Background on IMNY70.3 Jones Beach

I’ve been thinking about why I want to do another 70.3, after all I’ve already done three and that doesn’t even count completing Ironman Florida in 2011. All of them were a long time ago.

Last year I realized the 70.3 mountain was too steep for me so I bailed. I did complete 5 sprint triathlons though. Three were pool swims and two were open water. My biking was slow and my running (if you could call it that) was poor. I’ve done no runs longer than 5 miles or so and my longest race was 5k of more walking than running. Even so, I viewed 2022 as a success.

My plan for 2023 was to do a 70.3 AquaBike in May (the Crystal Coast triathlon in Beaufort, NC) and to run a standalone half marathon in the fall. Look for an Olympic distance to stretch out a bit. If all went well, spring 2024 would queue up a retry at the half distance. I may consider the Disney Half Marathon as a January fun excursion but signups aren’t until April.

This all assumed that my body composition improved enough. I wanted my weight to be below 250 pounds before I would sign up. I have a lot of weight to lose.

Then IMNY was announced. It looks like a perfect race for me. It is as flat as a pancake. I’ve trained in the area a lot. While I haven’t ridden my bike on the parkway, I have on the adjacent bike path. I’ve run on the boardwalk. I’ve raced in the park. Did I say it was flat?

So I signed up. I’ll succeed if I’m dedicated and focused. I will have athletic atrophy to deal with (I’m not as fast as I used to be and I wasn’t even fast then). The summer heat will need to be dealt with. I have a plan, a coach, a swim group, and the legacy of being a rock star.

And so it begins, again.

 

I wasn’t going to sign up for another half Ironman until I had my body composition under control but then they announced a new race in the middle of my old stomping ground. I signed up yesterday.

I’ve decided to reimagine the blog. It is about me and my journey and my progress. If anyone follows along, so be it. If not, that’s ok too.

Starting stats:

Weight) 292.2

A1C) 7.7

Running) 30run/60 walk, long run is 3 miles-ish. Fastest recent 5k time is 42:25 in October 2022.

Swimming) 2:30/100y with a swim buoy.

239 days to go.

Game on.

The not so secret 22 plan.

 Here's a list of events under consideration:

Spring Running: 

2/12/22 Run for the Roses 5k.

3/5/22 Shark Tooth 10k

3/26/22 Charlottesville 10 miler

5/15/22 NCRC 10k

Biking

4/9/22 Raleigh Five-0 ride (100k)

5/1/22 Raven Rock Ramble Ride (100k)

7/4/22 Firecracker Ride (100k)

Triathlons:

4/23/22 Emerge Ortho Sprint

9/11/22 White Fall Lake Oly

10/15/22 IMNC 70.3

Fall Running:

11/24/22 Turkey Trot TBD

12/10/22 Frosty 10k

1/8/23 Disney Half Marathon

And then, goals change.

2020 was supposed to be my return to the land of athletic misadventures, my comeback year if you will. I had grand plans culminating with racing Ironman North Carolina 70.3 in October. Alas, due to progress going slower than planned in both the training and body composition fronts, I was skeptical that I would be prepared for this event. Mix in the risk of the event not even happening due to COVID-19, I felt that my plan was off the rails.

I saw on one of the many Facebook groups that I subscribe to that some athletes were asking for deferrals until 2021 and some, but not all, were being granted. So I gave it a shot and Ironman responded that I could defer. So I did.

So the 2021 goal is now:

• Beaverdam Olumpic Triathlon in April 2021
• If my training is going phenomenal, Ironman Eagleman 70.3 in June. The current odds are 1:4 against.
• Outer Banks Olympic Triathlon in September 2021.
• Ironman North Carolina 70.3 in October 2021.

The dates are all up the air as is everything these days.

Game on.

The best version of youself

There was an interesting conversation on some completely forgettable television show the other day. I don't remember the show. I don't remember the day. I don't even remember the participants of the conversation. I don't remember why I was even watching it. Maybe the bigger problem could be my memory but that's a topic for a different post.

The gist of this talking head conversation was that many people have an aspiration to be the the best version of themselves but few people actually know what that means. "Best" is different for every person. It not necessarily reality. In fact, it might be very rare for many. It might just be an aspiration. Nobody is perfect but can you be better than what you are? What is better to you for you?

But if you know what is your vision of the best version of you, then you can work on becoming closer to that vision. It is sort of obvious but in this time of establishing new norms due to quarantining it might be something to think about.

I think this "new normal" is going to last more than we expect. Do you know what your best version of yourself is or what type of person you aspire to be? Where are the gaps and what is the plan to minimize them?

I'm going to spend some time trying to write some of this down in the upcoming days. Join in if you want.

Stay tuned.

