With the New Year comes a whole new set of goals. Usually my goals are all focused around the events I want to do and how hard I want to push myself…BUT…this year is a completely different story. I have a daughter on the way! Major life change! Soon the days of booking up every weekend in a calendar year with races won’t be as achievable.
Here’s a quick recap of the 2019 goals smashed or completely missed:
* Didn’t manage to do a 24 hour endurance event! Logistics, money and timings just didn’t work.
* Finished my first ever multi-discipline event! Quest Wales was awesome but I finished what was a run, bike and kayak event!
* No OCR world champs or AGOGE!
* TRIFECTA weekend in Greece got smashed! That ended up being my favourite event of the year!
In conclusion I had wins and I also had a few losses. Things don’t always go to plan and that is OK!
New Year, New Goals!
So this has probably been my hardest ever year setting goals. Why you ask? It’s not because I lack motivation or don’t know what I want to achieve. It’s because my life is about to change like it’s never changed before by bringing a child into the world. My Focus is a whole lot different and my availability is going to be VERY different. That however just means I need to alter the way I train, and be more selective in the events I do.
Saying that…I have some specific goals I do want to smash. Here they are:
Daddy Spartan Training
Probably something that I will learn on the job! The way I see it is that I have one hell of a wife and together we are an awesome team! Will it be easy…No…but will it stop us from enjoying the biggest and best thing to ever happen to us…Not a chance! I say bring it on and let’s get our daughter Spartan Ready!
Spartan 3x Trifecta
Literally missed this by a beast event last year! That isn’t happening again. With a new beast in the uk at the very start of the UK Spartan Season, I’m using that as my starting point to smash my 3x TRIFECTA. This also means that I will be getting my Ultra shoes on and smashing Scotland! Time to bring some of that endurance love back to the table!
Marathon sub 4
Brighton Marathon I finished in 4:12. London last year I finished in 4:15 (I’m getting worse haha). I am not letting that sub 4 slip from me again, plus the third times a charm right! Not too sure what Marathon I will be doing but there are a load of options and I don’t need to rush into making a choice. I do however need to actually follow an training regime this time though! I have been way to relaxed with my other two attempts, but this year, with a bigger focus on my running, I plan to be sub 4 ready!
Run more – 1000km
Last year I managed to run a total of 728km which seems a bit shorter then I’d have expected, so I’m just committed to running more. Doing longer distances and getting used to the occasional 10-15 mile training run. One to get my endurance back to where it used to be and so that when I do these big events, I don’t absolutely crash and burn (like I did a lot in 2019). Along with the more comes the technical side and being better! I need to work on my pacing and my leg strength. Hill sessions, track sessions and gym sessions. Sounds like a plan!
The other stuff
I never really have time based goals for my distances but I am focusing on getting faster so having something measurable helps. 5k goal is sub 22, 10k sub 45, 10 mile??? I’ve never done a 10mile specific race which will change this weekend so I can get a specific time to beat the next time I race.
More taking care of myself is also a big goal. I’m 30 now, which isn’t old by any means, BUT, I know that I need to focus on self care even more as I age gracefully. With that also comes the perfect opportunity for different activities. More yoga, more swimming and more activities that have less impact on my body but great health benefits.
2020 is going to be a very different and I have no doubt, epic year for me. We are already nearly closing off January and it seems like it’s going fast, so no time like the present and time to kick into action!
How did your 2019 go? Did you hit your big and small goals? What are some of your goals for 2020? How are you going to hit them? Let me know in the comments below and thanks for reading.
[…] off would be to update you all about this years running goals so far. About 2020 (have a look at my 2020 goals here)…I think a lot of people, including myself, didn’t manage to achieve all of their running […]