Here are the links to my previous annual review posts, there’s definitely a theme 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023

January

Although I wasn’t injured, like last year started the year barcode scanning at Sutton Park parkrun. Conditions were perfect for running and watching hundreds of parkrunners finish their first parkrun of the year inspired me to charge up my Garmin, dust off my trainers, and locate my ‘lucky’ running gear.

 [Photo: Kenneth Choi]

The following day I completed the first interval session of Week 1 of the Couch to 5k. My pacing was all over the place and I realised my fitness levels were lacking. After successfully completing the second interval session of Week 1, I felt confident I’d be able run consistently in 2024, so I shared my running, walking, and parkrun goals for the year ahead. I also rewarded myself with my first Giggling Squid lunch in over four months.

I decided not to post regular Couch to 5k training updates on my Instagram account as I suspected people had got tired of seeing my standard post-run selfie pose, but wrote and published more detailed progress reports in training updates on this blog. I loved being able to look back at my rather intermittent training updates and hope that other runners found my Couch to 5k training musings useful.

I published Week 1 and Week 2 training updates and although I could feel my fitness levels returning, I was struggling with increasingly tight calf muscles. The massage gun I’d been sent to review became my best friend.

Week 3 of the Couch to 5k didn’t get off to the best start when running with tight laces meant I ended the first interval session of the week with tight calf muscles and sore feet. My calf muscles and feet recovered and 24 hours after witnessing the most stunning sunrise and then watching several hundred parkrunners safely navigate a small ice feature, I completed the final interval session of Week 3 of the Couch to 5k.

[Photo: Rob Andrews]

I published my Week 3 training update and following a delay due to the combination of Storm Jocelyn and a large meal at the Quill and Taper completed the first interval session of Week 4 of the Couch to 5k.

I’m not sure that completing two interval sessions in under 24 hours was sensible, but I published my Week 4 training update and concluded what had been a positive month and start to 2024 by completing the first interval session of Week 5 of the Couch to 5k. I ended January feeling pleased with my running progress.

February

I woke ridiculously early for a Saturday and completed the second interval session of Week 5 of the Couch to 5k and then walked across Sutton Park and parkwalked and talked with Helene.

The next morning, I woke before my alarm and despite some ambitious pacing managed to run continuously for 20 minutes and completed Week 5 of the Couch to 5k. I spent the rest of the morning feeling shattered, luckily a homecooked Sunday lunch perked me up a little.

The following morning, two things happened; I woke with a painful left foot and I published my Week 5 training update.

My left foot still felt sore the following morning, so I delayed attempting the first interval session of Week 6 of the Couch to 5k. The combination of a sore throat and generally feeling unwell meant that I took a week off from running. That weekend I missed parkrun for the first time I could remember as both of my knees randomly started to hurt again, and I was still feeling unwell.

Illness meant I postponed Week 6 of the Couch to 5k for a second week. I worried my fitness would instantly disappear, but I figured that there was little point in trying to run when I was unwell. In what has become an annual tradition I was rejected in the Royal Parks Half Marathon ballot. I wasn’t surprised or disappointed as a weekend in London would have been expensive, but after 2018 it feels like I’ve got unfinished business with the event.

Sutton Park parkrun was cancelled due to another event taking place in Sutton Park, so I volunteered as a barcode scanner at Beacon parkrun and then spent an enjoyable but slightly lonely couple of hours mooching around Lichfield.

My left foot was still painful, so I decided to postpone Week 6 of the Couch to 5k for a third week. It felt like I’d got out of the habit of running consistently. That Saturday, I walked across a slightly icier than anticipated Sutton Park and ended up volunteering as an additional marshal near the Jamboree Stone. Volunteering at parkrun was the highlight of what turned out to be a rubbish weekend.

I ended what hadn’t turned out to be the most positive of months feeling frustrated I’d not made much progress with my running but determined to restart the Couch to 5k.

March

At the start of March, I celebrated (??) four years of spending the majority of time working from home. With apologies for the repetition, while I’d continued to appreciate not having to spend up to three hours a day commuting on overcrowded and unreliable trains, I was feeling isolated from my colleagues. Although the days I literally didn’t speak to anyone were rare, they were still happening. I should have relocated when I had the opportunity.

The first Saturday in March I endured a cold and wet, rain would become a recurring theme in March, walk across Sutton Park and volunteered as a marshal at my favourite location near Wyndley Gate. I decided to reward my dedication to volunteering with a Giggling Squid lunch.

The following week I restarted the Couch to 5k. I found the first interval session of Week 6 hard but managed to run for eight minutes. I could tell my fitness levels had decreased since the start of February, and I doubted I’d be able to run continuously for 25 minutes. I then spent two days in Birmingham helping facilitate a face-to-face training course. At least the hotel room was peaceful, and the food tasted better than last time.

After falling asleep on the train back from Birmingham and having the embarrassment of waking up in Lichfield, I decided it would be sensible to postpone the Couch to 5k for another week.

The second Saturday in March a full quota of marshals meant I spent an hour barcode scanning at parkrun. After a quick chat with Ellen, I entered both the Sutton and the Shenstone Fun Runs. The following day as it was Mother’s Day and as mum didn’t want to go out to eat, I was treated to a lovely homecooked Sunday dinner.

I’m aware that I sound like a broken record, apologies, but midway through the month I restarted the Couch to 5k at Week 5. An unplanned but very enjoyable three-course meal at the Quill and Taper meant that I postponed the first interval session of the week by 24 hours.

When, after an excessive amount of post-work procrastination, I tackled the interval session, I was pleasantly surprised I found running easy. Two days later I completed the second interval session of the week before work and spent the rest of the day feeling shattered.

On Saturday, I walked across Sutton Park as I’d arranged to meet up for a pre-volunteering stroll. The weather wasn’t kind that morning as it started off sunny and lulled everyone into a false sense of security then the wind picked up and the heavens opened. I didn’t enjoy marshalling that morning and only warmed up after I’d consumed two large McChicken sandwich meals.

Perhaps it was inevitable that after getting so cold and wet at parkrun I’d feel unwell the following morning. I don’t know. I didn’t attempt the final run of Week 5 of the Couch to 5k and spent most of the day sleeping. I planned out what I hoped would be my training schedule for the next three months and decided to restart the Couch to 5k for what felt like the millionth time at Week 5.

What had been a somewhat frustrating month ended on a positive. The final Saturday of the month I met up with Ellen who was completing her 100^th parkrun and we powerwalked our way around the Sutton Park parkrun course. Although I loved the photos that were taken that morning, they gave me a much-needed reality check and kick up the bum.

[Photo: Ranjit Bindarh]

[Photo: Rob Andrews]

I spent Easter Sunday with some of my family. While it was great to spend time with my family, I was once again left feeling inadequate and questioning how I’d ever be able to afford to buy my own house on my single public sector salary, especially given the increasing uncertainty surrounding the security of jobs in the public sector.

April

April got off to a positive start. Following what felt like a lengthy break from running, I completed the first two interval sessions of Week 5 of the Couch to 5k in what were wet and windy conditions. I loved running in the rain.

That Saturday I volunteered as a barcode scanner at Sutton Park parkrun and then helped sort finish tokens. I got home and my right knee suddenly started to feel incredibly painful. One minute it felt fine, the next I could hardly walk. It was like I’d torn something inside my knee. Needless to say, I didn’t attempt to run for 20 minutes the following morning.

The second week of April was stressful as I was helping with virtual interviews for a post in my team, and I had a laptop that was liable to crash during MS Teams meetings. I managed to navigate my way through four online interviews without inadvertently swearing due to nerves and my laptop looked after me. I failed to leave the house during the week and when my Saturday morning ‘parkrun alarm’ woke me, I couldn’t be bothered to walk to parkrun. A decision I spent the rest of the weekend regretting.

In what would turn out to be a futile attempt to make myself feel better, I ended up feeling guilty because I’d spent so much money, I bought myself a LEGO Nintendo Entertainment System as an early birthday present.

Following what had been a far-from-ideal first couple of weeks of April, I decided I needed to be more positive and stop feeling sorry for myself. I booked an osteopathy appointment at Ebrook Osteopathy and Sports Clinic in Sutton Coldfield to see if I could get to the bottom of the seemingly never-ending issues with my knees and made sure I left the house every day.

My first appointment with the osteopath Lina went well. I was diagnosed as having Patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) otherwise known as Runner’s knee and following a painful at times sports massage, I was sent away with another appointment and some strengthening exercises to complete every morning.

That Saturday I volunteered at parkrun as a marshal, got home, and entered the ballot for the London Marathon. The following morning I watched the elite London Marathon races and then treated my friend Vic to a Giggling Squid lunch. Apologies for the all-too-predictable photos.

The following morning I headed up to Warrington so that I could get my laptop fixed. I ended up spending such a lot of time at Warrington Bank Quay station during the year I thought it should feature in this review.

My second appointment at Ebrook Osteopathy and Sports Clinic was positive. I endured another leg massage and got to experience shockwave therapy for the first time. I felt quite awkward asking, but filming Lina demonstrating my ‘homework’ enabled me to complete my strengthening exercises.

The last Saturday in April I walked across Sutton Park and then I decided to see how quickly I could walk the Sutton Park parkrun course. I completed the course in 39:23 and then spent an hour scanning barcodes.

[Photo: Declan Fleming]

I entered the Miles for Mind May virtual event and set myself a target of walking/running 100 miles. I ended April feeling positive, not only because I was on annual leave but because by rearranging a couple of training sessions, I’d be able to restart the Couch to 5k on my birthday.

May

At the start of May, I celebrated moving into the V45 category by completing an early morning interval session. Later that day I met up with some family members for a birthday lunch. While the food was amazing, I allowed a snarky comment, namely I shouldn’t be spending any money on myself while I’m house hunting, to ruin the rest of the day.

The next day I headed into Sutton Coldfield for my third appointment with Lina. I was treated to another rather painful calf massage and got to experience dry needling for the first time.

The dry needling was surprisingly pain-free, and my legs felt amazing immediately after the treatment. I spent the final day of my week of annual leave with my sister and my twin nieces. I survived my niece’s Barbie-themed fifth birthday party by drinking pink Prosecco and while I wouldn’t recommend running while feeling slightly tipsy, my Friday evening interval session was a success.

The first Saturday in May I walked to Boldmere Gate, volunteered as a barcode scanner, and then headed with Helene for a belated birthday McDonald’s.

This was quite possibly the highlight of all my birthday meals. Nothing beats a post-parkrun volunteering McDonald’s. The next morning I got up early and completed the final training run of Week 5 of the Couch to 5k. For once, conditions were perfect for running, and I ended the run feeling confident I’d be able to complete Week 6.

The highlight of the May Day Bank Holiday was a spot of retail therapy. A runner can never have too many pairs of Mizuno Wave Inspires, especially at the bargain price of £49.99. The next morning I published my Week 5 (Take 2) training update and after a 24-hour delay due to a gardening inflicted knee niggle, completed the first interval session of Week 6 of the Couch to 5k.

Later that week I headed back to Sutton Coldfield for my fourth appointment at Ebrook Osteopathy and Sports Clinic. After I explained I’d hurt my knee gardening, Lina gave my legs a rather painful massage and then a second dose of shockwave therapy.

I found the shockwave therapy extremely painful, but my legs and knees once again felt much better after the treatment. I decided not to risk running the following morning, so later that evening I stuck on some dance music and completed the second interval session of the week. That Sunday I got up at 5am and despite some terrible pacing, I managed to run continuously for 25 minutes and completed Week 6 of the Couch to 5k.

The next morning I published my Week 6 training update. Following a week of missed interval sessions and what I could only describe as an intermittent knee niggle, I met up with Ellen at parkrun and we walked and talked our way around the course in under 40 minutes. I think we were evaluating my poor pacing skills in this photo.

[Photo: Rob Andrews]

On the penultimate Monday in May, I travelled up to Leeds for a meeting. I’m not sure why I was so surprised the centre of Leeds had changed such a lot since I was a student as I graduated way back in 2001.

I’m still unsure how this meal in Five Guys ended up setting me back almost £20. Train delays meant I didn’t get back to Birmingham until almost 9pm, far too late for me to have time to eat and then run. My knees were feeling quite niggly, so following a painful leg massage, I decided to postpone restarting the Couch to 5k until after the Royal Sutton Fun Run the following Sunday.

Looking back, the last week of May was underwhelming. The Spring Bank Holiday was a complete washout, I rarely left the house, and my mental health suffered. I ended the month well under my target of walking/running 100 miles but feeling determined to make June a more positive and active month.

June

Last June, after realising I needed something different to motivate me to record some training every day, I came up with the informal challenge of ‘collecting’ Royal Mail post boxes. This challenge was a success, and I recorded my highest walking mileage of the year. I’d love to say I came up with a similar informal challenge this year, but I didn’t.

The first weekend in June was one of the best weekends of the year. I volunteered as a barcode scanner at parkrun and the following morning, the sun made a rare appearance just in time for the Royal Sutton Fun Run. Ellen and I set out with the aim of completing the 8.5 mile course in under two hours. We finished well under our target in 1:51:47.

[Photo: Bunny Kyd]

The centre of Sutton Coldfield was somewhat chaotic, so we headed back to Blake Street and spent a couple of hours making the most of the sunshine, relaxing in the Quill and Taper beer garden.

An amazing weekend but sadly a case of time flies when you’re having fun.

Although my legs and knees felt great, for some reason my running motivation temporarily deserted me. After a couple of failed attempts at tackling Week 7 of the Couch to 5k, I decided to delay running for another week. Later that week I headed into Sutton for my sixth appointment at Ebrook Osteopathy and Sports Clinic. I was treated to a painful leg massage and some lower back manipulation. That Saturday as I wasn’t volunteering I walked and talked my way around Sutton Park parkrun with Ellen. Thumbs up for a pain-free parkrun.

The following week was not positive from a mental health perspective. The weather summed up my mood, gloomy, and my running motivation continued to be somewhat lacking. I started to question whether I wanted to run again. I’m not convinced getting drenched barcode scanning at parkrun did much to improve my mood, however, seeing how much others enjoyed running made me realise how much I love the running community.

Two days later I woke with a niggly right knee, and I realised I only had myself to blame. Running home after parkrun with sodden trainers was a case of too much too soon. I decided to postpone the Couch to 5k by another week. I spent most of the week feeling completely overwhelmed with no idea where to start to get my life back on track. Running would have helped my mental health, unfortunately running wasn’t an option.

That Saturday, I literally hobbled across Sutton Park so that I could marshal at parkrun. After spending the week feeling isolated, I found myself marshalling in a quieter section of the Sutton Park parkrun course feeling quite isolated.

At least summer had finally made an appearance. I’ve no idea why I took this photo of my legs and feet, I suspect I was trying to capture the source of most of my running-related injury woes.

The final week of June saw summer continue. I discovered I’d been rejected in the London Marathon ballot, not such a bad thing given I couldn’t walk properly when I received my rejection email. Later the same day, I hobbled across Sutton Park to meet up with Ellen. We completed the Sutton Park Gates Run (or in our case, walk) in a slightly slower time than last year, but given the heat, my right knee, stopping to cross a main road, and a couple of sock adjustment stops I think we did well.

I captured this rather dubious selfie, drank a can of warm Diet Coke, and was dropped home by Ellen. And that’s all I can remember. I woke the following morning still wearing my sweaty running gear feeling like death warmed up. Luckily, I’d booked the day off work.

I ended the month with a niggly right knee. It felt like all the osteopath sessions had been a waste of time and money. Despite this, I was determined July would be more positive.

July

I started July feeling positive. This positivity lasted less than three hours when I experienced what I’d describe as a major adulting reality check.

I received a rejection in the ballot for the London Landmarks Half and started to wonder whether I’d ever be successful in a ballot again. A couple of days later I woke to the not exactly unexpected news Labour had won the General Election and spent the remainder of the week wondering if my public sector job was secure. I’m still not convinced my job is safe. That Saturday, I walked across Sutton Park to Boldmere Gate where I was able to photograph Connie the Calf.

