Running in the rain with Tom

Just a fun picture from a recent Saturday morning jog in the rain with my friend Tom Rudy, taken by our friend Harold Myers.  Tom looks WAY too happy!

Time to drop lb's and prepare for two 13.1's!

After the Keller Sprint, my focus now is on strengthening my body, trimming up, and building a stronger run.  My next 2 events will be two half-marathons.  The first is Run The Line in Texarkana on Feb 15, then Cowtown two weeks later on March 1. 

Last week I did weights twice and jogged on Tuesday evening.  

Over the weekend I had my strongest back-to-back run days to this point.  Saturday morning a handful of us jogged some trails, which is something I've never done!  It was different, but great for my legs!  We did right around 7 miles overall, finishing with an average pace just over 13 minutes per mile.  

Sunday I planned on doing only 7-8 miles.  As we got into the beginning of the run, I decided I'd do 10 miles with Harold so he wasn't by himself.  I felt great up until around 8.6 miles, then hit a wall!  From 8.6 to around 9.3 were VERY tough for me.  Anytime I run, no matter the distance, I jog 9 minutes and then walk 1.  During that span on Sunday, I walked for 30-40 seconds 2 extra times! I got it back together and finished up, and ended up averaging 10:58/mile for the 10 miles.  Not too shabby for all that work.

My plan for the next few months is to do 2 shorter and quicker runs during the week, as well as 2-3 strength workouts, then some longer and slower jogs on the weekends.  So far, this week has been good as I had a great workout with weights Monday, then a strong jog for me today on Tuesday.  I did 2 miles.  Ended up averaging 8:22/mile for the whole 2 miles.  I was at 1.07 miles at the 9 minute mark, then had my walk, then averaged 7:46/mile pace for the rest of the run.  Great progress to build on!

Oh, and on a side note, I weighed 211.6 last week, and I'm going to work on getting that number down to 190 or under by the time Feb 15, 2015 gets here.  I have been better watching what I'm eating, cut back on the beer, and gotten back to a more regular workout regimen.  That plus some determination will get me there.  I can already feel a difference over the past week.  That's another great thing to build upon!

Monster Keller Sprint Triathlon

This race I only did so that I could do the same one my kiddos did.  I hadn't trained much over the past couple of months, and certainly haven't been on my bike enough.  I really enjoyed getting to do this race with my stepson Lance.  We weren't numbered together, but we started next to each other 5 seconds apart anyway.  In fact, the picture of the pool below is Lance and I both, in lanes next to each other.  

I started off feeling great and with a good rhythm in the water.  I wasn't in a hurry in T1, and got out on the bike ok.  It was 300 yards in the pool, 12 miles on the bike, then a 3.1 mile jog.  Around mile 3 of the hilly bike I was pushing hard up a hill and felt my left quad knot up.  I just eased up and took it easy from there, coasting through the rest of the ride and the run.  You'll see how I felt in one of the run pictures that my wife took as I came out of T2!  

All in all, it was a fun event, and very meaningful for our family!  

So proud!

My 3 kids all did their first kids triathlon in Keller, TX on October 18.  I can't even describe how fun it was to watch or just how proud of each of them I am!  They all had a great time, were challenged some, and want to do another one before next summer.  An added bonus was that their cousin Makenzie did it with them, too.  Then on Sunday my oldest stepson Lance did his first sprint triathlon!  He looked so natural and at ease doing everything, and learned a lot along the way.  Kelly and I had so much fun getting to watch the 4 of them, and I especially enjoyed doing the same race as Lance!  

A new journey within the journey

It's been awhile, but it's time to get back to recording some of my life.  The main reason for this is my recent signing up for Ironman Chattanooga 2015!  The race day will be September 27.  

Mostly for myself, I wanted to track what this next year looks like---thoughts, workouts, challenges, etc---so I could look back over it and get a glimpse once it's behind me.  

I'm excited AND nervous.  History dictates that I'll do my workouts and be ready.  I JUST WANT TO FINISH BY MIDNIGHT!  I JUST WANT TO HEAR MY NAME CALLED!

There are over 20 people from Team Jackass signed up.  That will be great for all of us as we prepare and train together.  That will be a HUGE blessing for me over the next 12 months.

My first workouts post-sign up were a 15 mile ride at 17.7mph Sat and then a 4 mile easy jog at 10:33/mile pace this morning.  I just want to log some easy base miles over the next few months, then 6 months from race time we will hit it hard with a specific plan.

Either way, here we go....