Why couldn't I go the distance? Were my training reads not long enough? Should I have been reading both in the morning and at night? Maybe my pre-read nutrition plan was inadequate?
After a careful analysis of why I couldn't get it done, I came to the following conclusion: much like an actual Ironman (which I have not yet attempted), this book (which I have attempted) was incredibly painful. And again, in the spirit of full disclosure, Mr. Steinberg should not call his work a book. He should call it a lazy and disjointed collection of notes and blog posts about an Ironman that people emailed to him.
I wish I could provide more insight into the lives of the six regular people whom he profiled. I can only remember the name of one of them because her blog had a catchy title.
I found myself mindlessly muddling through page after page of out of context quotes from the participants. There was little actual insight into their training regimen beyond insipid accounts of their swimming, cycling, and running. With zero development of conflict between the athletes and their other life commitments or conflict between the athletes and the race itself, I found myself thinking that the book about a triathlon was more like a treadmill workout: not going anywhere.
If you ever finish either an Ironman or this book, please let me know how it feels.
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