Dear Lance Armstrong and Elizabeth Kreutz,

First I want to say a simple thank you. Thanks for chronicling your life through the photos laid out in COMEBACK 2.0.

Liz, you have a real gift for capturing the moment so well through a lens. You are simply great at what you do and congratulations to you and your husband on becoming proud parents. You deserve a yellow jersey for traveling the world during your pregnancy.

Lance, I’ve been a following your career long before I even thought about learning how to clip into pedals. I was sad to see you retire, but so glad you did it to be with your kids and to take some time for yourself and to promote the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

About three years ago I got into triathlons. The short version is this. Around the same time I started a blog, got knee deep into social networking, joined twitter in 2007, started following you on twitter in October of 2008, got really excited to see you announce your comeback, and did my first Ironman (Ironman Louisville) on August 30, 2009. It was quite possibly the most impossible thing I ever done…but I finished.

I work for a non-profit helping artists partner with our cause so I get what you are doing with LAF and I absolutely love the vision, passion, and growth.

But here’s the deal… Reading through COMEBACK 2.0 I was overwhelmed with emotion. I know… I need to man up. But as I went through the book I saw so many pictures of what you had twitpic’d out during the year. I was also following Liz (@LizKreutz-for those of you reading along) and saw the photos she would twitpic out of you in your mobile office of sorts.  As I read through your year it brought up memories for me from this past year and the long, determined hours of training I went through to get to Ironman Louisville. I was felt inspired again… and almost ready to commit to my 2^nd Ironman in 2010 instead of my plan for 2011.

This paragraph sums up the whole book for me as well as the tone in which you live your life.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m very proud of winning seven consecutive Tours de France. But there’s no way I’m going to let that “legacy” stop me from putting myself on the line again. For one thing, my legacy-whatever it is-can’t be worth much if a lesser result would somehow tarnish it. Second, I can’t let myself become paralyzed for fear of jeopardizing what I’ve achieved so far. For me, living life to the fullest is a lot about testing myself: accepting challenges, training hard, and then going for it. No way I’m spending the rest of my days avoiding goals. As far as I’m concerned, that would wreck my legacy. – COMEBACK 2.0

As I read your twitter messages about long training rides with your training buddies, I would get fired up to jump on my bike for another 100 mile ride. I was determined and quitting just wasn’t an option. It was grueling, but worth it and somehow, I felt encouraged because you were out there doing it as well, spurring us all on to make a difference and go just a little further.

So thanks for living your life through twitter and your blog and for dragging Liz around the world to give us a small glimpse of your comeback year. It’s always great to see you with your family and to hear how much they all mean to you as you tackle everything else in life.

You know, every cause needs a champion and you have become a great example for those of us who dream big. My grand father passed away from cancer as well as one of my closest friends and mentors. I hate cancer and want nothing more than to see LAF make a huge difference in the fight against cancer. You are helping people know the value of living a healthy life.

As a side note… In my spare time, my friend and I teach people how to use blogging, social networking and twitter to build a fan base. You’re one of my best examples. Especially when I’m talking to artists who think someone else on their team should do it for them. I ask them to follow you and ask them if they think they are busier than you…. Well… they’re not.

So… again. Thank you.

Congrats to you and Anna on the birth of Max.

I wish you the very best as you raise your family, go after your goals, lead the charge for LAF and train with your new team Team RadioShack. You are surrounded by the best once again.

And finally…

Thank you for the impact you have made on my life…

Spence.

Over the past several weeks I’ve been training for Ironman Louisville 2009 and one thing is for certain. The mental aspect to this event is just as important as the physical aspect. In fact… the more I think about the strength of the mind, the more I realize how much our minds and how we think has to do with the success or lack of success in what we are trying to accomplish.

For the cycling community, July is a big month because of the Tour de France. The race lasts all month. This year Lance Armstrong is going for his 8^th win after coming out of a two-year retirement.

If you know anything about his battle with cancer and his fight to find a cure for cancer, you will know… this guy wins in his head first, then walks it out with his body – mind over matter. I’m a liveSTRONG supporter and completely believe in what Lance is trying to do.

For me, recently I rode 100 miles with a group as a training ride for Ironman Louisville. It was my first 100 miler. This was a day I will never forget. The temperature was in the 90′s and the heat index was 117 degrees. Everyone on the ride had problems. The last 20 miles were the longest 20 miles of my life, but I got through it. How? Mind over matter.

During the ride I wanted to quit. I knew I could quit. It was too hot to ride. All of my friends would certainly understand. But I was determined to finish. I knew where the water stops were and I decided to take it on mentally. I broke the ride down into 20-mile sections and tackled them one mile at a time. I talked to myself, I paced myself, and I stopped on occasion to cool my core temperature down. My mind took over so my body could get through it. It was tough. It hurt. But I did it.

If the weather had been cooler the 100 miles would have been a lot easier, but when there is a major physical problem in the works like heat. Just walking to the car is tough.

Think about this the next time you take on a tough project, conversation, physical activity of any kind… over even a disease like cancer. What can you do to over come the struggle and finish well? How can you train your mind to walk it all out before you physically have too?

For some of you, life has some really tough times. You CAN get through them. Tackle life in your mind, and then tackle it with your whole body and soul.

If you are not yet on Twitter and you want to build a following online of crazy people like me then now is the time to get started. You can read a post called The Beginner’s Guide To Twitter by Michael Hyatt and follow his steps to get you on your way.

I’ve been amazed in the year and a half I’ve been on twitter at the amount of information that comes across my phone in a day. When you look at my profile page on twitter, don’t freak out. I only have a small percentage of peoples twitter texts coming to my phone. (I scan through the rest through out the day to make sure I didn’t miss any direct texts or reply’s).

It has become a place where you learn just a little more about a person that you otherwise might not have known. I can get updates on what is happening with my friends through out the day, or I can get Breaking News as it happens from these guys. OR…an this is where it’s getting really fun, I can follow a guy like Lance Armstrong. Lance has jumped into twitter 110%. Right now he has been in Hawaii with his kids and training for the upcoming Tour de California. He sends twitpics and tells us about hard 100 mile training days and fun times with the kids. We get updates on LIVEstrong and success stories on cancer survivors.

You see… If you are a celebrity of any kind (yes, this includes you christian artists too), then this is prefect for you to build a following. I’m a fan of Lance Armstrong. I think he inspires to push harder and to never give up. I like that, so I follow him. Make sense? So now when he gets to Tour de France ’09. I will have kept up with his training schedule. Win or Lose… I’ll be a follower.

Last…read this blog post by Randy Elrod.

Web 2.0 Trends – Twitter – Social Networking – Millennial Generation

It’s a quick look at some things to think about with Twitter. Randy and I teach a session during our LifeWork 2.o seminars specific to twitter.

Related posts:

1. 5 Changes I Made To How I Use Twitter
2. Don’t Overlook Your Twitter Profile
3. Two Twitter Tips For Artists, Authors And The Rest Of Us
4. Why Facebook and Twitter Are The Social Search Engine

This past week Lance Armstrong announced his return to the rolling saddle. He’s going to go for his 8th Tour de France. I’m extremely excited to see his return! He is one of the most incredible athletes of our time and his drive to find a cure for cancer has activated more people to action than most celebrities have in a long time. He’s up there with Bono when it comes to bring awareness around a cause.

Click on the link HERE to see the announcement.