Being part of this ThumbsUp campaign, where I am pulling my friend Kerry Gruson at the South Beach triathlon on April 6, has been quite an experience.  In fact, I am still processing the lessons I am learning between the rare free moments I have.  We are very busy with logistics, training, media relations and plans.  Lot’s of plans.

Yet all of this comes with a price tag, and though we continue to search for sponsors who want to help us spread our ThumbsUp message far and wide, there are some expenses we need to cover right here.  Many of you have asked how to help so we came up with an idea….  TShirts.

We have a great ThumbsUp logo created by Oriana Bafunno, a fantabulous designer who also happens to be a star triathlete and a fellow packmate on the Wolfpack.

Another Wolfpack teammate, Mickey Witte, is founder of See Me In The Dark one of our sponsors.  A little history on “us” … much of what I have done on the fitness side of things I have done because “Mickey said I could.”  She has faith in me before I have faith in myself and has gotten me into all kinds of trouble including founding Bike Key Biscayne, riding 400 miles across Florida to promote road safety, Ironman Florida and beyond.

I am not always nice to her though.  I clearly remember when she took this picture at Miami Man in 2012.  She was telling me to run harder and push to the end and  I wanted to kill her.  To make things worst, she RAN next to me for a little bit, encouraging me, and giving me the lowdown of what was coming next.  My response was to curse at her, with lots of colorful expletives.  I don’t usually curse, but in cases like this the F bombs flow freely.

 Mickey is also one of the driving forces behind the Aaron Cohen Law Initiative to elevate the penalties for hit and runs.  It’s a wonderful story and they are so close to achieving it so please stop by here to learn more about it. And that logo too … is an Oriana original.

But I digressed …. Mickey and Orianna designed this great tshirt that Kerry and I wore for our photo shoot with the one and only Leanda Cave.  In addition, the material used for this shirt is incredible … it’s called Tri Blend and I swear I don’t own anything else like it.  It is so soft, you don’t want to take it off.

I sport mine pretty much each day after I do laundry.

And now we are making the shirt available to you at a special $20.  All profits from the sales will go towards ThumbsUp race expenses as we gear up for the South Beach Triathlon.

So if you want to show your support for ThumbsUp wether you are at the race or resting at home, place your order here.

See Me In The Dark will mail out the shirts in time for the race but you must pre-order it by 12:00PM EST on Monday March 24 in order to get the discounted price.

We have Men, Women and Children’s sizing so please come on by and get your own!  Then, don’t forget to take a picture and either post it or send it to me so we can all be inspired by how you are handling life with a ThumbsUp attitude.