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!

30 Days

This Time is For Real! I Mean it!

I am serious this time. I have started mentoring a group on BeginnerTriathlete.com with Bradleyd3 from Brad's Ironman Journey. The group has been really cool and we have all levels of triathletes that have joined, so it will be great encouraging, answering questions and watching them hit their goals for the race season. So we decided as a group to have a group challenge for February. Several ideas were kicked around, but we came up with a core/ab challenge for February.

So what does that mean? It means that I (along with the others member of the group) will be selecting either a number of crunches we will commit do doing in the month of February, or we will commit to a certain numbers of minutes spent planking! Simple enough right? Well the hard part is coming up with that number or that time goal! So that is my struggle right now.

This idea came to me when my bride said her trainer challenged her to do 1000 crunches by their next session, which will be Monday. That works out to 250 crunches a day. That's a lot of crunches, but my bride can totally do it, so that has definitely influenced my choice between the two options.

Another blog I read always talks about doing core work. The author is a marathon runner, fast marathon runner that also does a huge focus on core work. I know that a strong core will really help me when I S/B/R. According to their blog, they do a ton of planking and crunches to strengthen their core and help them run better. So I have been really thinking over my goal for February in regards to the group, and based on the challenge my bride accepted, I think know I can get her to join me, so I really have some accountability going on up here! So with all that, I say this:

My goal is going to be 7,000 crunches in the month of February. That breaks out to 250 a day (which will have to be split up, I can't do all that in one session), or 1750 a week. My plan involves doing 250 in the morning and 250 in the evening, alternating every other day. I have no idea if this is doable or not, but in my head I am totally going to rock this. Regular crunches, side crunches, crunches with a stability ball will all count.

I am also going to photograph my before and after shots to see if I can see any difference! (and I better after 7,000 crunches!) So, I know what you are thinking, but to afraid to ask... I do not know if I will post them on the blog or not. Maybe is all I am ready to commit to at this time.

So throw the cokes out the window, start drinking tons of water, getting plenty of sleep, eating smartly and continuing on my training plan, and I "should" be ready by the time May gets here!