Ballou Skies Contest - Win a FREE Nutrition Consultation

Many of you know what Ballou Skies has meant to me over the past few years. It's more than a team, it's more than some logo you put on your uniform, it's a family of people doing good and never giving up that there IS hope and a cure in the works for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and that WE ARE A PART OF THAT CURE.

Meeting Ryan changed me life.. hands down. His belief that this was more than a dream, but a reality had me immediately hooked on this idea of research for a cure and can I tell you, it is happening. Right now, as we speak.

At times, Ty receives letters like this, from families just like his was 17 years ago who are searching for an answer, a glimmer of hope in the light of this diagnosis:

Briefly, Darren M. contacted me on Wed. of this week. I have never met or spoken to Darren previously. He found the BallouSkies site over the internet and reviewed the Tri team and research teams efforts. We had a great conversation. Darren and his wife have two son (Jakob and Isaak) now 13 and 12. Eight years ago, on the same day, both boys were diagnosed with DMD. Let that settle in for a moment. They had no indication of anything wrong of either son other than they were somewhat slow to physically develop.

Darren and his doctors live in a very tiny town in the Saskatchewan province of Canada and have been in touch this week with Dr. Raman at OSU. It appears that both young men with start taking the blend of heart medicines very shortly. Darren spoke often about Ryan being 24 and functioning at such a high level. I told him there is no reason that Jakob and Isaak cannot do the same. BallouSkies T-shirts and wrist bands are on there way north of the border.

Train hard this weekend………count your blessing and know somewhere over the net people each week at finding about doctors and a Tri team that are making a real difference.

I have exactly 10 days until my first professional race. Many of you will wish me luck and I appreciate that. I'm scared, but not even remotely as scared as these families facing much bigger issues than I will ever even understand. That's why I'm running a contest that will benefit Ballou Skies and help with the research we need to find a cure!

For the next ten days, for everyone who DONATES and puts my name within the paypal donation (there's a place in there somewhere!), I will put their name in a chance to win a free nutritional assessment which is worth a $200 value.

A $10 donation = 1 entry

A $20 donation = 2 entries

A $30 donation= 3 entries

" and so on "

My goal is to raise a $1000 in the next ten days. That's right.. I'm optimistic :) The contest begins tonight at 9:00pm (Wed March 21st) and the contest ends at Sat March 31st at 9:00pm.

The more you give, the more chances you have to win. This nutritional assessment will be catered completely to you! Whether your goal is to loose weight, improve your training and racing nutrition or just make sure you are on the right track - this will improve your life and your training!

Make sure my name is attached to the donation somehow and you can also email me to let me know you did it at kim@fuelyourpassion.net!

Thank you in advance for all of the amazingly selfless donations we are going to receive to help boys like Ryan! I can't wait to work with one of you!! Get em in!!

Here we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's all about.... Hope

I wasn't able to attend the Ballou Skies Team Photo shoot, but it doesn't mean I wasn't there in spirit. This year is a very special year. We've added three great new members to the team (welcome Lisa, Bill & Ben!). We have a renewed strength together and a big goal, no a HUGE goal of raising $100,000 for research for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. This is pretty lofty, yep, we know.. A majority of us would have never gotten this far if it wasn't for lofty goals and we're not about to stop now :)

To that end, today for Leap Day, we are holding the Ballou Skies Leap Day Donation Drive and Newton Shoe Raffle! A monetary donation of any size received today, will enter your name into a drawing to win one of three pair of Newton running shoes being raffled off! Please share the news, give what you can, and have HOPE!

So don't miss out! This is a great chance to help boys just like Ryan Ballou who has touched my life is such a positive way. Thank you Ryan. I wouldn't be half the athlete I am without being able to ask myself when all is on the line...who am I really in this for? Is it all about me, or is it about doing something that may just allow someone to live another day healthy and happy. Since meeting you..the choice is easy.

Donate today if you have $5.00 to spare or $50.00 every step is a step closer to the goal.

Thank you for your support! With Hope, anything is possible!

