45 MInute Spin and First $500

We're off to a good start. I just joined the Battelle gym today and participated in a 45 minute spin class. I thought I was going to pass out after 10 minutes (talk about not being in shape!) but I got my groove and was ok by the end of the class. I'm so glad to have this resource on campus and look forward to getting back in shape.

We've also managed to raise our first $500 - on our way to becoming a "High Roller".

New Team

Team Nothmann is partnering up with the Battelle team this year in the Pelotonia and we are excited to meet new people and raise $ and awareness to fight cancer. We have been blessed with a healthy family and look forward to new adventures... and getting back into shape.

Half Way There!

WOW! We've only been at it for 6 weeks and we've hit the 50% mark for our fundraising goal.

THANK YOU!!!

We've still got some work ahead of us, but I wanted to take a minute to stop and celebrate a big milestone.

Diane

I recently got some financial support from one of my colleagues; someone I've known for about as long as I've worked at Monsanto - 12 years. She's also one of the reasons I ride. She's a mom, a colleague and a friend. Makes me humble.

Fundraising Update

Well the fundraising officially started and we're already at 4% of our target... THANKS! We had a number of great comments, which I'll share here for everyone:

• Hurray for those extra 75 lbs. being hauled! Go Team Nothmann!!
• THANKS FOR YOUR EFFORTS
• Good luck David, Isaac and Solomon. We will be cheering for you in your new venue!

It's your support that keeps us going.

Open for Business

Got the website up and running to accept donations for the MS Bike Ride and need to get crackin' on raising $. Definitely starting later than usual, but I'm still confident that we can attain the goal.

Weekend training didn't consist of any riding, but I got in 10 miles of running and a good swim as well as some exercises focused on the core. I'll have to get on the trainer today or tomorrow as early morning meetings (4:45 AM - blech) are going to prevent me from commuting to work for the early part of the week.

July Fundraising Update

WOW!
June and July have been some breath-taking months in terms of response to our requests for financial support. We have doubled the amount of money we've raised and we're at the 50% mark relative to our goal of $20k. Here is the latest and greatest chart:

The generosity of friends, family and colleagues is GREATLY appreciated. I'm confident that we'll attain our goal...

Thanks to everyone for their support to date!

Fundraising Update

We've kicked off our fundraising efforts and are pleased to report that we are at currently at $1850 raised towards the $20k goal that we set: about 8% of target. We've just started to reach out to our former sponsor base and target getting 90%+ commitment from prior donors (base of 60 donors in 2007). We'll be casting the net more broadly this year to make up the ~10% lapsed donors.

As a tracking mechanism we're going to try using the format at the right.

We've been thinking about participating in the MS "Wine to Waves" Ride in the San Francisco / Napa area the week after the Gateway Area Chapter ride this September. If we decide to go ahead, we'll track based on total money raised rather than by specific event.

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HELPS MAKE THIS HAPPEN!

Goal ATTAINED - and EXCEEDED!

Wow - who would have thought it possible? I guess that is why we put aggressive goals out there... so that we can strive towards them.

Each year of riding, I have increased my fundraising goal, and 2007 started with a $10k goal (about what I received last year in support and contributions). Several weeks prior to the ride, I had, thanks to the generosity of friends, family and colleagues (and even some people I don't know directly but who are friends of my sponsors), already attained that goal. This morning I awoke and someone had unexpectedly bridged the $450 gap that the MS Website showed - with one donation. What the good samaritan hadn't realized was that the website hadn't yet acknowledged some of the "matching gifts" from the Monsanto Fund. If I include those matches, by my calculation,
that puts the current total at about $15,250.

Already folks have started to ask what our 2008 goal is going to be and I'd like to exceed $20k - that would make our 5 year total over $50k. I'll have to get VERY creative to hit that mark, but I've already got a few ideas up my sleeve, not the least of which is to START EARLY.

So THANK YOU to all of the VERY GENEROUS folks who gave from their hearts and supported this great cause. Isaac and I will be back and stronger in 2008...

