The Peak-Performance Monkey

The ship has sailed, but we launch today. The ship officially embarked on Sunday, June 1, 2009. That day marked my first official training day for perhaps the most important race in my life. But the designated chronicle of this voyage, this blog, is just now getting out of dry dock. So today’s blog entry must serve as the christening of the flag ship, blog name garrygoingforward, which will reach its destination on January 17, 2010.

For quick reference I have included the heading from my training program. I would have laid the whole logo on you, but to date I haven’t gotten permission to mention names either of my coaches or my club, so you will just have to believe that I didn’t make this up myself. Add my goal race time of one hour and fifty eight minutes, and you have the entire mission statement.

2009 TRAINING FORMAT – Half - Marathon Build-up
ATHLETE: GARRY COX AGE: 66 Advanced Runner
PRIMARY GOAL RACE: PF Chang’s RNR-AZ HALF - MARATHON – January 17, 2010

So who doesn’t have a big race scheduled in the upcoming year? Who doesn’t have a training plan? Who hasn’t done some research and come up with the running wisdom of the ages? Good questions, all. But let me ask one more. Who among you has failed to come through in the big race? And by “come through” I mean run the race you believe you are capable of when it really counts.

As a long distance runner and age group sprinter, I have had my moments. In 1992 I was voted the third best distance runner for my age group (50-54) in the greater Metropolitan Detroit area. In my subsequent ten plus years of Maters Track and Field, I won so many gold medals I started giving them to my students for outstanding work in the classroom.
As a sprinter I have been rated in the top five nationally on several occasions. I should point out that these were in-season ratings. When the smoked cleared at the end of the competition year, I was always eclipsed by superior performances. Likewise, none of my gold medals came from any world or national championships, although I have competed in both.

Now, I can live without being the LD stud or the age-group superstar I once dreamed about becoming. But what sticks in my craw is the fact that not once in all the big races I’ve competed in, did I bring my “A” game. And though it’s unlikely I will ever win a national championship, there have been years that, had I run my best, I could have made the ultimate number three or four guy pretty nervous. So I’m not bitter, I just have a huge monkey I want to get off my back; the monkey of never peaking at the right time. So this is my voyage, my quest if you will. I have dedicated myself this year to achieving my goal performance in the race that counts the most, the PF Chang Half Marathon.

I humbly invite you to join my quest. I welcome your advice, your stories, your goals and your successes. And as they say on TNT, characters welcome.