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!!!

Ragnar TN, The Aftermath...

We finished.

End of post.

I am not sure what to write about it. It was tough. It was fun, it sucked, it was memorable, it was Ragnar. This year was different in that we ran 2 teams, Memphis Grit and Memphis Grind. This ensured that everyone had a running partner, which was good and bad. It was only bad because I held my partner back a lot and I felt guilty about it. It was good to have someone to run with and to be accountable with.

Other memorable happenings include a teammate getting stuck in a porta potty without TP, apparently one team got their hair did mid race, Olive Garden and Ruby Tuesday's, and lots of good conversation along with new friendships.

Leg 7 was the beast I remembered it being. An uphill battle against will. I did a lot of walking on this first leg and it really effected legs 19 and 31. Leg 7 is a never ending climbing that goes to the left and then to the right, each turn teases you that the end is near, only to turn back up the hill again. I was so glad to finish that hill. I was only slower by about 3 minutes from last time. My partner killed it and would have ran right up that sucker if he had not been waiting on me.

Leg 19 was a makeup leg for me in a way. While it was still slow, there was no walking! it was actually longer than I thought by .2 miles, but it was good. perfect nighttime weather for a run. We started at about 9:45 PM. I was happy to "run" the entire leg.

Leg 31 was the last leg, and I think everyone is just wanting to be finished by the time they hit the last leg. A 5.9 miler that had some walking in it, but overall was pretty good.

Our team finished in 34 hours and 9 minutes. Almost 200 miles covered with 12 friends, 2 vans, 2 days and 1 night of running. I am officially retiring form the Ragnar TN relay, but I had a great time and I am glad I did it a second time.

A couple of our teammates had Go Pro cameras and made a video, check it out:

Sure, Let's Do It Again! Ragnar 2015

Ragnar 2015 is happening in one week from today and the group I did it with in 2013 is doing it again! This year we have expanded and now we have 2 teams running. We have Memphis Grit and Memphis Grind! Once again I am the 7th runner on Memphis Grit. I get the same dang legs I had last year. I am the first runner from van 2. the only difference this year is that I will have a running buddy, Philip, to chug along with. This was done because some of the female runners felt weird running out at all hours of the night, so this way every runner will have a partner. I think this will help in the times when you need that encouragement and hopefully to pass the time away. We will start in Chattanooga, TN and run to Nashville, TN, 196 miles. Here are the legs I am running once again.

 

Leg 7 is a beast. I hate leg 7 if I am being honest with you, and I am. So let me tell you why I hate Leg 7. Leg 7 is a 5.3 mile "hard" leg that provides no van support and has one water stop along the way.  If you will look at the elevation chart, you will notice that the first mile is a lovely run through the park, then it changes. The next 4.3 miles of this leg are uphill. There is a total of elevation gain of 1303 feet. One other thing that makes this a tough run is the camber of the street. Not only do you feel the uphill battle, but also I remember feeling like my ankles were at a weird angle due to the slope of the road. So, my plan is to be smart on this leg and not kill myself because I will still have two other runs to complete. Last year I finished this run in 1:02, but I am not sure I see that happening this year.

Leg 19 will start at approximately midnight, maybe earlier on Thursday night at a school if I remember right. This run is hard to describe because it is at night and all you have to go on is what you can see from your headlight. I remember it being in the 20s last year when I took off. It is a 6 mile "hard" leg that again provides no van support. Last time I finished in 1:06 and I think that is doable once again.

Leg 31, my final run is a 5.9 mile "hard" run. Notice that every leg is consider a "hard" leg!!! This will definitely be the hardest run due to the lack of sleep, recovery and fuel I will have. I will be so ready to finish by the time this gets here! This leg can provide full van support, which means they can drive by and yell for us I guess, or they can drive by and tell me to start running again, either could happen. I really have no idea what to expect other than keeping that mantra 'Forward is a Pace"


All in all, this is an experience. It will most likely be my farewell Ragnar Race. I do have concerns about that stupid hill, so after the hill, it will be A-OK with me, I just have to beat that hill. I feel like I am ready for this race half the time, and the other half I feel as if I am going to die. That's normal right? Anyways, I have my list to pack and I am getting things ready. if you want to follow me while running, first thing I would say to you is Get a Life! The second thing would be to get the MapMyRun app and go MVP for the free month and friend request me.

I know it has been a minute since my last post but I will update the blog on hos Ragnar 2015 was!  Thanks for reading.

I want a BIG MONTH...

