The Last Storyteller's Playbook Post

Yup.  This is the end.

I decided to start a new blog, called Danno's Lair.  I did it because, bottom line, I think this blog's name is a little confusing and more than a little off-topic.  So if you want to see what's new with me, head over to the Lair and check it out.  There won't be any more posts here, so there's no need to come back... unless you absolutely want to.

See ya in the next life!

Season Revisited

Triathlon season ended, not with a bang but a whimper.  I feel like I put in a really, really good season of training, and in many ways I feel like I’m now in the best shape of my life.  But racing-wise it could have gone better.  I opened the season with a good performance at the Brian’s Beachside Boogie duathlon in April but then got lost on the bike leg at my first actual tri of the season in May and followed that up by bonking right at the end of the NYC Tour de Cure in June.  After that, I laid down an absolutely crap-tastic performance at the Ocean Beach sprint in July and followed that up with exactly three-quarters of a good race at Litchfield Hills in August.  And yeah, I did eventually manage to close out the season with a reasonably strong performance at the Westport Kiwanus Triathlon, finishing 3^rd in my Age Group and 12^th overall, and that’s fine.  But even there, there was still plenty of room for improvement.  I mean, I was actually leading my Age Group with less than a mile to go on the run, so more than anything, I feel like the lesson of this tri season is the same as it’s always been—I’m a good swimmer, and I can hold serve on the bike, but the better guys always seem to close me out on the run, and it seems like there’s never anything I can do about it.  To be the triathlete that I reallywant to be, I need to find a way to get in some three- and four-hour workouts in there early part of the season, and I somehow need to find more time to focus on running.  And oh by the way, as a 38-year-old husband and working father of two, I doubt strongly that I’ll ever be able to either find more time to train or to recover enough to train successfully if I do actually manage to commit more hours.

*sigh*

I love triathlon, but living that lifestyle is a constant struggle for focus, balance, and discipline.  Which is to say that I like being a competitive athlete again, but I have to really work at not letting it take over my life.  I’m not on scholarship.  I’m not doing this professionally.  I’m not even on a team.  Truth: no one really cares about this stuff except me. 

When tri season ended, Sally and I decided to do the Hartford Half-Marathon.  It was a no-brainer, really.  Sally’s already run a few Half’s, and for me, though I’ve never run that far before, I also know that I’m still carrying a full season’s worth of triathlon fitness.  I didn’t need to get in shape for the race so much as I needed to just refocus my fitness and build some more strength in my legs.  Yesterday I finished an 11-mile training run in exactly and hour-forty, so at this point I feel pretty good.  I mean, I’m tired and a little sore right now, but I nevertheless feel reasonably confident.  I don’t think the Half is gonna be easy by any means—in fact, I expect the last half-hour to be downright painful—but I ‘m pretty sure I can finish, hopefully in something like two-hours.

After Hartford, it’ll be the true offseason.  Given how tired I am right this minute, that sounds kind’a nice.