…….But not with races.
Last year I raced to many times and did not do enough training in between races. this actually resulted in fewer miles run than the year before. A few niggles and some changes in my personal life also contributed to a tail off in my training at the end of last year.
Some great stuff in 2013, with the highlights being:
Sponsorship on the Torq Trail Team even if only for a year it was great to be part of that and although it ends soon I am really lucky to have got to try out some great kit and spend a weekend running in Chamonix.
I got to run in some awesome races like the Thames Ring 250 and Spartathlon as well as slogging out another GUCR to make it two finishes out of three. Although I did not finish all the big ones I did learn a lot and get to experience those races and meet some inspirational people in some amazing places.
My race company Challenge Running has grown from one race in 2012 to 4 planned in 2014 and although its really hard work I think I am beginning to build it up and the races seem popular. The second running of the Stort30 was a great success and St Peters Way in a few weeks looks like it will be a success too.
So what do I have planned for 2014………?
Race wise there are only 2 main races, GUCR and Spartathlon. Although they have tightened up the qualifying times for Spartathlon and now there are only some very tight times to qualify.
100k in less than 10:30 – I have a 10:19 from a few years ago so hopefully this will still count
200k + race must now be done in under 37 hours instead of just within race cut offs. this is a problem as GUCR was always my qualifying race but my fastest time in the last 3 years is outside this time by an hour or so.
115+miles in 24 hours.
or finally completed the race before!
Hopefully my 100k is still in date and I can get in as this is still my dream race.
The GUCR is a race I will always want to do as it is easily the most special race in the UK. It gets in your blood and just means something to those that run and finish it.
I will of course do a few other races as training runs but just that, I want to go do Hardmoors 55 again and finish it this time as a couple of years ago I only ran half of it as I was trying to save my legs for another race I had planned.
I will probably run Halstead Marathon as a training run and maybe a couple of other races but very little compared to 2013. This year its all about the miles and getting the training in properly.
Challenge Running wise I will be very busy setting up the routes and building the two new races in the summer. The Saffron Trail Ultra and the Chiltern Way Ultra’s 200k and100k races. I have 115 miles of the Chiltern still to recce and that’s going to take some time!
Oh and the most important target of 2014……To run more miles than Paul Ali and beat him at GUCR!