March of the Elephants a trail of elephant sculptures across Sutton Coldfield, Lichfield, and Tamworth had started and I had grand ambitions of visiting and photographing all of the sculptures. I ended up taking photos of four elephants.

The following week, I restarted the Couch to 5k at Week 5. I completed the first interval session in torrential rain.

Perfect running conditions! Despite some terrible pacing, I completed the second interval session of the week and found running for eight minutes easy. I decided to delay completing the final continuous run of the week until the second half of the Euro 2024 final. By slowing my pace and selecting a relatively flat route, I found running for 20 minutes easy. I got home, put the football on and Spain scored what turned out to be the winning goal.

After a couple of false starts, three days later I completed the first interval session of Week 6 of the Couch to 5k. I slowed my pace down again and found the running repetitions straightforward. The following day I headed to Bartley Reservoir to complete a working in and near water training course.

The weather was perfect, and I could almost see the attraction of open water swimming, possibly aided by the fact I was paddling around in shallow water wearing a dry suit. The warmer weather continued and after failing to complete the second interval session of the week before work, I ended up running later on Friday evening.

I missed Sutton Park parkrun for an unprecedented second Saturday in a row and treated myself to a lie-in. I’d arranged to meet up with my brother for a lunchtime drink and made the fatal mistake of drinking on an empty stomach.

I discovered I could no longer drink three pints; the rest of the day was a complete write-off. By some miracle, the following morning I completed the final 25-minute run of Week 6 of the Couch to 5k and captured this selfie.

I can’t remember why I didn’t share my training exploits in my running blog, I suspect I was still doubting my ability to complete the Couch to 5k.

After two more false starts, I started Week 7 of the Couch to 5k. I timed the first 25-minute run of the week to correspond with my favourite running conditions, torrential rain. The following evening I experienced another rather painful leg massage at Ebrook Osteopathy and Sports Clinic and was advised not to run for 24 hours. As I wanted to run at Beacon parkrun, I didn’t risk completing the second 25-minute run of the week.

The final Saturday in July, Sutton Park parkrun was cancelled so I got up early, got a train to Lichfield, and headed to Beacon Park. I jogged and chatted my way around warmer than anticipated Beacon parkrun in 34:11.

[Photo: Rob Andrews]

I love this photo as it shows just how much fun I had at Beacon parkrun that morning. I ended the 5k looking like a beetroot but with knees and legs that appeared to be in one piece.

I stopped for a drink at the Lakeside Bistro then headed home. I was aware attempting a 5k run before I’d completed the Couch to 5k was slightly risky, but my knees were pain-free throughout the two laps of Beacon Park.

The final few days of July weren’t very active. England experienced a mini heatwave and as I struggle running in the heat, I decided to give my knees and legs time to fully recover from Beacon parkrun. All things considered; July was a positive month from a running perspective if not from a personal perspective.

August

The first Saturday in August, I got up ridiculously early so that I could take part in some parkrun tourism and a Fetch meetup at Tamworth Castle Grounds parkrun. I’ve no idea who took this photo, but I’ve included it in this post as I was so busy chatting I failed to take any photos.

I hadn’t run since Beacon parkrun the previous Saturday and the Tamworth Castle Grounds parkrun course contained some tight turns and short but steep downhills, so I jogged around the course in 34:55. After parkrun we headed to a café for breakfast and a lot of running chatter. The opportunity to catch up with people I’d not seen for a long time was well worth the early start.

The second Saturday in August I had another early start as I’d volunteered to tail walk at Aston Hall parkrun. There had been issues with the trains to Aston on Friday, so I wanted to allow enough time for a Plan B if the trains weren’t running. The trains were running, and I arrived at Aston Park well before parkrun was due to start.

Volunteering as a tail walker at a completely new to me parkrun with limited marshals was difficult. Looking back, without anyone to follow, I’m amazed I only went slightly off course once. Aston Park and Aston Hall were both stunning, a real oasis of calm near the centre of Birmingham and the perfect location for a parkrun.

On the morning I volunteered there were only 69 finishers and most parkrunners were tourists. Aston Hall parkrun always seemed to struggle for volunteers and several events were cancelled due to a lack of volunteers. The news that Aston Hall parkrun had been cancelled (paused according to the Facebook page) sadly didn’t come as a surprise.

I hope that Aston Hall parkrun starts up again in 2025 as Aston Park is a great location for a parkrun. The following morning I met up with Ellen for a slightly overdue training walk around Sutton Park. The weather was gorgeous, perfect for my first ice cream of the summer.

I also got to say hello to the Sutton Park cows for the first time this year. I’m not sure why but the cows seem to avoid parkrun since the course changed, so it was good to see them.

I’m aware that I’m sounding like a broken record, but the following week was another far-from-ideal week from a mental health perspective. Although my running motivation had deserted me, the week had one highlight namely donating blood for the first time in over two years.

The third Saturday in August, Sutton Park parkrun celebrated its sixth birthday and after what felt like a long break, I was back volunteering in the sunshine in Sutton Park.

A lot less stressful than tail walking at Aston Hall parkrun.

The following week, a mystery illness meant my resting heart rate shot through the roof, and I had no energy, so I decided not to risk running. Tests confirmed I didn’t have Covid, so I attended my appointment at Ebrook Osteopathy and Sports Clinic and endured some painful leg and lower back massage. That Saturday I volunteered as a marshal at Sutton Park parkrun and was treated to some miserable conditions.

Summer 2024 had made an unwelcome reappearance. Post-parkrun Colin the Caterpillar birthday cake in the Communitea Café in Boldmere put a smile back on my face.

On Bank Holiday Monday, I travelled to Ironbridge with my friend Vic to help make a start on some house decluttering. I somehow managed to twist my temperamental right knee walking up and down some steep stairs and when my right knee started to hurt, I realised I’d injured myself again. At least I got to see the River Severn and the Iron Bridge.

Perfect weather for a Bank Holiday Monday. The following morning I woke feeling unwell with a painful right knee, so I postponed my Couch to 5k training again. I volunteered as a barcode scanner at the final Sutton Park parkrun of the month.

[Photo: Rob Andrews]

I’ve included this sort of action photo of me scanning someone’s barcode as I love the concentration on my face.

September

Like last year, September was a positive month, largely because I spent half the month on annual leave. After a difficult few weeks, switching on my out-of-office on the first Friday of the month felt amazing.

On the first Saturday in September, I helped with the pre-event set up at Sutton Park parkrun, walked to Costa for some breakfast with Helene and Ellen, and then walked some of the parkrun course in reverse.

The following day I planned out my Couch to 5k training sessions again while watching one race I’ve never been tempted to enter: the Great North Run.

Thanks to some far from ideal weather, the first week of my September annual leave was what I’d describe as productive but quiet. The week had a couple of highlights. The first was lunch at the Giggling Squid in Mere Green for the first time since April.

The second highlight took place later the same day when I completed the first interval session of Week 5 of the Couch to 5k. Thanks to some sensible pacing, I found the interval session easy.

That Saturday, I walked across Sutton Park, met up with Ellen and power walked (and talked) the Sutton Park parkrun course. The following day, thanks to some chafing in a slightly delicate location, I missed the final interval session of the week.

The second week of my September annual leave was underwhelming. I decided it would be sensible to restart the Couch to 5k again from Week 1 and vowed to document my training. I headed to TGI Friday’s in Sutton Coldfield with a friend for lunch.

This would sadly turn out to be my last visit to this particular TGI Friday’s as the Sutton Coldfield restaurant was permanently closed a few weeks later. Thanks for the memories. The final day of my September annual leave saw me head to the Quill and Taper for lunch with Mum.

The penultimate weekend in September was a washout. I missed Sutton Park parkrun as I was helping a friend with some chores. I ended up spending the remainder of the weekend regretting not getting more exercise. The miserable weather that marked the end of my annual leave summed up how I felt about having to return to work.

I’m not going to complain about my job, but I suspect the subconjunctival haemorrhage I unexpectedly woke up two days into my return to work to was caused by work-related stress.

The final weekend in September was a case of saving the best until last. I walked across an autumnal Sutton Park, met up with Ellen, completed parkrun, and discussed our targets for the Shenstone 10k Fun Run we were due to complete the following morning.

I ended up loving every minute of the Shenstone 10k Fun Run. Although my right knee twinged a couple of times and we had a couple of what I’d describe as near misses with Sunday morning drivers, we managed to smash the target we’d set ourselves, completing the 10k in 1:18:38.

[Photo: Rob Andrews]

[Photo: Rob Andrews]

Thanks for the amazing photos, Rob. I ended the month feeling frustrated I’d wasted my annual leave and concerned about my right knee. Despite this, I hoped October would be the month I finally restarted the Couch to 5k.

October

At the start of October, I got changed into some running gear and restarted the Couch to 5k. The first interval session felt harder than I was expecting. This slightly blurry photo captures the location of what I hoped would be the start of more consistent training.

Despite missing the 20^th parkrun birthday weekend celebrations due to illness, I managed to complete Week 1 of the Couch to 5k and published my Week 1 training update. October had got off to a positive start.

The following week, I completed the first interval session of Week 2 of the Couch to 5k in my favourite running conditions; torrential rain. The next evening I headed to the Quill and Taper for Vic’s birthday meal. In an attempt to broaden my culinary horizons, I ordered the Royale Chicken Tikka Masala.

Although the Tikka Masala tasted as amazing as it looked, I was reminded why I tend to avoid eating spicy food. The following evening I battled through a knee niggle and tight calf muscles and completed the second interval session of the week. I didn’t quite manage to capture the Northern Lights.

On the second Saturday in October, I walked across a slightly gloomier than I was expecting Sutton Park, met up with Ellen, and completed my 23^rd parkrun of the year.

That morning I ended up walking over 11 miles, not the best preparation for the final interval session of the week. Despite my attempts at derailing my training, I completed Week 2 of the Couch to 5k and published my Week 2 training update.

The following Tuesday, I completed the first interval session of Week 3 of the Couch to 5k. I’m not sure why but midway through the interval session I started to experience what felt like pins and needles in the top of my left foot. By the time I reached the end of the interval session, I was aware I was hobbling rather than walking. Illness and a lack of sleep meant I missed the second interval session of the week. Wet and miserable conditions meant I treated myself to a rare Saturday morning lie-in. The following morning I completed the final interval session of Week 3 of the Couch to 5k and published a slightly negative Week 3 training and life update.

Week 4 of the Couch to 5k didn’t get off to the best start when a terrible night’s sleep and subsequent failed interval session resulted in me having to remind myself that running is meant to be fun and not a chore. The following evening, the week improved when I headed back to the Quill and Taper after work for a meal with Helene and Ellen.

The food was disappointing but spending the evening with good friends more than made up for the overcooked starters and stingy portions. The following day, I didn’t even attempt the second interval session of the week. The lack of sleep that week caught up with me and I was feeling physically and mentally exhausted.

Fortunately, the weekend was far more positive. On Saturday morning I met up with Ellen and we walked, talked, and ran our way around the Sutton Park parkrun course in a season’s best time of 37:13.

[Photo: Rob Andrews]

[Photo: Rob Andrews]

The following morning, I got up early to complete the final (and my first) interval session of Week 4 of the Couch to 5k. I was amazed at how many dog walkers I saw. I guess these dogs didn’t realise they could have had an extra hour in bed due to the clocks changing. Although I missed two out of three interval sessions, I published my Week 4 training update.

The final Tuesday evening in October saw me complete the first interval session of Week 5 of the Couch to 5k. The pain in my calf muscles made an unwelcome reappearance and my left foot started to hurt. I struggled to the end of the interval session, walked home, and spent a lot of time massaging my calf muscles and quads.

On Halloween, I headed into Sutton Coldfield for my first osteopathy appointment since August. The 45-minute appointment passed by quickly, I managed not to cry, and my lower back and legs felt a million times better at the end of the session. Thanks, Lina.

All things considered; October was a positive month. I restarted the Couch to 5k, and my training was more consistent. I also started blogging again. I ended October feeling confident I’d make more progress with the Couch to 5k during November.

November

The first Saturday in November saw me meet Ellen at Sutton Park parkrun. After our season’s best performance the previous Saturday, I said I needed to be sensible and walk the 5k as I was aiming to complete a 20 minute run the following morning. We still managed to walk and talk our way around the Sutton Park parkrun course in 41:53. Not too shabby.

Less than 24 hours later, despite what could only be described as dubious pacing, I managed to run for 20 minutes without stopping. Sometimes the best training runs occur when least expected.

The first Monday in November, I published my Week 5 training update and then decided to take a week off from the Couch to 5k to allow my legs and knees time to recover. Following a somewhat stressful week, I walked across a rather gloomy Sutton Park to Boldmere Gate. I knew I’d be parkrunning alone, so I decided to see how quickly I could run (and walk) the new Sutton Park parkrun course. I ended up recording a totally unexpected season’s best time of 33:42 beating the times I recorded at Beacon and Tamworth Castle Grounds parkruns.

[Photo: Rob Andrews]

I think this photo Rob took in the final 800m of my season’s best performance captures the effort I was putting in. Thanks Rob. My Saturday improved further when Wolves finally managed to win a game of football.

The following morning I met up with Ellen for a walk in Sutton Park. Midway through our walk, the anticyclonic gloom disappeared, and the sun made a welcome appearance.

A couple of days later, I got up early and completed the first interval session of Week 6 of the Couch to 5k before work. I enjoyed every minute of the interval session, and my knees and feet felt fine. That evening, I headed to the Quill and Taper for a meal and spotted my first Christmas tree of 2024.

After completing the second interval session of the week in far colder conditions than I was dressed for, I got home and dug out more winter running gear. On Saturday, I walked across Sutton Park to Boldmere Gate. My left knee felt quite niggly, so when I saw Helene was marshalling at my favourite location, I decided to spend an hour watching other people complete parkrun. That Sunday, I found running for 25 minutes far easier than I was expecting.

The following morning a couple of things happened; my Week 6 training update was published and I woke up feeling unwell. I ended up having to take three days off work and putting my Couch to 5k training back on hold. Given the snowy conditions in Four Oaks, I’d picked a good time to be unwell. That Saturday I was woken by the sound of rain bashing against my bedroom window. I treated myself to a rare Saturday lie-in then finished my Christmas shopping and decided to make the most of the LEGO Insiders Weekend.

The following Tuesday, as I was still not feeling fully recovered from whatever had kept me off work for three days, I decided to postpone the Couch to 5k until December. I ended November with a relaxed walk around Sutton Park parkrun with Ellen. It felt great to leave the house for the first time in what felt like ages.

[Photos: Rob Andrews]

I think it’s fair to say November was a month of two halves. The first half of the month I made sure I recorded some training every day, made great progress with the Couch to 5k, and set a parkrun season’s best. The second half of November was less positive, not only due to illness but also due to a dip in my mental health and short-term loss of motivation. I ended the month well under my target of walking/running 100 miles but feeling hopeful December would be a more active if not more positive final month of 2024.

December

I felt I would probably benefit from some extra motivation to exercise during December, so I entered the Run Up to Christmas virtual event and set myself a target of walking/running 100km before Christmas Day. The month got off to a good start as I met up with Ellen for a walk in a rather muddy Sutton Park followed by lunch at the Giggling Squid. In an attempt to feel festive, I started taking photos of Christmas trees.

Following a two-week break, I restarted the Couch to 5k at Week 6 and found the first interval session of the week easier than I probably deserved. After almost getting run over a couple of times despite wearing a reflective gilet and headtorch, I got home and spent some time researching superbright head torches for runners. I found the second interval session harder, partly due to the milder and windy conditions but also due to my dodgy pacing. The first Saturday in December, like the majority of other local parkruns, Sutton Park parkrun was cancelled due to Storm Darragh.

