2011 was a pretty good year for my running. Two main themes – consistency and endurance.
In terms of consistency, this was probably the most consistent / frequent running I’ve had in years. I ran most of the year, with no real injury breaks or ‘loss of mojo’ periods. It was still a bit ‘ad hoc’ with no real structure, just running when I felt it, mostly long slow stuff rather than any speed or hills sessions or the likes.
Then, in terms of endurance, I pushed my distances up and up over a number of months, bypassing my previous longest runs of 16 miles, pushing onto 19, 24 and eventually 32.5 miles (my first ultra) and raised over £600 for Help for Heroes.
After the ultra in October things did tail off a bit, I pushed myself a bit too hard and needed some recovery time.
I also learnt a ton of information about running, fuelling my body, and most importantly pushing myself beyond my preconceived limits.
I guess I need to get a bit more focus for 2012. Hopefully this will be year when I push on to 50 milers and get a few more ultra races under my belt. I’ve been reading a lot of stuff about running streaks recently – not really for me I think (my body doesn’t recovery quickly enough), but I might give it a try for a months or two.
I’m also thinking of giving the barefoot thing a try – just to see what it’s like. Here’s to 2012, enjoy…
