Well it's that time again when you look back at the past year performance and see how well you did or didn't do. Weather you accomplished all your goals or just a few it's time to see how you did and do a little self evaluation.
Did you PR in a 5k, 10k, 1/2 Marathon or Marathon? If so Super! It not why? Injury or perhaps over stated goals. All your goals should attainable. Not some goal that the only way to reach it would be to go back in time when you were back in your 20s. Such as your last 5k time was 24:30. Your goal was to run under 22 minutes. Nice goal but lowering your PR by 2 1/2 minutes is easier said than done...You should aim to knock of small segments of time off. Such as instead of lowering your PR ( Personal Record ) by 2 1/2 minutes try lowering your
PR by say 30 seconds.
Quick math : 5k run at 24:30 is a 7:54 pace
5k run at 24:00 is at 7:44 pace
Difference ? 10 seconds a mile - That's a realistic goal!
By setting a realistic goal you will gain the satisfaction of hitting your goal and give your ego and self-confidence a huge boost by being able to hit it. On the other hand if your goals were to high you would most likely feel dejected and down again for not being able to reach your goal time.
Remember Baby Steps - We didn't start out life by running. We started out by crawling then progressed to walking and then running.
At sometime in your running life you will hit the wall so to speak. Not the Marathon wall but the PR wall. Weather it be 5k or Marathon you will get to the point where your racing times seem to be close to the same or stagnant.
Bummer - What to do?
It may be your getting older and hitting a new PR might never happen again no matter how much you train or could be you might need to shake it up a little by changing your training. You might need more speed work. If you unsure how to properly train think about joining a local running club(s). Join one if your not already a member. It's a great way to meet other like minded people. It's also a super way to meet people that will help you in your running. We in North Florida have a number of good running clubs. I've listed the local clubs in North Florida but check you local area out. I've met some of the nicest people and people that will push you to faster times if that's what your looking for or if your looking to socialize it's usually a good group of people to hang with.
North Florida Running Clubs:
Jacksonville Track Club
Florida Striders
Amelia Island Runners
Ancent City Runners
If you know of any others email me and I'll be glad to post it.
So... Make the New Year
your
BEST YEAR!
Until next time
See you on the roads - Be safe out there
Scoot
