Friday-donations-are-keeping-me-afloat-and-cycling-rocks-Update!

FIRSTLY a Big Thanks for your donations - my stress levels are sooo much less right now, as financially I am fine for 1.5 months because of them. Which gives me time to find a job and Not Stress and maybe even one that I like! I had been denied for unemployment because "since December 2012 you have been on voluntary leave" - what?? So I have to appeal that too. And there's appealing social security, figuring out what to do about the guy that hit me, figuring out about my job at UL, and my custody battle. So, 5 court cases at once? I didn't know if I could handle it, and financially I definitely couldn't, but your support allowed me to. I can't be thankful enough. Hooray!!

My training log has been more sparse this week, but my improvement is still awesome. I'm up to 1.8 miles walking and will break 2 hopefully today, and my hip is reacting much quicker, bringing my walking speed up to 55:45 min/mi which is about a 33% improvement from last time and almost a 50% improvement overall!
This is also evident in my elliptical speed. I took my heart rate after the elliptical last time and it was 148bpm. This is Great news because with spinal cord injuries sometimes hearts can't beat quick enough to sustain a heavy workout. I'm going to see if I can get it over 150bpm next time, but this is a really great sign.
Swimming is doing great too, I swam 750 yards and could do 100 yards at a time, probably more but I didn't want to push it just yet. I also filmed it for my PT Wulf to see and he had some ideas on how to improve. My right let is still not bending well at the knee under water, which is why my legs sink. Also after a while I can't keep my fingers straight, they're not strong enough yet. So I'm going to try some things.

The biggest news of the week is about BikeLafayette and the "Ride of Silence." I'm way more involved with cycling now that I've been smashed up on one than I had ever been before! The reason is that this happened to me at the time where Lafayette got large enough as a city to qualify for more federal funding, and since we're a fast-growing city many people here started pushing for growth of safer places to cycle, and It's Working. The city is working hard to make this happen, and along with public forums inviting people to learn and vote on the way they want the city to grow, I see great things for cyclists on the horizon!
BikeLafayette is a cycling advocacy group run by responsible (and incredibly nice!) people that attend government meetings and such to, well, advocate cycling. They've been a key part of decision-making for the city, they're becoming better known all the  time, and I'm incredibly proud to be a new member of their board. AND, boy do I have a lot to learn, HA! And I can't even ride yet!

They hosted Lafayette's "Ride of Silence," which is a world-wide event honoring cyclists that were hit on roadways. We had more than 100 people turn up! Here's some links to some local coverage:

KRVS radio show with Jen Steele and Tommy W - this one I got to share my complete story of getting hit, and we touched on every subject that I thought was important - I really love this one!

The Advocate Meh, I don't even drive a car much less having trouble getting out of it, but great article!

Happy Friday ya'll!