Life of an Age-Grouper

The 2017 Patriot Half triathlon was to be my curtain call for long course racing. I had envisioned, rehearsed and trained for a perfect race. This perfect race would have a fantasy ending in which I would leave my shoes on the mat like wrestlers do after their final match. I crossed the finish line on Saturday with a smile on my face, a heart on my chest and my shoes on the mat.   Unfortunately it was not a perfect race yet, I’m at peace. As race day approached I knew I had put in the training to become as fit as possible however the levels I achieved would not allow me to reach my goals.   I could have easily altered my goals and made them more realistic but where is the fun in that? If this was going to be my last long course race then I was going to have to maximize my fitness and to take chances throughout the race. The weather on race morning was 70 degrees, 100% humidity, overcast and drizzling and would remain that way until about noon.   I was very co...

 And I quote , " The full Iron distance is weird.  I'm glad I did it and I'm proud of my accomplishment, but I kind of don't think it is as big a deal as many people make it.  I still prefer the 70.3 distance for 2 reasons:  I can have a better life balance and you can actually race it." Yet here we are about 3 months removed from the completion of your second full distance triathlon, Challenge Roth. If the full distance didn't set fireworks off inside you the first time then why did you decide to toe the line again?    Hahaha, well, I never said I wasn’t going to do another full Iron distance race, I just said I preferred 70.3.   To better explain that previous answer of mine, I was trying to get at the idea that many triathletes feel like you have to complete a 140.6 to be taken seriously which is so misguided in my opinion.   To me, triathlon is all about challenging yourself and having fun doing something you love – it’s that simple. ...