My thoughts on the 2019 Disney Half

Last week Mrs. RockStar and I walked the 2019 Disney Half Marathon. It was her first half mary. I've done a few. The takeaways were:

1. Our time was a lot slower (4:03:04)than my past halfs. In fact, it was my slowest ever.
2. We knew it was going to be slow since that was how we trained. We executed our race exactly inline per our training.
3. We were concerned about the balloon ladies who are supposed to run/walk 16:00 miles. If they pass you, you may be asked to get on the "bus of shame." We did not go on the bus! We finished the race.
4. I was hurting after the race. It took me longer to recover than I expected. I missed out on my post Disney Shula Steakhouse tradition.
5. I view this race overall as a success. 9 months ago walking was an issue. We've come a long way.
6. We did it with Team in Training. Don't know if we'll do it again but we helped a good cause
7. My next time at Disney will be 2021. Join me!

Making myself smarter - the 2019 reading experiment.

One of my goals for this year (and probably appropriate for the rest of my life) is to continue to get smarter. Either a derivative of this goal or perhaps a complement to this goal - I don't know which because I'm not that smart - is to not get dumber. Either way I look at it, I've got to do something to make this happen. It won't happen automagically.

So, I've decided to read. I've set a goal is to read a book a week, at least 52 for the year. Luckily I got some good book recommendations from a Facebook post where I asked for help. I also got a bunch of books as gifts for Christmas.  So, I have a queue of quality reading material to get through. Once I get through the queue I'll either buy some, get others from the library, and some I'll borrow.

Very few will be electronic books. I read old school bound words on paper. I am somewhat flexible in hardcover vs. softcover but a side effect of this goal is that I'll be looking at my phone less than before. Reading should expose me to more diverse thought as compared to reading the same stuff over and over on the phone.

I'll update this post with every book that I read. Here is the completed list:

1) The Autobiography of Malcolm X - as told to Alex Haley. Completed 1/2
2) Dick Vitale's Mount rushmore of College Basketball. Completed
3) Grateful American: A journey from self to service - Gary Sinese completed 2/18
4) The stranger in the woods - Michael Finkel. Completed 2/
5) The princes of Ireland - Edward Rutherford
6) Traffic - Tom Vanderbilt.
7)

Accountability

On twitter the other day, I read a thread by Ali Yahya (twitter handle @ali01) where he described how he was inspired by Benjamin Franklin (no twitter handle) to manage a set of "virtues" on a daily basis. Franklin's virtues originally included Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, and Independence and were managed by tracking with red ink in a book. Over time, Franklin added virtues to track, ultimately ending with 13.

@ali01 modified this slightly. He called them habits rather than virtues. He tracked via a spreadsheet rather than via ink and paper. He started with four habits: sleep well, exercise, meditate, and update his habit list. In order to improve on something, it has to be a priority and have focus. There cannot be too many "habits" tracked, otherwise it this process will diminish them all. Even so, he has added to this list over time, managing 16 habits currently. He believes this has changed his life and helped make him who he is today, personally and professionally.

I've decided to do my own RockStarTri derivative of this. I'm going to start with my resolution themes: 1) Making myself smarter; 2) Improving my weight and body composition; 3) Continuing my Athletic transformation; and 4) Becoming a better person. I've realized this these aren't really goal oriented but more process oriented which is new for me. I expect to add sub categories to each habit  to help track progress, and perhaps add more habits to track.

One additional habit may be to update status via the blog but I haven't finalized this. Stay tuned. 

2019 Resolutions

The overall theme of 2019 is that MrsRockstar and I are going to focus on ourselves more than we have in the past. I've been trying to put together some ideas on some resolutions for 2019 that I can actually help me become a better me.They fall into the following categories:

1. Making myself smarter via reading

2. Improving my weight and body composition

3. Continuing my athletic transformation.

4. Becoming a better person.

5. Regularly tracking my progress (or lack thereof) against these goals.


That's it. More details will come in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

Life Goals

1) My friend Guido recently posted on Facebook that through diet and exercise he was able to eliminate all prescription drugs from his life. I don't know where he started but I currently take 7 prescription drugs. The life goal is to get to zero but let's shoot to reduce 2 in a year.

2) I'm fat at BMI = 42. I need to get unfat. Unfat is a BMI of 30 - for someone 6'2" that means 234 lbs. If I can get halfway in a year, BMI=36, 280 pounds, that would be good progress.

3) I can't lose weight at the expense of muscle. Need a stat to measure.

4) I need to get in shape (see number 3). Disney half in Jan19, StA in Apr19.

5) Fit into 2xl clothes and some XL. The 2XL are often too tight.

6) Need to find something to engage my brain.

7) Need to gain flexibility. A good goal would be to be able to touch my toes. Haven't been able to do that since high school.

8) Need to sleep through the night.