Happy New Year!! I’m going to start by making what probably sounds like a rather selfish wish; I hope that 2022 is a more injury-free year for me. I’ve had enough running injuries to last me a lifetime. I also hope that 2022 is the year life returns to something that resembles some sort of normality sooner rather than later. I’m not sure I can cope with living alone and working from home for another 12 months.

I’ve reviewed last year in a lot, possibly too much detail here and have drawn a line under 2021 so I think it’s time for me to look ahead to 2022 and to set myself some running, some walking, and some parkrun goals. Last year, the combination of a global pandemic and ongoing knee niggles meant that I didn’t achieve the majority of the running goals I set myself at the start of 2021.

I spent a lot of time weighing up the pros and cons of making these goals public. I’m aware that my running goals have been getting far too predictable. I’m also aware that we are still very much in the middle of a global pandemic and that I’m still injured. I hope that by sharing my running, walking, and parkrun goals I make any other injury-prone or injured runners aware that they are not alone. Last year, sharing my running goals helped me to start the year feeling positive and motivated me to continue with my strength and conditioning, so I decided to publish this post.

Find out exactly why I’m so injury-prone

I don’t want to sound overly dramatic, but I want 2022 to be the year I finally find out exactly why I’m so injury-prone. The Run 3D gait analysis and treatment session I bought myself a couple of years ago gave me a tiny insight into my wonkiness, I’ve now reached the stage I want to know more.

Although reading several ‘running injury’ books has increased my theoretical knowledge, I want to find out what, if anything, is actually going on inside my knees. I’m acutely aware that the NHS is under more pressure than ever, so I’ll be asking my GP to refer me for an MRI scan at Little Aston, a private hospital located five minutes from my house. Little Aston also has a sports physiotherapy department which includes a return to play service. I want to return to running, so I’ve just completed the enquiry form

Continue with my strength and conditioning

This goal has featured in previous years, but I’m still not very good at making time for the strength and conditioning exercises I was provided with following my Run 3D gait analysis. And I wonder why I’m so injury-prone and why I have so many problems with my knees. I really am my own worst enemy. I said exactly the same thing last year, but I sometimes wonder what on earth is wrong with me.

Train sensibly and consistently

Another repeat goal, but I’m still not very good at training sensibly and consistently. I’m usually so happy to be injury-free and to be back up and running; I’ll end up running 3-4 times a week and end up injuring myself again. Although last summer it felt like I stopped following the Couch to 5k as soon as my knee niggle turned into an injury, looking back, I probably should have stopped running a couple of weeks earlier. I need to make sure I don’t make the same mistake next time I attempt the Couch to 5k.

Complete the Couch to 5k

And I’m now going to contradict myself by stating that one of my goals for the year ahead is to complete the Couch to 5k. I’ve almost completed the Couch to 5k a couple of times. I really want 2022 to be the year I finally complete the Couch to 5k.

Walk a minimum of 100 km each month

The last couple of years I’ve set myself a goal of running 500 miles. The last couple of years I’ve got nowhere near this goal and have ended up feeling like a failure. I’m not going to set myself a running distance goal because I have no idea when I’ll be able to run. I’ve been enjoying my walks around Four Oaks so much, I decided to set myself a goal of walking a minimum of 100 km each month.

If, after a couple of months, I discover that the goal I’ve set myself has turned walking into a chore, I’ll adjust my monthly distance goal to something a little more achievable.

Complete 12 virtual events and 5 races

I enjoyed the Miles for Mind Autumn edition, and the Run up to Christmas virtual events so much, I’ve set myself the goal of completing 12 virtual events in 2022. Ideally, I want to enter what I’d describe as cumulative monthly distance events for every month of the year. I’ve entered Runuary (January) 2022 and Miles for Mind February 2022 and I’m on the hunt for more similar events. If the organisers of the London Marathon offer a virtual option again, I *might* enter as I have unfinished business with the virtual London Marathon.

As for ‘real’ races, I’ve once again set myself the goal of completing 5 races. Last year, Covid restrictions meant that some races I’d entered in 2020 were postponed for a second consecutive year. I might be wrong, but I think I have entries in three races for this year; the Vitality London 10,000, the Market Drayton 10k, and the Richmond Half Marathon. Injury-permitting, I also want to complete a couple of races in Sutton Park.

Explore more local parkruns

This is a repeat goal from the last couple of years. To date, I’ve completed five different parkruns; Beacon, Didcot, Kingsbury Water Park, Sutton Park, and Walsall Arboretum. This year, I would love to visit more local parkruns, I haven’t even completed Perry Hall parkrun which is located only 3 miles from Sutton Park parkrun.

As I doubt that I’ll be able to convince my friend that he would love to explore more parks in the West Midlands – getting a lift the short distance to Sutton Park can be a bit of a nightmare – I may well be limited to completing parkruns that are easily accessible by public transport.

Volunteer at least 25 times at parkrun

Last year I set myself a goal of volunteering at least 10 times at parkrun, I ended up volunteering pretty much every weekend. The one weekend I didn’t volunteer, I got to powerwalk my way around the Sutton Park parkrun course in torrential rain. I really do enjoy volunteering, so I’m aiming to volunteer at least 25 times at parkrun in 2022. I volunteered as a tail walker on New Year’s Day so I’ve already volunteered once in 2022.

Complete more parkrun challenges

I must confess that although I love parkrun, I didn’t take much notice of the various parkrun challenges for quite a while. Although I was aware of the parkrun alphabet challenge and understood the concept of parkrun tourism, I had no idea what the p-index was and when someone tried to explain the wilson-index to me, I just stood there looking confused. I installed the Running Challenges extension and was presented with information about some of the more popular parkrun challenges, loads of statistics, and a handy summary of all of my parkruns.

I’ve decided that 2022 is going to be the year I attempt to complete a few more parkrun challenges. I’ve always wanted to visit the home of parkrun, so I would love to complete the Bushy Pilgrimage challenge. I would like to make a start on the Name Badge challenge and am aiming to complete enough parkruns in 2022 to achieve my Bronze parkrun Obsessive badge. I hope that if I complete enough parkruns, I’ll make progress towards the Stopwatch Bingo challenge but after reading this really informative article The Maths of parkrun bingo I know that completing this challenge is completely down to luck. As for the Volunteer challenges, I would like to have a go at a few more roles and to become a 3 star tail walker.

Don’t buy any unessential running gear

I set myself a goal of not buying any what I describe as unessential running gear in 2019, 2020, and in 2021 and failed spectacularly! Will 2022 be the year I finally manage to avoid buying any unessential running gear?

I know I ask the same question every year, have you set yourself any running goals for 2022? 

Do you enjoy taking part in the various parkrun challenges?

Have you entered any target races? 

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