Speedy Miles

Warmup 1 mile, followed by 3 x 1 mile at 7:03 pace (8.5 mph) and .25 mile rest interval; cool down ~1/2 mile. On treadmill, quick and speedy. Feel good.

I think I have recruited colleague and fellow Maverick "Evelyn" to join in Memphis (for the half marathon).

College buddy Brian may be visiting this weekend for a visit (possible MS sponsor!).

Agility

Well the best laid plans go to waste sometimes. I was on Napa time and arrived late into Chicago on Saturday night... so getting up to run on Sunday morning just didn't work out the way I wanted it to. I couldn't even run in St. Louis when we got home because it was already getting dark.

Instead, I got up this morning (Monday) and ran 10 miles on pace (8:45), showered and came to work. I just finished another 7 miles on the treadmill (8:30 pace) and am heading home! I got my 17 miles in, even if it was split!

I've inched up to 94% of my fundraising goal ($14, 135) for the MS Bike Tour and I'm starting to scrape the barrel... but I'm determined to get to $15k!

Vacation Update

Maintaining a schedule and above all a good nutrition plan while on vacation is very difficult. I did squeeze in my planned 15 mile run on Sunday, figuring out a 7.5 +/- loop from my brother and sister-in-law's house using www.mapmyrun.com which is a great little site. Unfortunately, I didn't run a negative split, but nonetheless averaged about 8:35 per mile - I obviously went out too fast! My calves have been very tight since that run, and I'm realizing now that I wasn't as thorough in my stretching post run as I usually am - note to self!

This past Sunday was also my first truly long run solo, so mentally it was an important step for me. I really like training with Jeremy, I imagine on the day of the marathon that he might forge ahead of me, as he is a stronger runner. I felt mentally tough and had only a brief moment of doubt when at mile 8 - 9 my stomach felt off; not cramps but not good. I think it was the Strawberry/Kiwi flavored Carb-Boom! that I ate a few miles before. It was good to test other nutrition, but I'm sticking with Hammer Nutrition for my gels. That said, I've heard good things about Sport Beans and am planning on visiting the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield to see if I can get some new flavors and/or better deals!

From a fundraising standpoint, we are rapidly approaching the cutoff date and we are at 92% of our $15k target (just under $14k). I have a few folks who have told me that they will pledge and the matches seem to be coming in, so I see $14.5 in sight, but still need to get creative on the last $500.

88%+

I checked fundraising status this morning and we're at about 88% of our revised goal of $15,000 (over $13k for those who struggle with math). The Monsanto Mavericks team is at about 77% of its goal of $100,000 (you can do THAT math!).

I have been trying to follow up with my Monsanto colleagues who receive a matching gift from MONSANTO if they register the original donation. Those matching gifts that have not yet posted should garner about another $1000 - so we're really closing in on the target (and it's going to be down to the wire, because the cut off date is also rapidly approaching).

Illinois Ag in the Classroom Ride

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday of this week riding my bike and teaching 4-6th graders about agriculture via a program called Ag in the Classroom. The event was put together by the Illinois Farm Bureau, and I had the chance to represent Monsanto and our support of this great cause along with my colleagues Doug Schemmer, Tom Bailey, me and Marsha Stanton(pictured here).

After an orientation dinner on Monday night sponsored by the City of Grayville, IL, we disembarked Tuesday morning bright and early (6:30 am) and headed through the rolling hills of Illinois. After fixing a flat (thanks Gary, Leslie and Paul), which occurred in the first few miles, Gary and I worked to catch up to the pack. After the first SAG stop, the medium and long routes diverged, Gary went long and I felt a need for speed - heading off by myself.

When we got to the schools, we performed "skits" which were designed to engage and entertain students while teaching them about how agriculture touches their lives in the products that they consume every day; from corn in deodorant, to pork in plastics, to soybeans in biodiesel and makeup... for example. The skit was modeled after the popular Disney movie High School Musical (I had never heard of this film before, but the kids were crazy about it!) . Here we all are in a gymnasium performing the skit.

