4 minutes 4 seconds

That is where I stand now on my 90 day plank challenge. I started with a max of 3:05 and my max out last night was 4:04. My goal is to get to a 10 minute plank. So this week, my plank workouts will be three (3) 2 minute planks. This week I have found the secret to doing a good plank, one that will make you feel the burn and make strides is to wear the right shoes. There is no way I could do planks barefooted cause it hurts me toes! So I have to have on my running shoes to guarantee that I do not slide around while trying to bang out a plank. I think it also helps to begin your plank at the start of a commercial while watching TV. We all know commercials run about 2 minutes, and nothing makes it harder for me than to stare at the stopwatch watching the time. So I either look away or make sure the watch is not in my line of sight. So seven days down, only 83 more days to plank! I also realized that I do not need to do 5 days of planking to get gains, so I have skipped a day in the week, but I can seriously see myself hitting a 10 minutes plank in the future.

As far as my other workouts, well, if you have seen a weather map, or if you have been on FaceBook, then you know it has been cold. It got down to 7 degrees here in Memphis and that's not normal. It is not suppose to get that cold here. So needless to say, that made it difficult for me to get out. Not only was the outside cold, but everywhere you went INSIDE was also cold. I do not think we build frigid proof houses here like maybe they do in Minnesota or Wisconsin. I don't know, but I had no desire to get outside unless I had to and that only meant going to work, going to church or going outside to get some firewood!

So now that the Holiday season is over, my wife and I thought we should do something crazy, so we decided that now is the perfect time to put our house on the market and try to sell it! We simply need more room and we have been putting it off for awhile now, so we decided to go for it. It should officially be on the market this week, which honestly, scares the crap out of me. I mean, what if someone does buy it, then we have to find a new house! We are waiting to even look at new houses because I do not want to find a house we love and then be stuck because ours has not sold yet, but I think once that ball starts rolling, it will roll fast! I would love to find a house that I can have a workout room or "man cave" I could setup my bike and get a treadmill and some weights and turn it into a PAIN CAVE! I am sure we will find the perfect house in the perfect neighborhood in the perfect time, but it is still a little scary....Wait, I have to find all new running routes!!!!

I Love Memphis...

You may have heard a lot of bad things about Memphis. Our crime stats, a dangerous city, racial divide and other bad news comments about my adopted city. You see, I am not originally from Memphis. We moved here almost 13 years ago, and I honestly can't imagine living anywhere else. Yes I love Memphis, and check out this video of why...

There is a change coming to Memphis, so get ready to start hearing  good things!

Random Thoughts on a Tuesday...

Time to blog and I really do not want to try and make it all formal like (and Yes, I do try to make them easy on the eyes), so here are the things I am thinking about:

• Half Marathon training has been going well. I managed to get in 60 miles in the month of August, but I am already behind this month due to work commitments. Overall, I am pleased with where I am, and I think if I ran it today, I could easily finish in 2:05, so there is time to get that under 2 hours.
• I just found out that my hometown of Fort Smith Arkansas is having their first ever marathon/half marathon in February!  I am actually really excited about this and I am looking forward to running it.
• And just so you know, my 2015 rival Bradleyd3 is also looking to run to some half with JFord early in the year, probably want to scout me out and figure out a way to beat me, but I know his game... (notice the labels at bottom)
• Already got some trash talk texts from him, going to be a long year and I have a post in mind for all his jibber jabber
• I started toying with a race schedule for 2015 and it is taking shape. looks like I can do some long runs, a sprint triathlon and a full in 2015.
• It looks like another run at Ragnar TN is in the works
• I turned 43 on Sunday, which isn't a big deal cause I stayed in the same age group...
• On one hand I really like Memphis, but on the other hand we have some problems. From kids beating up people at Kroger to people shooting their girlfriends in parking lots, it is just crazy. So much bad going on in this world, almost makes me want to cancel my TV stations, at least then I would not hear about it as much!
• My Razorbacks had a huge win this week! 73-7!!!  WPS
• I got a Keurig for my office and I love it, actually thinking a getting a cup of Joe right now!

Bday present form the family!!!

Don't Be Cruel, Read This Race Report

August 16th is the alleged death date for the King of Rock N Roll Elvis Presley. So what is more fitting than to go out and run 5K race that starts at the gates of Graceland (which is basically In the Ghetto now)? The Elvis Presley 5K is now one of my favorite races and I think everyone reading this should go race it. I really have no excuse as to why in my 13 years of being a Memphian and a lifetime of being an Elvis fan, that I have never run this race before, but I guarantee it will be on my race list every year going forward.

