It's Been a Good Run . . .

Off and on, off and on, off and on...that is exactly how I would explain my desire to race again. Mentally and I am on. Physically I am off. Rarely does it seem like the two are on the same page. I am gaining weight, I am feeling dull, and I am lazy. I don't like feeling this way. I can talk the good game, but right now there is no action behind any of my talk. I need to get back out and exercise. I want to train, but train to be healthy, not to PR.

This has been going on for awhile now. To long actually, which actually led me to an epiphany last night. And after thinking about it for awhile and then making a decision on it, I was at peace.

I am officially retiring from Triathlons.

Sounds weird to say that, and I am not saying I will never do another race, but it is very freeing. My workouts were beginning to be something I was not looking forward too, and if I did do them, then they were forced, and I was dreading them.  So therefore, it's over.

It has been a good run. Dating back to 2008 when I did my first indoor triathlon and got hooked. Back then, the goals were simple, just finish and see if I could do it. The indoor led to an Olympic race, where I thought I was going to drown. That led to an immediate drop back to the sprint races, which I did for a few years until I got the bug to go long. The bug led to a half marathon, and the half marathon led to a 70.3 race. IM Branson 70.3 which was a total bust. That led to a rematch with IM Branson and Nash Vegas 70.3. All this led to a marathon or two, which eventually ended with Ironman 140.6.

Here is a list of races I have done:

BRC Indoor Triathlon 2x
Memphis in May Olympic 6x
Dragonfly Sprint 3x
MightyMite Sprint 4x
Los Locos Duathlon 2x
Rebelman Sprint
CATS Sprint Triathlon
Showman SharpShooter Triathlon 3x
Germantown Half Marathon 2x
Ironman Branson 70.3 2x
St Jude Marathon 2x
Nash Vegas Half Triathlon
Redman Full Triathlon 140.6
Ragnar Relay (Chattanooga to Nashville) 2x
St Jude Half Marathon
Memphis in May Sprint

With training totals as I can best estimate:

Swim- 1, 221 miles
Bike- 7,693 miles
Run- 3,304 miles

So what's next you ask? Am I going to sit around and get fatter and always talk about the glory days?

Well, maybe.

Right now, I am really want to get in the weight room and see what I can do. Might be another cruise in my future. So the blog will still be around, but it won't just be triathlon related anymore, so keep coming back when ya can!!!

HIM Training Starts Way To Early!

I am not talking about me starting my training to far out before the race. I am talking about early as in early morning! I am really trying to stick to my plan, so if it calls for a swim/run combo workout, that's what I am gonna do!

So far, I have been getting up around 5:20 AM, so I can get everything in. Luckily, my wife has agreed to take the kids to school in the morning, which is something I never minded doing, but this frees up more time for me to train. I used to have a set time that I needed to be done, but not anymore! Thanks Baby!

This morning called for a 2500 yd swim, followed by a 40 minute run. More precisely, it called for this:

wu 6 x 100
main 4 x 400 (7:19, 7:24, 7:35, 8:26)
cd 2 x 150 pull

Then I changed and hit the dreadmill, because it was raining outside (no harden up comments please). There is no bigger buzzkill to an early morning workout, than to wake up and hear it raining outside. It makes it very hard to get up, but I was able to get up and get out the door.

Back to my run, for some reason, the stupid treadmill would only let me put in a max of 35 minutes, not 40 like the plan calls for, and remember, if it calls for 40, I'm doin 40! I had in my mind that I wanted to hit 4 miles on this run, so I pace accordingly. ( That maybe my new catch phrase...did you pace accordingly?) I hit the 4 mile mark at 34:18. The treadmill went into cooldown mode at 35 so I used the last 5 minutes for a cooldown. I think I thought the run would be easier than it was. 2,500 yards, followed by a run in training is something I had never done before.

I have 18 weeks and a few days before Ironman Branson, and I am going to be ready for it!