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.

It's Over...

My pity party is over.

Today I was able to go outside and go swimming in the lake. This was literally the first attempt at exercise I have done since Branson. One issue has been my back (I tweaked it and it has been very sore lately, keeping me from running) and the other issue has been my lack of desire to do anything. I have been using this time to recover and let all those aches and pains heal. So, the desire to get back out and run has slowly been coming back to me.

I am still unsure about future races. Right now I am not looking towards anything really. Part of me wants to continue to do the smaller local sprint races and just be happy, but other parts of me wants to go back and kick Branson in the butt. I have been telling everyone that I have no idea about trying that race again next year, but I know it will eat at me.

Anyways, my plan is to take some time and run and bike for fun, to run when I want to run and when I don't want to run, I won't! I do not need to make any plans right now anyways! But when I decide, I will make sure I am committed and I will really go all out when I make "The Decision" (LeBron James reference there if you missed it!)