DNS FOR REDMAN 140.6, OR IS IT?

I guess technically it is not a DNS (Did Not Start) if I never registered for it, but it is as it reads, I am out for Redman 2015. This was the race that I was going to go mano y mano against Brad D from Brad's Ironman Journey. Here is the back story:

Brad D did IM Texas, I did Redman 140.6. We compared times. Brad D claims IM Texas is harder cause it is IM branded. I claim they are both 140.6 and are no different. Texas is flat, Oklahoma is flat. We beat our chest, we each claim we are badder than the other and from that I issued a challenge to him to race me one on one at Redman 140.6 in 2015, which he accepted. The table was set, the trash talk started and we were having fun with it! This was all beginning in 2013. So fast forward to 2015...

As you might remember from reading this blog, a few weeks ago I went to the Orthopedic guy to get my shoulder and my wrists checked out. At the time I was actually more concerned about my should pain than my wrists. It turned out that there was a touch of tendinitis in my shoulder, nothing that a shot of cortisone couldn't sure, which it did. The wrists however were a different story.

The doctor took x-rays and did some other tests and determined that I have moderate arthritis in my wrists. The keyword is moderate to me. Moderate is worse than some arthritis but is not as bad as severe arthritis. He wrote a script for some meds and then asked to come back in a few weeks. On my next visit, he suggested that I do Cortisone shots in my wrists, but warned me that once we start these shots, I was guaranteed to need to continue them until I was prepared to do surgery, which I am not.

So this leads me to my opening statement and title. Right now, I can not imagine being on a bike for 6 hours with my wrists the way they are. I know I could stay in aero the whole time, but that is not the way I am. My grip strength has diminished a lot already, and the thought of trying to hold on to handlebars for a race, including the months of training does seem to be in my favor. I thought this through and talked it over with my wife and came to the conclusion that an IM is not in my future this year in 2015. I am not totally shutting the door on another IM, but right now it ain;t happening. So I did what I had to do...

I called Brad D on the phone and let him know that I was not going to be able to race. This was a call I was dreading to make, but knew I had too. I started the challenge and I needed to end it. Brad understood completely since it was an injury issue and not because I was wussing out, and for that I am thankful.

Right now, I am good for rides under an hour, anything after that really starts bothering my hands, so it looks like a summer of sprint races. I still love the sport and I am not ready to give it up. So I will compete. I will swim hard, run hard and make it through the bike. It has been three years since I did a sprint race and I am looking forward to it.