Sean Kachmarski's Blog - Posts Tagged "running-memoir"
Launching Unlikely Finisher
When I started running, I never imagined it would lead me here. At first, I was just a middle-aged dad trying to get off the couch and reclaim a little fitness. But step by step, mile by mile, my life began to change. Running gave me more than health, it gave me stories. Stories about fear, resilience, and finding out what you are capable of when you stop saying “I could never” and start asking “What if I tried?”
Those stories became my first book, Just Finish, a memoir that followed my journey from couch to marathon to ultra. Writing it was a way to look back and make sense of everything I had learned.
Now my second book, Unlikely Finisher, is about to launch. This one is different. I wrote it in real time, capturing the highs and lows as I chased the biggest challenge of my life: an Ironman. Unlike my first book, I had no idea how this one would end. It is raw, funny, sometimes painful, and always honest. It is about what happens when you fail, when you try again, and when you discover that medals matter less than resilience.
Self publishing has never been easy. With my first book I fell for scams, shouted into the echo chamber, and learned the hard way what does not work. But I also found an audience, and the encouragement of readers showed me that my words mattered. This time around I am doing things differently, using Amazon Ads, running a Goodreads Giveaway, and returning to podcasts that gave me a platform before. Most importantly, I am leaning into community, because books are meant to be shared, not shouted into the void.
Unlikely Finisher is not just the end of a project, it is the close of a chapter in my life. Two books feel like my limit, but together they tell the story I needed to tell. From couch to ultra to Ironman, from self doubt to stubborn determination, from “I could never” to “I did.”
Thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way. I hope this new book inspires you to take on your own “impossible” challenge, whatever it looks like.Unlikely Finisher; Continuing the JUST FINISH JourneyUnlikely Finisher; Continuing the JUST FINISH Journey
Those stories became my first book, Just Finish, a memoir that followed my journey from couch to marathon to ultra. Writing it was a way to look back and make sense of everything I had learned.
Now my second book, Unlikely Finisher, is about to launch. This one is different. I wrote it in real time, capturing the highs and lows as I chased the biggest challenge of my life: an Ironman. Unlike my first book, I had no idea how this one would end. It is raw, funny, sometimes painful, and always honest. It is about what happens when you fail, when you try again, and when you discover that medals matter less than resilience.
Self publishing has never been easy. With my first book I fell for scams, shouted into the echo chamber, and learned the hard way what does not work. But I also found an audience, and the encouragement of readers showed me that my words mattered. This time around I am doing things differently, using Amazon Ads, running a Goodreads Giveaway, and returning to podcasts that gave me a platform before. Most importantly, I am leaning into community, because books are meant to be shared, not shouted into the void.
Unlikely Finisher is not just the end of a project, it is the close of a chapter in my life. Two books feel like my limit, but together they tell the story I needed to tell. From couch to ultra to Ironman, from self doubt to stubborn determination, from “I could never” to “I did.”
Thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way. I hope this new book inspires you to take on your own “impossible” challenge, whatever it looks like.Unlikely Finisher; Continuing the JUST FINISH JourneyUnlikely Finisher; Continuing the JUST FINISH Journey
