Guess Who's Back....Back again...

I can't believe it has two months since my last blog post, but honestly, there has not been a lot to blog about (triathlon speaking). I have been really trying to lose some weight without working out for the last couple of months. I really wanted to see if I could drop to under 200 without killing myself by swimming, biking or running. I figured that if I can drop the weight on diet alone, then by the time the new year comes around, my eating habits will be better and more of a "routine" and everything will work that much better. So I am down to right at 200 and feeling pretty good.

This January I did not make out a race schedule like normal. I guess I am just over it, or I am tired of life getting in the way and them looking back at all the races I missed. So no schedule, but I do have a plan, or some races I want to do for fun. They involve a couple of sprints and a mini sprint race that should be a lot of fun, and then based on how those go, I think I want to look at maybe a 70.3 towards the end of the season.

So in January, I bought the following items: new jammers, new clear goggles and new running shoes! I have found that I really do miss training for something, so it has been good to get back in the water and swim. I have not got to use the new kicks yet, but I will. I stayed with Brooks Adrenaline shoes, my go to shoe it seems. My plan is to really use January as a base building month, which will include some of the elliptical, some swimming, little biking and weights. I feel like I am starting over, like a 500 yard swim is epic and a mile run is huge!  I guess 3 years off after doing IM will do that to you!

Funny story- I was in the gym locker room lacing up my Hokas and an older gentlemen asked me if I was starting a run plan for the New Year (I'm a resoluter now I guess) I told him that "Yeah I was going to get back to running again", then he started to give me all these tips on running. I finally saw a break in him speaking and told him that I used to run a lot when I was training for Ironman. That stopped him and he said, "you did Ironman?" I said, "Yes Sir at the end of 2013" and he just walked off.

So I guess I can say I am back to training and racing and looking forward to it. I got my new gear and I am ready to see what 2017 brings!!!  Hope you all have a great year and a lot of PR's!!!

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.

DAY 15 of the Streak...

Yes, I am 15 days into the streak and I thought I would give an update on how it is going. Before I started the streak, I posted on the BT forum that I was going to start streaking and asked if people had done one and if so, what did they get out of it. Most people seemed to be worried about injuries more than anything else. Some were concerned about burning out and some thought a streak was a great way to have active recovery. Well, after 15 days, here is what I think about it.

I am actually enjoying the streak. I admit it has been tough some days to work it in, because I am also sticking to my sprint triathlon training plan, which looks like this now (7 days run, 2 days swim, 3 days bike). On the days where my plan does not have me running, I am still running a 1.1 mile course around my house. So in the first 15 days of June, I have already covered 26 miles running!

I will admit, that some mornings it is tough to get up and run, but other days I feel awesome running to the pool, swimming and running home. My 1.1 mile run is usually taking me less than 10 minutes, so it is really more of a scheduling process than anything to get it in and get to work on time. I am really aiming at getting through June.

I also agree with the group on the BT forums about the 1.1 mile run being a great way to recover and loosen up those legs after a tough workout. My 1.1 mile runs are never meant to be fast, but I am finding that I am running them faster than when I began, and I am not even trying to run them fast. Go figure!

Another benefit I am seeing (along with some watching what I am eating) is the fact that I am losing weight. I am down to 188 lbs. Early in the year I was pushing 200 pounds, which was not good for my knees! So now I am comfortable running without a shirt, and believe me in Memphis, it gets hot and humid! It was almost 80 degrees the other morning here.

I said shirtless! I'm not totally streaking!

Will I continue the streak after June? I am not sure, but so far it has been fun and it has brought back the joy of running for me.