T2: 15:36, and I was feeling fantastic. I'd said since around midsummer that I felt as long as I could get off the bike and beat the bike cutoffs, I'd be fine. And indeed, when I finished the bike segment at around 5:20pm and cleared T2 at 5:36, I still had nearly seven hours to complete the marathon. 

Photo courtesy FinisherPix

Finish: 15:50:05; that's an hour and ten minutes ahead of the cutoff and ten minutes ahead of my personal sixteen-hour goal. I alternated power-walk and easy jog, a mile at a time, for the marathon. I never had any doubt I would finish, and honestly didn't even start to feel too tired until mile 25.

Photo courtesy FinisherPix

So I finished. I won't go into detail about the next 12 hours of recovery (it wasn't pretty). A month later, I'm finally feeling like I'm back to where I was before the event. IRONMAN Arizona was the single most difficult thing, physically and mentally, that I've done in my life--and I survived six months of homelessness and, later, Army Basic Training. 

I'll wrap up with a final fundraising appeal; I'm just $530 short of my 2018 $2,000 fundraising goal, and if you've been putting off a donation to wait and see if I finished... well, there you go. Donations to LLS are, of course, tax-deductible, so if you still need a charitable donation for your 2018 income tax, this would be a fine way to help yourself and fund LLS' mission of blood cancer research and patient support.

What's next? My 2019 race calendar is filling up quickly, and includes an Olympic and a 70.3 triathlon. But no IRONMAN. I've done it.

GO TEAM!

It's time for a fundraising raffle!

Your chance to run the Strip at Night!

This amazing package includes:

• a Team Chocolate Milk running visor by bocoGEAR (brand new, never worn)
• an InknBurn Red Robot Singlet, size men's medium (tried on, never used)
• a trial pack of SiS (Science in Sport) fuel gels
• and a registration code for the 2018 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas marathon or half marathon!

Domo Arigato Mister Robotto!

Together, this package would be worth over $240. Raffle entries cost $10 each, and the entire amount goes to Leukemia & Lymphoma Society fundraising. The winner will be picked from all eligible entries; the more entries you buy, the better your chances of winning!

To enter: click the Donate Now link in the sidebar. Donate in multiples of $10; each $10 donation counts as another raffle entry. Enter by midnight (Pacific time), Friday November 2, 2018!

Are you Built with Chocolate Milk?

Fine print: This raffle is not sponsored by Team Chocolate Milk, bocoGEAR, InknBurn, Science in Sport, Competitor Group/IRONMAN, or the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Raffle entries are donations to my Leukemia & Lymphoma Society fundraising, and may be tax-deductible; consult your tax professional. No refunds. Void where prohibited. You must be of legal age in your jurisdiction to enter this raffle. Entries (donations) must be received between 3:27 pm Pacific time, September 26, 2018, and 11:59:59 pm Pacific time on Friday, November 2, 2018.

September is Blood Cancer Awareness Month, so here are some statistics from LLS you may not have known.

• Approximately every 3 minutes one person in the United States is diagnosed with a blood cancer.
• An estimated combined total of 174,250 people in the US are expected to be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma in 2018.
• New cases of leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are expected to account for 10 percent of the estimated 1,735,350 new cancer cases diagnosed in the US in 2018.
• The overall five-year relative survival rate for leukemia has more than quadrupled since 1960. From 1960 to 1963, the five-year relative survival rate among whites (only data available) with leukemia was 14 percent. From 1975 to 1977, the five-year relative survival rate for the total population with leukemia was 34.1 percent, and from 2007 to 2013, the overall relative survival rate was 63.7 percent.
• The 5-year relative survival rate for people with Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL) has more than doubled, from 40 percent in whites from 1960 to 1963 (only data available) to 88.3 percent for all races from 2007 to 2013. The five-year relative survival rate is 94 percent for people with HL who were younger than 45 years old at diagnosis.
• Hodgkin Lymphoma is now considered to be one of the most curable forms of cancer.
• LLS has invested more than $1 billion in research to find cures for blood cancer patients.

Please consider supporting LLS' vital mission of funding blood cancer research and supporting patients.

Thank you and GO TEAM!

With just four months to go until IRONMAN Arizona (November 18, 2018), I'm pretty happy with my training. I am regularly swimming 1-1.5 miles, running double-digit miles, and biking -- oh, let me tell you.

I had my bike (2014 Cannondale Synapse) re-fit for time-trial/triathlon -- this basically involves raising the seat post and moving the saddle forward, lowering the bars, and adding aero bars. In the couple of weeks since the brilliant bike tech at Sports Basement took care of this, my cycling performance has gotten so much better. The higher/forward seating position activates the quads and glutes in a way that both gives me more power, and saves more for the run which follows. And the lowered front and aero bars put me into a much more aerodynamic position, which means less wind resistance. These combined will give me a better, faster, smoother bike segment for the IRONMAN.

Aero bars and CatEye bike computer on the hard-working Cannondale Synapse

Okay, so training is going well, what else? Well, it's time to close out my Team in Training fundraising season. It's early for my event, but since I'm part of the national fundraising team -- with a common schedule -- I have to close it out now. And that means I need your help. If you have a family member or a friend or co-worker who has been touched by blood cancer, you know what the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society does. From funding vital research, to developing treatments, to supporting patients and their families. It's an immense effort, it does a ton of good, and it costs money. 

Please hit the Donate Now link on this page and support this cause. Your donations are tax-deductible, and if your employer offers charity matching, you can potentially double your impact.

Thank you, and GO TEAM!

How to know you're officially In Training:

Your official IRONMAN Arizona "In Training" shirt arrives!

As seen hanging on the Wall of Bling

The 2018 Team in Training IronTeam season kicks off on January 6 -- and I'd love to have some significant progress on that $2,000 fundraising goal before then. There are only a few days left to donate and earn that 2017 tax deduction!