Shane Gaddy Completes Half Ironman

Sunday, September 23, 2018 I completed my first half Ironman. Only a few years ago, I thought this was impossible. But, on that Sunday for 33 minutes I swam 1.2 miles in the Savanah River, for 2 hours and 57 minutes I rode a bike for 56 miles around Augusta, and the next 2 hours and 23 minutes I completed a half marathon – 13.1 miles in grueling heat through the streets of downtown Augusta. The event took me six hours and five minutes, but it took over 500 hours and over 1,000 miles of planning and training between each of these disciplines.

During training, you think about many things. As someone who loves my job, when I have time to think I often reflect on the lives of my clients. For many of them our main goal is for a successful retirement one day. For many, this task seems impossible and overwhelming. I thought about the coach I had hired, the plan he made for me, his constant check ins to make sure I was following the plan, and all the adjustments he made along the way to allow me to finish the race. After all, this is what I paid him for. I couldn’t help but see the parallels and how we help our clients plan for retirement. We are their retirement coach, we put together a savings/investment plan with their goals in mind, we check in frequently following up on the plan, and we help them make adjustments when life throws unexpected obstacles in the way.

I could have found a generic training plan from numerous online websites, and I may been successful in completing the race. But, I for one know it was my coach that made the difference and I can only hope that I make the same difference in the lives of my clients. Thank you to my coach, David Lee, and I thank my clients for allowing me to be theirs.