It's Not All About The Training

I spend a lot, and I mean a lot, of time swimming, biking and running. While I know it's not as much as other people, I do my best with the time that I have. It allows me to still balance some of the things in my life I hold most dear, like Kyle, my family, time with my friends and every once in awhile.. a little me time. I've been saying since the middle of filming "made" last month that I was going to go get a mani-pedi if I made it through all that craziness. Well, this chick STILL hasn't done it. Somehow you just roll right back into trying to fit in this workout and that, have dinner with this or that person and / or actually work / sleep / eat! All very important things. Hopefully, sometime soon, I'll slow down and take a little me time! In the mean time, it was a nice little Friday night for the Ballou Skies Kona crew. We had a photo shoot for this portion of our team and we are sending six, that's right six, people to Hawaii for the World Championships this year. If you didn't think Pittsburgh was a tri mecca before, maybe you should meet my dear friends. They are some of the hardest working / talented people I know. They are physically strong, and mentally, even stronger. The best part is.. they have a real heart for this cause and realize that they money we are raising actually is helping.

If you have just 2 minutes, watch this video. It is amazing what the power of just having this money for research can do to help prolong the lives of children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Once we took our picture, it was time to investigate the newest that Duane, and the Engine House Winery, had to offer. I'm not sure if you knew this, but I love wine. I mean like I don't think I could live in a world where it didn't exsist. Or if I did, I would be sad, sad place!!!

Duane has his own urban winery. His grapes are flown in and if you're interested, it only costs about $10G's per barrel. You have have your own barrle, right there when you want it. When I'm with Duane, I'm in heaven.. there are malbecs and Pino's galore.. all for the tasting.

So even though it's all about the heart with Ballou Skies and DMD, wine is good for the heart too. Add in a little socialzing on a Friday evening and you have one happy Kim. Don't worry, I still got up at 6am on Saturday and rode my bike a long ways.

All training and no play just doesn't make me happy. Friday night was a nice reminder of how lucky we are to have a great group, raising money for something so very important that will definitely help the lives of others.

My pledge to myself is raise $200.00 between now and October 8th when I do the Ironman World Championships. If you would like to help, just to www.ballouskies.com and click on my name where it will take you to a page with my bio. You can use paypal right from there.

Does anyone else out there have trouble fitting in "me" time among all the things we have to do every day?? What do you do to just make it happen and finally allow yourself to shut off and do some things you enjoy??

A big thanks to Duane for taking our awesome shots for the magazine and for sharing some of your talent with us on a Friday evening! I was buzzed enough to buy a few expensive bottles!

2010 Ironman Cozumel Video

Cozumel Ironman Triathlon 2010 from Kyle Schwabenbauer on Vimeo.

All I can say is, that if I imagined the best possible version of this video, this is about 20 times better than that!! I absolutely so thankful and so impressed and just so grateful that God, my family, friends, team members at Ballou Skies and most of all, Kyle helped my dreams to come true! If you would like to read the three part race report, you can here. The best part is..there's so much more to come my friends. Thank you for being a part of my journey and let me know what you think!

Oh, and if you like it, would you please become a fan of my page on Facebook "Fuel Your Passion" and join the Ballou Skies Cause!

Ballou Skies Team Photo Shoot & More Tucson Pics

A few weeks ago, we met for the first time all year as a team and it was great to see everyone! Training and racing for a cause has been very rewarding and also has really helped me put everything in perspective. When I have a bad training session or race, I just have a bum day.. but Ryan Ballou struggles to just keep his muscles going on a daily basis. This helps me understand that while I certainly am allowed to be a little bummed, being too bummed when other people who have a real reason to be bummed are still happy and joyful, means I can't wallow in my own self pity for too long!

I think the Ballou Skies ad, that will be shown in Triathlete Magazine's May 2011 issue, turned out beatifully and I'm excited to see it generate some interest and following for the cause. If you don't mind, please click here to become a fan of our cause page!

Oh.. and I did match the donations received from the blog a few weeks back so thank you for those of you who donated! I appreciate it (and I will get out your hat and CD shortly! I've been behind the ball lately!).

Anyway, things are going pretty well otherwise. My training this week has been pretty haphazard due to so many other things going on in the evenings. However, after such a big week last week, I'm not too concerned. Hopefully, next week things will get back on track.

I really appreciated all the amazing comments I got on the blog about Tucson. I really feel blessed that you guys are so stoked for me and supportive. That means a lot! Thank you!!!

So, here are some more pictures from the trip!

Barb and Beth picking out what we will be consuming for the 4 day trip. I'm happy to report, we went through pretty much every whole wheat bagel, jar of peanut butter and banana in the place!! We also cooked some great dinners (ok, well, Barb cooked them, but we "assisted")!

