Year of Running in Review

Year (of running) in Review

With 2017 coming to a close, it seems like the time is here to have a look back at how it went and look forward to 2018. It certainly didn’t start too well, that much is sure. With an injury cropping up in the first week of the year I spent a good 3-4 months attempting to let it (a bone stress injury in my left tibia) heal and get strong enough that I could train well. Having made the decision to self-coach I came back with a high level of focus, determined to give myself the best chance of staying injury free and doing some good running. Setting out a plan focused on performing well at the Lake Macquarie Half Marathon, I periodised it with focuses on base fitness, speed and tempo/half marathon pace running.

Races at Sydney10 (35:23), SMH Half Marathon (78:57) and Hunter Valley Half Marathon (76:51) all produced what are at this point sub-par times but each races showed improvement and that I was on the right track.

A bit of a niggle coming out of the Hunter Valley races saw me drop some mileage and adjust training sessions, which was a bit of a scare. Luckily, having nursed myself through it I got to City2Surf, a very tough race but a good measure of potential half marathon fitness (I usually race the Lake Half at about the same pace as the 14km C2S) and managed to run really well. A PB run there of 49:17, the first time I’d run under 50, was great for the confidence and gave me a sniff of the fact that I may yet achieve one of the running goals I had set for 2017: a sub 1:14 half.

And that’s what I did! At the Lake Mac Half, my local (and favourite) half marathon, I ran 1:13:47 to place 3rd. That was a nearly 2 minute PB and the one and only goal of my 2017 goals that I actually achieved. Pretty happy with that really, particularly given the way the year started. My form definitely dipped after the half with lacklustre performances at the Raymond Terrace 8K (27:28) and Sydney 10K Bridge Run (34:53 – basically half marathon pace). Fernleigh 15, while a course PB, was also disappointing as my time of 52:55 was slightly slower than half marathon pace. I’d run a faster 15k within the Lake Mac half as it happens.

Since the end of October I’ve been focussed on building my aerobic base with a view to being fit and injury free to prepare for and run the marathon at Gold Coast next July. I didn’t run one in the end this year, but I feel like next year is the year to get back into the marathon and do myself justice.

Goals for next year? I want to run 2:33-34:xx at Gold Coast Marathon. In service of that, sub 73 is the half marathon goal and while I won’t be training specifically for 5k and 10k, I think I’ll be able to knock those down during marathon training. I ran a marginal (1s!) 5k PB on the track recently based off my aerobic base training – given my half, I ‘should’ be able to run a 16min 5K and I’m hoping that when I get to the track/speed work period of my marathon prep that I’ll have the speed and strength to do that. A low 33min 10K would go very nicely with that too. Not that any of it will be easy, but these kinds of goals should be challenging. I always enjoy trying!