“The Martini is up!” Hearing those words are music to every exhausted crew member's ears when shooting on set, because the Martini is the last shot of the day. The Abby Singer, is the second to last shot. This post will not be my last, but it is the final one for this, “Write and post every Tuesday” project I started in January, 2018.
I started writing the first incarnation of my blog in 2012, and the last time I took a break from it was when I moved to Albuquerque, NM in 2015 to be with my husband, Marion, while he was working on the shoot for the movie, Independence Day: Resurgence. It was a very tough, but incredible time because I started working again in Visual Effects after a seven year hiatus, (childcare), I stopped training for triathlon, (only running), and I wrote my first book, “35 by 35: A Runner’s Quest.” However, I realized later that Summer that I was not at all done with triathlon, that I could snap back into production work regardless of the time away, and that I was ready to bump my blog from blogspot to my own website.
Our girl, Blue, making herself at home in the backyard of our Albuquerque rental. June, 2015.
I had a blast writing my blog every couple of weeks throughout 2016 - 2017, (mainly race reports), and thought why not take it up a notch and post every week in 2018? Initially, I had no plans to go beyond that one year. 2018 was a banner year: I ran the Boston marathon with my sister Sarah, raced the Ironman World Championships in Kona, HI, and then ran the marathon my life a few weeks later in New York City, so I figured why not roll that momentum into 2019 with an even larger goal to report and share every week, my Round 2 quest to earn my pro card in triathlon. *SPOILER ALERT* that jilted quest was going to be the storyline for my second book.
Yikes, someone had a rough one.. i.e. the look of ultimate defeat after failing at my last attempt to earn my pro card at IM Wisconsin in 2019.
I am not the same person I was when I started this project in January, 2018. I have been hurt numerous ways physically, (plantar plate tear, damaged hamstring), and I have grown stronger than I ever believed imaginable, (100 daily push-ups, thousands of weighted stairs). I have also experienced a fair share of emotional turmoil, being deceived by people I thought I could count on, (#metoo), and succumbing to pneumonia the day before the biggest race of my life, (Ironman Boulder, 2019). Nevertheless, throughout those “life adventures'' I received unwavering support from people who have always had my back, and from others who I’m not sure even knew my name three years ago. Amazing.
My favorite photo of my siblings, Kauai, HI 1995.
Furthermore, I would not change one thing about 2020. Except maybe being violently ill for a week or so in January. That wasn’t fun. I wouldn’t consider any part of 2020 “fun” actually, it delivered constant disappointments, and challenged my super-power daily, (positivity), but it was undoubtedly my favorite year so far. I embraced patience most of all by diligently building myself back up from a very low place in the first half of the year to complete a solo “iron” distance triathlon in November. Which during “normal” race day conditions might have delivered my best performance to date. At 41 years young. But the race itself wasn’t the hard part, rather it was the celebration after months of working inside and out of my comfort zone to become a better version of myself everyday.
I love the process of writing this blog; it has never been easy, is often agonizing, and always exhilarating. I have shared my goals, my path to reach them, and the joy and tragedy when I did, and didn’t.
Recently I realized the greatest goal I want to pursue from now on out is to lean into my positive instincts. Yes, I am that person who will provide at least three stress relief exercises after you vent about your “busy” life at 3:30P on a Wednesday. “Let’s do some squats!”
Creativity beats the clock every single time.
Speaking of creativity, I am going to use my usual “blog writing” time to write… something…. although I’m not sure what, yet? My aforementioned second book idea was dashed a while ago, but maybe there is a more meaningful story to tell? We’ll see….
A star-studded track workout last Saturday. From left: Yours truly, Hillary Biscay, Lynne Fiedler, and Cameron Biscay.
In the meantime, I hope you all start, and/or continue to write down your own stories in personal journals, blogs, books, or on chalkboards, billboards, etc., To share or not share, they are all worth living and telling.
Thank you for letting me share mine with you.
The song and video choice this week is Ed Sheeran’s new tune, Afterglow.