Somehow my vacation stars aligned this year and I spent about a week crashing vacations. First I met my Aunt Nancy and cousin Alex in Saco, Maine for a few days. Then I went to Newport with my team at work and finally I went to Gloucester to spend the day at the beach with Patrick and Rachael. I’m lucky my family picks such good vacation spots! This photo is the view from the house in Gloucester.

The red Fuji is finally done. Upgrades include new rims, tires, crank, pedals, handle bars, grips, brakes and a new seat. I gave the frame a serious scrubbing, got rid of all of the gears and could not be happier with the result. Click here to see what it looked like the day I got it!

Ryan and I went fishing on the Charles and look what I caught! I got two pretty good sized bass, a 12″ and this one, a 14.5″. The first one was the smaller one and it ate about four of my worms before I finally gave an exaggerated yank of my pole and hooked him. The second and larger one was a bit more of a surprise. I fed him about as many worms but had given up when all of a sudden there he was!

I love the 4th of July. Always have, always will. I can’t tell you how many years I sat on my family’s front porch on Pleasant Street watching the parade. I always loved the horses in the parade but the absolute best part was when my grandfather would march by with the firemen. Of course, those firemen have some goofy ideas too. These pictures were taken by my grandmother in 1980, the year of the very first Bristol Outhouse Race. And that dashing gentlemen riding in the Bristol Fire Department outhouse? That would be my grandfather, who is without a doubt the bravest person I have ever known. Happy 75th Pappa, the 4th just isn’t the same without you.

This was the last of the fishing I did in Vermont this weekend. Chris, Mike and Ryan had been down there for a while and I decided to join them for a little while. I caught about 7 fish while I was down there and Chris decided it was time I learn how to take the hooks out. Unfortunately the next 3 fish I caught had fairly gruesome hook placements so he decided it was best if I learn another time. Thanks for taking some pictures Chris, and thanks for waiting patiently for me to chill out before I stuck my thumb into that fishes mouth.

One race down and one to go. The last Team Dancin’ Machine race will be the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Providence August 19th. Originally, Alex was going to be the only one to run this race but I just couldn’t do that to her. I’m sure I’ll regret it, but I’ll be running next to Alex being as obnoxiously cheery as possible – maybe she’ll be the one regretting it? Hopefully we can fi

I’d like to note the differences in our finishing styles. Aunt Nancy seems to be happy while I appear to have lost my mind.

As I got to Aunt Nancy’s finish line and my starting line my excitement started to get the best of me. I couldn’t sit still, and couldn’t wait to take off.

Then I calmed down a little and realized that people were starring and I needed to conserve a little bit of energy.

I like to call this the calm before the storm, waiting in the relay corral for Aunt Nancy to arrive.

Then I took off and made the worst rookie mistake of all. I took off at a dead sprint. The mindset ‘run as fast as I can as far as I can’ wasn’t ideal. After a few 7 minute miles I was convinced I had to be at least half way done – I was very, very wrong. By the time I got to the ‘assault on Battery’ also known as the biggest climb of the race, I was in bad shape.

About half way through I started to panic. I was exhausted, extremely fatigued and was ready to be done. Luckily miles 7-11 went pretty quickly for me. I found a pace team and ran with them for a while.

The last mile of the race was both the best and the worst. First I saw my mom who told me to relax, I was almost done. She ran with me for a few minutes then I headed on my way. Then I saw Uncle Jim who had a cold bottle of water for me which was amazing. There were plenty of water stations but all of the cups had been sitting in the sun and weren’t very cold anymore. Then I saw Dee, if you ever need a cheerleader call her – I think she has the most encouraging voice ever. Then I saw Ryan, and he ran with me while documenting my last mile. Then I started to lose it again. Everyone kept telling me I was almost done but I still couldn’t see the finish line so I was having a hard time believing them. I got to Aunt Nancy and somehow convinced her to run with me (even though she was wearing socks and had just run 13.1 miles) and then we got to Alex and I grabbed her along for a few feet as well (she was completely barefoot). And then I finally started to believe it was almost over. They sent me into the finishing chute and away I ran, right past both of my grandmothers. I could not have possibly finished this race without my family being there the last mile so thank you all, I would share my medal with you but I just love it too much.

There are no words to express how much I appreciate all of the people that came to Vermont to cheer us on. To my friends and family who bought raffle tickets, to Todd and Greg and Ryan for designing us adorable dancin machines, to Alex for printing our shirts, thank you all so, so much. With all of your help, the DetermiNation team raised over $10,000 dollars for the American Cancer Society.

When I signed up to run a half marathon for the American Cancer Society I was doing it in memory of my Grandfather who lost his battle with cancer eleven years ago. During my training my best friends’s father lost his battle with cancer and the day before my race my Uncle’s mother was diagnosed for the third time. I quickly realized that while I started this journey for my Grandfather, I ended it with so many others in mind. I’m extremely proud that I ran for the DetermiNation race, I’m proud of the ribbons I wore on my back and I’m proud and thankful that my friends and family helped me raise so much money for the American Cancer Society.