kyle Pease for the first time in VA Beach and that is going to be a great day. It is truly special when one person can much such a positive impact on the lives of numerous people - including strangers. Each and everyone of us should use Kyle's (along with his entire family and support staff) amazing accomplishments as motivation for ourselves when we think we cannot do something or think we should not put the full effort in. Let's go VA Beach!! Until then, Keep on Keeping on!!
-Paul McNulty
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| The McNulty Family with son Kyle and our KPeasey Bracelets! |