2016: a review of my year

For my final blog post of the year, I thought it would be good to put together my own little review of my last 12 months of running. Whilst 2015 was pretty much defined by one run, this year has been more about steady and gradual plugging away and working hard to try and get my times down across all the main distances (marathon apart!)

I will take a look at some of my best and worst performances, what I have progressed with, what I need to improve, what I achieved and what I didn't manage to do over the course of 2016.

So let's get going...

January

My first race of the year, and first of the crosscountry season was the Lancashire Championships at Witton Park. Having recovered from a bad back over Christmas and new year, I was pleased to be back running, at the end of the month, I returned to the same venue for the Northern Championships and one of the toughest courses I have ever encountered!

February 

The Winter Warmer 10k at Blackburn (again!) provided me with a welcome return to the roads after a ten week absence from racing - the longest spell without a road race I'd had since taking up the sport. I was unsure what to expect and was just glad to get the race over with. I was delighted to take the win too on a very tough course.

I ended the month racing at the National crosscountry championships and had my best ever run in the mud, finishing in 80th position.

March

Wearing the Lancashire red rose vest was one of my proudest moments of 2015, but I hadn't managed to put together a good run, so to be able to get a second stab at he Intercounties this year and finishing in 36th position and second Lancs male was special for me.

April

My first run out at Cheshire 10k saw me record a pb of 32:06, just missing out on my target of sub 32, but was a big boost to my confidence after a shocker at Cardiff Half marathon. On a day when I probably shouldn't have run at all, I struggled round in just under 75 minutes, having gone into the race aiming to break the 70 minute barrier...

May

Christleton 5k was one of my favourite events of the year, and is without doubt the fastest 5k course I have raced on so far. I just missed out on my pb here in 15:08 after a slight misjudgement in the middle stages of the race.

June

It is no secret that Freckleton Half marathon is one of my main races in the calendar year, and one that I am desperate to one day win. I moved a step closer this year, finishing in second place and just missing out on my best time with 70:48.

July

Returning from a fortnight in Turkey feeling about a stone heavier than I had set off, I actually had a decent run on my return to racing just 4 days later, clocking around 15:15 at Podium 5k. It left me feeling positive and ready for an assault on my times in the second half of the year after a good break.

August

A month on from Podium and I felt in prime shape for a go at setting a new pb and hopefully breaking the 15 minute barrier at mid Cheshire 5k. The previous race there had been stacked and plenty had gone under that. This time out surprisingly nobody did, and I actually found myself leading the race throughout to take the win in 15:19.

September

The most bizarre event of the year came at Run Preston 10k, where chasing my first ever sub 32 (and well on course for it at half way), I got decked by an off lead dog. Luckily I bounced back up to win the race, but my ambition of getting the time went out of the window for another day...32:25.

October

Returning to Palma looking to defend my crown in the half marathon from 2015, I managed to do so on another fantastic trip away with team Wesham, full of great laughs and memories. Win in 70:52.

November

Being a bit more careful and selective of my races in October bore fruit in November, as I finally cracked the 10k distance with a fine run at Cheshire 10k to finish in 31:12. Without doubt my best run across any distance to date, I managed a good few scalps on a day where it all came together. A week later I won the Preston 10 mile in 52:34 (new pb), before rounding off an excellent month by winning Wesham 10k in 32:00.

December

My final run out of the year came at Ribble Valley, a slightly below par performance still goes down as my second best run to date over 10k, in 31:59 for 23rd place.

So there we go that was my year, with a total of 3,366 miles recorded, so hopefully some good groundworks and compound fitness in the bank ahead of a return to the marathon in Autumn 2017.

Thanks for reading, all the best to everyone and I hope you all have a successful, happy and prosperous 2017. Much love x

Ribble Valley 10k

Since setting new pb's at Cheshire 10k and Preston 10 mile road races in November, my eyes had been set on Ribble Valley 10k as my next targeted race. 

I had been going well in training and the indications were that I was in good shape to contend with improving that 10k pb further still. My final 'effort' training session prior to the race was last Thursday and I felt good in what was intended to be a final sharpener. The distance of the session was reduced to 2 x 1.5 miles, and I would have been happy to average anywhere in the region of 5 minute mileing. As it was, chasing down Rob Affleck off a 20 second handicap, I went substantially quicker than that. My first mile was recorded at 4:46 and my average pace over the full 3 mile of volume came out at 4:53 pace. It was a good final confidence booster ahead of race day.

All I needed to do now was tick over with some easy mileage and to make it to the race in one piece. I managed to do the latter, however the busy and hectic Christmas time saw me unable to run on Christmas Day or Boxing Day at all. Usually I would have liked to have done at least a few miles on one, if not both of the days leading up to a big race, but I didn't see it as any disaster and hoped I would get away with it and feel fresher for the extra rest.

As it was, this was far from the case. I woke up with the first symptoms of a cold, which has seen me unable to run since race day as it has progressively got worse, and I awoke feeling lethargic and far from "up for it" as I would like to have been. 

I had hoped that once I had warmed up and got a couple of kilometres in that I might grow into the race, but again things didn't quite go that way as I got my tactics wrong and went off too hard through the first 2k and suffered through the middle section of the race as a result.

Thankfully, I managed to find something from 7k to the finish to recover a few positions and to record a respectable time in the circumstances. I came home in 31:59 for 23rd position.

It is perhaps a sign of how far I have come recently that I am now disappointed at having broken 32 minutes, but not doing a bit more too. I actually went 1 second faster than at Wesham 10k a month previous, however it was a completely different type of run. At Wesham I had run a controlled and relaxed race from first to last and almost cruised around for 32 minutes dead and could without doubt have gone quicker. This time out, I ran the same time, but the pace and rhythm was all over the place and I really had to graft and grind the time out with every last ounce of energy. In the end though, I would say that it is a fairly decent result to round off a successful year, and something I can definitely use to kick on further in 2017.

Total mileage for the week (to Sunday 25th): 56

Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:24

Total mileage so far this month (December): 241

Total mileage so far 2016: 3345

Average miles per day 2016: 9.35