Participating in the Longhorn 70.3 Ironman on Oct. 17 for the third time proved one thing; I'm done with endurance-type events. I don't know if it was the bike crash or not being able to take in nutrition during the race that made me feel so bad about long-distance triathlons. The first Longhorn 70.3 race I felt great. The second one I had mechanical problems on the bike and landed in a bed of ants so that was probably the start of my ill feelings towards the event. I signed up for the 2010 event because my brother Kevin wanted to do one.
Endurance races are for the young. I'd rather be done with the event in under two hours and get on with it; sitting with friends, drinking a beer and having a meal.
Training for endurance sports take too much time away from other things I like to do.
I'd rather go fast for minutes than go slow for hours.
I noticed some avid runners, three-to-four years ahead of me in age and in my running group, were having issues with MCLs, bone-on-bone knee problems and it was time for me to take a long, hard look at what my outcome may be if I keep up with the amount of miles I'm running.
So it was a good ride while it lasted. I'm getting out with my knees intact and enough cartilage to last a few more years.
