So, how did 2017’s running go? I’m pretty pleased.
- I gained a place in the London Marathon for April 2018 (I’m looking for sponsorship in aid of Guide Dogs) which added a major new goal, and as a result from May 2017 I’ve run a half-marathon every month: it’s not easy yet, but the distance is not nearly as daunting as it once was.
- I enjoyed 10 different races: the challenge and variety of Hadleigh Legacy 10k which I’ll be doing again in 2018; Greenwich Park 10k where despite the hills I got a great time; the old familiar ground of the Lee Valley Run Fest 10k; the different challenge of 10 laps of the Lee Valley Velopark for the 10-mile there; the London 10 mile in the glorious scenery of Richmond Park; the delights of the Great Yarmouth half with the thrill of a new PB; my shortest race in the Stowmarket Golden Mile; the new challenges and pleasant scenery of my first trail half in Kings Forest; the flat Great Eastern Run half-marathon in Peterborough where the crowds helped to propel me to another PB; and another different environment in the Snetterton Race Track half-marathon, where I managed to equal my half PB.
- I set new personal best times at every distance I monitor, from 1 km to half-marathon.
- I ran 1331 km, the furthest I’ve run in a year, including finishing the year on 31st December with my longest run yet.
- heart beats per km fell 5.2%, hopefully a further indicator of improving fitness
- I met my commitment to go to new places, visiting 512 different map squares, the most in a year (including 394 not been to at all before) – that expanded my red visited squares in Suffolk (the green boundary), as well as taking me to my 53rd different parkrun location.