My Saturday didn’t improve when I discovered I’d not been invited to a family day out. I would have loved to have met up with my sister and her family, so to say I was upset would be an understatement. The following morning I was woken by Storm Darragh and decided to delay my 25-minute run until the evening when the wind was forecast to die down. I spent a couple of hours watching other people run in the European Cross Country Championships in Turkey and that evening ended up going for a Christmas lights walk rather than a run. I didn’t realise at the time, but that was the end of my Couch to 5k training.

The second week in December was my last week at work. I felt mentally and physically exhausted and was literally counting down the hours until I could activate my ‘out of office’. On Tuesday I did something that made me proud of myself, I ignored my anxiety and travelled on my own up to Lichfield to watch an Ex Cathedra Christmas Music by Candlelight concert.

The concert was incredible, and I finally started to feel more festive. That Friday, I activated my ‘out of office’ and locked away my work laptop for three weeks. A couple of hours later, I made my second trip up to Lichfield to watch The Piccadilly Sinfonietta perform Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

Walking through Lichfield after the concert was entertaining. It was great to see so many people having fun.

The following morning I walked across Sutton Park to Boldmere Gate and met up with Helene and Ellen. Although I had originally planned to walk parkrun, we ended up having a coffee and a catch-up in Costa. By helping with the post-event close down, I completed my 150^th volunteering stint at Sutton Park parkrun. Wolves lost again and the manager was sacked a couple of days later.

After a couple of false starts, the first Monday of my annual leave I wrapped my Christmas presents and wrote and posted my Christmas cards. For some reason, I was just not feeling very festive. I travelled into Birmingham, gave blood, took a photo of the Christmas tree inside Birmingham New Street station then travelled back to Four Oaks.

I’d arranged to meet a friend for lunch in the Giggling Squid in Mere Green. On reflection, drinking two pints of Cobra after I’d given blood wasn’t very sensible. Just looking at this photo reminds me of how much I enjoyed this food.

The third Saturday in December, I walked across a rather breezy Sutton Park, met up with Ellen and tail walked at a very festive Sutton Park parkrun. By the time I took this not-very-festive selfie I’d abandoned my Santa hat due to the windy conditions.

I met up with my brother in Mere Green and we had a quick drink and catch up and exchanged presents. I must admit I was more than a little bit jealous he was heading to Benidorm immediately after Christmas for a short break. I was meant to be completing the 10k at the Birmingham Running Festival but decided that as the weather was miserable and my knee was feeling quite niggly, I’d have a much-needed lie-in.

At the start of Christmas week I entered the February Birmingham Running Festival and booked an Osteopathy appointment with Lina. I found out I’d won something in the Fetch Advent Calendar and on Christmas Eve attended the Midnight Communion at my local church. On Christmas Day, I witnessed the most stunning sunrise during my walk to Boldmere Gate.

My camera wasn’t able to capture the colours of the sunrise. Without going into too many details, the sunrise and Christmas Day parkrun would turn out to be the highlights of Christmas Day.

On the final Saturday in December, I completed my 31^st parkrun of the year.

Next year, I’m aiming to complete 50 parkruns. I’m also planning on visiting more local parkruns. I published The true cost of running: the 2024 edition and then started to fret about the weather forecast for New Year’s Day. I figured it would be slightly unfortunate if after setting myself a challenge of completing 50 parkruns if the first parkrun of the year was cancelled.

And what about Christmas? I can’t really review December without talking about the Christmas period. If I had to use one word to describe Christmas 2024 that word would be ‘difficult’. Next year, I might hibernate over the Christmas period.

I always like to approach the end of each year feeling positive about the next 12 months, so I’ve set myself some running, walking, and parkrun goals for 2025. I’ve also set myself some life goals, and although I’m not planning on sharing these goals, one of my main goals is a repeat goal from 12 months ago. I want to finally get my foot on the bottom rung of the property ladder. It’s going to be challenging but things are moving in the right direction.

Looking back, 2024 was another challenging year for me. I spent far too much time feeling completely alone and overwhelmed. I also spent far too much time questioning my ability to do my job. At times I didn’t think I’d make it through the next day let alone the rest of the year. Although I shared some of the not-so-positive moments on this blog and on social media, when my life started to feel overwhelming, I shut myself away and distanced myself from my friends and family.

My running mojo disappeared after illness meant I had to stop following the Couch to 5k for what felt like the millionth time, and although *touch wood* I’m not currently injured, I keep delaying heading out the door and restarting the Couch to 5k. My monthly running (purple), cycling (green), and walking (red) bars illustrate how the focus of my training varied throughout the year. I think it’s safe to say I’ve had another somewhat consistently inconsistent year.

Although my training was once again inconsistent – I’d still describe myself as consistently inconsistent – I ran when I wanted to and was finding running enjoyable and walked when I was unable to run. I was sensible and stopped running when I needed to.

I’m going to conclude my review of 2024 more or less the same way I concluded my 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 reviews. I may sound selfish, but I hope that I have a less injury-filled 2025. 

What was the running highlight of 2024 for you? 

What are your running and fitness goals for 2025?

For the reasons I outlined last week, I decided to start again with the Couch to 5k training plan that is available on the NHS Live Well website. This version of the Couch to 5k training plan should take nine weeks.

The NHS Live Well website provided the following information about the interval sessions in Week 3 of the Couch to 5k training plan.

My Tuesday and Sunday interval sessions started with a fast 5-minute warm-up walk and ended with a slightly slower 5-minute cool-down walk. I supplemented the three interval sessions with cross training sessions on Monday and Saturday and rest days on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

As I’d love to complete the Couch to 5k before the end of the year, I allocated time every day to stretching. In addition, I used my Bob and Brad Q2 Mini Massage Gun to massage my quads and calf muscles before each interval session and whenever I felt my legs would benefit from an extra massage.

Monday – 30 mins cross training

The third week of my latest attempt at completing the Couch to 5k didn’t get off to the most positive of starts when I woke feeling like I was fighting off a cold. This set the tone for the next seven days and if you don’t want to read a somewhat negative weekly life and training update, I’d stop reading now!

My review of Week 2 of my Couch to 5k training was published and I started to plan my training for the week ahead. Work was challenging. As I’d failed to leave the house at lunchtime, as soon as I finished work I got changed into some running gear and spent 30 minutes trying and failing to complete a basic yoga workout. Following a healthy takeaway from the local Chinese restaurant, I laid out some running gear, made sure my Garmin was charged, and checked my alarm was set for 5:30am.

Tuesday – 18 mins intervals (run 90 secs/walk 90 secs/run 3 mins/walk 3 mins x 2)

After spending hours lying in bed overthinking and trying and failing to sleep, knowing I had a busy day ahead of me, I abandoned the idea of running before work. Although I felt guilty, this turned out to be the right decision as after spending several hours feeling completely overwhelmed and incapable of doing my job, I ended up finishing work at 3pm. I’ve so much respect for people who seem to juggle work, families, side hustles, and training.

Following a post-work nap, after discovering that entries had opened, I entered the 2024 edition of the Run Up to Christmas virtual event and set a target of running/walking 100km. I also treated myself to a festive running top. Hopefully, both purchases will motivate me to leave the house in December. I got changed into some running gear and used my massage gun to massage my legs and calf muscles.

The first interval session of the week wasn’t exactly what I’d describe as a success. It didn’t take me long to realise it was incredibly mild out and that I was wearing too many layers. Midway through the interval session, the top of my left foot started to feel painful. By the time I reached the end of the interval session, I had pins and needles in my left foot and walking felt strange. I loosened both of my laces and walked home praying that my foot pain had been caused by my left lace being tied too tight rather than something more serious.

Wednesday – Rest

I was up and out of the house bright(?) and early as I had a dentist appointment. This meant an expensive start to the day – I tried not to dwell on the fact I could have bought myself a pair of trainers for what the dentist set me back – but hopefully, if I don’t do anything stupid, I won’t need to return for another six months.

After a somewhat tedious morning meeting, I needed a screen break, so I headed out for a lunchtime walk and just about managed to dodge the rain. This meant I ended up walking a total of 5 miles on what was meant to be a rest day. I’ll never learn.

Thursday – 18 mins intervals (run 90 secs/walk 90 secs/run 3 mins/walk 3 mins x 2)

Following a third consecutive early morning overthinking session, I ended up getting the no so grand total of four hours of sleep and woke feeling and looking like a zombie. Work was such a struggle I should have taken the day off. The lack of sleep left me feeling so shattered I decided missing the second interval session of the week would be more sensible than forcing myself to train. I reminded myself that running is meant to be fun and not a chore.

Friday – Rest

 This weekly update is already rather long and waffly, so I’ll keep my recollection of what happened on Friday brief. I woke feeling more positive after sleeping for almost 8 hours and my mood improved further when I realised it was payday. I remembered to reschedule my osteopath appointment, I just hope my knees and legs can hold on until the end of the month.

Saturday – 30 mins cross training

When my ‘parkrun alarm’ woke me and I heard the all too familiar sound of heavy rain, I decided to go back to sleep. Sorry parkrun, but I didn’t fancy spending hours in a wet and gloomy Sutton Park. Fingers crossed I’m still able to achieve my Bronze parkrun Obsessive ‘badge’ this year. I ended up having a quiet but reasonably productive Saturday. Highlights (or possibly lowlights) included decluttering the loft, some gardening, and listing some of my unwanted bits and pieces on eBay.

#StormAshley brings strong winds and heavy rain for much of the UK on Sunday morning

Latest warning info https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs

Stay #WeatherAware pic.twitter.com/89Gd2WYW7G

— Met Office (@metoffice) October 19, 2024

Before I headed to bed, I wanted to ensure I was dressed appropriately for my final interval session of the week, so I checked the weather forecast. I discovered that Storm Ashley was expected to be bringing strong winds and heavy rain on Sunday morning, awesome.

Sunday – 18 mins intervals (run 90 secs/walk 90 secs/run 3 mins/walk 3 mins x 2)

For once the weather forecast was correct and I was woken by the sound of heavy rain lashing against my bedroom window. I decided to stay in bed for a couple more hours. Once I’d had enough of doom scrolling on my phone and snoozing, I got up and ended up having a far more energetic morning than I had anticipated. Apologies to all the spiders and daddy longlegs I evicted during my mammoth vacuuming session.

How did the final interval session of the week go? After spending the afternoon and early evening preparing more eBay listings, I finally left the house just after 8:30pm. Although I’d managed to avoid the rain, it was still fairly breezy and about three minutes into my warm-up walk I realised wearing a running cap wasn’t one of my better decisions.

I didn’t enjoy the interval session. Although I’d made sure my laces weren’t too tight, after the second running repetition the top of my left foot started to hurt again. The pain in the top of my left foot was matched by occasional twinges in both of my calf muscles. By the time I reached the end of the final three minute running repetition, I could tell I was getting pins and needles on the top of my left foot. So frustrating as I was finding running quite easy. I once again walked back home wondering what was going on with my left foot. I don’t think this selfie captures just how pi**ed off I was feeling.

So, that’s week three of the Couch to 5k not exactly successfully completed. Apologies for the slightly negative weekly update. I just hope my temperamental knees and left foot continue to cope with the training. I also hope the weather doesn’t prevent me from training. The way I feel at the moment, I’m not sure I’ll cope with another lengthy break from running.

The fourth week of the Couch to 5k training plan I’m following looks more challenging than the previous three weeks. Unless I run at a sensible pace I have a chance of maintaining, I know from past experience I’ll struggle to run for 5 minutes. It’s clear from reading my previous Couch to 5k training updates I’ve always found Week 4 of the Couch to 5k difficult.

Training totals:

• Runs: 8 (out of 9)
• Time: 2 hrs 39 mins
• Distance: 13.15 miles

Niggleometer:

• Right knee: 4/10
• Left knee: 4/10
• Calf muscles: 3/10
• Left foot: 5/10

Did you have a good weekend? Did you manage to avoid the wet and windy weather?

Have you ever experienced pain in the top of your feet while you are running? My trainers are new, so I’m going to investigate different lace-tying techniques.

I’ve reviewed the previous 12 months in far, far too much detail here and I’ve drawn a line under 2023. It’s time for me to look ahead to 2024 and set myself some running goals, some walking goals, and some parkrun goals. Last year, a persistent knee injury and other health issues I couldn’t have predicted at the start of the year meant I failed to achieve several of the goals I shared in this post 12 months ago.

I spent far too much time weighing up the pros and cons of making these goals public. I’m acutely aware my goals have been getting far too predictable over the last few years. I’m also aware that my knees are still not completely fixed; the reality is that without surgery they never will be. I hope that by sharing my goals, I make myself more accountable and less likely to quit. The last few years, sharing my goals helped me to start the year feeling both motivated and positive, so I decided to publish this post.

1. Listen to my niggles – I’m aware that I’m repeating myself, but I’m definitely what I’d describe as an injury-prone runner. Some runners hardly ever seem to pick up injuries, other runners seem to spend the majority of the time either injured or recovering from an injury.

It feels like some of us are trapped in a never-ending cycle of run – get injured – sulk – rest – injury rehab – recover from injury – get excited to be back up and running – run too much – ignore strength and conditioning – repeat.

I know I’m a better person when I have running in my life. Running also helps to keep my anxiety under control and I don’t want to spend most of 2024 feeling miserable and resentful because I can’t run, so I’m going to continue to monitor any niggles that make an unwelcome appearance closely. As I’m sat writing these goals, my knees are *touch wood* feeling more or less niggle free.

2. Dedicate time to strength and conditioning – This goal has featured in previous years, but I’m still not great at completing the strength and conditioning exercises I was provided with during my physio appointments.

I’m very much an all-or-nothing type of person, this needs to change as consistency will be key. I really am my own worst enemy when it comes to regularly completing my strength and conditioning exercises.

3. Train sensibly and consistently – Another repeat goal, but I’m still not great at training sensibly and consistently. I’m getting better, but I still have room to improve. I’ve said it before, but I’m usually so thrilled to be back up and running, I’ll obsessively follow the Couch to 5k, I won’t give myself a week off when needed, and inevitably end up injuring myself.

4. Complete the Couch to 5k – With apologies for yet another repeat goal. I started following a Beginner to 5k training plan at the end of July, completed the first four weeks, and then had to stop running for two months due to illness. If you’ve been following my weekly training and life updates you’ll be aware I’m currently TBC weeks into the Couch to 5k training plan. I don’t want to tempt fate, but I’m starting to enjoy running again.

5. Run a minimum of 25 miles a month – This is obviously very much an injury-permitting, knee-behaving itself kind of goal, but I want to run a minimum of 25 miles a month this year. I’m not worried about my pace, I’m not worried about having to take numerous walking breaks, and ‘Jeffing’ may well be the way forward. I just want to be able to jog or run three times a week.

6. Walk a minimum of 75 miles a month – Last year, I aimed to walk a minimum of 100 miles each month. Last year, except for one month, June, I failed to walk 100 miles each month.

While my Saturday morning walks across Sutton Park continued to be the most amazing way to start the weekend, I rarely left the house during the week and both my mental health and walking mileage suffered.

7. Try more parkrun volunteering roles

If you follow me over on Instagram you’ll already be aware that I’m slightly addicted to volunteering at parkrun and that last July I volunteered for the 100th time at my home parkrun, Sutton Park parkrun.

Although I’ve lost count of the number I’ve volunteered as a marshal, I’m yet to have a go at the Run Director, First Timers Briefing, and Results Processor roles. I recently became a member of the Sutton Park parkrun Core Team. I’m hoping this means I’ll get the opportunity to try out some new volunteering roles.

8. Explore more local parkruns – This is a repeat goal from the last four years. To date, I’ve still only completed five parkruns, Beacon, Didcot, Kingsbury Water Park, Sutton Park, and Walsall Arboretum. This year, I’m aiming to visit the following local parkruns, Tamworth Castle Grounds parkrun, Perry Hall parkrun, Aston Hall parkrun, Edgbaston Reservoir parkrun, Cannon Hill parkrun, and Wolverhampton parkrun.