Beth just HAD to play chicken with some young cross-country boys (without shirts by the way.. why do these little guys always run with no shirts!) and unfortunately, they won. I'm just kidding. We were just finishing up our 10 mile hill repeat run on Saturday and poor Beth slipped on the grass / dirt when we tried to get out of their way. She had some dirt burn on her side and a bloody leg to boot. She held up like a trooper though and didn't let it slow her down!

Of course, we had to hit the University of Arizona Wildcats store to check things out after masters swim. Beth threatened to wear this around for the rest of the day, but we tackled her and made her take it off (sorry Oscar, I know you're a big fan!). It was called (big surprise) The Cat Head.

After Saturday's ride I was excited to have another day in the books and still, no crashes or mishaps. It was a bit scary coming from months of not being on the bike to all of the sudden riding like a fiend. We decided it was "just like riding a bike :)" and got back in the clip in, bike handling skills groove, pretty quickly!

The girls pre-saturday (aka windy-as-all-get-out) ride. It was honestly so crazy a few times I almost got blown off.. no kidding. We were all pretty happy to be in a short sleeved jerseyes though!!

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Here's a mile 70 picture at the Circle-K where we were still feeling cold, but optimistic about the upcoming "climb out of hell" as I so affectionately named the Mammoth to Oracle portion of our trip. We look like a snickers advertisment, but sometimes, you just want something chewy and chocolate to get you through (and it worked until about mile 115 when those calories were kaput).

I tried to take the bike computer shot, but by this time, I was so tired, so hungry and so shot that I decided I didn't even care if it came out. Trust me when it says 120 miles, aka, one of my longest rides to date. So, that was a win.

Thanks for following along! Hope everyone is doing awesome!

So, who's in for a Tucson trip next year (even after what you read?!) Any takers!!? lol!!

Kicking Off the Year Right - Ballou Skies 2011

Wow. The Super Bowl almost killed me.. both in sleep department, but also in the training department! The Kim, Lissa and Tamie show traveled to Dallas to hang out and partake in the festivities in Dallas last Thursday - Monday, and unfortunately (and fortunately) most of the pictures and stories will have to be "what happens in Dallas, stays in Dallas!"

Let's just say, we saw Demi and Ashton, I set a new late bed-time record (4:15am) and even rode home in a squad car (no, I did not get arrested, but some nice police officers will be getting some autographed pictures to say thank you for the ride, that is for sure!).

Although we didn't have tickets to the game, there was plenty to do each day! Our room was an absolute pig-sty when we were there, shoes, dresses, makeup, jewelry - EVERYWHERE! I couldn't even handle it!!

Anyway, it was a great trip (even though the Steelers lost :( and I'll share some pictures if I find some that will not incriminate any parties involved!! So much fun!! I was really thankful to get the chance to go because who knows when it will ever happen again.

The other big news of this week is the Ballou Skies Team Photo Shoot and get together tonight. I am completely excited to be joining the team for another year to raise funds for research of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy for the 2011 triathlon season.

2010 was an exceptional year and we had a great team. This year we are adding some new members, that are also some of my closest friends!

It will be awesome to have Beth, Chad, Jason, and Matt to the team!!

The people pictured work countless hours in the OSU lab with the mice study to review the effects of various medicines on the heart. During the meeting Ryan and Ty Ballou spoke to these individuals about all the great things attached to the charity in 2010 and presented the check for $27,500.00. It was a good day in Columbus for Ryan’s heart!

I was thinking about how I really had fun last week, but it was a little selfish. All about me, me, me. Which is great sometimes, but it also makes you think about others and want to be a little less of that!! So, to kick off the 2011 Triathlon Team's evening with a bang, I would like to make you and offer. I personally am willing to match up to $125.00 of the money that comes in to the Ballou Skies charity through my biography page for those who are willing to donate this week! To the first three people who donate $25.00 or more, I will send you this amazingly awesome hat and a training CD that will get you through those long winter doldrums! Please email me at kxd185@hotmail.com when you donate and I will check my records!

UPDATE as of Friday Feb. 11th - We have two donations over 25.00! I need one more person to get this hat and CD!! Come on people!! Thank you in advance (PS Aunt Dena - you are not eligible - you already gave too much last year!! Recover well!)

I haven't nearly met my quota for giving this year, so let's get off to a great start, shall we!! It's for a great cause people!! Who's with me :)

Thanks in advance for anything at all you can do. If you can't, or are supporting other things, that's totally fine!!!

Hope everyone is doing well!