2011 Reflections and Shawn's Ironman 2012

As I reflect back on 2011, I am so amazed at what has been accomplished this year.  I am so grateful to what has been accomplished both through my events and for medical research.   I did not realize how many people would actually follow this journey, and I get inspired by every comment that comes in from all over the world.  In case you have not followed the blog before here is a recap of 2011 (Click on the titles for actual article):

March

Matthew completes the St. Patricks Day Triathon:

April

Matthew Finishes the Kemah International Triathlon

May

Matthew finishes the Ironman 70.3 Florida

Matthew gains support and inspiration from Ironman Texas

Shawn goes in for his 1 year follow after of his surgery

June

Matthew sets PR at Wounded Warrior 1/2 Marathon

July

Shawn's Anomaly Foundation was formed

Matthew sets PR at TriWaco

August

Injury causes Matthew's First DNF at Spring Fall Classic

Sepember

Matthew comes back from injury and joined by others in Houston Tri

October

OnUrMark announces support for Shawn's Anomaly for 2012

November

Matthew sets another 1/2 Marathon PR at Rock n' Roll San Antonio

www.irunfor5.com was started

Without your support and the help from our sponsors, none of this could have happened in 2011.  Thank you for all of the support!

2012 is already starting to look like an amazing year.  It may be the final chapter of Shawn's Ironman, but it is also the continuation of Shawn's Anomaly and helping children from all over the world that have conditions like Shawn's.  Please sign up for the updates and like Shawn's Anomaly and Shawn's Ironman on facebook and twitter.  Here are just some of the events for 2012:

• January 15, 2012  Houston Marathon & Shawn's Anomaly Marathon Party (Details Coming Soon)
• April 1, 2012  Ironman 70.3 Texas, Galveston, TX
• April 29, 2012 Team Shawn's Anomaly Competes in the Kemah Triathlon
• May 19, 2012 Ironman Texas (Final Chapter of Shawn's Ironman)
• August 5, 2012 Team Shawn's Anomaly Competes in the Kemah Triathlon
• September 30, 2012 Team Shawn's Anomaly Competes in Houston Triathlon
• October 6, 2012 Ironman World Championship (Qualification/Invitation Only)
• November 2012 Shawn's Anomaly Dallas to Houston Triathlon Challenge

* other events may be added to schedule to support team members.  Keep coming back for posted new events.

As we begin the new year, please take the time to consider being a part of this journey either as a volunteer, athlete, or donor.  You can click the buttons on the top right to help. Shawn's Anomaly is just starting to make strides to the development of treatment and care for children all over the world with conditions like Shawn.  Every little bit of help, regardless of how big or small, really goes a long way to us achieving the mission of preventing another family from ever having to go through what we did.  Will you attach your name to this mission?

Happy New Year, and tune in for more in 2012.

Shameless Volunteers Needed...

We are putting together a super secret mission to help raise awareness for Shawn's Anomaly on May 18th, and we need a lot of shameless volunteers to pull it off. If this peaked your interest, email shawnsironman@gmail.com for more details with the subject line, "Top Secret"!

Friday's Child...

For years I have heard the poem Monday's Child recited by my mother.  This 19th century poem and song is often popular because of it's fortune-telling abilities to tell a child's character or future based on the day they were born.  I don't know how much I believe in nursery rhyme's fortune-telling powers, but I can attest to the lyrics being true in my life:

Saturday's child works hard for a living...

If you have had the privilege to meet my Saturday born wife, you can easily agree with me about her beauty and kind heart, but some of you may not realize how hard of a worker she is.  I sometimes take for granted how the clothes get cleaned, how the meal magically gets cooked and appears in front of me, how there is always an endless supply of household goods, or how the home front somehow is clean and beautiful all the time.  Somehow Rachel gets all of this accomplished outside out of her working a full-time job as a dietitian.  Now. I know that you can give me a countless list of women that pretty much do the same thing as Rachel does for our family.  For me, it is how she can do all that and put up with me as we went through our medical journey with Shawn and my training.

The journey to become "Shawn's Ironman" was a decision that had to be made by both of us even though I am the one that is doing all of the swimming, biking, running, and blogging.  Without Rachel's continued support, love, and willingness to entertain Shawn in my absence is invaluable.   She also takes time to be a very important part of the medical research process for Shawn's Anomaly that has now become a much larger responsibility that either of us could have imagined.

I realize that I don't even understand how hard it is for her to keep our family balanced during this journey, and sometimes it has looked overwhelming.  As I have been able to push beyond the levels that I often felt I could never achieve physically, Rachel has done the same emotionally.  The result is a family that has become stronger that is  pretty much bulletproof.

