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What are your running goals in 2019?

I was waiting for a New Year's resolution type post to pop up on the forum but I suppose someone has to do it first! So here goes...

For me it will be to improve on my PB times:

Sub 25 min 5k, sub 56 min 10k, sub 2 hr HM and Sub 04:30 marathon.

Try to run some more exotic city HMs and marathons.

Maybe attempt an ultra (subject to fitness progress during the season).

Run the Camino de Santiago (Camino Frances - 850 km trail in northern Spain) Run a HM and walk 10k every day for a month. (Big but -> subject to work commitments).

Try to post regularly on all the forums - c25k, b210k and the marathon forums to give feedback and support. Post to Strava and support other runners there.

Try to run Parkrun most available Saturdays and to volunteer to marshal also.

Buy no new gear in 2019 apart from shoes as required/when worn out. ;-) This one only lasted 3 weeks last year!

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Good onya Gary.

You still have achieved so much

and got more stuff to do.

Got to kick myself and get rid of a head cold and finish reading all your valued posts.

Atb with your 2019 plans.

💥🏃‍♂️💥☄️

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I've got a cold too - so annoying! Hope you feel better soonest xxx

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Thanks Abi.On the mend.

Hope you are good.

Caught your recent Strava.You have some pace woman of steel.💥🏃‍♀️💥☄️

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Cheers Tbea! The Anglesey Ring of Fire is still a possibility but I will see how it goes nearer to the date! Is run/walking some of the RoF stages still on your todo list? ringofire.co.uk

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Hi Gary,

Ring of Fire cut off times not generous enough for me.

Holy Island Marathon more realistic cut off times.It uses some of day 1 and day 3 of the RoF.

Heading home today to wipe my wounds and take stock.🙈😂😂

This fitness is fickle, Gary, work hard and on a high, then along comes a snivelling cold to

take in your stride.🙈😂😂

As you would say keep at it.👍👏👏☄️🌟

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Phew! I'm exhausted just thinking of all that. You've got some big plans, but you've done so much already, you'll likely smash it!

My 2019 goals:

- run at least 1000km (achieved 768.7k this year, up from 348.5k the previous year)

- finally achieve that elusive HM distance!

- run my local 20k trail race

- run trails, trails, and more trails this summer, hopefully with my hubby tagging along for some of them

- run at least one non-local trail race

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Fabulous! I think I may borrow your 'more trails' plan 😊😊😊

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You'll make the HM distance, no problem.

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Thanks Lordi, I sure hope so. I've tried a few times and something always seems to prevent it from happening - car accident, extreme cold and nasty winter conditions, general apathy - but this year will be different. Plus if it doesn't occur this winter, it'll definitely happen in my training for the 20k trail race this summer!

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Amazing goals, Lordi! I am particularly interested in the running a HM and walking 10K every day for a month one - looking forward to hearing about it!!

Good luck and have fun 😊😊😊

I will be kicking back somewhat from running in 2019. We've got a lot of Big Birthday celebrations, so I don't want to commit to anything longer than a half marathon.

So I think:

💥10 pull ups, damnit!

💥HM pb, preferably at Hastings in March

💥Sub- 1:30 for the Brighton & Hove Triathlon

💥Sub- 25 minute parkrun (also more parkrun generally, inc. some tourism)

💥As Allie said, more trails! I'd like to make the most of summer early mornings and get rambling on the South Downs - no objective goal for that one though 😊😊😊

Oh yeah, and:

💥Improve my windsurfing skills!! Haven't figured out an objective goal for that either...

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Great list. Good luck! You can do it Abi, no probs. I tested out the Camino in June, so I know it is doable. Injury would be the risk though, and if so there will just be a lot more walking than running!

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I'd like to do the Camino too someday. Walk-run would definitely be the way I think 😊

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I've done it 4 times now so if you need any info.,. ;-)

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Awesome xxx

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Nothing too adventurous for me as a November 2018 C25k graduate!

