Setting goals for the year ahead

2012 is a really important year for my running, and I have some really challenging goals that are no doubt going to take a huge amount of time and dedication to achieve (as well as a truck load of understanding from my friends and family... particularly Francis!).

I want to record my goals here so I can really see what I'm working towards...and I have something to look back on at the end of the year!

1) Run a sub 4hr marathon
I'm running the Brighton marathon for the first time in April 2012, Halstead again in May, and will possibly run the Kent Coastal in September.  If I can run sub4hrs, I'll feel that I've made it as a marathon runner - it might not be good enough for Boston qualifying, but for me, it's a really significant time.

2) Complete my first ultra-marathon
I'm taking part in the ChallengeHub 50 mile run near Canterbury in July 2012, to coincide with my 30th birthday.  It's laps of 6.55 miles so works out at just over 52 miles if you complete the whole course, and there is a cut-off time of 15 hours.  My target is to finish the full distance within 12 hours.  The training for this is going to be unlike anything I've experienced before, and will take my weekly mileage higher than I would have thought I was capable of - hopefully, I'll prove that I can do it!

3) Cover 2012 miles in 2012
When I initially signed up for this challenge, I was planning on running the full 2012 miles, and I have a training schedule already written up that gets me to the 2012.  However, I will be incredibly surprised if I actually manage it...if I have a week off sick or injured, or we go on another holiday where I can't run, it'll go out of the window!  However, I am still going to make it my goal to complete the distance, but will count miles biked as well as miles run.

4) Weight-loss
This is one of those goals that people up and down the country will be thinking about right now, and although I don't want to be jumping on any bandwagon, I have restarted Weight-watchers today, and am determined (again, as ever!) to get to my goal weight and lose another 20lbs.  I lost that much last year, there's no reason why I can't keep going - losing weight means faster times and less stress on my joints, as well as looking better in the lycra...so why wouldn't I do it?! Well, because when it comes to food I easily lose control and this is probably the hardest of all of my goals to complete.

Starting weight today: 153lbs.  Goal weight: 133lbs.

Wish me luck ;)

It's not only running

Sometimes I go out on the bike too, usually with Francis.  

It was a beautiful day today, so off we went!

A successful year

I'll apologise for this post in advance...

I know that it's really self indulgent, and I'm blowing my own trumpet a bit but I'm so proud of how 2011 has gone, I just want to record my highlights, and really reflect on how far I've come this year, which will hopefully inspire me to do even better in 2012 ;)

1001 miles in 2011

I did it...I ran 1001 miles!  It took a hell of a lot of effort in December to get there but on New Year's Eve, I actually hit the magic number! And just because I'm a geek, below is the chart, showing how I did it, with miles per month....

Races and PBs
I ran 12 races in 2011, which is what I had set out to do, one for every month :) I really enjoyed them, and racing is what it's all about for me.

At the beginning of the year, my aim was to run a sub 4:30 marathon and a sub 2hr half marathon. 

My first marathon attempt back in April 2008 at London was 5:00hrs, and then my first of 2011, London again, was a 4:55 - you can see I hadn't improved much! However, I'm elated that in 2011 I did improve, and by the end of the year, I had achieved my aims:

I ran 4:09 in the Kent Coastal Marathon in September and 1:53 in the Bedford Harriers Half in December!  

I never believed I could run these times or get so much quicker in a year, and it makes me so excited about what I might be able to achieve in 2012!

Run Streak
I successfully completed the Runner's World Holiday Run Streak - running every single day from Thanksgiving to New Year, clocking up a total of 220 miles!  My mileage was through the roof (for me) during this time, and I never thought I would have the commitment or determination to run every day over the holiday season, but I did, I have, and I'm so proud that I kept going, even when I really didn't want to go out.  Hopefully this will give me a good grounding for my ultra training this year!

Weight loss

February 2010: I weighed 176lbs (12 stone 8lbs).  

February 2011: I was at 165lbs (11 stone 11lbs). 

June 20011, I started following the Weight-watchers plan

*September 2011 - I got down to 146lbs, 10 stone 6lbs!

At my heaviest, in about 2001, I weighed nearly 200lbs (about 14 stone) and losing weight has been an ongoing struggle for me for many years!  I've lost a bit of weight on a crash diet, put it back, lost it again.  However, I'm particularly proud of my weight loss in 2011, as I did it sensibly, healthily and 146lbs is the lightest I have been since my early teens!  