I’m yet to invest in a car, so unless I manage to grab a lift with other parkrunners, I’ll be limited to exploring local parkruns that are accessible by public transport. I’ve worked out that several local parkruns are in theory easily accessible by public transport, it’s just unfortunate that the trains and buses continue to be somewhat unreliable.

9. Complete more parkrun challenges – I’m aware that I’m repeating myself, again, but much as I love parkrun, I didn’t take a lot of notice of the various parkrun challenges until two years ago. While I’d heard of the parkrun alphabet challenge and have met a lot of parkrun tourists at Sutton Park parkrun, I had no idea there were so many parkrun challenges. I still like to check my progress in completing the various challenges using the Running Challenge extension on a fairly regular basis.

Last year, I joined the parkrun 100 and the parkrun Volunteer 100 clubs and achieved my Bronze parkrun Obsessive badge. I also added the equipment storage and delivery and parkwalker volunteer badges to my profile. This year, I’d love to visit the home of parkrun and to complete the Bushy Pilgrimage challenge. I’d also love to make a start on the Name Badge challenge (0/12 letters completed) and to make more progress towards completing the Stopwatch Bingo challenge (51/60 times completed). Most importantly, I want to continue to have fun at parkrun.

10. Be a less antisocial runner – If I discount parkrun, I still complete most of my training sessions on my own. I also live alone, work from home what feels like 99.9 per cent of the time, and don’t have many friends. I do feel lonely a lot of the time and regularly find myself wishing that I had more interaction with people. I’ve also reached the stage where I miss training with other people. I re-joined my local running club three years ago, and if I manage to complete the Couch to 5k, my goal is to take part in some training sessions with the Club.

11. Complete 5 races – This is very much an injury-permitting, knee-behaving itself goal, but my goal is to complete at least five races this year. Last year, I walked my way around a couple of local events, and I enjoyed being surrounded by other runners and walkers. This year, I’d love to be able to add to my running medal collection.

12. Don’t buy any unessential running gear – And finally, the goal I know from experience I’ll find the most challenging. I set myself a similar goal in 2021, 2022, and last year and failed miserably. This year, if I want to make any essential running-related purchases, I’ll have to raise money to fund these purchases by selling some of my unwanted running gear online. I want my running habit to fund itself. I’m not ashamed to admit that if I’m offered any Mizuno trainers to review or offered free entry into a local race, I’m not going to say no. I’m also going to be entering every competition I see on social media.

Have you set yourself any running, walking, or parkrun goals for the year ahead? If you have, good luck! If you’ve shared your goals in a blog post, please let me know so that I can go and have a nose.

Have you entered any target races? Please don’t laugh, but I’ve already got two half marathons in my 2024 calendar.

Do you think I’ll be able to avoid buying any unessential running gear in 2024? If the last few years are anything to go by, I’m going to find this particular goal the most challenging.

Here are the links to my previous annual review posts, there’s most definitely a theme 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021  | 2022  

January

The combination of a continued loss of running mojo and a knee niggle meant that I started the year barcode scanning Sutton Park parkrun. I managed to dodge the parkrun photographer, this would be a common occurrence in 2023, so there’s sadly no evidence of my epic barcode scanning skills. As in previous years, spending the first morning of the year at parkrun was a great way to start the year. I felt reasonably confident I’d be able to call myself a runner again, so I shared my running, walking, and parkrun goals for the year ahead.

The following Saturday I decided the weather was far too wet and miserable for parkrun, so I stayed in bed and then spent the morning regretting being so lazy. The weather during the first half of January was so wet and miserable, I read a lot and published a Books I’ve read recently post.

As I was still working from home and not getting anywhere near my old target of 10,000 steps a day, I set myself a target of walking 100 miles in January. Although I didn’t manage to meet my distance target – this would be a common occurrence in 2023 – my lunchtime and evening walks around Four Oaks were one of the highlights of the month.

A not quite as healthy and rather expensive January highlight was the reintroduction of regular Saturday lunchtime visits to the Giggling Squid restaurant in Mere Green.

Getting out of the house and eating something I hadn’t had to cook for myself made the expense and temporary weight gain worthwhile.

After running in Brooks Adrenaline trainers for several years, I made the mistake of assuming the latest model would be fine to wear straight out of the box. My feet disagreed and during my four-mile walk across Sutton Park, my heels were shredded to pieces. This meant that rather than jeffing my way around Sutton Park parkrun, I completed some unplanned marshalling and then hobbled to the finish.

What I’d thought were a bargain pair of Brooks Adrenaline trainers ended up costing me more in blister plasters and lost miles. Three days and a lot of blister plasters later, I ended the month with a cold but incredibly enjoyable evening walk around Four Oaks.

February

Looking back, although running was still very much something other people do, February was one of the more positive months of 2023, a huge contrast to 12 months previously. Accepting that it was time for a change, I made use of a flexi Friday and headed to Alpha Running in Lichfield for a gait analysis.

I felt slightly embarrassed when after I’d stated I’d had enough of Brooks trainers and wanted a change when I realised I was surrounded by Brooks-branded paraphernalia. After a detailed gait analysis, I purchased a couple of pairs of trainers; a pair of Mizuno Wave Inspire 19a and a pair of ASICS GEL-KAYANO 29s. As my feet are like boats, I left the store empty-handed and feeling shocked at how expensive trainers had got.

The following morning I headed to Sutton Park parkrun and marshalled at my favourite marshalling location, the Jamboree Stone. After parkrun, a large group of parkrunners headed to the Communitea Café in Boldmere for breakfast and banter.

The following week I was unwell with a cough and cold that refused to go away. Although multiple tests confirmed I didn’t have COVID-19, I felt far too unwell to collect my trainers from Lichfield. It was a case of so near yet so far with my new trainers. At the time I had no idea I was experiencing the first of several illnesses in 2023.

February ended on a positive note when it was light enough for me to walk across Sutton Park to Banners Gate for the first time in 2023. I took several photos to celebrate the occasion.

I ended the month with a spot of cold but entertaining barcode scanning and another lunch with a friend at the Giggling Squid in Mere Green. Although thanks to the lurgy I once again failed to get anywhere near my target of walking 100 miles in February, I made sure I headed outside on the days I was feeling well enough to leave the house.

March

At the start of March, I celebrated(?) three years of working from home. With apologies for the repetition, while I’ve enjoyed not having to spend three hours a day commuting on unreliable and overcrowded trains, I was feeling increasingly isolated from my colleagues. Although working in a small area-based team means that the days I literally don’t speak to anyone are rare, they were still happening regularly. My own fault for not relocating from the West Midlands to somewhere nearer Cumbria and Lancashire.

 A full volunteer roster meant I was able to christen my Mizuno Wave Inspire trainers with a slightly faster-than-usual walk around the Sutton Park parkrun course. My feet felt great. Only I could take a selfie of myself and not a photo of the trainers I hoped would enable me to restart the Couch to 5k.

I don’t want to go into too much detail, but after a lot of soul-searching and writing out several ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ lists, I finally decided not to apply for the Grade 6 senior hydrology technical specialist post that was being advertised in my team. A post-work stroll in the snow wearing my new walking trainers left me with shredded heels and a new open blister on my left heel.

The snow and ice resulted in the cancellation of Sutton Park parkrun and meant I wasn’t able to complete my 100^th parkrun. I wasn’t overly disappointed as my heels needed time to heal. I treated my friend to lunch at the Giggling Squid in Mere Green.

A couple of days later, a 30% discount code encouraged me to head to the Quill and Taper for an evening meal.

With apologies for sharing more food photos, I wanted to include these photos as the food that evening tasted amazing. Such a contrast to the last time I visited.

A week later than originally planned, I finally completed my 100^th parkrun at Kingsbury Water parkrun. The course was so muddy I spent most of the time worrying I was about to fall over.

I felt bad for avoiding my home parkrun, but I decided I wanted a quiet 100^th. The following week I discovered that although I wasn’t in Sutton Park, my name was read out at Sutton Park parkrun.

Work became incredibly busy with new starters, training courses, and shortlisting for jobs. I seriously started to question how much longer I could cope with working from home.

The final Saturday of March I volunteered as a barcode scanner in slightly comical conditions due to the wind. I lost count of the number of finish tokens and barcodes that blew on the floor just as I was about to scan them. Breakfast in the Communitea Café took longer than usual which meant I didn’t have time to change out of my parkrunning gear into something more suitable for the Giggling Squid.

In 2022, the lighter evenings meant that I spent more time outside and I did my best to head out for a walk every afternoon after I’d finished work. Last year, I experienced an all too predictable loss of motivation towards the end of the month and I rarely left the house.

April

April didn’t get off to the most positive start when during a routine dental appointment, I discovered I needed to be referred to the dental hospital to have one of my wisdom teeth removed. The wisdom in question was impacted which meant it couldn’t be removed by my dentist. Damage caused by the wayward wisdom tooth meant I also needed a filling. An expensive start to April.

I’ve just realised I’ve hardly mentioned running at all and this is meant to be a running blog. For the first time in several months, although I enjoyed marshalling at Sutton Park parkrun, in what were perfect conditions for running, I actually felt jealous watching other people run past me. I figured that if I’d run rather than volunteered I wouldn’t have missed out on the latest parkrun magazine.

The remainder of my Easter weekend was quiet, and I spent far too much time doom scrolling on social media feeling sorry for myself. Easter Monday was such a washout I cancelled the walk I’d planned in Sutton Park and headed to the Giggling Squid in Mere Green for lunch with a couple of friends.

The following weekend I walked across a very wet and muddy Sutton Park to Banners Gate and marshalled at a slightly tricky underfoot Location 3. This photo of me making rather heavy weather jumping over the Sutton Park popup sign became one of my favourite photos of 2023.

I headed straight from parkrun into Lichfield for a well-overdue haircut and ended up with slightly shorter hair than I had anticipated. The following week I helped interview for a hydrology post in my team and discovered I found being on an interview panel far more stressful than being interviewed.

I inevitably found watching the elite London Marathon races so inspiring, the following day I entered the London Marathon ballot and looked forward to receiving my annual rejection email a few months later. I tried on the adidas gear I’d been sent to review and planned out the Couch to 5k.

The last weekend in April was what I’ve described in the past as hydrological. I marshalled at location 1 and then walked to the finish to scan barcodes.

I lost count of the number of parkrunners I confused by volunteering in two roles. After parkrun, I headed to the Giggling Squid in Mere Green for an early birthday lunch. The discovery at the end of April I’d reached my highest-ever weight was the kick up the bum I needed. I vowed to have a no Chinese takeaway month in May.

May

At the start of May, I celebrated my 44^th birthday. If you read my last review post you’ll know that after my lockdown birthdays of 2020 and 2021, I spent a large proportion of my 43^rd birthday waiting for my friend to be discharged from hospital. Although my 44^th birthday ended up being a little underwhelming, it was a vast improvement on my previous birthday. I spent the rest of the first week of May on annual leave and ate far too much. While I managed to stay away from the local Chinese restaurant, my diet in May was far from healthy.

The previous May I ended up missing every parkrun as I didn’t want to leave my friend alone in the mornings for too long after his operation. Twelve months later I found myself volunteering as a marshal at the Jamboree Stone with my friend Helene every Saturday in May. The wet April weather was replaced with perfect weather for running, the kind of weather that made me determined to get back into running. Thumbs up for another successful Sutton Park parkrun.

Feeling inspired after parkrun, I was researching beginner to 5k training plans when I discovered the ‘This Messy Happy’ channel on YouTube. I decided to give their ‘6 Week Beginner to 5k’ training plan available here a go. I liked the plan because it contains really useful links to strength and conditioning and post-workout stretching videos on YouTube.

The following weekend I walked across Sutton Park and marshalled at the Jamboree Stone with Helene. The following morning I dug out some shorts for the first time in 2023 and met my running buddy Ellen for a walk around Sutton Park.

The weather on the Saturday of the May Bank Holiday weekend was gorgeous so after marshalling at the Jamboree Stone, I treated myself to another ice cream. My Brooks ‘Is it Saturday Morning Yet?’ t-shirt generated a lot of interest.

I’ve not complained about Wolves as this is meant to be a running blog, but as a Wolves supporter, the season ended on a negative note, again. At the end of May, I headed to the Giggling Squid in Mere Green for a belated birthday meal. Apologies for the all-too-predictable photos, I was yet to discover sticky chicken.

After another mixed month from a motivation and mental health perspective I felt it was time for a rants and raves post, I felt a lot better after having a bit of a moan.

June

After a slow first five months of the year, I felt needed something different to hopefully motivate me to record some sort of training every day. I came up with the challenge of seeing how many Royal Mail post boxes I could photograph during June.

The first Saturday in June I marshalled in my usual location near the Jamboree Stone. The following morning I took part in my first organised event in several years, the Royal Sutton Fun Run, with my running buddy Ellen.

This photo sums up how amazing the Royal Sutton Fun Run was. We had the most amazing couple of hours power walking our way around the 8.5 mile course. We smashed our original time target and enjoyed every minute. I headed back to Ellen’s for a BBQ afterward and enjoyed the insight into what normal people do during the weekend.

The improved weather and Royal Mail post box challenge didn’t stop me from reading, and I published my second Books I’ve read recently post  of the year. The recognition my trainers were being worn daily, meant I invested in a second, slightly more reasonably priced pair of Mizuno Wave Inspire 19 trainers.

The amazing June weather continued, and on the second Saturday in June, I walked across Sutton Park and marshalled in my usual location near to the Jamboree Stone with Helene. I’m not sure when or why I got into the habit of always putting my thumbs up whenever I spotted a parkrun photographer.

The following week I tracked down and photographed several Royal Mail post boxes including the oldest post box I found, this ‘VR’ post box near to Four Oaks Tennis Club.

After a week of somewhat stressful meetings about the dry weather situation in the north, I was able to book Friday off as flexi. I met Mum for lunch at the Quill and Taper and ordered the chicken, bacon, and avocado salad. The salad tasted amazing.

The following morning I walked across Sutton Park on a slightly tight right calf and photographed another post box. I marshalled near the start and then power-walked the rest of the course with Ellen. I rather stupidly ran the downhill sections, which wasn’t one of my more sensible decisions as my right calf felt niggly afterward.

During another early Sunday morning walk around Four Oaks and Mere Green I managed to locate and photograph 12 Royal Mail post boxes.

The final weekend in June I walked across Sutton Park, volunteered as a barcode scanner, and completed my 100^th volunteering stint. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but the whole morning felt slightly underwhelming. The following morning I met up with Ellen in a very warm Sutton Park for a Sutton Park Gates Run route recce. Once I’d recovered, I headed to the Giggling Squid where I ordered crispy chicken for the first time. It tasted amazing.

A couple of days later I completed the Sutton Park Gates Run after work with Ellen. We got misplaced a couple of times and rather ironically after I’d spent the day in meetings discussing prolonged dry weather also got drenched. We’ll hopefully be back to beat our time this year.

The Royal Sutton Fun Run, Sutton Park Gates Run, and my informal Royal Mail post box challenge walks meant that I smashed my target of walking 100 miles in a month by 20 miles. Although the warm and dry weather meant that work got quite stressful, June was most definitely one of the better months of the year.

July

Like a lot of runners I follow on social media, my July started with a double rejection when in the space of a couple of hours, I was unsuccessful in both the London Marathon and the London Landmarks Half Marathon ballots.

While the London Marathon rejection was completely expected, I’d started looking at hotel options for the weekend of the London Landmarks Half Marathon, so the second rejection was more disappointing.

On the second Saturday in July, I volunteered for the hundredth time at Sutton Park parkrun. Although it was slightly embarrassing having random people cheering me as they ran past my marshalling position, I included three photos from what was a fabulous morning.