So I was looking over my logs in BT.com for the last few months and the numbers aren't that great. Do you ever feel like you have been more active than you really were? Well this is one of those times. And this is the reason I think that logging your workouts is so important. If you look at my running numbers, I am almost embarrassed to call myself a runner!

May-12.4 miles
June-38.6 miles
July-26.12 miles
August-27.01 miles

Those are my big training numbers for the last 4 months. It's not good. I know of a guy that recently had over 300 miles in one month!  That's more than I did in a 1/4 year! So I do not care what I think I did this summer, I in no way did what I am capable of and that is why I am having trouble being as fast as I think I should be.

Simply: I am not running enough to be the runner I want to be.

I have about 2 months to prep for Ragnar TN. Plenty of time to get up to speed I think, but I am going to have to get a plan. Apparently just thinking about running does not translate into actually running.

I am not far off from where I want to be regarding distance. I wanted to be at a solid 5 miles by Sept 1, and that is doable at about a 10:15 pace. I want to be around 8 by the end of Sept under 10 min. My legs on Ragnar are around 5-6 miles apiece. Only problem is that I am having a hard time finding a training plan for this like I would for a triathlon, which means I will make it myself.

I am not sure I will set  specific number for mile in Sept, but I guarantee you I am looking at more than 27 but less than 300.

Second Verse...

This week has been a runners dream weather-wise!  If you had ever said to me that the lows would be in the upper 50s in Memphis in August, I would not have believed you for a second, but I can testify!  It has been absolutely gorgeous running weather this week, which has really helped me get back on track with my running. I have Ragnar TN coming up in October and my plan legs of the run are in the 5-6 mile range each. So my plan was to be at a comfortable 5 mile run by the first of September, and I feel like I am there.  My running partner (we have two teams this year) is going to be faster than me, so I need to start working on speed as well. If this weather stays like it is (and I am hoping this blog post doesn't jinx it) I plan to be in the 7-8 mile range by the end of September.

So now to address the title of this post. Second verse, same as the first...

I am back on an ab/core challenge again. I have done this several time before and never completed it, so I guess I should titled this more like 14th verse, but never mind that, cause this time I am serious! And heres how Ima gonna do it!

I challenged some other triathletes I know through social media to join me. I find I am more accountable when I have others working with me.  So I put it out there and there are actually a few people that said they were on board. I started 2 days ago (no six pack yet) and I really want to see this through. At 43 (fixing to be 44 in a few weeks) I am not sure if washboard abs are in my future, but I know a solid core will help me in many ways. Here is the plan I am using:

This is actually a combination of two plans I found on the net and morphed them together and came up with this. It is also on my IG account if you can't see it. I am really hoping having others work along side me will get me to day 30. Time will tell won't it!

Thanks for reading!

Daily Trainings Update

courtesy of Fatbooth

It's good to be back!  From where you may be asking. Well, my family and I went to the beach for almost 2 weeks and spent time hanging on the beach, catching fish, crab hunting at night, working on my tan, boogie boarding and eating very well! It was hard to come back from work last Monday for sure. I know while we were 'beaching it", a lot went on in this world, from flags to rainbows! So I thought my first blog post back should be an update. I usually do an update when I have several things I want to write about, but I know I will not get around to doing a separate blog post for each thing, so here it goes.

1. I know everyone is dying to know what day of the streak am I on? Well the streak died on day 22, the morning we had to get to the airport. I managed to get in 38 miles in the month of June, so I was very happy. What did I learn from it? Well, I actually really enjoyed it and will likely do it again, it was fun to see how long I could go and a mile is nothing. Since I am running Ragnar in October and have no more tris on my schedule, I think I am going to focus on running and swimming going forward.
2. I am not doing the Mighty Mite Triathlon this year. A very good friend and a mentor to my son is getting married on that same day. I do not think it would be a problem to get there, race and get back, but that would leave my wife with a lot to do that day. I think this day is more important.
3. My weight is down to 188, even after vacationing. I am down 10lbs since this winter! How did I do it? Well, having a white couch and a wife that won't let me eat on it helps, I mean, who wants to eat chips and salsa in the kitchen and not in front of the TV? My snacking throughout the day has slowed down and even eating late at night, I am sure the constant exercise helps.
4. I am so ready for NCAA football season!  Go Hogs!!!  WPS!!!
5. I have been foam rolling like a champ!  I have really spent some time doing it. It hurts a lot but man does it get me feeling better. My IT band has been very sore, which has been effecting my knees I think. I was told that since it connects to the knee, that if you stretch out the IT band, it can take away some of that knee pain. I will let you know how it goes.
6. We are leading a running group at our church and the first run is tomorrow! yes, I know July is a prime time to start a running program, but we have about 20 people signed up and I hope it grows and grows.
7. We got a new cat! I told Jesse, my 6 yr old, that after we moved and after vacation, that we would get him a cat. Well he remembered, so we went to the animal shelter and picked out a torti cat and named her Reese cause she looks like a Reese's peanut butter cup. So far she is doing really well and has not been a problem!

