Then and Now

Adventure walks with Johno

More Florida...

Ironman Revisited

Six years ago I did Ironman Florida with my dad. This past weekend, I revisited the race as a supporter as my dad was doing it again. It was fun and different being a spectator and not a participant or race organizer as I was in the past. As the gun went off in the morning and the athletes headed out into the water, Cameron turned to me with the video camera on my face and asked, "Do you miss it?"

Right after I did the Ironman, I was so energized and excited and I wanted to do it again. I had planned to do another one the following year. This was my lifestyle, so it seemed so normal and natural. But then I moved to NYC, and it wasn't so easy to train or find the time as I once did. Life happened. There were new interests, a marriage, a baby. And here it is 6 years later and I haven't touched an Ironman... and figured if I were to do another one it would be many years from now. I've done a couple of half Ironman races, 2 marathons and 3 200-mile relays, but the Ironman seems like another lifetime ago.

This was my answer to his question... Yes, sometimes I do miss it. And being at the race made me miss it even more. It is perhaps one of the most inspiring events you could ever attend. You could be the most out of shape person and walk away from witnessing an Ironman saying to yourself, "I'm going to do this." It's fun. It's hard. And it's satisfying. I miss it. But I feel like that part of my life is over, at least for now because I am not willing to sacrifice my family and what little time I do have to train for it, especially since I have already done it. If I were single, I would probably still be running with that crowd, but right now I have other things that are more important to me than that. But, yes, I do miss it.I was able to see my good friend Shelley that I worked for at Ironman while I was there. I so enjoyed talking to her and catching up. She asked me the same question only in relation to working for Ironman. Do I miss it? And the answer to that is also yes. I do miss working for Ironman. I miss it a lot sometimes. I loved that part of my life and I think of it fondly and often. But if I hadn't left, I wouldn't be in NYC. I wouldn't have met Cameron and I wouldn't have JH. I might have a few more Ironmans under my belt and a good tan, but I wouldn't have what matters most. But, yes, I do miss it.

My dad raced well and finished in 13.01... that's thirteen hours and 1 minute for those of you unfamiliar with the Ironman. Perhaps someday I will do it again... with Cameron... and maybe JH :)

Autumn in NY

Halloween

It's been a while since I have posted. We had a momentary setback with the computer... an orange screen of death. We were able to rule out hard drive and screen malfunctions and concluded it had something to do with the graphics card (Thanks for your help, Nathan). Thanks to Apple Care, we are back on line without being any poorer.

Last Saturday, we headed down to 72nd in the park for the annual Pumpkin Festival. It was raining, but we got some free pumpkins. New Yorkers love free stuff.So Halloween... not my favorite holiday... but I do enjoy a good get together with friends. We actually had 3 parties to attend... 2 for JH and one for us, but really when you get one of us you get all :) Since I am not much of a Halloween person, I opt for simple costumes. We were the C, N and J subway lines. JH is so freakin adorable it doesn't matter what he wears. And since he's too young to know what Halloween is or care what he is dressed as, I took advantage of that. There will be plenty of years to come when he does care. He made a great J train.

All play and some work

JH is definitely my son. He likes to clean and he loves to play.

Autumn inauguration

We left the city the other day with the intention of picking apples but took a (lame) hayride and picked out a pumpkin instead. JH had a good time with the pumpkins, and I wasn't pulling my hair out trying to keep track of him and pick apples at the same time. I did pick up some apples at the farm store before I left though. I like fall... especially when I can still wear short sleeves and feel the warm sun on my face while basking in all of Autumn's Awesomeness.