Zoggs Winner!! And Tapering Thoughts

This morning I tallied up how many entries each person got and then numbered them 1 through whatever. I then went to the random number generator and had the computer come up with a number and the number that was matched to the list was deemed the winner! The computer spit out number 12 and that number matched:

Bradleyd3 from Texas!

I know Brad is fixin (ain't that the way they talk in Texas?) to run Ironman Texas in 12 days! Congrats Brad, and best of luck to you on the Ironman, I know you are ready and will have a great race!! Plus I will be able to know his time when I do mine, therefore giving me my time goal! LOL Thanks to Zoggs goggles and everyone who entered the drawing! 

As far as my next race, well it is 13 days away as of today. How do I feel about it? Uncertain.I feel like I know I will finish the race. I am not worried about the distance. I am not worried about the swim. I am just worried about my time. I really want to go sub 2:45 this year, and I think I can do it, but the unknown factor is my bike. True, I have logged over 40 hours riding my bike, or about 700 miles on it, but those have all been trainer rides. I am hoping that my bike speed will be faster once I am on the road, but part of me wonders. Does 90 minutes on the trainer really equal 90 minutes? Or does that equal more since I am constantly pedaling? Will it help me ride harder?  My goal time on the bike is 1:11 for 25 miles. In 2010, I did the bike in 1:18 2011, I did the mileage in 1:14, in 2012 I did it in 1:12:41, so a 1:11 or faster is in my future.

The real key to me having a good race will be the run. The 10K has to be under an hour. Simple as that. I have a goal of 56:30 for the 10K, which is achievable. I know I can go faster than 56 on a 10K, but after the swim and bike, this is will help me reach my goal. My wife put it in perspective for me when we were talking about this and she said to remember this is a warmup for Redman, your big race, so don't worry about the time. Which is good advice, but I want to always improve. the 1st time I ever did the MIM Tri, I finished at 3:56, and that was 4 years ago. Anything in the 2:40 range will be great, but sub 2:45 will be better!

SockGuy Giveaway Winners Announced!

Congrats goes out to Seth, who was the first number drawn in the SockGuy sock giveaway. Seth will get to pick three pairs of the socks featured on the giveaway post.

The second winner picked was TJ Tryon who will receive the remaining two pairs of socks!

Thanks to everyone who entered and read the blog! Special thanks to SockGuy for providing such a great product! I hope to be able to more giveaways in the future!

Seth and TJ, please email me your mailing address of where I can send the socks. Seth, be sure and let me know which 3 pairs you want!

Giveaway Winner and 2012 Race Schedule!!!!

Thanks to everyone that participated in the Daily Trainings giveaway, and thank you to all the new followers! Please don't leave just cause the giveaway is over.I appreciate you all and now it is time to announce the winner of the signed copy of "See Dane Run"  The winner is Elaine from ratherbeswimming!  Elaine as soon as I can, I will get your signed copy of the book in mail! Special thanks to Dane Rauschenberg (author) for signing and letting me give away a copy of his book! I hope to do more giveaways in the future, so stay tuned!

I have really been doing alot of thinking about what I want to accomplish in 2012. I really had thought that 2012 would be my year for my first full IM, but after my embrassing marathon time , I feel I am not ready for an Ironman. Soooooo, I plan on focusing on the longer distance races and then we will look at 2013. So here is my 2012 tentative schedule!

• January and February- The Memphis Runner's Cross Country Series- This is a series of races that consists of the following distances. A 3k, 5k, 8k, and a 10k. They are all trail runs and this series is just waiting to tear up my ankles a lot of fun. I always have problems working in all the races, so that is a goal in itself! Toughen up Ford! It will be a good introduction into the race season
• March- I have two races scheduled. The first is the Fight for Life 5K. I am doing this race because I am the "Wellness Captain" at work and I am using this race to get as many of my co workers to get off their butts and get to running participate in this worthy cause about childhood obesity.! (I will have a separate post about this soon).  In mid March, I am doing the Germantown Half Marathon. This will be the second time I have done this race, so I am looking forward to see if I can beat my PR! The last time I ran this, we had the worst weather conditions, raining and very cold, that it made it miserable, but made it a great story to tell.
• April- One race I am very excited about is the WARRIOR DASH!!!  My wife and I, along with several friends from work and church are going to run this race, it is going to be painful epic. 3+ miles of running and obstacles, how can that not be fun? My wife may not talk to me for a few days after this! We do get a cool Viking hat when we finish, so that will be awesome!  Yes, I will post pictures of the hat!
• May- The Memphis in May Olympic Triathlon. This is one of my must do races in Memphis. Last year I would have gotten a new PR, but the course was long by about a half mile. It rained the entire bike and run, so my shoes and socks were left out in the middle of the rain and they were drenched by the time I got to T2. Cue excuse #1 My feet got so blistered! Ouch!  Ahhh, sweet memories! I am really hoping that my marathon training will carry over and help me with my running this year! The bike and run course are flat, so it is time for me to speed it up a bit. The swim is also the flattest swim course ever!
• June and July- There are normally two races I do in these months but I am really leaning towards them being "just maybe" races. I am not excited about doing them as much in the past. I have found that I do like the longer distance races better, so I might not even have any triathlons these two months. I did say this schedule was tentative, because I know once people start talking about them, I will want to race. I am such a sucker!
• August- This is one of my favorite races, The Sharpshooter. It is a super Sprint Triathlon. 400 yd swim, 11 mile bike and 2 mile run. I have been trying and failing to finish this race under an hour for two years, and this is going to be my year. Red line time baby!
• September- Ironman Augusta 70.3!!  Screw those Branson hills! I am excited about this. I hear about the fast swim times and everything and I get excited. Even though I love the swim segments, I can't wait to post a 20 minute 1.2 mile swim! I think this course will give me a better evaluation of where I am at, unlike a Branson bike course from hell!
• October, November and December- I will slip into marathon mode again. The St Jude Marathon. I think this year I am going to be a St Jude Hero and try to raise money for the hospital, so I will be hitting up anyone that reads this blog for a donation.I know I have to beat my 6 hour PR in 2012, and that is part of the reason I want to do this race again!

So that is my tentative plan for 2012. I know things will change as I have not gotten it approved my the wife yet, but it looks like a good year. A good mix of runs and tri's. My ultimate goal is to still become an Ironman, so all this is going to work into that plan. I have several posts that will be coming out soon, including a product review, my take on how bad I am at setting time goals for myself, weight controls, that I really hope 2012 is a good year for Daily Trainings! So, please keep reading and Thanks for reading!

We have a winner!

Congrats to KC from 140 Point Six Miles. Her name was drawn and has won a $40 gift card from CSN! Congrats again and thanks to all who entered. The giveaway was fun and I hope to do more in the future. I hope all the new followers stick around and join me on my journey to becoming an Ironman!

KC, enjoy the Calaphan Contemporary Nonstick 10" Omelet pan you said you;d use it for ( or whatever you decide on!)

Thanks again!