**Fact, did you know that Heartbreak Hotel is actually at the end of Lonely Street in Memphis?



Em in front of Graceland

 This is one of the bigger 5K's in Memphis. This year there was 1,122 runners on the course. So naturally, I was not looking for a fast time or a PR. If you have read my blog before than you can imagine that I was concerned about following one of my race rules. Rule #2, No one in a costume beats me. There were plenty of people in Elvis hair, Elvis sideburns and Elvis gold glasses, so even though I was using this as a training run, I needed to keep the rules. My wife, Emily also ran with me and our main goal was just to stay together, which is so hard in a big race. But I am getting ahead of myself.

As we arrived to the race site that morning, the weather was great, there was no chance of a Kentucky rain comin downnnn, and I was shocked at how easy parking was. They had guards directing us right into a spot. One thing I hate about some races is simply finding a place to park. Once the car was parked, we walked right up to the race site and visited real bathrooms, not porta potties! Score!!!! We then just kind of strolled around looking at the sponsors booths and getting our picture taken!

We decided to roll up to the gates of Graceland and take a picture when they opened the gates! We got to walk up to the house, take pictures and visit the alleged grave of Elvis Presley and family. It was amazing to see all the flowers and mementos that people from around the world have left at the gravesite. You have to remember that this was the end of Elvis week, so there had been thousands of fans in town all week! So after paying respect to the King, we made our way to the start line, but first we had to get a picture with an Elvis, which left us All Shook up!

We lined up about a third of the way back from the start line. We did move up to pass the approximately 100 NAVY men running in formation carrying a flag. That was actually pretty cool to see. So before we knew it, the gun sounded.

Now many people started running, but we weren't close enough to the official start line that I had to hold Em back until we crossed the timing mat. Once we hit the mat, the watches were started and we were on our way. Like I said earlier, my main goal was to finish under 30 minutes and to stay with my wife. We are running pretty well, and we finally find that line where you do not have to dodge people anymore and we get into a good pace, and then we see him. There is an Elvis impersonator running in a full Elvis jumpsuit, wearing Blue Suede Shoes. He was throwing out Thank you very much and telling every dog that barked in the neighborhood he was nothing but a hound dog!

My wife was running great. She has come a long ways with her running. She will tell you I pushed her, but That's Alright Momma, she also pushed me. At one point I looked down my Timex and we were hitting around an 8 minute mile! We got in a great pace and held on. She did not wear her Garmin, so she only knew what I told her regarding pace, and I purposely did not tell her much. So much for my training run! I felt great also during the entire run. Once we hit mile 2, I knew we were heading for a good time. We ran on the last stretch, we knew it Was Now or Never and Emily said Little Less Conversation, Little More Action as we hit the final stretch to the finish line. We turned in a 27:25. Emily hit a new PR! I was very proud of her and she was stoked for herself! It's funny, you have one midset pre race, then it shifts and you have another mindset during the race! Here are some race shots.

 

As we crossed the finish line, we got a cool finisher's medal with the iconic "TCB" on it, which stands for Taking care of business, which Elvis was famous for saying. Gotta admit, it is one of my favorite medals.

Love Me Tender, Love me some finishers medals!

Next we spent some time at the booths, cause the warden threw a  party at the county jail (Jailhouse Rock Reference!) ate some donuts (seemed appropriate) and then we hit the results table for our official times. It was not a Heartbreak Hotel for either of us! Our official results were that Emily finished 7 out of 90 in her AG 216/1122 overall. I finished 24/90 in my AG, 215/1122 OA and our time was 27:25.



I know, a Hunk, a hunk of Burnin Love right there!

"Elvis Presley has left the building"

If ‘If’s and ‘Buts’ Were Candy and Nuts, We’d All be Triathletes!

I am sure you will soon realize by the proper grammar skills and correct spelling of all the words that I did not write this post. Today's post is from my bride, who is competing in her 1st triathlon on Saturday. Here are her thoughts as she prepares to race this Saturday at the Memphis in May Sprint Triathlon.


So I am finally putting to rest all of those “ifs” and “buts” that prevented me from taking the plunge into triathlons, as in, “if I had more time” or “but I’m not sure I could actually do it.” Now, I’m ready to attempt my first “real” triathlon, Memphis in May sprint, this Saturday. So how the heck did I end up here?

I can only assume( as I usually do) that this is actually all my husband’s fault. Watching him over the years competing in triathlons of all distances – sprint, Olympic, 70.3, and even an Ironman - it was probably inevitable that I would finally bite the proverbial bullet.

