Personal Best

    My next trail run is just days away, and I am getting excited. It is an 8K called Kevin's Cup, and is reported to be pretty rugged, and a little brutal. I am looking forward to it. The weather has been mild lately, but that is due to change just in time for the weekend. Of course. But I was expecting this to be a cold, wet race. I mean, hell, Willamette Valley, in November? When is it not cold and/or wet? This weekend it is looking to be both.
    I am not going to taper much, as much as an experiment as anything. I won't run after tomorrow, mostly because I won't be able to on wednesday or thursday, but I do plan on swimming friday. I will run tomorrow, but not anything too zany. I know that there is nothing anyone can do in the week before a race to increase their fitness level, but I just don't want to take much downtime. And like I said, it is kind of an experiment. I have done fairly diligent tapering before my previous events, even the lesser events, and I am not real sure just how much difference it made. I am not doing massive endurance events. It is not like I am running marathons or Ironmans. Maybe I am mentally downplaying my races? Maybe I am under-appreciating just what I am doing. This is my first year of racing, and I am 50 years old, so even a sprint tri is pretty cool, really. But it is not an incapacitating ordeal. It is 2 hours of a hard workout. Okay, a really hard workout. Okay, a freakishly hard workout. But it is only 2 hours. So, with an 8K on saturday, I am not going to alter my week much from what it would be if I had saturday off. We will see just what happens saturday. Worse case, I am the last to finish, and that doesn't phase me much.
    I do find that I have slipped into a racer's mentality though. I look ahead to pending events and alter my workouts accordingly. With trail runs the only events on the agenda until spring, I am working glutes and legs hard. I am really focusing on strength and plyometric power. I have been running, but trying to spare my knees as much as possible. Even in the pool now I am working legs and glutes. But I am also very focused on core and upper body strength. The more I study, the more I learn just how vital core strength is to powerful running and cycling. And I have a major event pending: Firefighter Academy. It is the most important physical event I have ever set myself up for. It will be 14 weekends of tough training, both mind and body. I want to head into it with every physical and mental advantage I can glean from my health and fitness regiment. It is one event that I will not be happy to place anywhere but in the top percentile. One event where finishing last is not an option. So, I train for events. Keep my mind on Track. Keep my eyes on the prize. My prize? Being the best I can be, for no one else but myself. I am my Personal Best.