I have tried to schedule my training to not let it affect our family time together, but it still does, and Rachel somehow figures out how to tow the line when I can't or put up with my crankiness when I am recovering.  The complexities of her sacrifice and hard work may never be truly understood, but it will never go without my never ending appreciation.

Friday's Child is Loving and Giving...

The Friday that Shawn was born is a day that I will never forget.  Our whole family was excited and nervous at the same time because we knew that Shawn's birth was just the beginning of his medical journey.  Along the journey, Shawn's loving and giving nature is revealed, and teaches us all how special he truly is. 

I really don't know where Shawn gets it, but his heart is HUGE.  Even at his young age, he wants to share everything of his with you.  Where I really see this shine is when he interacts with other adults and children alike.  Shawn sacrifices the time needed to get a smile on your face either through interacting with you, giving you something of his, or showering you with hugs and kisses that seem to be endless. 

Don't get me wrong, I have seen loving and giving before, but Shawn's ability to take it to another level has really educated me.  Shawn knowing exactly when say, "I love you Da Da" is heavenly.  It is what keeps me going for sure.  Even when Shawn was in the hospital recovering from his surgeries, he always was willing to give a hug or a kiss to anyone that would be willing to receive. 

We all are just now starting to realize how his birth and medical issues have and will continue to give hope to other families and children.  If Shawn was not born with the infamous anomalies, I am not sure if any of this would have happened.  I would probably still be just a couch potato and society would still be uneducated on these rare conditions.  Shawn is the lighthouse that illuminates the path to a better world.



During this season of loving and sharing, I hope you take the time to show appreciation to those around you and help those that need it.

And if you were wondering what day I was born on, I am a Thursday's Child that "has far to go." Imagine that!

Ironman World Championship Kona Lottery

Today, I signed up for again for the Ironman World Championship Lottery.  I know how much it would mean to raising awareness for Shawn's Anomaly.  From the beginning of my journey, I knew that this would be the final chapter to the Shawn's Ironman journey, but I completely underestimated how hard it would be when I first started.

For some of you that do not know about the Ironman World Championship, it is Super Bowl or the Daytona of Triathlon.  It is the reason why I started the Shawn's Ironman journey in the first place.  To be able to compete in the Ironman World Championship can't really be explained in words, but I will try:

It consists of a 2.4 miles (3.86 km) open water swim in Kailua-Kona Bay, a 112 miles (180.25 km) bike ride across the Hawaiian lava desert to Hāwī and back, and a marathon (26 miles 385 yards, 42.195 km) run along the coast of the Big Island from Keauhou to Keahole Point and back to Kailua-Kona, finishing on Aliʻi Drive. The best of the best compete for the title of Iroman World Champion alongside age group athletes that either qualified through another Ironman event, purchased one of the Ironman Foundational Ebay slots (last years went for over $50K), or win a select lottery spot they have every year.

 "As the popularity of the sport continues to grow, qualifying for the Ironman World Championship becomes more difficult. More than 70,000 athletes are competing for only a handful of coveted slots," said Andrew Messick, CEO of WTC. "The Ironman Lottery provides another way for athletes to enter the race and cross the finish line on Ali`i Drive."



Athletes who are selected through the Ironman Lottery must complete an Ironman or Ironman 70.3 event within one year of the 2012 Ironman World Championship to validate their lottery slot. Lottery winners must complete a validating race by August 31, 2012. Now all there is to do is wait for the announcement of the lottery winners on April 15, 2012 which is just a few days before I compete in Ironman Texas.

Competing in the Ironman World Championship is the pinnacle of most peoples lives.    A very small percentage can ever say they completed the Ironman World Championship, and it is 17 hours or less that can change a person's life forever.  It means more to Shawn's Anomaly and the future of child birth anomaly research than it could ever mean to me.  Please continue to follow the journey and pray that I get a spot in the 2012 Ironman World Championship.

Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon Results and Stories

With Olivia From Muscle Milk

The Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon was a great experience in several ways.  I was fortunate to be invited by Muscle Milk Houston to compete in the event, and I chose to run the 1/2 Marathon.  Everything in my training, preparation, and weather forcast told me that this was not going to be a record breaking day for me, but I still wanted to do the race because it would be great training for the Houston Marathon.  Little did I know that I was going to set a personal record and beat my previous time by 2 minutes and finishing with a 2:02:56 which gave me a 9:23 pace.  Here is how it happened:

I woke up to a very foggy morning in the low 60s.  This was a little discouraging to me considering that it was not optimal running weather, but neither was the first time I had a PR in a 1/2 marathon.  I showed up to the parking lot and got on the shuttle bus, and I watched as I went over several hills that got me a little discouraged.  I did, however, find a moment of encouragement as I spoke with Amy who sat next to me.  I told her about Shawns' Anomaly and my journey, and she also told me about her nephew's illness.  I think we both needed to hear what we had to say to each other that morning on the bus.  I don't know how she finished, but maybe she will comment and let us know her result.

