afterglow

We learn so many things from our blog friends.

I think moreso than our real life friends a lot of the time.  I suspect some of the reasons for that are (a) people are willing to be more open and intimate on their blogs than in real life, and (b) blog friends live in and grew up in different parts of the world, making for a more diverse pool of experiences.

Years ago, I had a blog friend who began blogging during a very low point in her life.  She was reluctantly going through a divorce from her husband of about 10 years.  They had two kids. The divorce was his idea.  There was cheating involved (him not her).

But, contrary to how that may sound, her blog was typically upbeat.  I think that was the idea - she started blogging as a way to vent and focus on other things.  In the time I "knew" her, she became even closer with each of her kids, her social life picked up, she became healthy and fit, she met a new man, he and the kids got along great, she eventually married the new man, they bought a new home together, and at the time her blogging stopped, they were living happily ever after.

I like to think that the happily ever after is the reason the blogging stopped.  Its purpose had been fulfilled.

I appreciated her blog.  It was very inspiring, as might seem obvious.  And just recently, I was thinking of her, thinking of something she'd mentioned that I found intriguing at the time, but had yet to act on.

I mean, here I am, been in the same relationship for years and years.  After a while, it's like I just go through the motions and don't think much about changing things up a bit, going outside the lines.  But there she was, where everything was brand new, and with all that open mindedness and experimentation, not to mention an able and willing teacher...

A hefty part of her blog was writing about these particularly new experiences.

I remembered a blog post she wrote.  She was in a hotel(!) for a sort of endurance event.  I mean, really, this thing went on for DAYS!

And she went on to describe this nightly ritual they would do that was totally foreign to me.  I just remembered it this week, so I decided to try it.  This morning.  And, Oh... GOD!

Truthfully, I don't see myself doing this all that often, just maybe for special occasions.  But this morning, the conditions just seemed right to let loose and try it out.

I'm still all a-tingle.

See, one of her life changes was that she took up running.  She decided she was going to train for and complete a marathon.  In fact, she completed at least two marathons, countless half-marathons, and a few adventure races that I recall.



Having never been a runner, she wisely took up with a coach to help her meet these goals.  Her coach was a proponent of the ice bath.







That was the blog post I remembered.  About how she did it in a hotel.

I did it today.  At home.  And it was goooooood.  Maybe someday, I'll even do it in a hotel.
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