And it's time for that clichéd end of year post. As usual, I've not much to share nor many I
wish to share it with, but a public record of a few running commitments for
next year may remind me to put in a little more effort on the various start lines
throughout the year.
2015 has been a little variable. A couple of injuries that felt significant
but in reality meant 3-4 months in total of reduced running. The year was still interspersed with a number
of good events, a number of marathons, some on road, many on trail and a couple
in the mountains of the Beacons. These
latter ones speak better to me.
Maintaining an even effort in difficult conditions works well for me,
and although it is unlikely to put me near the front of any well attended race,
these races allow me to test myself against similar runners in environments
that leave me smiling after the finish.
And with these types of events in my mind, and closing out the year with
relatively good fitness, I’ve put more than the usual effort into planning out
2016. As well as picking out a few race
series, I’ve a couple of bits of guidance, reminders and little challenges to
complete.
- Goals:
- Might Contain Nuts Ultra series. Four 42 mile runs in the Brecon Beacons.
- Go Beyond Ultra series. Four races of lengths between 50 and 30 miles across England.
- Run Further Ultra series. More complex requirements but three from twelve races.
- Guidance:
- 50+ miles per week – exceptions for the week before and after a goal race or when injured.
- At least one quality session per week – exceptions for two weeks after a goal race of when injured.
- Challenges:
- Run a mile each and every day. No exceptions. (I feel this will be the first thing to fall by the wayside.)
- Track mileage against the cycling of Andy Perry via Strava. (Minor fun and will not impact training or racing. Well, unless it is very close in December and then all bets are off.)
In terms of those goals, all of the must-do races are now
booked. There is the opportunity to run
a couple of others in the Run Further series but I’ll leave those decisions until
the year has started to pan out.
The most immediate focus is Country to Capital on Saturday
16th January which seems a bit close now. It will be my first time at the event and my
knowledge is based mainly on a couple of blogs.
My key takeaways so far is that the second half is flat running
alongside the canal and that many experienced ultra-runners still decided to
set a 400 metre PB from the line to avoid congestion at an early gate. I do not plan to get involved with the latter
competition, but I’d like to have enough in the legs to benefit from 20 miles
of flat path on the way into London. We
shall see.
