Sharlie, Me, Halfathon and my Boy



Sharlie and Me

Team Keaton is off and running for 2012. My role on this team has a lot of variety. Variety is good and it can at times leave you exhausted. The word exhausted does not bode well for a guy who likes to think of himself as an endurance athlete.

Late last year I was able to connect with Travlete.com.  I will be contributing endurance race stories for the site. The first was Tough Mudder Florida and this past weekend was the 7^th Annual Clearwater Florida Halfathon (half marathon). Great race, venue and the whole works. I ran a 1:38 and that’s about three minutes slower than my last attempt on the big bridge course in 2007. Not bad for no training. Well no run training. That P90x2 thing gets a lot of credit for keeping my legs fresh. You need that strength training especially after the big 4-0.

Enough about me and the halfathon. I started puppy star training with our canine teammate lab/retriever/hound/mix pup. She’s (Sharlie) almost 11 months old and she’s the worst in the class. That makes me the worst trainer in the class. She is doing a little better but the master dog trainer tells me Sharlie needs exercise. And since the trainer knows I can run; Sharlie and I run. Not that much. We started at least twice a week. Basically I have taken the Ivan Drago approach with the dog. I must break her! She’s in basic training…Full Metal Jacket style.

Time to get serious. Team Keaton member Evan, my son, is an avid reader. He’s gifted, but that gifted personality of his is landing him in deep water. Not sure why but since Christmas break he’s acting up and being a very demanding little man. He will be eight soon so I try to remember when I was eight. Deep down parents really don’t want to punish their kids. Right? I know it’s for the better. Team Keaton member Maria, the wifey, sees the brunt of the boy’s attitude. Being a parent is an endurance sport. You can’t DNF (if you don’t know what DNF means Google it) in parenting.

Variety is good and tonight I’m exhausted.