By the beginning of November 2020, I'd established a routine of three short easy runs each week plus a long run which alternated between an HM one week and something longer the next. This gave me a good solid base going into 2021. With that in mind, I decided to attempt the 45 mile Green Man Ultra in August. I also signed up for the Yorkshire Marathon in October and a Strava challenge to run 2021km over the year. At the start of the year, the longest I'd ever run was 20 miles.
My year was therefore dominated by preparations for the GMU. I started going out for long walks and increasing my long runs reaching Marathon distance at the beginning of May. That first Marathon distance took me just over five hours. I found it interesting the way that Ultra training changed my perception of running; previous limits such as a maximum training run of about three hours went out the window! It also changed my view of what constitutes a long run. I started doing back to back runs (running on two consecutive days to get used to running on tired legs) and, to fit my training in with other activities, ran three HMs in three days.
I reached Marathon distance by using the 10% rule but I decided that I needed a training plan so merged a few online plans with my routine to come up with my own plan. It was shortly after that when things started to go wrong! Basically, dealing with an overgrown pavement caused me to miss my footing and I took a tumble which resulted in a trapped nerve in my lower spine. This wouldn't have been a problem if I'd known what was wrong. At the time, it caused unexplained chest pains which resulted in several visits to the doctor and time off from running. The problem was finally diagnosed by a physio who literally put his finger on it (ouch!)
Having recovered from the trapped nerve, by mid July I was doing OK on a revised plan when disaster struck! Out on a training run, I stepped on what I thought was level ground but turned out to be a steep grassy bank and sprained my ankle. With six weeks to go, instead of ramping up to 50k, I was back on the IC. By the time of the event, my ankle had recovered enough but I'd done nothing like the amount of training that I'd planned. In two minds about should I attempt it or not, I decided to give it a go on the grounds that I could always drop out if necessary.
The GMU has four checkpoints. I was comfortably within the cutoff time for the first three but after that I was struggling and missed the cutoff for the fourth. The marshalls offered me a lift back or said that I could carry on unsupported. After much dithering, I decided to carry on and I'm glad that I did. Reached the finish after 13.5 hours which was well outside the 12 hour cutoff. By then, everyone had left and my car was locked inside the grounds. Made my way round (slowly) to the front entrance but that was also locked. Tried and failed to get a taxi so ended up going home on the bus. That was a day to remember!
With six weeks to go, I started on a training plan for the Yorkshire Marathon. I used the Nike Run Club Marathon plan which worked really well. So well that I completed it in 4 hours 22 minutes, an improvement of 40 minutes on my previous time.
Prior to that, I'd volunteered to marshal on the Bristol HM in September. Being stationed at around the 5k point, I finished in time to meet up with
cheekychipmunks and Irishprincess for lunch. That's the second VRB meetup that I've been to and they've both been good. Thinking about it, on both occasions, I've been marshalling instead of actually running. Looking forward to the next meetup at the Bath HM in March. Later on that day, I went out for a 10k as part of a world record attempt for the most runners doing a virtual 10k on the same day. The record was achieved and I received a medal for it in the post. All in all, a good day!
Back in August, someone in the running club had offered a place in the Newport Marathon. I figured it was doable so I accepted. Must admit, some of the conversations during that event were priceless:
“Is this your first Marathon? “
“Nah, it's my second.”
“Oh, when was your first?”
“Last week.”
The first half was fine. I hadn't planned to, but found myself with the 4:15 pacer. However, I struggled on the second half, finishing just inside 4:30. Think I pushed myself beyond the limit by attempting two Marathons so close together.
Since Newport, I've eased back. I'm still running but don't have such a solid foundation as I did a year ago. I'm going to have to work on that because I've signed up for the Milton Keynes Marathon in May and I'm going to try and get a place on the Manchester Marathon (they're about four weeks apart, I'm learning my limits!). Still, I ran a 20 miler at the start of December. I also achieved a 1k PB of 4:30 recently (not difficult since I've never attempted that distance before).
Overall, I’m very pleased with how the year went. OK, it didn’t go exactly to plan (and I have unfinished business with the GMU) but, generally, I think it went well. I finished about 200km short of my target for the year but I put that down to being injured in the summer. Some people have suggested that I’m accident prone but with two falls, only one of which I put down to a mistake on my part, I don’t think that’s right. One thing that this year has taught me is that, if I'm really struggling on an event, it's not because I'm not up to it, it’s because I haven't trained enough. For me, the highlight of my running year is the Yorkshire Marathon. I somehow feel “established” now, having done four runs of at least Marathon distance.
Happy New Year to you all and I hope you achieve your goals for 2022.
Just running, no plan 
Keeping My Hand In
Oh what to do!
My first Half Marathon training journey begins.