Bag Check-In

I showed up to deliver my race bag to the check-in and little did I know that it was going to be a UPS truck.  Wow, I did not know that "Brown" did that for me too. After checking my bag in, I headed over to my corral to get a good stretch and warm-up.  Everything went smoothly and the only thing left to do was the 13.1 miles. 

Jamie & Maria

While I was in the corral, some girl (we will call her Maria to protect the innocent and embarrassment) came up and stood right next to me in what I considered my "force field".  When I turned to look at Maria, she blushed and said, "Oh, I'm sorry.  I thought you were someone else." Maria was actually trying to stand next to her friend (we will call him Jamie) who was directly behind me laughing hysterically.  We got to chatting, and I found out that this was Jamie first 1/2 marathon, and Maria's second time to run the 1/2 Marathon.  They were both pharmaceutical reps with a very cheerful attitude.  I was glad I got to meet them because it definitely relieved my stress level a lot before the race.  Thank you Jamie and Maria for helping me pass the time away in the corral before the start.  If you are ever in the Houston area, look me up.

The horn sounded, and I took off running.  I was watching my heart rate, cadence, and pace to make sure I did not go too hard at the first, but every time I looked down, my pace was always below 9:30, and I felt comfortable.  I think maybe one reason is I obviously hydrated correctly enough to the point that I was in desperate need to find a port-a-john, but every port-a-john I ran by had a huge line, and I did not want to stop. (*Note to race director-More port-a-johns.  The lines were terrible at all of them.)  I have to admit that I considered just going while running and washing it off later to avoid stopping, but fortunately I found a port-a-john tucked away behind one of the bands playing on the route that only had a few people in line.

After the pitstop, I continued running, but my pace never seemed to fall off.  It slowly started creeping in that I might be running a PR race, and I started watching the time more.  By the time I reached mile nine, my body started to react; and I could tell that it would not be long before I hit a wall.  Fortunately, GU had set up their regeneration station, and I grabbed a gel just in time to give me the extra boost to help me finish.  It was a great race result that I did not expect, but glad it happened.  I was also fortunate to get an interview with one of the local news stations to help spread the word about Shawn's Anomaly:



I am now officially in off-season mode where I will be getting ready and prepared for the Houston Marathon, the Ironman 70.3 Galveston, and the Ironman Texas in The Woodlands.  This is going to give me a great chance to get stronger in the gym, post more tips I have learned along the way, and promote tell you more about how you can be a part of iRunFor5.  What is iRunFor5?  What is up with all those pictures with people drawing a 5 on their palm while running?  Well, I am glad you asked.  Check back soon to be more information and go check out www.iRunFor5.com for initial details.

On my way to Rock n Roll

Follow me live today on www.shawnsironman.com tracker.

Get Ready...

Shawn's Anomaly Website Under Construction and You Can Help...

I want to thank www.hostgator.com for joining us on our journey and offering to host the new Shawn's Anomaly webpage that is currently under construction.  They have definately steped up for Shawn's Anomaly, but we also need your help...  

Take an hour out of of your time over the next two weeks to research websites that you find "flashy","attractive", and has good content that you think we should incorporate in our new webpage design.

It can be another foundation or charites website, or it could be just about any website out there.  If you like it, and you find it good marketing, we want to know about it. 

Go to www.shawnsanomaly.org and find our more info about Shawn's Anomaly

Research other websites and pick 2 or 3 you find the most attractive and would benefit the design of the Shawn's Anomaly mission

Email Mike Myers @ michael.t.myers@gmail.com with your suggested websites and anymore ideas that may have popped in your head while researching.

That's It!

Your help is greatly appreciated and you will be able to walk away with a sense of pride knowing that your research may help thousands of children to overcome their birth anomalies just like Shawn has. 
Thank you again and looking forward to your suggestions.

New Shawn's Anomaly Video

Instead of writing a blog this week, I decided to share the new video that was just released about Shawn's Anomaly.  Take a look at it and go to www.shawnsanomaly.org to join the journey: 

Monster Mash Zombie Walk & Pictures 10/30/2011

Thing 2 was taking picture

On Sunday, I was very fortunate to be asked by Aaron Palaian of OnUrMark Productions to be the race coordinator for the Monster Mash Zombie Walk. I can't explain in words to you how much my family enjoyed being a part of this event. We decided to dress up and have a little fun with the event as the Cat in the Hat crew. My mother even joined in on the action to complete the crew. I was, of course, Cat in the Hat, Rachel was Thing 1, Mom was Thing 2, and Shawn was the cute little Fish. I really think he enjoyed every minute he was out there, and I know we enjoyed watching him run around in his little fish outfit.  

