Summer break has come and gone although I probably did take more of an extended hiatus from this blog than I should’ve.

But here’s a story that has broken that blogging lethargy - at least for a while:

Dave Mandelkern was the classic couch potato just a few years ago.

He sat in front of the television and “ate crappy food — junk food,” he said. Sure, he tried various activities such as racquetball and aerobics.

“But nothing caught on until I found this crazy sport,” said Mandelkern, who serves on the board of the San Mateo County Community College District.

That “crazy sport” is the triathlon, an endurance event consisting of swimming, cycling and running.

Mandelkern loved it so much he went on a quest to become perhaps the first person to complete a triathlon in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia by age 50.

He’s done just that by finishing the Nautica New York City Triathlon on July 20.

“It felt pretty good,” Mandelkern, 49, said Thursday as he trained with members of the triathlon group Team Sheeper at Burgess Park in Menlo Park. “It was a five-year project. It was a lot of states, a lot of odd places and a lot of airports.”

But it was all worth it, he said, especially when it was part of raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and two groups supporting disabled athletes.

His goal is $150,000. “I’m a third of the way there,” he said. “The triathlon is easier to get done than the fundraising part.”

You can read more of Mandelkern’s feat in Monday’s print edition of Chalk Talk.