I have two hours to kill before my flight home from Phoenix to Miami. I could watch "House of Cards", which I am totally obsessed with, but then I had a better idea... It is time to pick up my blog again. What better place to do it than in the city that broke my heart and crushed me a little over a year ago (see November 26, 2012 post in archive for the details).
A lot has happened since November 18, 2012.
Just in the last year, my 7 year relationship ended, which meant selling my house and moving back in to my bedroom at my parents' house until I made the final arrangements for my new place. On top of that, I turned 40. So here I was during the summer of 2013 - not really sure where my path would take me but it was kinda looking pretty crappy.
A lot of factors came into play pertaining to the end of my relationship, but I know that training for and competing in IRONMAN Arizona 2012 played an enormous part in it. Aside from the death of my grandfathers, missing the run cut off was the worst feeling ever in my life. This may sound callous, but knowing that I had unfinished business and that I still had to check off the box next to "Competing an IRONMAN" on my bucket list, made it that much easier to put an end to that chapter in my life.
Fast forward to a random email over the summer that invited me to participate as a member of the Ragnar Relay SWAT team for the race in Tennessee (I had worked "SWAT" at two previous Ragnar events in South Florida). I, of course, jumped on the opportunity. I would be flown to Tennessee and would be rooming with a perfect stranger and working with a crew of people most of whom I had never met, except for a handful of people I had only shared emails with. "OKAY!!!! What have I got to lose?"
Now working the Tennessee event required me to fly to Nashville on October 23rd... the DAY of my 40th birthday. I was going to spend my birthday with random strangers.
I met some amazing people in Tennessee. Because of these friendships forged in the confines of cargo vans, trailers and random rental cars, along with being sweaty wet and tired (this is what SWAT stands for), I am here now at Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix.
I have spent the most amazing 10 days in the desert... the first few days were spent road-tripping through the Mojave to Vegas, the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. That in and of itself deserves its own blog entry. The last three days had me participating on a relay team for Ragnar Del Sol.
When I had the opportunity to join this team, I knew instantly that it was was something I HAD to do. When I looked at the race course and saw that the finish line for Del Sol was at the same location as the IRONMAN Arizona finish line, I knew that I had to be runner 12 on the team. This meant that I would be the one to run the last 5.8 miles of the 202 mile course into the finish line.
So, yesterday afternoon, with my BREAKING BAD #253 team members, some of the best and craziest group of random strangers - with whom I am now forever bonded, I crossed that finish line and I have closure on that chapter in my life.
The timing could not be more perfect. Next weekend, March 1st & 2nd, is the Tri Loco Miami training kick-off for IRONMAN MONT TREMBLANT. I feel as if a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders and I can go into the next 6 months of training with an open heart and open mind. Not worrying about what coulda, shoulda, woulda... But focusing on what WILL BE.
So, I invite you to follow along with me, through the ups and downs, as I now embark on this new adventure.
Who knows what the future brings, but I can't wait to find out.
~
J.T.