Thanks again to Gary for setting up Sutton Park parkrun and to my Sutton Park parkrun family. Without my weekly dose of Sutton Park parkrun, I know for a fact I wouldn’t have got through 2023. I was really struggling at work and would spend my Sunday evenings dreading the week ahead. I wasn’t sure what caused my complete loss of confidence in my ability to do my job, but I’m still dealing with what I think is imposter syndrome.

The following Saturday there were concerns about having to cancel parkrun due to the thunderstorms that had been forecast. The weather forecast changed, and parkrun went ahead. Seven days after three of my favourite photos of 2023 were taken, Rob managed to capture what I’d describe as a reality check photo.

My work-related woes continued the following week when I participated in a two-day Excel Advanced training course. I struggled throughout the two days and felt like a dinosaur compared with everyone else on the training course. Following the completion of my 101^st volunteering stint at Sutton Park parkrun, as it was my niece’s birthday, I headed to the Heart of the Country for lunch at the Creperie. I couldn’t remember the last time I ate there, possibly when I was still at school so a long time ago! It was great to spend time with my family.

The following day I headed back to the Giggling Squid in Mere Green for lunch. One of my 2024 Resolutions is to explore more of the local eating establishments in Mere Green and Lichfield.

I can’t remember why I ended up drinking two rather sugary mocktails, but after spending the rest of the day feeling quite nauseous, it’s not something I’d recommend. At least the sticky chicken and egg fried rice both tasted amazing.

During the final week of July, I travelled up to Warrington and met some of my team and my line manager for the first time. The long day was incredibly tiring, but it felt great to meet some of my team and to work in an office for the first time since 2020. I volunteered as a marshal at the final Sutton Park parkrun of the month and then proceeded to sleepwalk my way around the rest of the course.

After far too many delays, at the end of July I finally started following the Beginner to 5k training plan. A positive end to a month that featured some mental health struggles and a lot of thinking about running and walking but not much in the way of actual exercise.

August

August was a positive month that featured some running. I successfully completed the first week of the Beginner to 5k training plan. Although I quickly discovered my fitness levels were seriously lacking, I was so thrilled to be back doing something that resembled running again, I didn’t care about the torrential rain during the final interval session of the first week of training.

I posted regular updates on my Instagram account and decided to share more detailed progress reports in weekly training posts on this blog. When I was writing this review post last week, I loved being able to look back at my training updates and hope that other runners found my regular updates useful.

I published Week 1 and Week 2 training updates and although I started to feel my running fitness returning, I was a little disappointed this green light remained on green as I approached it.

Illness unfortunately meant I missed the second interval session of the third week of the Beginner to 5k training plan. I incorporated the final training session of the third week of training, a 2km run, into my Saturday morning walk across Sutton Park. Some not very sensible pacing meant I found the 2km run difficult and I didn’t enjoy the final five minutes of the run. I caught up with some of my parkrun buddies, volunteered as a beetroot-faced barcode scanner, walked home, and felt dehydrated for the rest of the day.

I published my Week 3 training update, struggled in incredibly humid conditions to complete the first interval session of Week 4 of the Beginner to 5k training plan. I headed to Warrington for a couple of days and missed the second interval session of the week due to some early morning laziness. This meant I ended up running on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, I underestimated my running pace and ended up having to run away from the start of Sutton Park parkrun. I volunteered as a marshal at the Jamboree Stone and left Sutton Park with a mysterious bite on my right leg. On Sunday, I completed a 3km time trial and then met up with some of the Sutton Park parkrun core team to check out a potential new course.

An hour after leaving Sutton Park, I found myself back in the Giggling Squid in Mere Green ordering sticky chicken again.

Although the food tasted amazing, I felt it might be time for a change as I was starting to find the food predictable. The following morning I discovered that the bite on my right leg had doubled in size and my leg felt hot when I touched it. I published my Week 4 training update and decided to take a week break from following the Beginner to 5k to let my right leg recover.

September

September was a positive month, largely because I spent the first two weeks of the month on annual leave. The first weekend of September, I volunteered as a marshal at Sutton Park parkrun on Saturday and took part in another potential course recce with some of the Sutton Park parkrun core team on Sunday.

The first week of my annual leave featured a slightly unexpected heatwave.

A settled week of weather to come for most, with temperatures generally climbing day-on-day, peaking on Wednesday or Thursday pic.twitter.com/1Cd50rZhuH

— Met Office (@metoffice) September 4, 2023

As I’ve never been very good at running in warmer-than-average weather and my right leg was still red and swollen, I decided to postpone restarting the Beginner to 5k. The heatwave didn’t make my appetite disappear, so the first Thursday in September, I met Mum for lunch at the Quill and Taper. The fishfinger sandwich I ordered was the most tasteless sandwich I’ve ever eaten. It was very disappointing.

The first weekend in September I walked across Sutton Park and volunteered as a marshal at the Jamboree Stone with Helene on Saturday morning and met up with Ellen for a walk the following morning. Thanks to my amazing map-reading skills we somehow managed slightly misplaced during our walk. And then the rain made a welcome appearance.

Looking back, the majority of my second week of annual leave was largely slightly underwhelming as I didn’t have plans to do anything. I think the highlight of the week was meeting up with Helene and Ellen for an evening meal. While the food tasted amazing, this would turn out to be my final visit to the Giggling Squid in 2023.

The following morning I walked the short distance to Boots as I’d booked an appointment for my winter flu jab. You may be wondering why I’ve mentioned my winter flu jab in this annual review, all will become clear. On Saturday morning I walked across Sutton Park and was surprised it was dark at 6am and still quite gloomy at 7am. I was left wondering how many more weeks I’d be able to walk to parkrun. I posed for some terrible photos and volunteered as a marshal at the Jamboree Stone.

I took part in a recce of what would become the Sutton Park parkrun course at the end of October. Sutton Park was busy; it was great to see so many people taking part in the Birmingham Running Festival. I ended the weekend feeling gloomy about my lack of running and what I perceived as my wasted fortnight of annual leave.

I returned to work and spent most of the week worrying about the lump under my left armpit which was getting larger and increasingly painful. The walk across Sutton Park that Saturday was stunning but chilly, it felt like the first proper autumnal morning.

A few days later the pain under my left arm got so bad I contacted NHS 111. I explained my symptoms to a doctor and was prescribed antibiotics. I ended the month with more marshalling at the Jamboree Stone.

Although I ended September with a painful lump under my left arm and no running progress, I felt reasonably confident that once the antibiotics had worked their magic, I’d be able to restart the Beginner to 5k training plan.

October

At the start of October, I travelled across Birmingham to Bournville and spent the day at Cadbury World with my brother and his family. My stomach was unfortunately feeling fragile due to the antibiotics I was taking, so I was probably the only person at Cadbury World who didn’t eat any chocolate.

I had my initial appointment with a Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon at the Westbourne Centre in Edgbaston. The consultant reviewed my x-rays and said he agreed with my dentist; my impacted lower right wisdom tooth needed to be removed as soon as possible as it was damaging the tooth next to it. I completed my course of antibiotics and my arm started to feel normal again.

I walked across a rather dark Sutton Park to Banners Gate and volunteered as a marshal at the Jamboree Stone. I made sure I appreciated every minute of the walk and took a lot of photos, as I was aware I’d have to switch to an alternative, less scenic but slightly lighter route the following week.

The following morning I volunteered as a marshal at the test event for the new Sutton Park parkrun course. Two days later, when my alarm woke me at 5am, I decided to postpone restarting the Beginner to 5k for another week. I started to seriously question if I actually wanted to start running again.

The last week of the original Sutton Park parkrun course starting at Banners Gate, it was so wet, that I stupidly opted to wear my work boots to walk across Sutton Park. Two miles into my four-mile walk I could tell both of my heels were being shredded to pieces, again. I hobbled to my marshalling spot at the infamous turnaround point and sheltered under a tree in an attempt to avoid the rain while I took some dreadful selfies.

By the time I’d hobbled back to Longmoor Pool, my heels were so painful I was struggling to walk. Ellen very kindly giving me a lift home most definitely saved the day and my heels. The next day I met up with my family for Mum’s surprise 70^th birthday lunch at the Shrewsbury Arms in Kingstone. The lunch was a great success and, most importantly, a surprise.

I finally found the Birmingham office and spent the day in a face-to-face workshop. I loved spending time with people, the day made me realise just how isolated I’d been feeling for a long time. I got to check out Ozzy on the way home.

The final Saturday in October saw the first week of the new and improved Sutton Park parkrun course starting from Boldmere Gate. I walked across a very dark Sutton Park to Boldmere Gate and then walked to my marshal location near the Ford at Wyndley Gate.

On the final day of the month, I completed the first interval session of the Couch to 5k. Although my aerobic fitness felt fine, both of my shins felt quite painful for some reason, and I didn’t enjoy the majority of the interval session.

November

The first Thursday of the month I struggled to complete the second interval session of the Couch to 5k. I’d never had problems with my shins before, but for some reason, both of my shins felt even more painful. That Saturday I marshalled at possibly the wettest ever Sutton Park parkrun.

The following morning I completed Week 1 of the Couch to 5k. Rather randomly, my shins and calf muscles felt a lot better. Despite this, I decided not to publish a weekly training update as I wasn’t feeling confident I’d be able to make much progress with the Couch to 5k.

I spent the day down in London at a hydrology conference. It was amazing to catch up with some of the people I worked with in Wallingford, and I met some hydrology colleagues for the first time.

Although my legs were still feeling what I’d describe as quite niggly, I successfully completed the first interval session of week 2 of the Couch to 5k. Another temporary loss of running mojo meant that I managed to miss the second interval session of the week. That weekend I walked across Sutton Park to Boldmere Gate. The weather was stunning, such a contrast to the previous. I marshalled near the Ford at Wyndley Gate again and discovered it was quite chilly in the shade.

Early the next morning I completed Week 2 of the Couch to 5k and was once again reminded I’m more of a morning runner.

The following Saturday, a lot of overnight rain meant my walk to Boldmere Gate was quite entertaining. I marshalled at the Ford at Wyndley Gate again and for the second weekend in a row got quite cold standing around in the shade. After a lot of consideration – my anxiety seems to make saying ‘yes’ to anything difficult – I said I’d love to join Sutton Park parkruns core team. I completed Week 3 of the Couch to 5k and reminded myself the training was about to get harder.

On the final Friday of the month, I returned to the Westbourne Centre in Edgbaston for my wisdom tooth extraction. The procedure itself went well and was quick and painless.

Unfortunately, once the anaesthetic wore off, I was in so much pain I ended up spending the day in bed. Such a waste of a day of annual leave. I missed parkrun the following morning for the first time I could remember as I was in a lot of pain. Little did I know my mouth would continue to be painful for over a week. I decided to postpone restarting the Couch to 5k to allow my mouth to recover.

I shared The True Cost of Running: the 2023 edition and once again felt slightly embarrassed when I saw the grand total. Not for the first time, I seriously considered giving up blogging as it does feel like blogging has had its day.

December

I opened the first door of my Runners Advent Calendar and must admit I was slightly underwhelmed to find a single running sock behind the first door. I bought myself a parkrun thermal robe, so much for not making any more running-related purchases, and the following morning missed Sutton Park parkrun for the second Saturday in a row. I had an amazing time on the Polar Express at Foxfield Railway.

As the month progressed, I started to struggle with motivation to do anything and I rarely left the house. My mental health started to deteriorate as I fell into the comparison trap, and I spent far too much time looking at other people’s social media highlights reels on social media. I decided to delay restarting the Couch to 5k for another week as I was still struggling with the site of my recent wisdom tooth extraction.

The second Saturday of December I was woken by torrential rain. I got drenched walking across Sutton Park to Boldmere Gate and didn’t massively enjoy marshalling in the rain. Once I’d recovered from parkrun, in an attempt to make myself feel more festive, I spent the rest of the day wrapping Christmas presents, writing Christmas cards, and watching Home Alone. The following day I helped put up some Christmas decorations at Mums.

That Friday, I activated my ‘out of office’ and locked away my work laptop for three weeks. The following morning I volunteered as a tail walker at Sutton Park parkrun and then headed to the Chase Farm Café for breakfast. That evening, I joined the rest of the Sutton Park parkrun core team for a Christmas meal and drinks in Boldmere.

After a couple more failed attempts at running, I decided to postpone restarting the Couch to 5k until the New Year. Following a walk in some of the windiest conditions I’ve encountered, I treated Mum and Colin to lunch at the Quill and Taper, the food tasted amazing.

I volunteered as a marshal at the Jamboree Stone, and as it was nearly Christmas, I dug out my most festive bobble hat and t-shirt.

On Christmas Day I volunteered as a marshal at Jamboree Stone for the second time in three days. The atmosphere in Sutton Park was amazing. Everyone I spoke to wished me either a ‘Merry Christmas’ or a ‘Happy Christmas’. I was handed a Christmas card and chocolate by a parkrunner. Such a lovely gesture, thank you.

I walked back home, got changed into some slightly more sensible attire, and then spent the rest of Christmas Day eating, drinking, and watching TV.

What should have been my last walk across Sutton Park to Boldmere Gate in 2023 didn’t go to plan when a strange pain in my left foot resulted in me hobbling back home in tears. I ended up getting a lift to Boldmere Gate so that I could once again volunteer as a marshal at the Jamboree Stone.

And what about Christmas? I can’t really review December without talking about the Christmas period. I was able to spend time with my family and friends and managed to avoid getting ill the day before Christmas Day. I didn’t decorate my house again and I failed to assemble the Lego Home Alone house I bought in 2022. Hopefully, it’ll be a case of third Christmas lucky.

 Christmas Day 2023 was a huge contrast to Christmas Day 2022 when I managed to make myself feel more isolated than ever. I volunteered as a marshal at Sutton Park parkrun and then walked home. I spent the rest of Christmas Day with Mum and Colin in my childhood home. I drank too much bubbly, ate far too much food, and watched far too much TV. The early morning start and fresh air in Sutton Park eventually caught up with me as I ended up ‘resting my eyes’ while watching ‘The Italian Job’. I was able to catch up with my brother and his family on Boxing Day and spent the day yesterday with my sister. Such a contrast to Christmas 2022.

 I always like to approach the end of each year feeling positive about the next 12 months, so I’ve set myself some running, walking, and parkrun goals for 2024. I’ve also set myself some life goals, and although I’m not planning on sharing these goals, one of my main goals is a repeat goal from 12 months ago. I want to finally get my foot on the bottom rung of the property ladder. It’s going to be challenging and I’m going to have to move away from Four Oaks but I’m feeling more confident than I was a year ago.

Looking back, 2023 was another difficult year for me. I once again spent far too much time feeling completely alone and overwhelmed. I spent far too much time doubting my ability to do my job. At times I didn’t think I’d make it through the next day let alone the rest of the year. Although I shared some of the not-so-positive moments on this blog and on social media, when my life got really tough, I shut myself away and distanced myself from my friends and family.

My running mojo completely disappeared after illness meant I had to stop following the Couch to 5k a second time, and although *touch wood* I’m not currently injured, I keep delaying heading out the door and restarting the Couch to 5k. My monthly running (purple), cycling (green), and walking (red) bars illustrate how the focus of my training varied throughout 2023. I think it’s safe to say I’ve had another somewhat underwhelming year.

Although my training was once again inconsistent – I’d describe myself as consistently inconsistent – I ran when I wanted to and was finding running enjoyable and walked when I was unable to run. I was sensible and stopped running when I needed to.

I’m going to conclude my review of 2023 more or less the same way I concluded my 2020, 2021 and 2022 reviews. I may sound selfish, but I hope that I have a less injury-filled 2024. 

What was the running highlight of 2023 for you? 

What are your running and fitness goals for 2024?

I’ve reviewed 2022 in a fair amount of detail here and I’ve drawn a line under 2022. It’s now time for me to look ahead to 2023 and to set myself some running goals, some walking goals, and some parkrun goals. Last year, the combination of a severe loss of mojo and a persistent knee injury meant that I failed to achieve several of the goals I shared in this post a year ago.

