It's Been a Good Year for the Roses

In 2010 I managed to run 65 races.  I finished the year with three races in three days and I even managed one week when I participated in five races in five days!  Although there were no exceptional results, there has been a steady improvement and my WAVA , which is now consistently above 70%  increased from my maximum of 73.78% last year to 75.19% this year.  

I had aimed to run at least one overseas race and achieved this by running in the Swiegi 5k in Malta and the Bangkok Mini Marathon (10k) in Thailand.  I had the pleasure of spending a week in France supporting and running with Mark Cooper in his quest to run 25 marathons in 25 days.  I also ran the Haweswater Half Marathon south of the Tweed. 

On a down note although I followed Hal Higdon’s 18 week marathon training programme, at an increased estimated finish time, I, once again, failed to actually run the marathon, despite having a free entry into the Loch Ness one.   The early rise and bus ride to the start of the race just didn’t appeal to me and watching those poor souls struggling in the May heat in the Edinburgh Marathon would put anyone off participating in such an event.  In 2009, I stated that I would like to lose that particular monkey off my back and clock a useful marathon PB.  Although I failed to deliver on this, the training plan did play a major role in allowing me to achieve PBs in ten other distances: 3k, 2.54miles, 3miles, 5k, 4.8mile, 5.5mile, 10k, 12k, 15k and Half Marathon.

I also stated that I would love to get a sub 40min 10k and a sub 20min 5k.  I knew that this would be a big ‘ask’ and regarded it more of an aspiration.  However I did make big strides towards these targets and have now ran two sub 43min 10ks (PB 42:30) and, after recording a PB of 20:06 @ 5k, now believe that a sub 20min 5k is within my grasp.  

I also said that it would be good to finish at least one race as first in my category.  I pointed out that this would be difficult as there are so many good runners out there.  However I did achieve it and not just the once but, in fact, five times, including twice in the one weekend.  Both races were held at Strathclyde Park and were the sixth Strathclyde parkrun, which I cycled some 25 miles there and back to place 15th overall and first MV50-54, with a time of 21:46.  The next day I returned to Motherwell and ran the MND Scotland Four Mile Fun Run in memory of my late sister Christine, who died of the terrible Motor Neurone disease.  I placed seventh overall and first MV50-54.  My last race of the year the Cambuslang XC 3k saw me being awarded the first veteran prize, a bottle of wine.

The year wasn’t injury free and I missed a couple of months training and a few races as a result of going over on my ankle, whilst walking!  However this did allow me to spend more time on my bike and I cycled a total of 2010k in the year 2010, much more than the 840k of 2009.  However my running was slightly down, dropping from 2476k last year to 2360k in the past twelve months.  Again I didn’t swim nearly as much as I would have liked to but running and cycling were my priorities.

Apart from the statistics I’ve really enjoyed most races, although not always during them.  I’ve forged some great friendships.  It’s been a privilege to represent the famous Kilmarnock Harriers and Athletics Club and I’ve made and forged many a friend and running buddy over the last twelve months, not least from the Glasgow and Strathclyde parkruns; Bellahouston Harriers and Road Runners; the various Ayrshire clubs and the Scots Vets. 

Of course the less glamorous side of running, as well as most sports, is the training which is done away from the limelight.  I usually train six days a week but seldom blog on it.  I do blog on my races though and have had many a positive comment from fellow runners on my ramblings.  Like many a blogger I worried that no one would read my stories.  In mid July, I added a counter to my blog and have been amazed that since then I have had over 10,200 hits!  My own visits to the blog aren’t counted, so I’d like to thank each and every one of you for visiting my Blog, may 2011 bring you what you seek and please continue to feel free to comment on my ramblings either on here or on my Facebook wall.

In 2011 I’ll be doing a photographic course on Saturday mornings so I won’t be doing as many parkruns but I still hope to improve my running times and get a few more PBs and aim to start the year by attempting to run three races on New Year’s Day, followed by one on the second. As every atheist knows we only live once, so make the most of it.