Well, 2013 was quite a year – I spent most of it injured in some way shape or form but that did not stop me competing in a number of events and bagging a couple of PBs in the process!
I started the year with achilles tendonitis – a real pain to get rid of but managed it, only to be struck with patellar tendonitis – much the same but on the knee. In my usual style, ignored it and carried on and have spent the final three months of 2013 not running at all – I think this time I have learnt my lesson and have worked hard to come back slowly and not pushing to much to soon.
This downtime has given me time to get a focus on 2014 and what the year might hold. I decided to take the plunge and give a half-ironman a whirl and have entered the Outlaw Half in June. This will be my A race for the year and will give me a good six months to get ready. The lack of running has given me time to pick up my cycling again and work hard at my swimming. I took a swim clinic with GreenlightPT which has highlighted a number of things for me to work on and I’ve also started to take a turbo and core class (also with GreenlightPT) to back up my cycling. As well as the Outlaw Half, I also want to have a crack at getting my half marathon time down. I’ve not really run to full capacity for years and am hoping the focus of Outlaw will enable my running to pick up a level and get a few long standing PBs out of the way.
Overall I think 2013 went quite well considering. I managed to run two marathons in 15 days off around seven weeks training (not recommended!), a new 5km and 5 mile PB and my swimming has improved beyond what I imagined was possible. I was also lucky enough to get a place in the Open Sprint race at the World Triathlon Champs in Hyde Park. On the downside, the little boy who I ran my two marathons for, Henry Allen, sadly lost his fight in October. His plight pulled a whole city together and less than a month later achieved a world record in his memory (myself and my son included!). the money I raised will be passed to the main Families Against Neuroblastoma charity to help other children affected by this childhood cancer.
So, 2014 is about looking forward, new goals, probably more to be added on the way but the main one is outlaw – 21 weeks and counting….
runwithchips 