Picking up in January was tough. The miles had tapered off massively during the festive season and it's safe to say I'd piled weight on. I can remember a particularly tough hills session which made me realise that my fitness had dropped and I needed to kick myself up the arse to get back on track. All wasn't lost at this point, I still did a decent weekly average mileage and when I put the effort in a could get a good pace going, but the huge love I'd felt before was dwindling somewhat.
February rolled around and, other than completing the Skegness 10km in a respectable 57:50 (after a big dark fruits session the day before) there's not really much to report.
March came and I needed to take action, so I set about a 5km a day running streak. I know consistency, and taking out the option of saying no, work really well for me. I managed 19 days before a weekend away scuppered it. I finished the month with a couple of runs in Spain which I loved, as I always do!
April, May and June we're all pretty quiet too. I wasn't hating running but I wasn't loving it either. I had some really enjoyable runs in the form of parkrun tourism and runs with friends, but I was finding it tough getting any level of miles in, or accessing the pace I'd been running comfortably not too long ago.
July kicked off with my hen weekend in Benidorm, the first holiday since I've been a runner where trainers didn't make the packing list. By the time I returned I was becoming consciously aware of how quickly the weeks were disappearing ahead of the London Marathon. Work needed doing!
The end of July saw our annual trip to ThunderRun, a brutal 10km course which individuals, pairs and teams spend 24 hours tackling. This year I completed two laps and they really bloody hurt, but it was good training all the same.
In August the final preparations for our wedding were well underway. I knew these next weeks were a crucial training time, but with so many plates to spin, I had to just do what I could without worrying too much. I did manage an epic 15 mile run from my home now back to where I grew up though, which was bloody brutal and therefore naturally something I'd like to do again one day.
Perhaps the start of actual consistent training came on August Bank Holiday weekend, when I somewhat reluctantly took part in the Carsington Water half marathon. With only five weeks to go before the marathon, I knew I'd left it a bit late!
September was epic. I became Mrs Oldham and took part in the Great North Run and Robin Hood half marathon, two of my all time favourites. Three weeks off the alcohol and the spring in my step from running on home turf earned me a 15 minute quicker time for Robin Hood than my previous two halves and it was just the confidence boost I needed ready to tackle London the following weekend.
I went into London with quite a calm attitude, particularly for someone who is hardly ever calm about everything. I knew it was going to hurt, I knew it wasn't going to be my quickest, but I knew it would still be an amazing experience. My only regret is that I didn't write a blog about it while the memory was nice and fresh!
I was extremely lucky to be offered a place to do London again in April, which gave me the motivation to not let my running decline too much during October. For November, I decided to embark on another 5km per day streak to build a solid base.
On the third day, disaster struck. A bullet I've dodged for so long finally hit. Injury time. During my run than day, a niggly ache I'd been feeling in my hip turned into a really bad pain and I had some really uncomfortable days to follow. I rested completely for a few weeks and even got professional advice (that's how you know i wasn't just being mardy!)
The full story of what happened next can be found here, but in short I had a go at the Clowne Half Marathon when perhaps I shouldn't have. My only run of any substance really during November and what turned out to be my final event and long run of the year.
In December, I once again set about the 5km a day challenge for DOrunning's #DOrunning25days advent challenge. I did give it a really go but some bad news, bad weather and bad blisters did all they could do knock me. Christmas day parkrun was lovely though, and is always a highlight of the festive season.
So that was my year. I plan on doing another post in the next few days with my hopes and plans for 2023, but I need to really find my love for it again, and soon!
For those who are into them, a few stats about the year:
Number of runs: 237
Miles ran: 830.3 (the .3 is very important!)
Number of parkruns: 28 (personal best!)
Quickest 5km: 27:56 (12th May)
Slowest 5km: 45:57 (looking at Strava I think a hangover might have been involved)
Blog posts written: 5 (poor effort, must try harder)
Events completed: Skegness 10km, ThunderRun24, Carsington Water Half, Great North Run, Robin Hood Half, London Marathon, Clowne Half Marathon
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