I spent a lot of time weighing up the pros and cons of making these goals public. I’m aware that my goals have been getting far too predictable over the last few years. I’m also aware that my knees are not completely fixed and without surgery never will be. I hope that by sharing my goals, I make myself more accountable and less likely to give up. The last couple of years, sharing my goals helped me to start the year feeling both motivated and positive, so I decided to publish this post.

1. Listen to my niggles – I’m aware that I’m repeating myself, but I’m definitely what I’d describe as an injury-prone runner. Some runners hardly ever seem to pick up injuries, other runners seem to spend the majority of the time either injured or recovering from an injury. It feels like some of us are trapped in a never-ending cycle of run – get injured – sulk – rest – injury rehab – recover from injury – get excited to be back up and running – run too much – ignore strength and conditioning – repeat. I’m rereading all the books I’ve invested in over the last year or so.

Running helps keep my anxiety under control and I know I’m a better person when I have running in my life. I don’t want to spend large chunks of the year feeling stressed and miserable because I can’t run, so I’m going to keep an eye on my niggles. Last year, I was once again reminded that attempting to run through niggles only tends to result in one outcome: a more serious injury. As I’m sat writing these goals, my knees are both *touch wood* feeling a lot happier than they did a year ago.

2. Dedicate time to strength and conditioning – This goal has featured in previous years, but I’m still not great at completing the strength and conditioning exercises I was provided with during my physio appointments last summer. I’ve concluded that I’m very much an all or nothing type of person, this needs to change as consistency will be key. I really am my own worst enemy when it comes to regularly completing my strength and conditioning exercises. And I know I have long legs, but I really do need to stop sitting with my legs double crossed, it isn’t helping my knees and hips.

3. Train sensibly and consistently – Another repeat goal, but I’m not great at training sensibly and consistently. I’m getting better, but I still have room to improve. I’ve said it before, but I’m usually so thrilled to be back up and running, I end up obsessively following the Couch to 5k, not giving myself a week off when needed, and end up injuring myself. Last September, my training was going well until I decided to complete a 5k run at Beacon parkrun during the fifth week of the Couch to 5k. While I don’t think parkrun was the cause of my knee injury making an unwelcome reappearance, I don’t think it helped.

4. Complete the Couch to 5k – Although I guess that I could argue that by running 5km at Beacon parkrun, I successfully completed the Couch to 5k, I failed to complete the full nine weeks of the training plan. After experiencing a slight loss of motivation towards the end of last year, I haven’t run consistently since the end of September, my priority for the first three months of the year is to restart the Couch to 5k. I don’t think I’m going to share weekly training updates as I don’t want to risk boring people to tears.

5. Run a minimum of 25 miles a month – This is obviously very much an injury permitting, knee behaving itself kind of goal, but I want to run a minimum of 25 miles a month this year. I’m hoping that a large proportion of these miles will be what I’ve previously described as parkrun miles. I’m not worried about my pace, I’m not worried about having to take numerous walking breaks., Jeffing may well be the way forward. I just want to be able to jog or to run three times a week.

6. Walk a minimum of 100 miles a month – Last year, I aimed to walk a minimum of 100 km each month. With the exception of May when trying to combine my full-time job with caring for an elderly friend prevented me from doing much in the way of exercise, I found walking 100 km each month easy. My walks across Sutton Park to parkrun were the most amazing way to start the weekend.

I enjoyed my walks across Sutton Park and around Four Oaks so much, I decided to set myself a goal of walking a minimum of 100 miles each month this year. If, after a couple of months, I find that this goal has turned walking into a chore, I’ll adjust my monthly distance goal to something more achievable.

7. Become a member of the parkrun 100 Club – After completing my first parkrun what feels like a lifetime ago in May 2013, I finally became a member of the parkrun 50 Club in November 2021. After completing 42 parkruns last year, I’ve now completed 94 parkruns in total, so I should be able to join the parkrun 100 Club in the next month or so. My focus will then switch to my next parkrun goal.

8. Become a member of the parkrun Volunteer 100 Club – At one stage I’d volunteered at parkrun more times than I’d run/walked at parkrun. I love volunteering, the selfie opportunities are endless but a little predictable.

If you follow me over on Instagram, you’ll already be aware that I really enjoy volunteering, so I’ll be aiming to become a member of what I call the parkrun volunteer 100 Club at some point this year. As I’m writing this 2023 goals post, I’ve volunteered 82 times so this goal should be achievable.

9. Explore more local parkruns – This is a repeat goal from the last three years. To date, I’ve still only completed five different parkruns; Beacon, Didcot, Kingsbury Water Park, Sutton Park and Walsall Arboretum. This year, I’d love to visit more local parkruns, I’m yet to complete Perry Hall parkrun which is located only 3 miles or so from Sutton Park parkrun.

I don’t have a car, so unless I manage to grab a lift with other parkrunners, I’ll be limited to exploring local parkruns that are accessible by public transport. I’ve worked out that several local parkruns are in theory easily accessible by public transport, it’s just unfortunate that the trains and buses have been so unreliable recently.

10. Complete more parkrun challenges – I’m aware that I’m repeating myself, again, but much as I love parkrun, I didn’t take a lot of notice of the various parkrun challenges until last year. While I’d heard of the parkrun alphabet challenge and have met a lot of parkrun tourists at Sutton Park parkrun, I had no idea there were so many parkrun challenges. I still don’t completely understand what the p-index actually means and when there was an influx of parkrunners at Sutton Park parkruns 144^th event, I was introduced to the Fibonacci Challenge. I still regularly check my progress in completing the various challenges using the Running Challenge extension. Could we have a parkwalker volunteer badge please?

Last year, I achieved my Silver parkrun Obsessive badge and became a three-star tail walker and marshal. This year, I’d love to visit the home of parkrun and to complete the Bushy Pilgrimage challenge. I’d also love to make a start on the Name Badge challenge (0/12 letters completed) and to make more progress towards completing the Stopwatch Bingo challenge (44/60 times completed). Most importantly, I want to continue to have as much fun at parkrun as I did in 2022.

11. Be a less antisocial runner – If I discount parkrun, I complete all of my training sessions on my own. I also live alone, work from home and don’t have many friends. I do feel lonely a lot of the time and regularly find myself wishing that I had more interaction with people in real-life and not just virtually through MS Teams. I’ve also reached the stage that I miss training with other people. I re-joined my local running club two years ago, and when I’ve completed the Couch to 5k, my goal is to take part in some training sessions with the Club.

12. Don’t buy any running gear or enter any races – And finally, the goal I know from experience I’ll find the most challenging. I set myself a similar goal in 2021 and failed miserably. This year, if I want to make any running related purchases, I’ll have to raise money to fund these purchases by selling some of my unwanted running gear online first. I want my running habit to fund itself. I think it’s fair to say that if I’m offered any Brooks Adrenaline trainers to review or offered free entry into a local event, I’m not going to say no. I’m also going to be entering every competition I see on social media.

Have you set yourself any running goals for the year ahead?

Have you entered any target races?

Do you think I’ll be able to run for free in 2023?

]]> https://thephdrunner.com/2023/01/02/my-running-walking-and-parkrun-goals-for-2023/feed/ 0 20141 https://thephdrunner.com/2021/12/31/2021-review-running-highlights-and-lessons-learned/ https://thephdrunner.com/2021/12/31/2021-review-running-highlights-and-lessons-learned/#comments Fri, 31 Dec 2021 10:30:11 +0000 https://thephdrunner.com/?p=14279 As 2021 has almost come to an end, I’ve decided to review my running highlights, low points, and the lessons I learned throughout the year. As like last year I spent the majority of the year injured and unable to run, I decided to share some of my non-running highlights and low points. If you don’t enjoy reading lengthy annual review posts – I’m quite nosey so I personally find them interesting, but I know from previous feedback that not everyone does – I’d recommend that you navigate away from this page and continue with your day.

Here are the links to my previous annual review posts, there’s definitely a theme 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020

January

History repeated itself and I started the year with a knee injury which meant I, unfortunately, wasn’t able to run. Despite this, I started 2021 feeling positive about the year ahead, surely things could only get better.

This positivity didn’t last long! The announcement of a third national lockdown that would last at least six weeks wasn’t the best start to 2021. I set myself and shared details of what I described as three personal challenges and also shared my running goals for the year ahead. In an attempt to motivate myself, I decided to ‘reward’ myself for completing cycling and running training sessions and also for volunteering at parkrun when it returned. I also made sure that I spent time outside, even when the weather was miserable.

I’m aware that this review is already making me sound like Moaning Myrtle, January did have one major highlight. I was interviewed for a permanent hydrology technical specialist role – being interviewed via MS Teams was a somewhat surreal experience – and I found out that I’d been successful a couple of days later.  After spending three years on a series of fixed-term contracts, it felt amazing to have the increased security and stability of a permanent contract.

Although I managed to spend a fair amount of time on my exercise bike, I was unable to run so I deferred my Richmond Half entry to 2022. This would turn out to be the first of a series of race deferrals.

February

Like a lot of people, I found the third national lockdown incredibly difficult. I completely lost my exercise mojo and rarely left the house. I neglected my exercise bike and reached my highest ever weight. Looking back, February was both physically and mentally challenging. Once I’d written and shared my first personal challenges update, I couldn’t be bothered to blog as I didn’t have anything interesting to say.

The second month of the year wasn’t all doom and gloom. I entered the virtual London Marathon – yes, I know I vowed to never enter another marathon – but I figured it would give me something to focus on. I also promised myself that as there wasn’t a time limit, I could always walk the 26.2 miles. My favourite race; the Cathedral to Castle run was postponed again to later in the year. I hoped that I’d be able to make it to the start line of the event.

March

March was a month of unwelcome milestones. I celebrated(?) 12 months of working from home. While I’d enjoyed not having to spend three hours a day commuting to and from the office, I was feeling increasingly isolated. The numerous days I quite literally didn’t speak to anyone were particularly difficult. The news that we’d probably be working from home until the end of the year was both unexpected and unwelcome. I looked ahead to my new job and wondered how I’d cope working closely with people I’d never met in person. Spending some time with my support bubble on Mother’s Day provided me with me a much-needed change of scenery.

I most definitely didn’t celebrate the 12 month anniversary of the final parkrun that took place before the first national lockdown. I never thought I’d miss my parkrun family as much as I did. I never thought I’d miss the early mornings as much as I did. In an attempt to temporarily forget about the ‘real world’ I spent my evenings working my way through my pile of unread books and published another Books read recently post.  I also shared a life lately update.

I attended a virtual drinks and leaving do and in typical Emma style, I cried. My old team bought me the most amazing Percy Pig bouquet; I was in such a rush to make a start on the Percy Pigs I forgot to take a photo so here’s a photo I found online. Incidentally, after eating far too many bags of Percy Pigs in one sitting, I’ve not eaten any Percy Pigs since.

[Source]

The lighter morning and evenings meant that I spent more time outside and that my exercise mojo made a welcome return. I recorded my highest monthly exercise bike mileage and entered the virtual Boston Marathon.

View this post on Instagram

I figured that as I’ll never be fast enough to qualify to run the Boston Marathon, completing the virtual Boston Marathon would hopefully enable me to earn my own Boston Marathon unicorn medal. I know it’s not the same as travelling to Boston and running the actual Boston Marathon, but it’s the closest I’ll get to the real thing.

April

I didn’t blog much in April because I started a new job and didn’t want to give myself the added pressure of blogging. I spent quite a lot of my free time reading and published another Books I’ve read recently post. Reaching the bottom of my ‘books to read’ pile made me feel so anxious, I used the local recognition award I’d received from work to buy another six running-related books. So much for spending the award on something sensible.

I’ve just realised that I’ve barely mentioned running and this is meant to be a running blog. Sorry! I almost started following the Couch to 5k a few times in April. Unfortunately, the second I charged up my Garmin and thought about running, my knee niggle made an unwelcome but predictable reappearance. After a so-called easy session on my exercise bike appeared to exacerbate my knee pain, I started to suspect that it was my exercise bike and not running that was at least partly to blame for my knee issues.

May

 At the start of May, I celebrated my 42nd birthday. Unfortunately, the Early May Bank Holiday weekend was a complete washout so some of my outdoor birthday plans were postponed. Although my birthday was a quiet, low-key affair, it was a vast improvement on my birthday 12 months earlier. I ordered and ate far too much Chinese takeaway, drank a little too much wine, and had a great evening with my support bubble. A couple of days later, I received my first Covid vaccine, and except for a sore arm and a slightly elevated resting heart rate felt fine. The day after my vaccine I got to see my sister and my twin nieces for the first time in almost eight months.

Once my resting heart rate settled down, I decided it was time for me to re-start the Couch to 5k for what felt like the millionth time.

The first few runs were a little scary, and I spent most of the interval sessions worrying my knees were going to implode. Luckily my knees felt reasonably happy – I’d previously been warned that they are never going to be completely pain-free – and I managed to complete the first three weeks of the Couch to 5k and got to witness some stunning sunrises.

Although my knees coped with the interval runs, spending any amount of time on my exercise bike left me in quite a lot of pain. I put the exercise bike in the shed and researched alternative cross-training options. I quickly discovered that I’m useless at yoga and that I really should overcome my phobia of swimming pools.

At the end of the month, I treated a friend to lunch at our local Bistrot Pierre restaurant in Mere Green.

This turned out to be the start of an expensive and calorific weekly habit. Having some normality back in my life more than made up for the temporary weight gain.

June

My Couch to 5k training continued and I successfully completed the fourth and fifth weeks of the plan. Running for five minutes consecutively felt like a huge milestone.

Unfortunately, my knee injury flared up during the final 20 minute run of Week 6 of the plan, so I decided to take another break from running to give my knee time to recover. I was reasonably confident it would only need to be a short break.

My exercise bike spent the month gathering dust in the garden shed, so in a desperate attempt to get some exercise and to maintain my fitness, I spent a lot of time walking around Four Oaks and around the top end north of Sutton Park.

The remainder of June was mixed, definitely a month of lows and highs. My new job continued to be stressful, and I spent an unhealthy amount of time doubting myself and feeling like a failure. In an attempt to cheer myself up, I bought myself a Garmin Fenix as the battery life of my Garmin 235 was deteriorating rapidly. After a few failed attempts and some slightly fruity language – I may have a PhD but I’m useless with technology – I eventually managed to get my new Garmin to ‘talk’ to my iPhone.

July

The majority of July was challenging, looking back I’ve genuinely got no idea how I made it through the month. My new job continued to be stressful, and I experienced what I can only describe as a complete loss of confidence. I applied for a job on a lower grade based in my old team in Wallingford but wasn’t shortlisted for an interview. Not the confidence boost I needed. When I admitted that I was struggling and felt like I wasn’t coping, my team leaders were incredibly supportive, and work arranged for me to attend weekly Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) sessions.

I felt frustrated that I couldn’t run as I knew from previous experience how much running would have helped me.

July did have some positives. I received my second Covid vaccine and didn’t experience any side effects. I spent most of my evenings listing and selling my unwanted running gear on eBay and Facebook. And finally, on July 24^th Sutton Park parkrun made a welcome return.

Catching up with my parkrun family was amazing and also a little overwhelming. I decided to throw myself in at the deep end and volunteered as a barcode scanner.

[Photo: Dean Lucas]

Although I felt a little nervous to start with, after a few minutes it felt like the good old, pre-Covid days, albeit with the addition of a facemask, and I started to relax and to enjoy myself.

August

I’ll get the negatives out of the way first because, on balance, August was a month of positives. Work continued to be challenging, and I had my first CBT session, it wasn’t what I was expecting. Although my blogging mojo disappeared, I spent my evenings reading the running books I’d bought earlier in the year. The lack of exercise the previous month combined with a few too many Chinese takeaways meant that I recorded another highest ever weight milestone. My running coach was correct when he said it’s impossible to outrun (or in my case outwalk) a poor diet. I’m not sure trying out the Giggling Squid  restaurant in Mere Green was the most sensible decision I’ve ever made. Although the food tasted amazing, I’ve not been back because everything was so expensive.