Around the time he got serious about triathlons again, we welcomed our third son. So there was no hurry for me to train for my own races. I was more than content to be the cheerleader, child wrangler, and masseuse. I especially enjoyed the venue at Memphis in May because there is a great pool right along the race course. Our 3 boys and I would watch the swim, cheer James on at transition, get in the pool while he was on the bike course, get out and cheer him on at the finish. It’s pretty spectator/kid-friendly.

Maybe I entertained the idea of being out there on the course myself. It did seem like such a rush to cross that finish line. I wondered if I had what it took to do one, but I wasn’t really a runner and the only biking I did was trudging around on my mountain bike with my youngest on front.

Run

But, about 4 years ago, I started running. I've never enjoyed running in any way except for the sprinting we did in 6^th grade for the Presidential fitness awards. That I could do. However, Memphis has an amazing running program for women every summer at Shelby Farms, one of my favorite places in Memphis. Hundreds of women participate and it’s broken down into nice categories based on experience. I started with a group of hopeful beginners and surprised myself by enjoying the freedom to head out on Monday nights starting in July and run with other women. I was hooked. I could actually run. I’ve been back every year since and keep moving up a level.

Bike

Then I asked for and received a road bike for Christmas. Before that, my biking had pretty much be limited to riding my youngest son on the front of my mountain bike and tootling around. Once I got my new road bike out on the Greenline and rode it, well, I felt a huge sense of freedom. 

Swim

And then, there is the swim. I’ve always been a decent swimmer. I was raised by a mother who body-surfed in the ocean when she was eight months pregnant with me. To teach us to swim, she let go of us in the water as toddlers. It was sink or swim, literally. My only concern is that I'm the type of swimmer who doesn't even like to share a lane. Swimming in the open water where it's inevitable to get bumped is going to freak me out a bit. 

I’m Guessing Stopping to Comb my Hair in Transition Would be Frowned on?

So the disciplines were coming together. Then came Valentine’s Day. My darling husband gave me a training plan as a gift. (Crazy, huh?)  And, I was actually excited about it. (Even crazier!) Being able to see in each little square what training I should do each day made me feel like I could give it a go.

The past few months of training have been interesting. I’ve learned that it’s true that we make time for what’s important to us. I’ve always been impressed by James’ ability to balance training and having an engaged family life. Since that often meant getting up at 5 in the morning while training for his 140.6, I could hardly complain about fitting in a 2-mile run.

That’s not to say I didn’t have to be creative. I do still have a 5-year-old at home. So on Mondays, a swim day, I would take Jesse to the Rec. Center with me. He'd go to the childcare while I did an hour of weight-training. Then, I’d swim my laps. After that I’d go get Jesse and we would splash around and swim for a bit. It was a three hour process, but I will never forget having that time with my son.

Other days, I’d wait until my older boys got home from school and then go do my run while they could watch Jesse. If I took Jesse with me on my runs, he’d ride his bike. Once it took us an hour and a half to do 2 miles! We did stop to play on the playground and throw rocks in the creek. Sometimes you have to adapt.

I’ve learned that training can be fun. It’s made me order my days differently trying to fit a specific workout in. For example, I happen to teach a college class at a community college right near our city’s greenline, a 7 mile paved trail. This semester, after I gave my final exam, I  celebrated by changing into my bike kit and hitting the greenline for a refreshing 11 mile ride. (Usually, I reward myself with something like a Gigi’s cupcake and running home to watch a DVRed Sherlock Holmes  before I have to pick my youngest  up from Mother’s Day Out.) Guess which one I now prefer.

I’ve also learned that training makes me feel like a badass, especially wearing my team’s kit. It may sound a little odd to already be part of a racing team when I haven’t proven myself. But, the team I am on is about much more than races. It’s about people, specifically being an encouragement to people with cancer. If you follow this blog, you’ve surely seen James post about Jessica Hambrick who with her husband, James, founded the team GI Jess’s Warriors for a Cause. Even though Jessica entered eternity a month ago, her spirit and her vision and her compassion will live on through this team. She was such an encouragement to so many triathletes and Christians and cancer fighters.

A few weeks ago, the team met at Jessica’s parents’ house to make a plan to go forward. It was there that I bought my Warriors tri top.  Putting it on for the first time made me feel like a triathlete. And wearing it to train as I see people watching me run or bike makes me feel so inspired to represent this team well. I feel like I belong.

And I vow to remember that when the doubt and worry creeps in. The “Can I do this?” “What was I thinking?”  “Can people tell I’m a newbie?” voices will be drowned out by the “Warrior Up” yell I know Jessica would give me. I will! 

Happy in Memphis!

I do Love Memphis!!! Enjoy!!