A Trail Run, A Birthday, Accountability, Abs and Day 1 of Training...

Sunday I started off the year with a 3K trail race. It is part of the Memphis Runner Track Club winter cross country series. Every year I have improved on this run, for a 17:08 to a 16 flat last year. This year I was not sure how it would go. Trail runs to me are a lot like intervals. You run hard until the first turn when it bottlenecks up, rest and catch your breath and then run hard again as long as you can. Your placement at the beginning of the race is also very important, cause if you start to far back, you are screwed once you get into the woods. This year they flipped the course on us. Instead of us running and getting right into the woods and then having open space on the backside of the course, we had open space on the front end which helped unclog a lot of the course, which made it different all together, tougher I thought actually. Anyways, I was able to finish the race with a new PR for a 3K trail run! 14:59. A New PR and great way to start the year.

14:59 NEW PR 20/50 AG 125/529 OA

My youngest son celebrated his birthday on Saturday! Jesse turned 4! Hard to believe he is 4 years old already! What a blessed addition he has been to our family. Here is a picture of us making goofy faces in the mirror when we were suppose to be brushing his teeth!

Today, I started my Memphis In May Olympic (MIM) training. It was very, unusually cold cold here in Memphis and I did not want to get out of bed. 27 degrees cold!!  But thanks to this blog and trying to be accountable to what I write, I did not want to miss my 1st workout! The only decision I knew I would be making was either to run outside or run on the dreadmill. It was a tough call, but I decided to go wake up my inner Beast and hit the road. I actually wore the right amount of clothing, so it wasn't very bad. I usually have a 35 degree rule, which means under 35, I do not run outside, but rules are meant to be broken (**if my kids are reading this, this does not apply to you guys**) By the time I got back to the house, I had frost forming on my gloves! Tonight, I will be riding on the trainer during the National Championship game.

I recently acquire a new Cyclops Magento trainer from a friend of mine that couldn't t use it anymore. It was a great deal and I was wanting to get a newer one. I was able to sell mine to a friend that needed a trainer for his new bike, and I was able to give him a great deal as well! So it all worked out for the best. I have gotten to where I like the trainer and I was able to get some good workouts on it last year. I can't always get away to ride, and I do not like to ride alone, so this is my best option.

I have also been hitting the abba dabbas a lot. Core work and ab work are going to be a staple for me in January. My wife has been going to a trainer for awhile and is leaner and fitter than I am! So I am stealing some of her workouts. We have a circuit of exercises we have been doing every other night, and I am determined to stick with it through January to see if I can see a difference. I know I have said I am doing abs until I get my 6 pack before, but this time I think it will be easier to do with my smoking hot wife helping me. Along with the ab/core workouts and me watching my diet, I hope to see a lot of improvements! I love the feeling of my core feeling sore and tight after a workout, and feeling it the next morning is awesome!  I really expect to be at my goal weight long before May. I am finding that writing down what I eat keeps me from eating the crap I shouldn't eat! Funny how accountability works huh?

Open Letter to Myself...

So here we are. 1 day before you turn 41 and 2 days before your big race of 2012. It has been a long year leading up to this point, but you (I) am ready. You can do this, and this is not a "yeah, you can do it" patronizing letter, but this is more of a Ray Lewis in your face "You can do this". I expect you to do this.

I know you have trained hard with tons of miles on the bike, tons of miles on the road and thousands (and thousands) of yards in the pool. There have been early mornings. And I am talking about early, but you loved it. Do not deny it. There was a definite purpose I saw in myself by getting up that early. The darkness of morning was special. I know you have no regrets.

I know this year has been more about competing rather than completing races for you. You have done better if just about every race you have raced this year and there is no reason why you should not expect the same results. I think it is time that you start believing in the results you have gotten. You are faster than you think. You ride faster than you realize, you run faster than your pace states and you swim faster than you ever have. It is time for you to believe that you are not a 10 minute miler, that is not acceptable. So believe in your training, trust your plan, run your race.

So let's talk about goals for this race. You have a 70.3 race under your belt already, so you have an idea of where you stood a year ago, so we will base goals off those numbers. Last year your total 70.3 time was 7:35. We have to beat that time this year, and we will. Here is my goals for you:

Swim: under 45 minutes for a 1.2 swim is totally doable, if it is wetsuit legal, than I expect closer to 40 minutes.

Bike: 3:10-:3:20. Last year at Branson, you did the 56 miles in 3:55, but there will be significantly less hills on this course, so i want to see time improvement. This is totally achievable

Run: No more 3 hour half marathons Ford! Anything under 2:30 will be awesome.

Total Time: I expect to be in the 6-6:30 hour range.

Let's do this. Let's expect this. Let's not race to complete. Let's race to compete! I know you are looking forward to racing, we have been waiting and training all year for this race. we can use this to build on our marathon coming up in December and then use this as a step towards the ultimate goal!  IRONMAN! I believe in myself, I have confidence in myself and I am not nervous or scared of the course, it should be scared of me.

This will be a great birthday present. A new PB at the 70.3 distance. Let's do it!