For the past five years I’ve done an end of year review of my running (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) . It’s the only running post I do now, and I usually add some philosophical rambling to justify it. I’d like to do it again this year, to carry on my own little tradition, but it’s impossible to do a running review this year without mentioning the major life event that occurred, namely the (unexpected) breakup of my marriage. I don’t want us all to feel awkward, so I’ll keep that bit to a minimum, but basically, assume ‘running’ is a great big life metaphor throughout this post. First, the…

<Even puppy power wasn't enough to salvage my year> For the past few years (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012), I end them with a post reviewing my running over the previous 12 months, and make some tenuous connection to education. No-one cares, but hey, it's my blog, and I like to plan this post when I'm out running, as it gives me something to fix on. So here goes. This year started out with big plans. I signed up for a marathon in January, a 10K February, half marathons in March and April, just a 5k in May, and marathons in June and July. That was the plan. It started badly and got worse, in…

More out of tradition than profound insight, here is my annual running review post. First, since you demand it so, is the data: Miles run: 1049 Duration: 188:58 hours No. runs: 141 Av. distance: 7.44 miles Not bad overall, on a par with last year. It seems that having struggled to break the 1000 mile barrier for a few years I can now do it, but not with much to spare. Any significant increase would mean changing my approach drastically. It's been a bad year in terms of events though, I signed up and trained for the Llanelli marathon in April, but went to India, caught Delhi belly and bailed…

The end of the year is time for my traditional running review post, much to the pleasure of absolutely no-one, including myself. Still, that's what traditions are for, so here goes. First, the data part, because you're worth it: Total distance: 1028 miles Number of runs: 136 Total duration: 182 hours Average distance: 7.56 miles Average duration: 1hr 16mins Average pace: 10.09 min/mile Compared with last year, where I was a bit lost and only did a total of 831 miles, this was a big improvement, and I finally broke that 1000 mile barrier. Even so, this still only comes in at just over half an hour a day on…

So, yesterday, after talking about it for a few years, I finally got around to doing a marathon, over in Llanelli. It was a warm day, along the coastal path, with only about 600 runners. I've been following a training plan since the beginning of the year, so was reasonably confident. I was aiming for a 4 hour finish, and was on target for this until mile 17 when I hit a bit of a psychological as well as physical wall. The route is two loops of a figure of eight and this was the furthest point out, and suddenly, the thought of having to come back all the way…

Because absolutely no-one requested it, here is my annual running-review-with-tenuous-link-to-learning post. The year started badly as I'd had a month lay-off with hip bursitis. I lost some of my running mojo this year, and for long periods struggled to get out the door. I also tried mixing in other forms of exercise, including spin classes, but I always default back to running. I'm a one sport kinda guy I guess. Overall this year I have done about 830 miles, so over 100 down on last year. But on the plus side I got a personal best in a 10K (48.22) and in the half-marathon (1hr 49). The last one probably…

(it's been a tough year on my trainers) At the start of the year I set myself a goal to run a 1000 miles this year. That works out at about 20 miles a week, so not too bad when you're going smoothly, but when things get in the way, it mounts up. After a slow start, I was well on target to achieving it at 950 miles at the start of December, when I developed hip bursitis and was told to lay off running for a few weeks. I found this really depressing – running is part of my identity, and not just any old exercise. I'm hoping I…