July (Almost August) 2015 Catchup

This is shaping up to be my worst year for blog posts. I've been meaning to catch up for some time, because there were four or five times over the last few months that I wanted to write and just never sat down to do it. Call it laziness or a funk, but I've been terribly remiss with regard to blogging.

I was inspired to post something tonight because I spent the last few hours of it watching livestream of the Ironman Lake Placid finish line. It's something I highly recommend doing if you're looking for some big ol' feels.

I was at a social function a few weeks ago and met a friend of a friend who slipped into casual conversation that she was set to do Lake Placid in a short three weeks. Prior to this, we had chatted a bit about riding and triathlon in general, but it took some time for her to mention the Ironman. She revealed that she was anxious about it because she had attempted the same race in 2013 but hadn't made the bike cutoff. She was very apprehensive about even talking about it much. I had some relevant insight, as someone who has found myself in the same exquisitely agonizing situation (well-documented, in a four part post that starts here). We commiserated about it for awhile, and eventually parted ways. She said she wasn't completely sure she was going to do it while I did my best to encourage it.

It wasn't my day, so I won't make this its own epic saga (although maybe she'll do a guest post about it...). Suffice it to say, she started and finished like a champ and she is an Ironwoman. I am very glad she overcame her fear of the distance and was able to power through all the tough times that come with a daylong race.

I'm liking this guest post idea more and more, so I'm going to try to make that happen. As for me, I would like to post about a few things that have happened since we last touched base:

• I told a story at the Moth StorySlam just about a week after my last post. It was (perhaps not shockingly) about running and Hurricane Sandy.
• I finished the New Jersey Marathon at the end of April and ran it just about the time I anticipated.
• Brooklyn Half
• Queens 10K (maybe)
• Challenge Atlantic City half iron tri
• Party With Purpose - 5K in Hoboken
• Tomorrow is Day 1 of serious marathon training

Now that I've broken the ice, hopefully these posts will come easier. Congrats to M (kept at least partially anonymous for now) and to all the Lake Placid (and other Ironman races that happened today) finishers.