I am however very annoyed with myself that after coming off the Weight-watchers plan in September during our Madagascar trip, and then indulging far too much over Christmas, I have put back on 7lbs and start 2012 at 153lbs (10 stone 13lbs).  However, I know that I can lose weight successfully, and I'm starting again on Weight-watchers today, this time determined to lose those lbs, and a few more, so next year will be the year I get to goal...and am especially motivated as I'm sure losing the weight is a massive contributor to my PBs and will only help my times in 2012!

Buntingford Year End 10 miler - race report

On Tuesday, the day after Boxing Day (aka St Stephen's Day), my alarm went off at 6.30am to get me up in time to drive the 70 odd miles to my last race of the year, the Buntingford 10 miler.  I went through a real battle with myself before I actually made it out of bed - I was so close to not going to the race and I was cursing myself for signing up for one so far away!

However, I really wanted to get 12 races under my belt for the year, and I knew that if I didn't go, later in the day I'd be terribly disappointed in myself.  As it turns out, I'm really glad I went, and it was well worth the early start and the 3 hour round trip!

The race itself had quite a "clubby" feel, I suppose understandably because normal people don't need to be racing during the Christmas break, but it was very friendly and well organised.  I was really surprised to find a version of chip timing available (only measured from the gun to you crossing the finish line but definitely good enough!) and also to see just how many very enthusiastic marshals there were out around the course.

The course had a couple of frustrating loops around a housing estate to start, but after getting out to the countryside it was picturesque, with a few interesting hills and was generally very enjoyable.  I didn't get the Garmin watch I was hoping for from Father Christmas so didn't have a watch with me, and so had planned to just go out and run a comfortable slow race and not worry about my pace, particularly as I'd run a 14 miler on the Saturday and a 9 miler the day before, but with so many other club runners, it was difficult not to race with them.  I definitely tried to relax but my pace was faster than I'd planned, and by the top of some of those hills and in the last mile, I was definitely feeling it in my legs!

However, I was glad I had put in a bit more effort, as I was really pleased with my gun time - 83 mins 37secs - and felt I deserved the fantastic little shoe model that we all got as a race memento instead of a medal.  I'm really pleased with the shoe, and it'll end up on a shelf in the sitting room, in pride of place to show how proud I am of what I've achieved this year :)

Keep on running....RWRunStreak & 1000 mile update

Today is day 35 of my Runner's World Holiday Run Streak - I've run at least 2 miles every day since Thanksgiving, and will have racked up 240 miles during the streak by the time I finish on New Year's Eve, which will be day 38, and I've also got in a couple of races during the streak too, to bring me up to 12 races completed during the year.  Woohoo! :D  Even as I write this, it seems crazy that I'm writing about myself - these are things I never thought I could achieve!  However, although I know that my fitness has really improved by running so much, and my times are better, my body is starting to feel a bit battered, and I'm in dire need of a decent sports massage, and am really looking forward to having a day off on New Year's Day!!

My mileage during the streak has been much higher than usual because as well as trying to keep the run streak going, my other challenge has been to complete my 1000 miles run in 2011...and although a few weeks ago I really couldn't see how I was going to manage it, with just a few days left until the end of 2011, I know that I'm going to get there.

I wont deny that the last few weeks have, at times, been a struggle, and a few times I've come close to throwing in the towel, but I'm really proud to be able to say that I stuck with it - mainly by considering the stupid things I'd done so far to keep the streak going, and knowing that to justify those, I had to complete it!  When I say stupid things, I mean like going to the office Christmas party after a full day at work, drinking (a very restricted amount!) and dancing, coming home, and then going out for a run at midnight - that was the evening I realised that running really has made me insane ;)

Another motivator has been the number of friends on twitter and dailymile who have also been following the Runner's World Run Streak, or have been trying to get to their 1000 miles (although most of them didn't leave it as late as I did to start getting the miles in!).  They have all really helped me to keep going when it's hard, and a particular shout-out to Jamie Ross (aka @lardyboy2011) who has a blog (here) and is on twitter, and who completed his 1000 miles last week.

So, all is well in the world, and I'm very proud of myself that I have kept on running, and hopefully I've set myself up well for marathon training which starts next week! No rest for the wicked...or for the marathon runner...and anyway,. who really wants to sit on the sofa when we could be out running! :P