2016 IN REVIEW

YES YES a long time since the last post. But moving forward  or at least looking back as to what occurred in 2016

Overall 2016 was a disappointing year for running. There were really no standout highs and there were more negatives than I usually encounter. So my lasting perception is that I could do better if I can get my physical condition and mental health both improved then perhaps 2017 could be better.

Most of January was spent travelling Europe with my family. It was an unforgettable experience shared with my three children and revisiting towns and countries I lived in for about three years in the late 1970’s.

And off course my wife’s mother is Austrian family and so we spend a lot of time in the small town that she and her family lived in. In fact we could visit the farmhouse that has been in the family for centuries.

Anyway back to running …..

I did manage to run 27 marathons in the year, the most I have ever run.

My first was at Caboolture in mid February and the time 6.42 was the slowest I had run for years and it is a flat half k track. I was not mentally or physically engaged at all.  It was my slowest of the year. Although I did record a 6.45 in April but that was the Canberra Walking Festival that was almost all walked.

 There were no marathons under 4 hours and that has never occurred before and that was very disappointing.  And only 4 of the 27 were under 5 hours and that was just as disappointing. My quickest was 4.34 at the Barossa marathon in late May.  A few weeks later there was 4.39 at South West Rocks.

That seemed like I was starting to somewhat fit and mentally positive. I then started the Gold Coast Marathon with high expectations. That lasted until 18k into the marathon when I become very fatigued and could not run a step and so had to walk the last 24k. Mentally it might have been the most difficult time I have experienced in any marathon I have ever run. The agony was thankfully over 6.25 after I started.

I was shattered and needed to take time away from running. So instead of my usual July of weekly marathons, I stopped running for a month.  My next marathon was the Tan in Melbourne and with a walk/run strategy that I maintained for the 11 laps I managed a slow but pleasing 5.54.

I then had a good sequence at some of my very favourite marathons to finish the year:

Mudgee                      5.35

Dubbo                        5.39

Sydney                       5.22

Western Sydney         5.17

Melbourne                  5.19

Carcoar                       5.01

There was a blip with a marathon in mid November that was just over 6 hours. The last marathon was a pleasing 4.58. It was a nice way to finish the year. I had planned to run another but could not.

Well that was a snap shot of 2016. It was a year that had some real lows but the positive was no matter how hard or slow I ran some I stayed on the course and finished the marathon. Job done and move on to working out what went wrong and focus on the next one.

I have written the year in review for a few years now and It helps me reflect on the past year and more importantly trying to prepare myself for the coming years running. I hope to have some better marathons in 2017 and I know the main chance of that happening is to be more regular training with longer distances in those runs. Perhaps if that occurs I will be more mentally positive to face the year.