More 10k runs

Sub 25m parkrun - no idea how realistic this is as I only went sub 30 minutes this December!

More parkrun tourism

I have no trail shoes yet (but they keep calling to me!)

.... Next thing you know I'll posting about x-country races at this rate!

🎅 Xmas Katnap 🎅

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Good luck and have fun!!!

Do you have your eye on a particular trail shoe?

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The £40 or less ones... 😸

I have no brand loyalty so all suggestions will be considered! Even if its more than £40

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Depends a lot on what you want from a shoe - for example if you like a wide toe box, brands such as Altra are worth considering. Also you may not really need trail shoes if your trails are not particularly muddy or stony - road shoes are often perfectly fine off road.

I have found that I benefit from a firmer sole to help stop my feet getting sore on hard, stony paths. Also I highly recommend hard toe caps, because if you kick a stone or tree root it can realllllly hurt!!! I have Inov-8 trail shoes at the moment, and I'm pretty happy with them, although they were a bit more than £40 despite being in a sale 😊

This review site is fairly useful, although they do tend to miss some of the deals available:

runrepeat.com/

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Thanks roseabi. I like the tread on Inov-8 shoes as it looks like it would let mud and stones drop away instead of staying stuck to the bottom of your shoes!

Thanks for the advice on the toe protection! I guess this is why some trail running shoes aren't much different looking to hiking shoes.

I've tried running in my hiking shoes, and they don't 'react' right plus the tread is too tight to allow mud etc to drop off.

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I have tried them in mud once or twice, and I didn't notice a problem with them clogging up. Stones are certainly not a problem. Mine are Roclite 290s - the main problem I have found with them is that the tongues don't have much padding, and they slip sideways (I fixed this with a strategic stitch!). I think all the Inov-8s are pretty low drop, which is something else to consider.

I don't know much about hiking shoes, but I imagine they'd be pretty rigid! I always hike in my running shoes 😊

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Staying healthy and injury free (wishing that to all of you). Consolidating longer distances and reaching marathon.

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Love it... I thought my goals were too simple :) x

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Staying injury free and hitting my 1 year runversary in April. 😊

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Stay healthy, stay happy, stay injury free and stay running... we'll see where the runs take me :)

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I'm interested in how you-all are going to work on staying injury free mrrun, Ripcurlrana71, Oldfloss 😊

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Remember not to... twist awkwardly when I am carrying small runner in training...or taking heavy bags upstairs after a trip to the coast.....or wander around the lounge in the dark when I am getting ready for an early morning run...or go for a routine knee x ray, which results in an MRI which turns up three stress fractures so old..... that they must have happened when I was a child.. and will not affect anything I do :) 12 weeks wait for that result!

The only running injury has been a sore knee. ( over bouncy running shoes) and a minor calf tear :)... landing awkwardly!

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Yikes!

Great ideas.

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Learn from what I’ve already done. Build on strength, stop when I feel a niggle. Cut back on mileage and increase once I’m strong enough to continue. Winter weather is helping with cutting miles and increasing cross training like weights/static bike. 😊

Also physio told me I am hypermobile so to be careful not to overstretch!

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Excellent!

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I plan to do more races - 10km - as I find 10km on my own a bit boring.... And I want to do 2 or 3 of these : (Not the triathlon 'though)

castletriathlonseries.co.uk

I'm planning to keep doing 2 core strength classes per week because I do love them and I am getting little muscles ;) I'll probably continue Pilates too.

And maybe, just maybe, I'll increase my distance to 12km or 15km. No stress.

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Wow there are some amazing goals here! As for myself I have the Around the Bay 30k in March, then hoping to do the full Scotia Waterfront Marathon in Oct. (or the Goodlife marathon in early May if I am really lucky) Aside from this, I’d love to try some trail runs out and maybe work on some PBs. Also maybe increase my yearly distance. This year I made 1500km, so maybe 1800 next year. Mostly I want to get comfortable with longer distance runs. And maybe find some new interesting places to run with friends too.