August actually contained some running. After giving my knees – by this stage both knees were niggly – six weeks to recover, I restarted the Couch to 5k at Week 5. After I struggled to run for five minutes, I decided to start the Couch to 5k again. I didn’t share my failed attempts at running on here, but if you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that this didn’t go very well, not due to my fitness levels but due to my niggly knees. I haven’t run since that painful interval session on August 10th. I should probably rename this blog something like The Injured Runner or My Knees Hate Me.

I sulked and felt sorry for myself for a few days and then shifted my focus to walking. I volunteered as a tail walker at Sutton Park parkrun on the first two Saturdays in August and enjoyed my Saturday morning strolls around Sutton Park.

[Photo: Nicola Baker]

Midway through the month, I remembered that I’d entered two marathons in October and that October was rapidly approaching. Although tail walking was loads of fun, walking 5k once a week clearly wasn’t going to prepare my fragile feet for the challenge of walking 26.2 miles. I drafted out a training plan and ended the month with a 12 mile walk around Four Oaks.

I ended the 12 mile walk feeling tired but also confident that if I gradually built up my mileage, I’d be able to walk 26.2 miles in October.

September

September didn’t get off to the best of starts when I picked up a mystery illness. Although multiple PCR tests confirmed that I didn’t have Covid, the mystery illness lingered for several weeks, left me with very little energy, and resulted in a lot of missed training walks. I’m aware that I’m repeating myself, apologies, but work continued to be stressful, and my anxiety levels continued to increase. Only the support of my colleagues and line managers got me through the first two weeks of September. The appearance of some of the Sutton Park cows at the start of parkrun also made me smile.

The month improved when I set up my out of office reply and cleared away my work laptop for two weeks. I felt so unwell during the first week of my annual leave, I slept a lot and barely left the house. The second week of my annual leave was far more productive, I spent time with both of my parents and was treated to the most amazing fish and chips at the Swan at Walton.

I also caught up on some long overdue adulting tasks, got my training back on track, and made a start on my Christmas shopping. The two weeks of annual leave helped me to feel a lot less stressed and more resilient when I returned to work.

And what about parkrun? The first Saturday in September I volunteered as a tail walker at Beacon parkrun. I loved meeting new parkrunners and spending my Saturday morning in Lichfield, I’d definitely recommend that you pay the cathedral city a visit. I volunteered as a tail walker at Sutton Park parkrun twice and got roped into the funnel manager role once.

[Photo: Nicola Baker]

I ended September needing to complete another eight parkruns to cross off one of my main 2021 running goals, to become a member of the 50 Club.

October

October was a good month. My CBT sessions continued, my scores got lower each week, and my sleep improved. Although work continued to be challenging, I started to enjoy my job, and some much-needed rainfall towards the end of the month reduced the pressure on the team. The news that this running blog had made it into the Top 10 UK Running Blogs for the fifth consecutive year, and that I’d been invited to attend a Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games volunteer interview boosted my confidence.

My knee injury meant that running continued to be something that other people did. I could still walk so although I didn’t attempt to complete the virtual London Marathon – in my defence the weather was far from ideal, and I didn’t want a repeat of what happened in 2020 – watching the London Marathon made me more determined to get to the root of my knee issues. I wanted to run again. The following weekend I walked 26.2 miles around Four Oaks and completed the virtual Boston Marathon.

Thanks to a combination of marshalling and tail walking at Sutton Park parkrun, I managed to complete five parkruns in October setting a tail walking PB in the process.

[Photo: Dean Lucas]

I ended the month needing to complete another three parkruns and volunteering stints to join both 50 Clubs.

The realisation that I needed to get outside more and that I needed to exercise more resulted in me entering a couple of virtual events. I entered the Miles for Mind Autumn edition and set myself a target of walking 75 miles in November. I also entered the 2021 Run up to Christmas event and set myself a target of walking 100 km.

I didn’t say anything at the time, but I was so embarrassed about my weight, I set myself some quite challenging fitness targets for the final two months of the year.

November

November was another good month, the only minor blip was that I didn’t feel confident enough to attend my Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games volunteer interview, a decision I still regret.

My CBT came to an end and my case was discharged. While I had mixed feelings about this as I was still struggling with my anxiety, the CBT sessions had left me feeling more mentally resilient. I even coped quite well when I discovered that Hermes had misplaced my virtual Boston Marathon medal and finishers top. Although the organisers eventually sent me a replacement medal, I’m still waiting for my finishers top.

Throughout November it was very much a case of can’t run, can walk. I started the month aiming to walk 75 miles and was well on track to achieve this target until the combination of lunchtime meetings, laziness, and the weather meant that I fell 12 miles short of my original target. Although I failed to walk 75 miles, entering the Miles for Mind virtual event gave me the motivation to get outside and to get some exercise. As an added bonus, getting outside and stretching my legs helped improve my mental health.

My walks weren’t limited to lunchtime strolls. I volunteered as a tail walker at parkrun three times, this ‘action’ shot gave me the reality check and kick up the bum I so desperately needed.

[Photo: Vicki Hart]

At the 100^th Sutton Park parkrun, I finally became a member of the 50 Club and the Volunteer 50 Club. I shared what I called my journey to 50 parkruns.

A week later, parkrun was cancelled due to the weather – I wasn’t expecting to wake up to loads of snow – so I treated myself to a rare Saturday morning lie-in and then spent the morning wrapping Christmas presents. The following day I spent some time at mums and was treated to a homecooked Sunday lunch and a lot more snow.

I ended the month feeling positive that I’d be able to run again at some point soon. I also finally accepted that I couldn’t justify buying myself a Peloton bike, so I rescued my exercise bike from the garden shed and set myself a target of completing eight training sessions on my bike during December.

December

December was a month of highs and lows and of a fair amount of walking. My approach of can’t run can walk continued and I started the month aiming to walk 100 km before Christmas Day. Thanks to some evening walks and a rather ‘hydrological’ Christmas Eve stroll around Four Oaks, I reached my 100 km target with a day to spare.

As in previous months, my walks weren’t limited to lunchtime and evening strolls. I volunteered as a tail walker at Sutton Park parkrun twice, including on Christmas Day, and as a marshal twice.

This rather lonely marshalling experience – at least I had plenty of selfie opportunities – made me realise just how important the social aspect of parkrun is to me. As a result, in 2022 my parkrun focus is going to shift from volunteering to taking part and to exploring more local events. I love tail walking but don’t want to prevent other people from wearing the stylish orange parkrun hi-viz.

And what about Christmas? I can’t really review December without talking about the Christmas period. I spent an enjoyable (once I’d untangled the tree lights) afternoon helping to decorate mum’s two Christmas trees. I think the tree in the dining room looked quite good once I’d finished decorating it.

Like last year, there was a lot of Covid-related stress and uncertainty in the lead-up to Christmas. The news was so gloomy it almost felt inevitable that most people would end up with Covid. I had my booster jab 10 days before Christmas and spent most of my annual leave in the lead-up to Christmas avoiding crowded places.

Christmas Day itself was great fun. I started Christmas morning with a chatty stroll around Sutton Park parkrun. I thought about sharing a photo on here but decided that one terrible photo is enough. I then headed straight to Mum’s for Christmas Day. I ate far too much, drank too much Buck’s fizz, watched far too much TV, and attempted to sing ‘Walking in the Air’; my voice took a couple of days to recover. Spending time with my sister and my nieces for the first time since May was amazing.

Everyone seemed to love the presents I’d got them, and I loved everything my family had got for me. The day felt a little strange at times as I was aware that I‘ll never get to spend another Christmas Day in the house I grew up in as mum is moving in the New Year.

Like last year, I found Boxing Day more difficult to deal with as I’d usually spend time with my brother and his family. Like so many other families, Covid meant that our plans had to change. Knowing that I’d bought everyone awesome Christmas presents made me feel slightly better. I just hope that Christmas 2022 can resemble some sort of normality.

I always like to approach the end of each year feeling positive about the next 12 months, so I’ve set myself some running, walking, and parkrun goals for 2022. I’ve also set myself some life goals and although I’m not planning on sharing monthly updates, I’m going to continue with my no spend and side hustle challenges.

Looking back, 2021 was an incredibly challenging year for me and at times everything felt overwhelming, and I honestly didn’t think I’d make it through the month let alone the year. Although I shared some of the what I’d describe as not so positive moments on this blog and on my Instagram account, when my life got really tough, I tended to shut myself away and distanced myself from my friends and family.

I cried a lot and spent most of the first six months of the year feeling isolated. My knee injury made an unwelcome reappearance and I felt like selling my running gear and calling time on my running career. My monthly running (purple), cycling (green), and walking (red) bars illustrate how the focus of my training varied throughout the year. I think it’s safe to say that July was not the most positive of months.

Although my training was even more inconsistent than it was last year – I guess I’d describe myself as consistently inconsistent – I ran when I could, cycled until I realised that my exercise bike was contributing to my knee issues, and walked when I was unable to run. I like to think that I was reasonably sensible and that I stopped running and cycling when I needed to.

I’m going to conclude my 2021 review more or less the same way I concluded my 2020 review. I may sound selfish, but I hope that I have a less injury-filled 2022.

What was the running highlight of 2021 for you?

What are your running and fitness goals for 2022?

The wintry weather in Birmingham meant that Sutton Park parkrun was cancelled. Although I missed catching up with my parkrun family, I had an enjoyable Saturday morning looking through old parkrun photos and reminiscing. I found some good photos of me and some incredibly unflattering photos of me. As I completed my 50th parkrun a couple of weeks ago and finally ‘crossed off’ a long-term running goal, I thought I’d share some of my favourite parkrun photos in a blog post.

I’m a numbers and statistics geek, so I’ve started by summarising some of my parkrun statistics.

It’s taken me a long time to complete 50 parkruns. I’ve always been an inconsistent parkrunner. As I don’t have a car, I’ve had to rely on either public transport, lifts from friends and relatives, or my own two feet. Before Sutton Park parkrun started in August 2018, Walsall Arboretum parkrun was my closest event. I didn’t feel I could ask for a lift to parkrun every Saturday, so I only managed to make it to parkrun a few times a year.

There’s a second reason it’s taken me several years to complete 50 parkruns. If you’ve read any of my previous blog posts, you’ll be aware that I’m what I describe as an injury-prone runner. For example, in both 2014 and 2017, injuries meant that I only managed to complete one parkrun.

Okay, I’ve started to waffle, apologies. I hope that you enjoy looking back at my parkrun journey, and at the photos I managed to track down.

2013: The year I made my parkrun debut

I registered for parkrun several years before I finally plucked up the courage to head to what was then my nearest event; Walsall Arboretum parkrun. I completed my first parkrun on May 25th and loved every second.

My first ever parkrun

[Photo: James Brown]

I think it’s clear that I didn’t put much effort into my first ever parkrun, to be honest, I had no idea how to pace a 5k event. I was scared I’d start off too fast and would have to do the walk of shame. I think it’s fair to say my pacing was all over the place.

What on earth was I wearing?

[Photo: Ron Reynolds]

I’m not sure what’s more offensive; the terrible heel strike or the slightly unusual shorts I was wearing. From what I can remember, the shorts were a TK Maxx bargain that I only wore a few times, including in this photo my friend captured.

The morning I was too speedy for the photographer

[Photo: James Brown]

Thanks for capturing my better side. At least some of the photos from my first few parkruns were respectable, I’ve shared some of my favourite photos in this collage.

A selection of photos from 2013

[Photos: Ron Reynolds]

I’ve no idea why I used to look so grumpy in so many of my early parkrun photos. I was definitely enjoying myself.

2014: The year of the invisible parkrunner

A broken metatarsal and other injury issues meant that I only completed one parkrun. I’ve looked through the 184 photos that were taken that morning and I somehow managed to dodge the camera.

2015: The year my knee issues made an unwelcome appearance

I recovered from my broken metatarsal but started to experience knee pain whenever I ran. I managed to complete four parkruns, but in August I quite possibly turned what was a minor knee niggle into a serious knee injury.

Sprinting towards a knee injury

[Photo: Martin Pearson]

I can remember sprinting towards the finish and feeling a shooting pain in my right knee. The walk back to the carpark wasn’t much fun. I didn’t run again that year.

2016: The year I grabbed myself an unexpected parkrun PB

I only completed three parkruns and after looking back through this blog, I’ve no idea why! Although I ‘DNS’ and ‘DNF’ a couple of local races, I can’t have spent too much time on the injury bench as I managed to complete the London Marathon, the Great Midlands Fun Run, and the Great Birmingham Run.

It looks like I set what is still my parkrun PB in February and then stayed away from parkrun for six months. Slightly strange. Perhaps I struggled to find anyone daft enough to drive me to Walsall Arboretum on a Saturday morning.

I’d probably be faster if I ran with my eyes open

[Photo: Ron Reynolds]

This photo always makes me smile, I love the fact I appear to be running with my eyes closed and I have at least three chins. I still regret selling that purple Lululemon running skort.

2017: The year the wheels most definitely fell off

I started the year with foot and knee niggles and in March my right heel joined in the injury party. I guess as an injury-prone runner it was inevitable I’d get to experience Plantar Fasciitis at some point. So, I spent most of the first half of the year on the injury bench.

In June, I started following a beginners half marathon training plan, two months later I jogged my way around Walsall Arboretum parkrun.

Running in my London Marathon finishers tent

[Photo: Ron Reynolds]

When I first saw this photo, I hated the way I looked so much I actually cried. This was the first and the last time I wore my unflattering XL – I was so slow, there were no other sizes left at the finish – 2016 London Marathon finishers top in public.

2018: The year of more consistent parkrunning and the start of Sutton Park parkrun

At the start of 2018, I set myself the challenge of completing 10 parkruns in under 30 minutes. I managed to maintain my sub-30 minutes ‘streak’ throughout most of the year. I got to experience parkrun tourism for the first time at Didcot parkrun, was introduced to the parkrun alphabet challenge, Sutton Park parkrun started, and I finally plucked up the courage to volunteer.

Looking cooler than I was feeling during Walsall Arboretum parkrun

[Photo: Ron Reynolds]

In July, engineering works meant that I spent a couple of weekends in Wallingford. I got up super early one Saturday morning and caught the bus to Didcot. That morning, I was introduced to parkrun tourism, to the alphabet challenge and to the concept of parkrun challenges.

Thumbs up for a spot of parkrun tourism at Didcot parkrun

[Photo: Lewis Cousins]

A month after I experienced the delights of Didcot, Sutton Park parkrun started, and although work commitments meant that I was unable to take part in the test event, I headed to Sutton Park for the inaugural event. I enjoyed myself so much and wanted other runners to check out Sutton Park parkrun, I wrote about what would become my home parkrun.

The start of Sutton Park parkrun

[Photo: Richard Hill]

A couple of weeks after the inaugural event, I finally plucked up the courage to don the stylish parkrun hi-viz, and I spent an enjoyable hour and a bit supporting 230 parkrunners. I rewarded my bravery with an ice cream.

My first parkrun volunteering experience

[Photo: Peter Heafield]

I think it’s fair to say that I didn’t instantly catch the ‘volunteering bug’. I had fun, but as a runner, I preferred running to volunteering. I suspect this explains why some people rarely volunteer at parkrun.

My ‘2018 parkrun photos’ album contains over 100 photos, approximately half of these are terrible selfies I took when I was volunteering as a marshal. I’ve shared nine of my favourite photos in a collage; the photo in the centre is one of my all-time favourite parkrun photos.

A selection of photos from 2018

[Photos: Ron Reynolds, Peter Heafield and Richard Hill]

Although on a personal level, 2018 was what I’d describe as a year of extreme highs and lows, it was filled with loads of parkrun related positives.

