I know it has been longer than I promised but there's good reason!

Well, it has been a while. Too long in fact. I am not one for excuses as we all have 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week and we all make choices about what to do with those hours. 

Some (Daz Man for example) choose to swim in cold lakes and when he is not swimming he can be found buying Gucci clothes  for him and his family! Others (Septic Monkey for example) choose to go to the cinema 4-5 times a week and abuse their monthly use card! Mr Turner (aka Secret Squirrel) chooses to train 18-20 hours a week! And what about me I hear you say? 

Well my choice in the last 7 - 8 months has been to prioritise my young family, especially my youngest Ella but also my wife Heidi and my 3 year old George. It has been a sometimes tough ride with various issues Ella has faced and that has meant that training (and writing about training on this Blog!) have had to take a back seat compared to normal. Do I regret it? No. Am I a better person for it? Yes. Will I be a better runner for it this winter as a result of the break in training? Definitely.

Those that know me well and even those that don't know me that well will all realise that I am a positive person. I simply don't see any point in negativity. Never have done and never will do. That is the way I am wired thankfully and it will never change! It drives the wife mad sometimes but since that is negativity I ignore it :)

I believe everything happens for a reason and missing lots of training and racing over the past 10 months through (firstly) injury and after the injury more niggles and a young family that need me more than I need my training has given me even more determination than ever to achieve my potential over the next 2 years. What "my potential" is exactly I guess time will tell. I will set some goals and share these on here but for me it definitely involves the following:

a) Running the 2014 London Marathon in a time that correlates to my half-marathon and 10k times - my last marathon in 2012 was a PB and I was very happy with running 2 hours 41 BUT I know I am capable of running faster now I have a nutrition plan that I know works for me and stops me hitting the wall!
b) Improving on my 2014 London Marathon time in 2015 when I race as a 40 year old for the fist time.
c) Running an all-time PB for at least one, but preferably two road distances excluding the marathon (10k and half marathon most likely).
d) Running sub 10 minutes for 3000m steeplechase.

Nothing in life or running is certain and I may or may not achieve all of these goals BUT the one thing I can absolutely promise is that I will do everything I can within the confines of the life I lead to make sure I am successful.

These goals will be a lot more likely to be achieved with the help of others and we are all very lucky to have the benefit of some fantastic athletes to train with and race against on a regular basis. 

The St Ives Elite group grows each month and the boys (and girls!) are all moving in the right direction with PB's tumbling all around me every weekend! This is great to see and whether this means me, Turner and Daz Man pushing each other to faster times around road reps or a 4-mile tempo, or me chasing down the likes of Spread, Alex, Ian, Luke, Rachel, Tom, Rich, Shane, Ryan and the others on the track it all helps the motivation and helps us all improve. 

It certainly beats the shit out of training by myself most of the winter like I was back in early 2011!! 

So, what is left to say after that diatribe! 

Despite a less than exceptional summer which involved two track races and one 5k the last 7-8 weeks has been, to coin a phrase I use often, "awesome". Off pretty much minimal training all summer and a bad case of Achilles Tendinosis (self-inflicted I know) I have finally managed to get things sorted and have had nearly 2 months of what I would class as proper training. This has resulted in the following races and performances:

5k Peterborough parkrun 17.04 (1st) WAVA 78.8%
Bedford 10k 35.11 (2nd) WAVA 79.56%
Track 10k 34.55 (2nd) WAVA 80.17%
Riverside Frostbite 27.55 WAVA N/A on cross country course
Great Eastern Half Marathon 74.36 (28th) WAVA 81.41%

So what does this tell me?

a) I am improving, surely the aim of any athlete and any training programme.
b) I can run consistently and well over distances from 5k to half marathon off very little training.
c) My age graded time for the half (adjusted for your age) is 72.44 - that is 1 minute 13 seconds faster than my all time PB of 73.57 set in 2000 and shows that I am running at least as well now, if not better than I was in my mid twenties when I had less stress and bags more time!

All in all this makes or happy reading when I look at this and great to see so many others doing well. In the last week along we have had:

- parkrun wins for Daz Man, Spread, Septic Monkey and Matt Pyatt
- half marathon PB's for Ian T and Ian G, Lee, Rachel and Roger (?)
- great, solid runs in-line with what we should be running from me, Daz, Dan and pretty much everyone else.

Keep up the great work boys and here's to a successful winter for us all with many more PB's to write about!

I will write up GER race soon and then hopefully blog regularly (no promises Daz!).

Ta 

DC