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Sub 30 5k,

Sub 60 10k.

No longer distances planned for 2019 as HM was enough for me.

Lose weight( always 🙄) stretch properly (ALWAYS! 😬)

and start some proper strengthening exercises.

Signed up for a 15 mile charity walk in March first.

That should keep me busy!

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Sensible stuff. I'd had a stiff G n T before I dreamt up my list, then had to have a stiffer one after posting it!

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Your list is inspiring! I did write mine stone cold sober- maybe a G&T might make me more adventurous!

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Yep, strength exercises on my list too. I’ve learned the hard way about the importance of strong hips, glutes etc due to sore right hip. Still I’m on the mend and doing short run/walk sessions. I’ll work on reducing time after my first HM in April. Good luck with your Charity walk👍

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Thank you. I was sure walking isn’t that different to running, but apart from distances taking twice as long, I do ache in odd places! I’ll be glad to get back to the ( slightly) quicker stuff after March!!

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And good luck with the rehab!

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May I pin this post, Lordi?

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Sure.

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My goal is to whip my hip flexors back into shape. I’m tired of them being weak and clicky. And subsequently get back into my regular running form.

I also want to run parkrun at least once a month. I tend to avoid our awful hill (which you have to climb 4 times) by volunteering all the time.

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Hi Lordi,

Reading your list made me feel tired! 😂, mine are:

Keep and maintain my fitness - cycle more.....

Run a total of 1000km in 2019 same as SaskAlliecat (hit my goal of 900km in 2018 so should be possible)

Get a PB at Cambridge HM in March

Complete Edinburgh and Swansea HM’s (May and June - entered so have to do it now.....😂

That’ll do for starters.....

Mx 🏃‍♀️🏅😎

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I would like to complete my first half marathon in March - don't care what time as long as I get round in one piece! That will be my first Runniversary celebration! 🎉🎉

Also to get a sub-26 minute Park Run - not sure if that is realistic, just got a 28:13 PB today so who knows...

And to explore lots of lovely new trails, including some of the 1066 Country Walk - have always meant to walk it, but hey, why walk when you can run?! 😁🏃🤗 Happy New Year all! 😊🎉🍾

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Katnap and I were only discussing this yesterday (I didn’t realise he’d posted on here already!). So my plans are as follows 🤞🤞🤞:

Sub 29 min 5k

60 min 10k

3x 10k entered races (starting with the Regency Run 10k in April)

Aim for 10 mile runs to prepare for HM in 2020

And listen to my body when it needs a rest... (probably the toughest challenge of the lot tbh!)

I’m pretty sure it’s doable but it looks quite scary written down! 😅😅

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I was doing sub 25 minute 5k up to the age of 50 without doing any training longer than 20 minutes.

Some peeps need to train smarter not longer. Ken Cooper established a training table for the amount of training necessary to elicit a training response, for a given average heart rate:

After a minimum 2 minute warm up, 10 minutes averaging 150 beats per minute

or 20 minutes @ 140 bpm

or 45 minutes @ 130 bpm

or 90 minutes @ 120 bpm

or 3 hours @ 110 bpm.

Once a response has been stimulated, the body must be allowed a minimum of 24.2 hours to recover and overcompensate to improve functional capacity. So if you ran 20 minutes averaging 140 bpm on Monday 8 a.m. for example, you wouldn't do aerobic training again until at least 08:35 the next day.

When training to build distance, it can be seen that the pace needs to be slowed for regular training. Exceeding these workloads will inhibit recovery, leaving you susceptible to injury and impaired immunity.

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Thanks Concerned. This will be very useful as This is my first foray into longer distance running.

The 5k & 10k targets are more one offs than regular things, most of the time I’m fairly slow paced.