Oh, the Possibilities...

I am sad to say that I have already ran more this month than I did in January. 8.25 miles is all I have logged this month and I am beating January. But here is the thing that I have not felt in a long, long time. I am starting to...

 

I can honestly say that it has been awhile since I enjoyed it, but I guess a year off is the right amount of time to miss something!  Go figure! The hardest part for me has been taking it slow and building back. In my mind, I am still in Ironman shape (did I mention I was an Ironman? never mind) and I should be able to go out and knock out 10 miles no problem, but that is so not the case! My runs are short right now. As a matter of fact, my longest run this year has been 2.5 miles! This has all been part of my master plan though. I plan on using February to try and build some sort of base. I doubt I go over 4.5 miles in total distance. In March, I will add some biking and swimming and hopefully by May, I will be ready for my first sprint race in 3 years! (which I am really excited about doing). After this sprint in May, it is "GO TIME", time to focus on Redman 140.6. IM #2!!!

But before that, there are a couple of races I am thinking of doing and some I will do. Seems like every year I make a list of races I am doing, then life gets in my way and I only hit about half or less of them, so this year, this is my races that are on my radar list. So here they are and some quick thoughts on why I want to do them:

• Los Locos Duathlon- (April 12) This is a good race to gauge where I am at. It's a 2 mile run, 15 mile bike, 2mile run. It is in April though, which is a drawback for me, seems early, much preferred when it was in Sept.
• Rebelman Sprint Triathlon- (April 12) This is a nice little sprint at Ole Miss. The only thing I do not like about it is that it is a pool swim, plus it is on the same day as the Los Locos Duathlon, so choices will have to be made. A 480 yd swim, 13 mile bike and a 3.1 mile run might be a good refresher for me.
• Memphis in May Sprint Triathlon (May 2015)- This is a race I am looking forward to because I know so many people that race. Even some of my friends are planning n the sprint to be their first triathlon, so I definitely want to be there. My wife always races this one as well, so it could be our first triathlon together!
• The Harbortown 5K- (June 5) I did this race one time when I first moved to Memphis and loved running through the area. I really want to run this with my wife, just because it is something we can run together.
• Navy Nautical 10 Miler- (June 7) Never ran this before. I have learned that 10 nautical miles is closer to 11 miles for some reason. They have cool medals and would definitely be something new for me. I know I need to work on my running.
• Dragonfly Triathlon- (June 13) I hate this triathlon! It has a trail run on it and it is usually hot as fire! However, I have not raced this in about 4 years, so maybe it might be worth re-looking at. 1/2 mile swim, 18 mile bike, 4 mile run.
• Mighty Mite Triathlon- (July 18) Another sprint triathlon in Arkansas. Last year both my wife and I signed up for it and then realized we could not make it due to family obligations (bad planning). This is a point to point race, and is a pretty fun race. 600 yd swim, 13 mile bike, 3.1 mile run.
• Elvis Presley 5K- (Aug 15) How have I lived in Memphis for 14 years and only ran this once?? Last year my bride and I ran it and had a great time. We agreed to make it an annual race for us to run!
• Redman Full- (Sept 26) Everything listed above should have something to do with this race. This is my A number one race, with the main goal of beating 15:53 first and then on beating Brad D.
• Ragnar Relay- (Oct 26-28)- This is just straight up fun. The old team that I did it with in 2013 is back together and we are adding a good friend of mine to run. This will be a great end of the year race.

So again, I am not saying this is my race schedule, but these are the ones I am interested in running. If I hit them all, then that would be a lot of races for 2015. I am just happy I am actually looking at races again and even thinking about a schedule. I have to remember to build slowly and take care of myself, which I am doing, along with a 30 day ab challenge!!!

Ragnar Relay TN 2013

This weekend I ran in the Ragnar Relay, this was my first time and I had no idea of what it meant to really run Ragnar! If you are not familiar with this race, it consists of 12 people, 2 vans and 196.1 miles of running. So basically, we were in 2 vans, 6 runners a piece and we were all assigned different legs of the race with distances that ranged from 3 to 9 miles. We started at 7 AM and ran until we stopped, which ended up being 33 hours later. Oh yeah, we started in Chattanooga and ran to Nashville!!!

