The Road to theNorth Channel
“Welcome back to the real world!”
After returning back to Pittsburgh this past Sunday evening, it was so awesome to get to see family and friends who have been anxious to get me back home. I was a little exhausted after flying Wellington-Sydney-LAX-Philadelphia-Pittsburgh. My parents picked me up at the airport and had a bright, neon orange sign there to greet me! Mom always knows how to make me smile. I needed that after about 24-hours of straight flying!
Had a great conversation with a nice lady on the plane about the goals and dreams we both had in life; what we have accomplished, and what we are looking to complete. Her husband was a former Green Beret, and is now a professor at West Point. She is a teacher in the inner-Harlem section of New York City, and was interested in having me come speak to her kids, as well as other non-profits in the inner city. I would love the opportunity to work with those students, as well as hopefully speaking with the cadets at West Point. Now that would be very inspirational!
I decided to give myself a week off prior to getting back into the pool again. Although not a necessity, I give myself the time to make sure I relax enough and then have time to regain my focus for the upcoming trip this summer toEurope. As I have stated many times, theNorth Channelwill be by far and away the most difficult of the ‘Oceans Seven’ due to the extreme cold. I will be posting as much as I can about the routine I am going through to prepare for such an adventure – stay posted!
My training will begin again this evening, and after a three-week hiatus since my last ‘hard’ training, it will be great to get back into it. Hopefully the weather will break soon here in Pittsburgh, and I can once again return to training outside!Keystone Lake almost completely thawed, so hopefully after a nice Easter weekend, I can start out at the lake by the beginning of April. Although the water will be still quite cold, I need to get the feeling of training outside again – no more pools! Crazy to think another summer of training is upon us.
It still has not hit home what Craig and I just completed in New Zealand, but then again, it sometimes never does. These adventures are just incredible, and sometimes leave me thinking, “Did that really just happen?” I have been back to work for three days now, and it sometimes feels like I never left – that these trips are just a dream. Luckily, Shelley and May were awesome enough to take plenty of video and pictures for Craig and I during the trip, so I have some excellent video to edit down for everyone. I try and do my best to document these trips with pictures and video. I like to give anyone out there looking to accomplish these swims something to watch to get them prepared. There is not a lot out there on some of these swims, and I hope my experience can help someone else who is wondering all about New Zealand and the Cook Strait.
In addition to speaking at the PGH Marathon Expo event at Children’s Hospital on Wednesday, April 10, I will be speaking at the Westmoreland County Historical Society’s Calvin E. Pollins library on Tuesday, April 16 @ 7PM. Tickets are available for $5.00, and can be purchased in advance at 724-532-1935, Ext. 210. A portion of the collection will be donated back to the Forever Fund. I encourage anyone interested to attend, as I am very excited to get back into speaking with organizations looking to hear my story. Please contact me via my website, 724-468-1062 or at [email protected] if your organization needs a motivational speaker! I would love to come give my desire to achieve life’s dreams to your group…
LET’S GET THIS TRAINING GOING STRONG!
“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” –Helen Keller