It's the final countdown!!!

In 2 weeks I will dip the back tire of my bike into the Pacific Ocean and begin the most adventurous and possibly life-chainging trip of my life so far. I will be along side a group of like minded people that I have never met but 54 days later when we dip our front tires into the Atlantic Ocean I know I will have made several lifelong friendships. On top of that I know our efforts from the past year and the next 2 months will have made a positive impact in the world.

Everything has fallen perfectly into place! I am only about $200 dollars away form reaching the $2700 needed to participate in the ride. I'm so thankful for everyone who has donated. There is still time if you are interested. You can visit my personal page here: http://r4wh.org/team-r4wh/blake-middleton/. The Solidarity/Community Ride is set for Tulsa on April 13th with lunch at McNellie's afterwards for anyone interested! I'll definitely be looking forward to one of their burgers by then! There is a 30 mile and 15 mile biking option. Here is the link to register http://www.active.com/cycling/tulsa-ok/ride-for-world-health---solidarity-ride---tulsa-ok-2013 or let me know if you would like to volunteer for this event. We will also be having a smaller Solidarity/Community Ride in Norman on April 10th along with a wine tasting event during our stay in Norman. I'll bring you specific times and locations for those soon! All of our nights in Oklahoma are booked and confirmed and I'm most excited to make a huge impact on Oklahoma's view of health as we travel through the state.

I also finished my research paper and presentation this week! I am not very gifted when it comes to writing so this was a task I was happy to complete. I love researching and reviewing articles so that was quite enjoyable. I decided to research how to prevent non-communicable (chronic) diseases (NCDs) through diet. I discussed the great impact of NCDs such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, fatty liver disease, and cancer has on all of us throughout the world. NCDs are the #1 cause of death and disability worldwide with 80% of these occurring in developing countries and 40% of the deaths resulting in premature death. The financial impact is huge as well, as 75% of global health care dollars are used to treat these diseases. We know the potential power that a proper diet can have on our health but most people do not know specifically what to focus on besides eating their veggies and keeping a "balanced diet". I researched the detrimental effects of fructose and artificial sweeteners on increasing obesity and other risk factors in the development of NCD, the need to replace those items with healthy fats, and finally how new research is showing promising results by the use of intermittent fasting and how to incorporate it into one's daily life. I was looking for a way to attach my documents or have a way for you to download them if interested but I am still blogger incompetent so let me know if you'd like to take a look and I can email you a copy.

Training was going well, but about a week ago I began experiencing quite a bit of pain in my right leg. I have a history of several lower back problems and this seemed to have stemmed from these past injuries. I'm not sure what caused this pain as it came on progressively in the middle of last week and not the weekend when putting in tons of miles. I've had similar pain before but a few easy days of training, foam rolling, and stretching usually improves the issue. Not so much luck this time, so I decided to visit a chiropractor for the first time ever! I had my 2nd treatment today with a 3rd scheduled tomorrow. The pain is not an issue while riding so there is no doubt I will be ready the 1st day of biking but it causes quite a bit of discomfort while sitting and lying in bed at night. A prayer for improvement in the next couple weeks would be greatly appreciated!

So with all that said, I AM READY for this adventure. My sleeping pad came in the mail today and my brother-in-law Rob is allowing me to borrow his sleeping bag. My bike is in the shop right now getting a final tune-up and the biggest things left is to get in one last weekend of quality training and to start packing! Thank you again everyone for all the support through kind words, prayers, help with planning, and financially. My next post should be coming from the road next week with lots of info about the ride and pictures of the adventure!