My riding partner for the afternoon was Russ Ruenger pictured here pre-meltdown with me as “Mrs. D” after one of the skits. Yes, with my beard and acute acting skills, I had the pleasure of cross-dressing for two days. Unfortunately for Russ, he let me push him too hard after lunch and he burned up. Luckily for Russ, I didn't take his picture when he was all red and sweaty! That night, we all celebrated with some food sponsored by Wabash Valley FS at nearby Beall Woods State Park.

Wednesday morning got off to in inauspicious start, as I rocketed past the first turn and didn't realize my mistake for about 2 miles. When I hadn't seen a sign for awhile and didn't see anyone behind me, a little bell went off in my head and I stopped and waited. When no one came in sight, another bell went off in my head and I headed back the way I came. After asking a local resident where all the riders went, I finally got on the trail but had A LOT of ground to make up. I was making good time, but NO ONE was in sight and Marsha finally called with a concerned message about how no one from the ride had seen me in awhile. OOPS!

I caught back up, but really had to lay down some tread to catch up with the riders from the long group. There were some very nice stretches of 25 mph, but that wasn't sustainable. At about mile 50, I caught up with the long-group leaders Bob Standard and "Gino", but I was shredded and enjoyed drafting off of them for the few minutes before we coasted into our first school. After the first school, Gino and I hammered 5 miles to the next school, where we recruited the boys from Mendota (David and Jeff) and powered out a 15 mile pace line at 20-22 mph. Lucky for me, I was taking the SAG wagon back early to get home in time to watch Isaac. I couldn't have kept that going all afternoon.

Tuesday: distance = 77.5 miles, average 19 mph
Wednesday: distance = 72 miles, average 19.7 mph

It was a great few days and got me ready for the MS ride this weekend. THANKS EVERYONE!

Feedback on the "Victory Lap"

We received this bit of wisdom today from one of our sponsors who told us to GO FOR IT, but provided some words of caution:

"As for the new $ goal, I guess the question is do you do a victory round now,
or do you delay the gratification and have a really BIG victory round in a
couple of months... depends on your personality type and self-reward
style. But maybe don't ask Isaac about this, as little men (and women) his
age are said not to have yet learned to appreciate delayed gratification very
much."

It's important to celebrate successes, so I just figure we'll enjoy ourselves twice!

Contemplating $15k

Ok, so here we are, having raised over $11k and still 2 MONTHS to go until all contributions have to be submitted to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and I am asking myself if we (yes, the collective "we") could get to $15k. This is one of those scenarios where WE could be satisfied and feel accomplished having reached our goal of $10k (and we have a lot to feel good about - don't get me wrong), OR we could establish a new goal and PUSH HARD.

I've been recently inspired by an article I read in Triathlon Life by cartoonist and triathlete Jef Mallett, creator of "Frazz". I don't have the article in front of me, but he made some comment about how sponsoring him to compete in a swim (he was doing a fundraising swim event) was kind of like paying his cat to eat tuna. While I agree that I'd ride the MS Bike Tour regardless of whether my sponsors contributed or not, one of my consistent and very generous sponsors (Ken R.) made the comment that "I appreciate you riding so I don't have to - I'd rather write the checks!" It takes both types of people - riders and sponsors. I recognize my part in the equation (as outlined in the comic strip below), but I also GREATLY APPRECIATE all of your generosity.

So, what do you think, should we push towards $15k?

For those of you wanting to learn more about Jef Mallett, check out this interview that I found on the web.

Tough Week

It's been a tough week with a lot of travel and not much time to work out. I'm going to try to get back on track this weekend without overdoing it. If the weather holds next week, I ought to be able to ride to work a few times, which is long overdue.

On a positive note, fundraising has been going well, and we broke the $3000 mark this week. Combined with the matches we'll get from the Monsanto Fund, we may have even broke $3500 (ballpark estimate). I'm confident that we'll get there and look forward to exceeding a stellar performance from last year!