IM Memphis 70.3 Cancelled

It really came as no shock, but when I received the email the other day, informing me that IM Memphis 70.3 was postponed until 2021, it stung a little. Don't get me wrong, I totally understand and support the decision that was made. A well known hospital like St Jude would never sponsor anything that could possibly put people at risk, but still, I wanted to race.

I have to say I felt my training was right where it needed to be. The swim distance was already doable and already within the 47 minute range for 1.2 miles. I know with over a month I would have gotten that time down to under 45 minutes.

The bike was going well. I have had long rides of between 30-45 miles in my training plan and really felt good afterwards. The speed ranged around 15 mph, but that was due to much traffic on the Greenline around Shelby Farms and not knowing the path on the group rides. All other rides had been done on the trainer, so you know that 2 hours of spinning, means 2 hours of spinning, no coasting. So I felt really good about where I was on the bike.

The run. Now, this is the area that is not my strongest segment. It's something that I have never really been great at. I often used the excuse that I started running at 218 lbs, vs. the 187lbs I used to run at while doing Ironman and that is why I am slower. Truth is this, my knees hurt more because I am not 187 lbs! I have been losing some weight, thanks to all the exercise and watching what I eat, and I have been improving on my runs. My mileage was where I wanted it to be at this point as well. The course at Shelby Farms was going to be ruthless no matter what, but I still had time to get there.

So, overall, I am disappointed, but I understand. They have postponed this till 2021, and I will have just turned 50!  So in a way, it could actually turn into a milestone age race for me.

So what is next?  Am I retiring?  Am I racing?  We will have to see...

Either way, I want to say thanks to whoever reads this, I know blogging is archaic at best these days, but it is still a good way for me to get out what I want to get out.

Cheat Meal? I wish!!!

As a runner that is wanting needing to lose about 10 lbs, I have really been focusing on my diet. Right now I am about 193 lbs, and I should be around 183, so I can either lose weight or I can focus on being a Clydesdale next year when I take on Brad D at Redman (might make it fair huh?) Just today in my Triathlete magazine it had an article that says when someone loses 10 lbs, they can expect  their marathon time to be 10 minutes faster!! (At least that is how I read it, I did not read the whole article, just the chart to the side) So that told me I was in the right mindset.

Dieting is hard.

Eating right is harder.

During the week I feel I do better than the weekend. My wife usually cooks fairly healthy meals for us, so I can only blame her for the 10 lbs I picked up. Just kidding. The weekend is usually where I stumble. (Sidenote: while laying here in bed typing this, she literally just offered me a piece of Belgium chocolate!  No lie!!) So anyways, as I was saying, the weekend is tough for me. It is easier to eat out, their are usually donuts at church, I work in the yard so I feel I can justify it, and I could go on and on.

So eating right is tough and I know about cheat meals. In fact, I support cheat meals, and maybe even cheat days, but I had a cheat weekend last weekend! My wife and kids were out of town, so I was a bachelor all weekend. And, I ate like a bachelor! I went to the store and here was what I bought (and I am not proud of this!) I bought steak sauce, Fruity Pebbles, Double Stuff Oreos, cream cheese (for a dip I love), tortilla chips, a 6 pack of Reese's peanut butter cups and a Dr. pepper 2 liter.

So this weekend I ate steak or cereal for meals and I had Oreos, Reese's, ice cream and chips and dip for snacks.

There, I feel better that it is out, so now that the food is gone, or close to being gone, I can get back on track!