I went down to Shrewsbury for Christmas and ran in the Stiperstones Dash on Boxing Day which is a 3 mile thrash up and down a local hill. The weather was glorious and it certainly cured my slightly thick head from the previous days excesses.
The following day I got out late afternon and managed a brisk 8 miles through the country lanes leaving me with 20 miles left and 4 days to complete them.
Back home on the Sunday and I was out for another 8 miles on Monday afternoon and so on the last day of the year I had 12 miles left to do so I got up early and completed a nice off road 13 miles in the dark to hit the 1501 mark.
I realise reading some of the other blogs that 1500 miles is not a particularly impressive total but, all things in perspective, I'm not exactly comparing myself against your average punter!
So the year has started well, I was back to work on Monday and despite the economic turmoil we have a healthy order book and a new Surveyor has boosted my employees up to 12. I managed a spectular 8 miles last night through my usual country back roads and the moon and stars were so bright that I didn't need my head torch.
The start of a new year is generally a time for reflection and so looking back over my running last year I feel very pleased with my achievements. My main success of the year was staying relatively injury free which meant the biggest challenge of actually getting to the start line of a race was achieved. Here is a summary of what I did:
- March - The Mighty Deerstalker - a bit of a novelty event which although listed as 10k was actually just over 9 miles. My second year of running it and I've booked up for this year again
- April - The Highland Fling - 11 hours 22 mins: generally used as a training race for the WHW but I think this devalues it as a great race in it's own right. This years race will be the biggest yet and I'll be on the start line.
- May - No races but a great long weekend cycling in the Vercors in southern France up some seriously steep and long cols.
- June - West Highland Way Race - 24 hours 46 mins. - My first attempt at this and although my gold medal target was sub 24 hours I was slightly disappointed in my performance. I'll be back again this year and aiming for 23 hours. Also ran the Milngavie 10k which is a great wee race on a very tough, hilly course. A small turnout meant I managed to sneak in for a top ten place.
- July - R&R
- August - No racing but building up the miles for a busy September.
- September - Started with the Glasgow Half Marathon (1 hour 34 mins) and then two weeks later ran the Dundee Marathon (3 hours 29 mins) and then two weeks after that ran the Longmynd Hike (50 miles in 11 hours 44 mins). Anyone not familiar with this race should have a look at the Vasque Ultra Series Web Site. It's a great race which I have doen two years in a row now and includes 8,000 feet of ascent
That was the end of my racing for the year. I don't tend to race a lot but I do enjoy the ones that I do.
My plans for this year have been mentioned in a previous post but added to to that, I would like to do a couple of hill races, some more cycling and hit 1750 miles for the year.
3 comments:
Hi Graeme
I wouldn't worry too much about the mileage not that I'm suggesting you are, I ran just over the 1500 mark for the year also but enjoyed every one of them,dont see the point in putting yourself under pressure to achieve a high total yearly mileage,after all enjoyment is what it's all about
Cheers
Davie
Cheers Davie. I'm not worried about the mileage really, after all I achieved what i set out to do. I'm unlikely to increase the mileage much this year but the focus will be more on quality rather than quantity
Don't worry about the mileage. Some of us can run close to that whilst pregnant. Just kidding, buddy :-) What a great year you had. Hope 2009 is just as good.
I think Marco might be doing the Deerstalkers, so possibly see you there. Of course, I won't be able to partake. Gutted. Honest.
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