I was lucky enough to be runner #7, so I got to be the first runner of van 2. I figured I since I was coming off Ironman (Yes, I can work it into to any conversation), I figured I would be in great shape to run. Of course I really did not factor any recovery time into this equation, but I figured a 5.3 mile hard run, a 6.5 mile hard run and a 5.9 mile hard run would be that bad. I was really worried about my speed (which is gone), but I wanted to set the tone right for my van.

This elevation map is wrong, it seemed straight uphill!

Run #1
Like I said, it was a simple 5.3 mile run. I was starting it at around 11 AM in the morning and the temps were in the 40s. Perfect running weather. One problem though. It was straight uphill for about 3 miles or so. Very tough run. 1 hour and 2 seconds, so I was pleased with that effort, but man it killed my legs.

Run #2
It was not as bad as run one, it was longer (6.5 miles), but I started that run around 11 PM and it was in the upper 20's that night and dark! It wasn't a bad run overall and I actually felt pretty good for the most of it. It was just a cold, dark, lonely run. This run took me 1:05:56

Run #3
This was a 5.9 mile run, but it was the hardest. Factor in no sleep, not eating great and feeling queasy at the beginning, made for a long 5 miles. It had a lot of rolling hills on it which were not happening for me as far as running goes, so I walked more than I wanted to. This leg took me 1:06:52.

So overall thoughts on Ragnar:

• It was a lot of fun now that it is over!
• I got to be part of a great team with some great people. I had a lot of fun getting to know my "van-mates" and cheering them on.
• There were over 220 teams running this race!
• We did not win
• It was easy to tell the veterans of this race vs. the newbies
• Some of the van decorations were awesome
• I got zero sleep and I did not eat well enough either!  My fault on the eating
• It was nothing like I expected.
• I made some good friends

I really could go on and on about the people I was with, they were great, and that would be the key to anyone considering this race in the future, make sure you run with good people! Here are some other pictures my teammates took!

My Ragnar Team Eric, Amy, Dwight, John, Mike, Heather B, Justis, Mel, Todd, Heather L, Handley and me

Amy

Dwight, Handley and me

Eric took a selfie on his run

Dwight and Handley

Me and Eric

Mel V waiting on me to get up that hill

john, Eric, Any, Todd and Handley

Me and Todd, He had a monster hill to climb as well

We all signed the wall once we conquered!

My cheesy Olympic medal biting tradition picture

Gonna Change Things Up!

I am talking about my training plan. I am not changing the pace or distances or even the workouts, but I am changing the days around. I have found that on Wednesdays, it is tough for me to do a run in the morning, go to work, get to church at 5 PM (I have been working with the middle school group), get home around 8 PM. I am usually starving by then, so I have to eat and help get the kids in bed, so it is 9:30 or so before I could even start! Wednesday calls for a medium bike ride, so we are talking around 20 miles usually. I have been so tired on Wed nights by the time I get home, that sometimes those bikes get skipped!  I know!!! I think out of all my workouts, the one segment that I do not need or want to miss is a bike session! So I looked over my plan and see no issue with moving my medium bike to Thursdays. That means on Wednesdays, I will be getting up early for my medium runs and that is all. Thursday will now be a swim and bike day, which is totally doable.

I was looking over my totals for the month and comparing them with my totals at this time from last year. Here they are through Feb:

2012
Run: 85.1 miles  12:49:05
Bike: 279.1 miles 13:06:40
Swim 32,402 yards  10:44:20

2013
Run: 102.05 miles  15:38:20
Bike: 264.13 miles 14:52:54 (one bike left tonight)
Swim: 20,750 yards 7:15:35

I knew my swimming numbers would be lower, but since I am only swimming twice a week, I am good with that. I am glad to see my mileage is slightly up, but I am wondering about the time spent running and biking, I am surprised that it appears I am going slower. It breaks down to a pace of 9:02 in 2012 and a pace of 9:11 currently. Maybe I am over thinking it!

IN OTHER NEWS:

** I will have met my goal of 7,000 crunches in February. Yes, I have pictures, but I have decided to wait until April to post them, because I am going for another month of crunches. Goal is 10,000!

** I have officially added another race to my schedule! The Ragnar Relay TN on Oct 25-26!  a 196 mile relay from Chattanooga to Nashville!  This is going to be loads of fun!

** I have an awesome giveaway in the works that I will be reviewing and writing up soon.

** I also have a cool giveaway for anyone that wants it, everybody will win! That is coming very soon as well!