Let's Get Caught Up...

Every time that I try to commit to blogging more, it seems that commitment has the opposite effect to my blogging! All though, in my defense, I have had a lot going on and I am going to share today! Here are the top things going on m=in my life and why I have not blogged in awhile.

1. We moved! My family moved to a new house in late April. We added a couple of bedrooms, a dining room, pantry and more space. We are loving it! It already feels like home to me, now if I can just get rid of all the boxes!
2. We got a new King size bed and I am loving it! It is so comfortable. I can't wait to go to bed at night to sleep!
3. We also got a new couch which is also very comfortable! See pics below.
4. My son Jared was in a school play and my wife was the "play mom", so they were out of pocket practicing everyday for awhile, so it was just me and my two boys most evenings. The play was excellent and of course my son did a great job!
5. Birthdays! In the past 2 weeks, my son Jared, my mom, my niece and my grandmother all had birthdays in April! Crazy huh?
6. NBA Playoffs are on!  I love the Playoffs! I only wish my Grizzlies could get past the Warriors!
7. Ceiling fans! I have been hanging ceiling fans in my house with the help of my new neighbor! I am not a handyman, so I have needed the extra knowledge to get this done.

So I have my first sprint triathlon in about 11 days from now. I am worried about how I will do. I have not been hitting my workouts like I should have and I have been blaming the move. Whether or not that is a legitimate excuse, it is what it is. I am still looking forward to the race and I know I will finish it, but after all is said and done, I am thankful to be able to race and I am going to have a great time!

The right way to use a couch

The Proper way to use a couch

And Finally... JFORD is back

There has been a lot going on in the Ford World these past few weeks. We have sold our house and bought another one and are just waiting for all the papers to be signed and things inspected, appraised and everything else that goes into selling/buying a house. we will have a lot of junk to pack up, but hopefully this will be our chance to get rid of it, no need to carry it to a new house, only to crowd up that attic as well.

But, this is not a house moving blog, this is a triathlon blog, so let me tell what has been going on there.

I will say this, my last training plan was for 140.6, and I am loving the training plan for a sprint race. I had almost forgot how much fun this was! I love waking up and knowing I have a 600 yard swim ahead of me! That leaves me plenty of time to also get a 2-3 mile run before work! My longest ride has been 15 miles!  I love being able to train, and train hard and still be in bed by 10:30 PM!

The best thing is that I am on a solid 10 day streak of hitting all my workouts! Imagine that!

I think this is probably the smartest thing I could do, use this sprint as a way to build my base and then transition into the full distance afterwards. I know it would not be wise to jump into a 10 mile run that first week. It would probably frustrate me and make want to throw in the towel. So this has been a perfect way for me to ease back into the triathlon world.

It even has me thinking about course goals again. I know my Achilles heel is the run, but it is a 3 mile run, so I should be able to kill it. The weather has gotten nicer, which means saying bye-bye to the treadmill, and I am even seeing a few pounds drop off (Thankfully the Girl Scouts will be done selling cookies soon too!) All in all, I am satisfied with where I am right now, but I am looking to get faster.

4 minutes 4 seconds

That is where I stand now on my 90 day plank challenge. I started with a max of 3:05 and my max out last night was 4:04. My goal is to get to a 10 minute plank. So this week, my plank workouts will be three (3) 2 minute planks. This week I have found the secret to doing a good plank, one that will make you feel the burn and make strides is to wear the right shoes. There is no way I could do planks barefooted cause it hurts me toes! So I have to have on my running shoes to guarantee that I do not slide around while trying to bang out a plank. I think it also helps to begin your plank at the start of a commercial while watching TV. We all know commercials run about 2 minutes, and nothing makes it harder for me than to stare at the stopwatch watching the time. So I either look away or make sure the watch is not in my line of sight. So seven days down, only 83 more days to plank! I also realized that I do not need to do 5 days of planking to get gains, so I have skipped a day in the week, but I can seriously see myself hitting a 10 minutes plank in the future.

As far as my other workouts, well, if you have seen a weather map, or if you have been on FaceBook, then you know it has been cold. It got down to 7 degrees here in Memphis and that's not normal. It is not suppose to get that cold here. So needless to say, that made it difficult for me to get out. Not only was the outside cold, but everywhere you went INSIDE was also cold. I do not think we build frigid proof houses here like maybe they do in Minnesota or Wisconsin. I don't know, but I had no desire to get outside unless I had to and that only meant going to work, going to church or going outside to get some firewood!

So now that the Holiday season is over, my wife and I thought we should do something crazy, so we decided that now is the perfect time to put our house on the market and try to sell it! We simply need more room and we have been putting it off for awhile now, so we decided to go for it. It should officially be on the market this week, which honestly, scares the crap out of me. I mean, what if someone does buy it, then we have to find a new house! We are waiting to even look at new houses because I do not want to find a house we love and then be stuck because ours has not sold yet, but I think once that ball starts rolling, it will roll fast! I would love to find a house that I can have a workout room or "man cave" I could setup my bike and get a treadmill and some weights and turn it into a PAIN CAVE! I am sure we will find the perfect house in the perfect neighborhood in the perfect time, but it is still a little scary....Wait, I have to find all new running routes!!!!