2019: The year I discovered that volunteering is more fun than running

I started the year injured and living and working in Wallingford. A new job meant that I moved back home to Four Oaks in June. From the end of June onwards, I volunteered virtually every Saturday at Sutton Park parkrun. My motto was something along the lines of ‘can’t run, can volunteer’.

I tried out a number of volunteering roles and discovered that while I loved barcode scanning, time keeping felt far too stressful for a Saturday morning. I have hundreds of photos from 2019 so I decided to share a selection of photos I hope captured what parkrun meant (and still means) to me.

“It’s (mainly) all down hill from here…”

Some people have a favourite pair of trainers, in 2019 I had a favourite marshalling location. If you’ve ever completed Sutton Park parkrun, you’ll be aware the course is quite ‘lumpy’ in places. I used to love marshalling in this particular location as I got to tell parkrunners that they had completed the hardest sections of the course.

Runners mingling at the start of Sutton Park parkrun #50

I love this photo as I think it captured what I think parkrun is all about; groups of like-minded people getting together on a Saturday morning and having fun.

Posing with the Sutton Park parkrun selfie board

I’m not sure what’s more concerning in this photo, my incredibly cheesy grin or the state of the water in Longmoor Pool. As a hydrologist I’ll go with the state of the water in Longmoor Pool.

[Photo: Peter Heafield]

Trying to fold away the Start/finish pop up sign 

Some people seem to have the magic touch and can fold away this infamous pop up sign straight away. Other people don’t, I’m not going to name and same the person hiding behind the pop up sign.

A rare photo of me running taken at Kingsbury Water parkrun

In October, Sutton Park parkrun was cancelled because there was another running event in Sutton Park. A group of us headed to Kingsbury Water parkrun and I jogged my way around the course in a far from impressive time.

[Photo: Titan Triathlon]

Sutton Park looking stunning on a chilly November morning

I took this artistic (by my low standards) photo at the end of November. I loved wrapping up warm, wearing my festive bobble hat and volunteering as a marshal.

As I have so many photos from 2019, I’ve shared a few more of the less offensive photos in a collage…

A few more of my favourite photos from 2019

[Photos: Peter Heafield and Daniel Henry]

2020: The year parkrun was put on hold

I started what would turn out to be a surreal year unable to run due to knee and foot issues. This led to me volunteering as a barcode scanner on New Year’s Day. I had barcodes shoved at me, barely any of the runners spoke to me, and it all felt very stressful. I volunteered again three days later, and then work commitments meant that I was unable to volunteer for several weeks.

The calm after the barcode scanning storm on New Year’s Day

[Photo: Peter Heafield]

At the beginning of March, I volunteered as a barcode scanner at Beacon parkrun in Lichfield. I felt like an idiot asking a random parkrunner to take my photo.

A spot of volunteering tourism at Beacon parkrun

As it was International Women’s Day, I also wrote part of the event report for Sutton Park parkrun. I doubt I’ll manage to volunteer at two different parkruns on the same day again.

A week later I volunteered as a tail walker at Sutton Park parkrun. I had a wonderful time chatting my way around the Sutton Park parkrun course. I can remember the C-word (not that C-word!) cropping up quite a few times.

Tail walking at the final Sutton Park parkrun before lockdown

[Photo: Peter Heafield]

Little did I know as I said my goodbyes to the other volunteers that parkrun would end up being cancelled for the rest of the year. Little did I know that parkrun wouldn’t be allowed to restart until July this year. Little did I know that this would be one of the last photos Peter would take at Sutton Park parkrun.

2021: The year of tail walking and my 50th parkrun

History repeated itself and I started the year with a knee injury that left me in constant pain. The announcement of a third lockdown wasn’t the most positive starts to the year, the return of parkrun felt a distant dream.

After a false start and what felt like several weeks of uncertainty, parkrun finally restarted on July 24^th.

Are you ready England? @coopuk wish you all a warm welcome back to parkrun & a massive well done – we made it!

Here’s to your first volunteer, walk, jog or run back together
See you in the park! @Jennifalconer @Konnie_Huq @VassosA

#loveparkrun #ItsWhatWeDo pic.twitter.com/UKZ9IptqN7

— parkrun UK (@parkrunUK) July 24, 2021

The Saturday morning parkrun returned was emotional as the pre-event briefing included a special dedication to Peter Heafield. Thanks for all of the amazing memories Peter, thanks for all of the friendly banter and for making me think I’d be late getting to my marshalling position. I promise that I do smile occasionally. We will all miss you enormously.

Sutton Park parkrun #83 dedicated to Peter Heafield

[Photo: Nicola Baker]

Although I enjoyed volunteering as a barcode scanner the first two weeks Sutton Park parkrun returned, I realised that scanning barcodes wasn’t going to help me get closer to my 50^th parkrun. I can’t remember who suggested tail walking, but I tail walked my way to my 50^th parkrun. I know 2021 isn’t over yet, but I’ve shared nine of my favourite tail walking photos from this year in a collage.

A selection of photos from 2021

[Photos: Vicki Hart and Daniel Henry]

As for my 50^th parkrun, I’m not saying that I’m a numbers and statistics geek, but I became a member of the 50 Club and the Volunteer 50 Club at the 100th Sutton Park parkrun.

Thanks to the Sutton Park parkrun core team for putting up with my excessive talking and for sharing one of my more flattering photos

[Photo: Peter Heafield]

What’s next?

After rather selfishly hogging the tail walking volunteering role for so many weeks, I’ve decided to return to a different volunteering role. I’ve actually enjoyed most of the volunteering roles I’ve tried, time keeping was slightly stressful and I don’t fancy the pressure of trying to capture photos of people running, sorry Rob!

I’ve always enjoyed collecting badges and completing challenges, so I’d love to try out a few more volunteering roles. I mean, I love talking so I should probably have a go at giving the first timers briefing.

When I’m able to run again, I want to explore more of the parkruns in the West Midlands.

It took me nine years to complete my 50th parkrun, I’m hoping it doesn’t take me another nine years to complete my 100th parkrun.

If you read the three personal challenge posts I published at the beginning of January, you’ll be aware that I set myself some money-saving challenges for 2021.

[Source]

If you haven’t read these posts, please check them out Challenge 1 | Challenge 2 | Challenge 3.

Challenge 1: Will I be able to get through the year without buying any new clothes and shoes?

During February, the urge to treat myself to some new clothes was strong. I partly blame Instagram for introducing me to a brand I’d never heard of called Mabel and Gin. I’ve been living in hoodies and jumpers so this bottle green 1/4 zip jumper has been tempting me to dust off my credit card. I need the weather to warm up ASAP, so I can stop looking at jumpers I don’t need.

In my previous update, I said I was a little concerned because some of my ‘everyday’ clothes were starting to look slightly frayed around the edges. I’m still hoping to spend an afternoon up in the loft sorting through all the clothes I’ve got in storage. I’m sure there’ll be some surprises up there, I just hope that these surprises don’t include mice.

Challenge 2: Can this shopaholic get through the year without entering any races and without buying any more running clothes?

This challenge continues to be difficult as I follow so many runners, event organisers, and running brands on Twitter and Instagram. One race I entered last year – the Cathedral to Castle Run – has now been deferred again until later this year. Fingers crossed I’ll be back up and running again if and when it takes place.

When I spotted a Kari Traa flash sale on SportPursuit, I very nearly bought a couple of long-sleeved base layers. Kari Traa is one of the few brands that cater to taller than average runners and I love their gear.

After reminding myself that injured runners don’t need new running gear and that I don’t need more base layers, I finally unsubscribed from SportPursuit.

Challenge 3: Can I make £2021 in 2021 through a selection of side hustles and other sources of income such as cashback websites?

And finally, how much money did I manage to make through my various side hustles and other sources of income during February? Like last month, in an attempt to keep things simple, I’ve listed each side-hustle and source of income separately.

Selected side hustles

• Prolific Academic surveys – £40.46
• eBay sales – £0.00
• Facebook Marketplace sales – £0.00
• Sponsored blog posts – £0.00

Other sources of income

• Overtime at work – £0.00
• Share dividends – £76.68
• Interest from bank accounts – £14.73
• TopCashback cashback – £0.00
• Vouchers from points and gift cards – £0.00
• Competition wins – £0.00
• Freebies – £0.00
• Roadkill finds – £2.00

February total: £133.87

Rolling 2021 total: £364.75

So, after a positive first month, February was disappointing and I didn’t manage to get anywhere near my monthly target. If I’ve got my sums right, I need to make approximately £170/month so although February wasn’t great, I’m still just about on track to reach my target of £2021 by the end of the year.

Although February was a tad disappointing, I have a feeling that March will be more positive. To start with, I should receive a local recognition award through work this month. I have a feeling the voucher will be used to buy some books. In addition, based on what has happened in previous years, I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to complete more Prolific Academic studies.

And finally, I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading this quick update

In a break from my personal challenge and goals posts, I thought I’d share a press release the Fix Events team sent me last week. Before I share the details of the virtual run, I thought I’d share some information about the event organisers; Fix Events.

An introduction to Fix Events

Fix Events is one of the leading multisport event management companies in the UK, with over 11 years experience, hosting over 70+ annual events including running, triathlons, corporate and charity events. Fix Events run standalone events under the Fix Events name and also create successful series such as MoRunning. Fix Events also host charity events such as the Go Dad Runs inspired by Colin Jackson, the Use Your Senses series in aid of Guide Dogs UK and the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Run Series.

So now let me introduce you to a great new virtual run challenge; Birmingham UNITED We Run.

About Birmingham UNITED We Run

Birmingham Runners, it’s time to get outdoors and be part of a run challenge that unites the city and promotes health, fitness, well-being and a positive, fun run.

Join this virtual run wherever you live in Birmingham. Entry is FREE. Inspire and motivate all your family, friends and work colleagues to join this challenge. Start your training and on the 20th February – the official Birmingham UNITED We Run day – we want you to get out and smash your best run.

This is all about having a focus, uniting Birmingham and being part of something that is good for all!

When you sign up you can purchase a stunning medal to add to your collection. The event organisers will post these medals out so you hopefully receive them before the run challenge day. When you buy one of these medals, the event organisers will also include one of their Winter Warmer Buffs for Free!

Birmingham UNITED We Run Runners Receive:

• Online profile where you upload your run time along with regular updates
• View your challenge stats, view our leader board and our overall country running stats
• Partner offers and benefits
• Motivational training advice, videos and more
• Offers and discounts to future Fix Events

If you love collecting running medals as much as I do, the organisers have included the option of adding a UNITED We Run medal to your collection for only £7.00.

Please not that these medals are limited in availability.

How to enter

For more detailed information and to enter the event, please check out the dedicated Birmingham UNITED We Run event page here.

**Full disclosure: I didn’t receive monetary payment for promoting the Birmingham UNITED We Run event. All photographs were provided by Fix Events**

I’ve reviewed last year in a lot of detail so I think it’s now time for me to look ahead to 2021 and to set some running goals. The combination of a global pandemic and injuries meant that I didn’t achieve most of the running goals I set myself at the start of 2020.

I briefly considered not publishing this post, however, I hope that I make myself a little more accountable by sharing these goals. As in previous years, sharing my running goals has been an effective way of motivating me to get off my arse, I decided to publish this post.

Continue to listen to my niggles – I’m definitely what I’d describe as an injury-prone runner. Some runners hardly ever seem to get injured, other runners like me seem to spend most of the time either injured or recovering from an injury. It’s a never-ending circle of run – get injured – injury rehab – recover from injury – run and repeat.

[Source]

Running helps to keep my anxiety under control, and as I don’t want to spend another year feeling miserable because I can’t run, I’m going to continue to closely monitor my niggles. Last year, I was reminded that attempting to run through niggles only tends to end in what I call a ‘proper’ injury. As I’m sat writing these running goals, I can feel my left knee. It doesn’t hurt, but it’s constantly reminding me that it’s there.

Continue with my strength and conditioning – I don’t think I’m the only runner who is guilty of doing this, but when I’m able to run pain-free, I’m guilty of neglecting the personalised strength and conditioning exercises I was provided with following my Run3D gait analysis. I’ve reached the conclusion that I’m my own worst enemy when it comes to strength and conditioning and injury prevention. I mean, who else would spend a fortune on a gait analysis and then not keep on top of the exercises. I sometimes wonder what is wrong with me.

Train sensibly and consistently – This goal has featured in previous years, but I’m still not great at running and training consistently. I’m usually so pleased 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. Looking back, I probably should have stopped religiously following the Couch to 5k when my knee started to hurt during Week 7. Unfortunately, I was so determined to actually complete the Couch to 5k for once, I ignored the niggle in my left knee and ended up injuring myself. Once I’ve recovered from my knee niggle, I not only need to remind myself of the importance of building up my mileage slowly but also of the importance of taking a break from running if I need to.

Join a running group and run with others more – I’ve set this as a running goal a few times. Last year, I said that I didn’t want to join a more formal running club, but I did miss running with others. I felt that slightly less formal running groups were the best option for me. I even went as far as naming some local running groups; SE Fitness and the Boldmere Bullets Running Collective. So, I’m sure you can guess what happened, I ended up rejoining my local running club; Royal Sutton Coldfield Athletics Club. I figured that’s it’s good to support a local running club, my very own version of shop local. I’m looking forward to taking part in some training sessions on the local athletics track later this year and to being reunited with my running coach.

Run 500 miles – Last year, I set myself what I thought was the sensible and realistic goal of running 500 miles. Thanks to injuries and the small matter of a global pandemic, I ended up running a not quite so impressive 100 miles. So, I’ve set myself the goal of running 500 miles this year. If by June, I’m way behind my mileage target I’ll adjust my distance goal to something a little more achievable.

Complete 5 races – Fingers crossed a lot more races can take place this year. Last year, I set myself the goal of completing 10 races. The majority of those races were either cancelled or postponed due to the global pandemic. In ‘normal’ years I would have DNS a lot of races due to my left knee. The fact that these races weren’t able to take place so I was able to defer my entries was quite possibly one of the few positive outcomes of the global pandemic. If you’ve read my previous challenge posts you’ll know I’m aiming to spend nothing on running-related purchases this year. This obviously includes race entries so I’ve lowered my expectations a little this year.

Volunteer at least 10 times at parkrun – I’m confident that parkrun will be able to restart at some point this year so I think this goal is achievable. I have a feeling that parkruns will struggle to fill their volunteer rosters, so I’ll probably volunteer the first few weeks it returns. However, this year, I want to find a good balance between volunteering and actually taking part in parkrun.

Become a member of the parkrun 50 Club – I set myself this goal last year and we all know what happened! I think it’s fair to say I’ve not been in a hurry to become a member of the parkrun 50 Club. I completed my first parkrun in May 2013 and my 25th parkrun in July 2018.

[Source]

I’ve now completed 36 parkruns so even if parkrun isn’t able to return until the summer, I should in theory be able to reach 50 by the end of the year. I want to become a member of the 50 Club and to earn myself a red t-shirt. As black is my favourite colour, I have a longer-term goal of becoming a member of the 100 Club in 2023.

Explore more local parkruns – This is a repeat goal from last year. To date, I’ve completed four different parkruns; Didcot, Kingsbury Water Park, Sutton Park, and Walsall Arboretum. I’ve also volunteered at Beacon parkrun in Lichfield. This year, I would love to visit more local parkruns, however, my no spend challenge means that this is going to be tricky.

I may well be limited to completing Sutton Park and Beacon parkruns as both of these are easily accessible by train. That’s unless I manage to convince my friend that he would love to explore some other parts of the West Midlands.

Don’t buy any running gear or enter any races – And finally, my goal of not buying any running gear or entering any races. I set myself a similar goal in 2019 and last year and failed miserably. I’m not going to go into a lot of detail here as I’ve already talked about how and why I’m aiming to spend nothing on running in 2021 in this post. Let’s just say the race and medal #FOMO will be real and it’s going to be difficult. If I’m offered free entry into a local race I’m not going to say no!

I know I ask the same question every year, have you set yourself any running goals for 2021? 

Have you entered any target races?