Let me start with the ridiculously lucky break of getting PitFit Training and some of their partners involved in this project. For those of you who are unfamiliar, PitFit is a training facility (fancy two-word definition for GYM) in Indianapolis, which specializes in training professional athletes, and more specifically, racing drivers. Over half of the Indy Car and Indy Lights grids train with Jim Leo at PitFit, and you'll find out why shortly. Now you're probably wondering why I need PitFit involved when I've already got a trainer, and that's a very good question. Gold's Gym in Silver Spring, MD has been awesome in letting me work with Tim Park. He has got me in by far the best shape of my life, and definitely ready for the insanity that lies ahead. I even sent my workouts to Jim Leo at PitFit, and he said they were spot on, so Tim has done an absolutely awesome job in kicking my ass, I mean, preparing me for this attempt. A couple things were missing though as far as keeping my body in good running shape during my attempt, and that is where PitFit and their partners Infinit Nutrition and Polar USA come in. Jim and his guys will be on hand during my attempt to keep me stretched out and give me massages during my breaks from slowly poking my way around the New Castle asphalt. Infinit is, probably as I type, conjuring up a couple of different concoctions for me to drink throughout my 24 hours of strenuous activity. They are developing several different formulas of energy/protein/Trey-ade drink mix for me to guzzle down while I'm out on track. And finally, Polar will be outfitting me with a heart rate monitor, so Jim and his PitFit army can keep track of how quickly I am burring calories, so they know how much chicken and pasta to shove down my throat when I come in for a pit stop. Needless to say, this is turning into a pretty professional effort, and I haven't even gotten to the kart and team part of this already way to lengthy but super terrific an every way blog. Let's move on, shall we.
Perhaps the biggest news deals with the kart itself. A few pieces of metal welded together with 4 wheels, a seat, and a single cylinder engine may not seem that significant, but making sure I was equipped with the best ride available for this attempt was absolutely paramount, and once again, I got lucky! The fine folks at MRP Motorsport have been gracious enough to hand me the reins of one of their Rotax powered Birel karts for 24 hours of crrrrazy fun. Not to mention, they hand delivered it to me at the PanAm Rotax race at New Castle for me to test, but you'll hear about that wackiness very soon, I promise. As I mentioned before though, the Rotax Birel package really is the best of the best, and knowing I have that kind of equipment under me gives me that much more confidence going into this.
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| A cell phone shot of my new ride! |
As I mentioned before, MRP was nice enough to hand deliver our kart at the PanAm Rotax event that took place at New Castle Motorsports Park on the September 24-25 weekend. This made for a perfect opportunity to visit my newest sponsors over at PitFit and let Jim, not Tim, kick my ass, I mean, train me, for a change. Thus sparked an awesome trip to Indy filled with pull ups, sledge hammers, Rotax fun, and I-70 commuting. The weekend started off great with both of my flights being only a couple hours late, no harm, no foul. Once I got myself checked into the hotel Friday night it was quickly off to bed so I could be well rested for my session at PitFit the next morning. The session went really well, and I had the proverbial "time of my life" going through the most heinous full body circuit workout I have ever done. It had everything from swinging sledge hammers, to pulling 110lb tires, to giant tubes of water, and the more traditional pull ups and push ups. And they we did it a second time. And then a third. At that point I was at just the right amount of tired to get on the reaction time board. I can't remember what it's called, but its basically this 6'x6' vertical wall that you stand right in front of, facing it, and it has a bunch of little buttons on it that light up individually. When a light comes on, you push the button as quickly as possible, and another light comes on, and so on and so forth. It's basically Whack a Mole on crack! My first time through was pretty pitiful, as I'm told everybody's is, but it was a really good way to ensure that my reaction times were still sharp even though all the muscles in my body felt like jello. After PitFit it was off to the track to meet the Director of Operations at the track, Mike Adams, who has been just super freakin awesome to work with throughout the whole process. We talked about a few ideas we both had for the event and answered a few questions for each other that we both had. I also met with David Lee who is going to be providing video coverage of the entire 24 hours. This guy really knows his stuff, and I can't wait to see what the finished product looks like after it's all done. Like I said, this is turning into a pretty professional event, and I really can't thank everybody who has gotten involved nearly enough. With all the work everybody has put into this, I better not suck it up! Sunday was a little more PitFit then back out to the track to meet my team and pick up our kart. Jim Conlin, Adrenaline Fix Karting owner, was flying solo on this trip, so he was the only one I'll be working with that I actually got to meet, but what a great guy. If he says he's got good guys to help him out, that's all the reassurance I need. This guys is a class act from the word go, and I'm really looking forward to having his team turn the wrenches on the beat of a go kart we have been bequeathed. On Sunday I also got to meet somebody who has been one of my biggest fans since I made the announcement about the 24 hour attempt, which was great because I'm definitely one of his. Gary Carlton had flown in from his home in Italy to help a kid try to qualify for the Rotax Grands at this race, and we just happened to bump into each other in the paddock. Gary is a bit of a karting icon in the States, and is doing a damn fine job representing all of us patriotic karters over on the European karting tours, driving for the factory Zanardi team. He also turned out to be one of the nicest guys I've met. It was a real pleasure chatting with him at the track, and I hope he's able to finish his season strong with the Chiesa Corse guys over in Europe.
Now moving on to the best part of this utterly meaningless rambling. If you're still reading, you must be really bored at work, but thank you for the support! When Monday rolled around, it was time for our track test. Jim and I got out to the track at the crack of, well, not quite dawn, more like dawn and a half. We spent a couple hours prepping the kart and waiting for the track to finish drying from the rainy weekend, and then we got to work. We were able to get good fuel mileage numbers for a good range of speeds that we may need to run during our attempt. We also realized that at the somewhat relaxed pace we'll be running, the Hoosier tires hold up like champs. All in all it was a really productive test, and the best part was I really didn't feel like I had been driving at all. It looks like being a gym hermit for the past year might actually pay off. We also had a couple of guests while we were at the track. Rick Posson stopped by to offer his PR services. He'll be helping to promote the event around the Indianapolis and New Castle areas, so hopefully we can get some more people to come out and watch me zoom zoom around the race track for a full planetary rotation.
Ok this blog entry has gone on long enough, and seriously, if you are still reading, I hope you've been keeping yourself well hydrated and taking plenty of bathroom breaks. But once again, thank you all so much for your support through all of this. Hopefully in three weeks we can all celebrate a new world record, and even more importantly, a hefty new chunk of change for the Tourette Syndrome Association!