Ironman Memphis 70.3

What was I thinking?

Dear Running.

Dear Running,

I know we have not really been seeing eye to eye lately and if I am being honest, you have been a real jerk the past few weeks. You have not really been inviting at all and you have been somewhat standoffish with me (Did I just make up a new word?) I have wanted to run, and I have really thought alot about you. You don't know this, but I have talked about you to my friends and even made plans for us to get together, but you always have had a way of ruining our plans.

Now, I know what you are thinking, "How can it be my fault?" Well, lately you have just sucked! You have not been there for me. I know I have had a cold, there has been bad weather and treadmills aren't really the same, but those are just excuses. Admit it! So that is why I hooked up with other exercises. Biking and swimming have been good to me lately, they treat me well and are excited to do things with me. So naturally, I have been spending more time with them. I also want you to know that I have been doing more strength training, and it has been great. I have not sweated like that in a long time!

But, if I am honest, I do miss you! That is why I wanted last week to be about me and you, just the two of us. The weather cleared up, and we got to get together outside, just like when we first met. We did some intervals together, we got to just run outside and it was fun! That is why I want us to give it another chance. I am committing to making this work, but it can't only come from me. I need you to committ to me as well. We can make a strong team, but we have to want it and we have to do it together. So, let me know if you want to give us another chance, I will be waiting for an answer...


P.S. Just so you know, today I bought you something black and lacy...new shoe laces as a symbol of my new committment to you!


Yours if you'll have me,

JFord

I Brought it...to the dinner table!

Last weekend, my wife and I had a nice getaway weekend together, then we had the Super Bowl, then I had some out of town meetings in Atlanta to attend. And I have to say this, I did not Bring it. Well, I did in fact Bring it to the dinner table though!  I ate so bad and so much this past week, and being out of town, it really threw me off my scheduled workouts! Here is the list of my meals:

Saturday I had a modest lunch, then I had a 14 ounce center cut Ribeye steak, cooked perfectly with mac n cheese and fries, chased down by 2 cokes. I also had for dessert a cookie sandwich! (A cookie sandwich was 2 chocolate chip cookies with toffee chips serving as the bread and a delicious cream, piled about an inch high in the center) No workout on Sat of any kind either.

Sunday morning started out with a big fat cinnamon roll and a cup of coffee, followed by McDonald's for lunch and another steak for dinner. Sunday was also the Super Bowl so there were plenty o snacks out and about for me to munch on. Now I did get a trainer ride in on Sunday night, but it was forced.

Monday started out with a swim, then to the airport to fly to Atlanta. Nothing really for lunch, but I had a huge Mushroom/Swiss cheese burger for dinner and a Kit Kat in the privacy of my hotel room.

Tuesday started off with coffee for breakfast and a big BBQ sandwich for lunch, which was then followed by dinner at PapaDuex  (sp?) (Cajun seafood place) in ATL. I tried to eat smarted at the restaurant and order the mixed seafood skewers plate, which had salmon, scallops, shrimp and other vegetables. Later, back at he hotel, I was able to get in a three mile run on the treadmill.

This treadmill was one of the treadmills that has a TV attached to it, so I tried watching the UK vs. Florida game, but with them running right and left  and my head bobbing up and down, it really made me queasy and I just couldn't watch. I was very happy to get in the 3 miles, cause I really thought I was going to be the one person that puked on a treadmill!

So I said all that to say all this, this week has been bad for me training wise. I am looking to get through the week and comeback swinging Monday, and hopefully weighing less!

The Real Reason I Hate the Treadmill

I really do not like to run on the treadmill normally, but due to the strange weather we have been having here in Memphis, I kind of had to turn to it to get my runs in. So, after doing a few treadmill runs, I have determined that maybe they aren't so bad when doing speed work. For some reason, I have found that it is much easier for me to do intervals on the treadmill than running outside. I have been using a plan to get ready for my Olympic triathlon in May, and some of the run have only been around 26-30 minutes long so far. So I have been doing a combination of running intervals for distance one run and the next I will do the intervals based off time. The last run I did was a steady run, trying to hold a pace to see how well these intervals have been helping, and I will tell you this, I felt pretty dang awesome until it happened…

I was cruising along, holding an 8 minute mile, 2.5 miles into my run when it happened. Now let me explain that I have not "run" since the Branson debacle, so for me to be able to hold that pace already has me feeling confident about my running. Anyways, back to my story. So there I am running hard, feeling good and looking pretty awesome too (they have mirrors in the cardio room, and yeah, sometimes I check out my form). My iPod was playing all the right songs. I do not think I shuffled it one time while I was running. I was working up a pretty good sweat, so I reached for my towel to wipe my face, and THAT is when it happened…

I accidently hit the emergency stop magnet, causing it to release from the treadmill and the dang treadmill stopped running, while I didn't. I went flying into the treadmill gut first. I am sure everyone heard me go "Uhh" as my midsection hits the front part that displays all the information.

I had forgotten about the emergency stop magnet thing that hangs on the side waiting for someone to pull it. I tend to hit this a lot while using a treadmill, and I always tell myself to be careful, but eventually, my guard is down and boom. Major stoppage!

I am so ready for Spring