The Zombie Walk was a lot of fun.  It was a nice stroll around the interior of the Sam Houston Race Park horse track.  There were several that participated and they all seemed to have a lot of fun.  You can see the pictures of the participants at http://www.facebook.com/shawnsanomaly. As they finished the 2 mile walk they all went through the same chute as the runners, received a metal, and all the cheers as they passed by the spectators.  It was emotional for some of the participants, and I know that my family also had a blast.

Aaron Palaian of OnUrMark Productions

If you don't know Aaron, or have competed in any of his races, you are completely missing out if you are in the Houston or San Antonio area. He and his races are hands down the most professional and well organized races that you will find in this area. He is of course surrounded by a great team that seem to work with precision to put on an event. I could not believe that he would ask me to be a part of the Monster Mash, and I hope that I was able to live up to the high standards they have set. Top it all off, OnUrMark contributed to Shawn's Anomaly which I was overwhelmed with emotion as a representative to receive. 

Next year our team will be involved in some way with OnUrMark Events either as a participant, a volunteer, or coordinating the 5K events.  I am hoping that we will all provide a great turnout as a part of Team Shawn's Anomaly in 2012.  If you would like to volunteer as a representative of Shawn's Anomaly to work an event in 2012, please contact at shawnsironman@gmail.com for more details.  Who knows, maybe there is a free entry to one of the events for you.

If you are interested in joining the team, please go to http://www.shawnsanomaly.org/ for more details.

Thanks again for all that came out and participated and thank you again, Aaron and all of the OnUrMark/OnUrLeft team, for welcoming me in and showing us all what real event planning is all about. We are looking forward to a great 2012 season.

Registration Closes Tomorrow,10/27/2011, at Midnight (Monster Mash Zombie Walk)

OnUrMark has offered to donate the proceeds of the Monster Mash Zombie Walk to Shawn's Anomaly Research Fund.  For more information about Shawn's Anomaly: CLICK HERE

This is a charity fun walk and not a competition.  All participants are encourage to dress up in costume (family friendly please).  This is a great time to dress up in your spooky and fun costumes to help raise money for a good cause.  After all, where else could you find so much fun for $20?

This is an open event to all, so make sure to tell all your friends.

For more information and to register, go to www.MonsterMashRun.com.

Warning-Urgent-Must Hurry!!!

Registration Closing Date for the Monster Mash is:
Thursday, October 27, 2011 @ 11:59 PM PST
Sign up today at Register for Monster Mash

Looking forward to seeing everyone there and stop by the Shawn's Anomaly tent.  Look for Rachel, Shawn, and I out there dressed up like the "Cat in the Hat" characters.

What is a Brick?

In the sport of triathlon, everyone comes across the work "brick" eventually. 

A brick is a back to back workout involving two diciplines, commonly cycling and running. 

In an article on www.beginnertriathlete.com written by Enrico Contolini states:

Bricks are a very important part of triathlon (and duathlon) training and they are sometimes overlooked. Bricks refer to training on two disciplines during the same workout, one after the other with minimal or no interruption in between, just as you would do in a race (I am sure you knew this).

Nobody really knows where the name "brick" came from, but I can tell you that I have a hunch that it has to do with how your feet feel after you get off a bike ride.  It takes a while for you to get your legs under you before you feel comfortable in your stride.  Including bricks in your training will really help you over come that feeling faster.

But that is not the kind of brick I really wanted to write about in this post.  I want to talk about how a real brick can be inspiring.

The oldest discovered brick is from 7500 BC in Tell Aswad, Syria.  There is not much that is impressive about a brick by itself.  It is just a small rectangular shaped piece of mud.  Its use, individually, is very limited to jobs like holding up a flower pot, holding down something from being blown away, or maybe to break a window by someone being mischievous.

The famous architect, Louis Kahn, looked at a brick in a completely different way.  He was once quoted as saying:

 "Even a Brick wants to be something."

"it aspires"

"Even a common, ordinary Brick wants to be something more than it is."

"Wants to be something better than it is. "

"A that is what we must be!"

A few months in the early stages of my journey, I felt like a brick all alone.  I sometimes would write a blog knowing that I may be the only person to read it, but something in my mind told me to continue.  I inspire to be more than just one brick. 

Today, I am surrounded by a few other bricks that have taken up the cause to raise awareness and money for the research that is desperately needed.  A condition that was once isolated to my son, has now been found in other children.  The research that was initially started by studying Shawn's case now has the potential of helping thousands of children all over the world.  Thousands!

This movement will require a lot of bricks along the way.  Much more than just the few bricks that we have currently.  Bricks can come in all sizes and have different responsibilities to benefit the building of Shawn's Anomaly Foundation.  Individually we are just bricks, but together we can create something beautiful!

Are you ready?