Breaking Silence - Year to Date - Fall Races - In Loving Memory of my Dad, R.I.P.

Anybody there?  It has been a while, so just checking.  If 2013 leading up to IMFL was the "Iron Year,"  this has been the rebalancing year.  Having climbed that ultimate mountain, I found that 1) I am not as driven to accomplish amateur athletic feats, 2) it was time to focus on work and family, but 3) I am not ready to hang up my spurs.  I have done enough races and training to "keep me honest" but nothing result-wise to write home about, really.  The 5K swim was a first, and that was an interesting challenge.  I will probably do it again.  As the year has progressed, I have done the following races. 

1) Miami Marathon, Feb. 2, 2014
2) Miami Beach 13.1 Half Marathon, March 16, 2014
3) Lifetime South Beach Triathlon - Olympic Distance, April 6, 2014
4) Swim Miami 5K - April 19, 2014 (open water swim race, my longest swim ever, and first 5K).
5) Mercedes Benz Corporate Run, April 24, 2014
6) Inaugural Miami Man Speedway Edition Half Iron Triathlon - May 25, 2014
7) Weston July 4th Celebration 5K, July 4, 2014
8) Huntington's Disease Triathlon International Distance - July 27, 2014

So you can see I have been doing some racing, enough to keep me going, and I've also been doing some training.  My triathlon team has made several trips to Clermont, FL (near Orlando) to train on the hills there, on the bike, which I've done twice, and since they are training for an Ironman, I have been doing some very long bike rides and runs along with them. 

Clermont Training Pictures

As we roll into Fall, I have two major races on my agenda.  Ironman 70.3 Augusta this coming Sunday, September 2014, and the New York City Marathon, November 2, 2014.  I am excited about both.  I will be driving up to Augusta, Georgia on Friday to race Ironman 70.3 Augusta. 

On a more serious note, that it would be remiss of me not to say, this last month has been very tough for me and my family, as my Dad died a four weeks ago today.  I am getting through it day by day.  Needless to say, this put all the training and racing in the back seat, but when I have been able to do it, it has been a great source of peace, and I will be racing Sunday in honor and loving memory of him.  I am glad he and Mom made it to one of my Half Ironman triathlons last year and got to see my personal brand of crazy in person. 

Stay tuned, and I will let you know how it went.