My Personal Fitness Plan

My personal October fitness plan was focused on increasing my running distance to prepare for the 40^th anniversary Governor’s Cup half-marathon in Columbia, SC on November 3^rd.  In 2010 I placed 3^rd in my age group and I was able to finish 2^nd last year so I set my goal to WIN my age group this year.  I aggressively worked on my interval training and continued to cross-train to help prevent injury.  On the morning of the race I was feeling good and took off at record pace.  It was my record pace for even a 1 mile run so I settled in on a better pace until the final mile.  I was confident no one in my age group was ahead of me and my mind was telling me to slow down.  I could barely hold my pace.  In the final 100 yards of the race I was passed by two guys and I was pretty sure neither looked my age so I held my pace.  Boy was I was wrong… I finished second in my age group again.  I was still very pleased as I set a personal record and although I got passed at the end, I gave it my all and did not have any reserves. 

I learned two important lessons from this race:  One, I must learn to pace myself better from the start and two I am not as young as I think I am.  That “older” guy who passed me was my exact age.

I am now creating a plan to reach a “stretch” goal in the Cold Winter’s Day 5k to beat my high school cross country PR and am helping my wife train for her first half-marathon in early 2013.