At 51 I’m never going to be a speedster, I’m just happy to be out there.

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Wow. Such adventurous goals :)

Staying injury free will be a priority for me.

I will aim to complete my first HM in March next year, hopefully within 2h 30m.

No increase in distance beyond that, but maybe another HM in October/November time.

Would be nice to improve speed of 5k and 10k via Parkrun and occasional races.

And finally I would like a distance target for the year to keep me motivated to keep on running - I think 1000k sounds about right.

Ooh, now it's out there ....

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I’ve not thought about mine yet, other than to keep running and racing 🙂

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Probable - HM in April

Possible - FM in October.

Biggest wish - get to UK again and actually meet some of my Running Family :)

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I’d like to keep on improving my times and endurance..

So that will be 5k, 10k and HM baselines from this year to beat next year by whatever I can! 😜

I am also planning on completing my first marathon - I’ll settle to actually just finish it!!

Continue with my parkrunning and hit 100 milestone if possible.

Do a weekly hill repeats session and continue to build my overall monthly mileage, as I have this year.

Finally, listen to my body and take extra recovery and be flexible with any plans to try and avoid any long injuries.

Good luck with your plans for next year everyone!

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Hi Lordi, I’m aiming to do Parkrun whenever I can. If I’m not running I’ll volunteer where possible.🏃‍♂️🙂

As for other goals, I’ve signed up for London Winter 10K in February and Croydon HM in March in time for my 1st Runniversary. Other current plans are Switchback 5 (5 mile x-country) in September, Croydon 10K in October and another HM for British Heart Foundation around then.😀👍

Other than that, staying injury free seems an excellent objective 🙂🤞

Happy running in 2019 everyone!🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️

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Hi, thanks for the post, which I didn't see and so I posted my beginning of the year plan in another place

healthunlocked.com/marathon...

My goals for 2019 are:

- stay healthy (possibly injury free)

- have fun running

- add some core and stretching to my running

- be more active online (in this and other running/posting communities)

- finally run all the way to the end of a full marathon, with 3h30 as a goal

- get under 90' in a HM and possibly under 40' in a 10K (last year I was 9 and 16 seconds away respectively...)

Happy running in 2019 everyone!

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I've a few events already booked (despite saying I wasn't going to book ahead too much! Oops) with the Meadows half, the Mhor 84 half, Edinburgh half and Reykjavik half. So I hope to enjoy those! I don't want to put targets on them as they're all very different, so I'll just see what happens.

Beyond that, I definitely want to try more trail runs, I love running in a timeless landscape most of all. Somewhere I feel like just a tiny blip in the fabric of the wild, instead of part of a growing, metropolitan blight. I do enjoy urban runs periodically, looking in people's windows is a source of excellent entertainment, but I've had a few runs of late which have taught me that just running on endless concrete-garnished tarmac for a target time is not for me.

That said...looking at my current baseline times a sub 50min 10k would be nice and I think achievable, and also maybe even a sub 23min 5k.

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ooo trails are fabulous, you can lose yourself in a trail and let nature give you a giant hug :)

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wow I love these goals, and i really love that you have included supporting others as that is such a vital part of this running community :)

I have written mine but interwoven with stuff about me and my life. My main fitness type focus this year is to keep running, finally do a pull up and work towards the splits by doing regular yoga. Namaste.

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Blimey! My 2019 running/walking targets are far less impressive but here goes for me:

1) enter and complete a 10k event (Longleat 3 Feb?)

2) 10k in 1 hour

3) Walk 1/2 Offa's Dyke in one continuous walking "holiday" in early May.

4) Walk along the Catalan Coast with my wife in mid May

5) ENJOY being/feeling fitter!

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The walking will do your running legs a lot of good. Good list. I'm regretting a few on my list already 😦

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In 2019 I’d like to total 1000 km. In previous years I’ve come close but 2019 is going to be the one!

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