End of Year Review

So Covid has gone far enough away that I got to do enough races this year to actually call it a whole year. So I am back to the three colour version

Green - Did make it. 
Red - Didn't make it.
Orange - Needs explaining.

All the blurb is at the bottom. April additions are included here, that is why some look strange / redundant.

Targets by numbers

Represent GBR age-group at an international event. 

Qualify for the GBR Age-group team for a 2023 European Championships.
Finish top-20 at European Aquathlon Champs. - 9th, 20th, (22nd)
Finish top-30 at World Aquathlon Champs. - 6th, 10th, 12th

Take part in a GBR age-group qualifying race for a 2023 European Champs. 

Take part in a GBR age-group qualifying race for a 2023 World Champs.

Swim 130 miles. 

Swim under 6:15 minutes for 400m. - Not even close 6:46

Swim under 11:45 minutes for 750m. - Closer 11:56

Swim under 25:30 minutes for 1,500m. - Didn't even attempt one.

Ride 2,000 miles.
MTB 500 miles

Run 1,000 miles.

Run a 5k in under 19:30 mins or 10k in under 42 mins. 
'Run my age' for 10k.

Revised Run Target - Added April

Run a 5k in under 19:00 mins or 10k in under 39 mins. 

>52 Yoga sessions - 52

>52 Stretching and rollering sessions. - 40

>40 Core sessions. - 28

>40 Weights sessions. - 31

>50 Run reps or ‘fast’ sessions. - 

Stretch Targets

Represent GBR age-group at more than one international event. 

Qualify for the GBR Age-group team for a second 2023 European Championships.

Qualify for the GBR Age-group team for a 2023 World Championships.

Medal at the Scottish Aquathlon Champs. - 1st

Finish top-20 at World Aquathlon Champs. - 12th

Swim 143 miles.

Swim under 6:00 minutes for 400m.

Swim under 11:30 minutes for 750m.

Swim under 24:59 for 1,500m.

Ride 2,200 miles. 

Run 1,100 miles.

Run a 5k in under 19:00 or 10k in under 40 mins. 

Run another 5k in under 19:20 or 10k in under 41:30. 

Revised Stretch Run Targets - Added April

Run a 3k in under 10:45, 5k in under 18:50 or 10k in under 38:45 mins.

Run another 3k in under 10:55, 5k in under 19:00 or 10k in under 39:00.

>78 Yoga sessions

>78 Stretching and rollering sessions.

>52 Core sessions.

>52 Weights sessions.

Breakdown

I did some races. And some of them were really great races. But with the fields at many events still low as people struggled to plan travel post-Covid I suspect some of my early season results were unfairly boosted by that. But I can only race whoever turns up. 

Swim

I had to binge on swimming the last fortnight to get to my annual target. That meant I accidentally swam my longest swim of the year after Xmas. 

I did manage a couple of sub-12min 750m swims in races. 

I continued to train with Aberdeen Uni Tri Club whenever they were in session and that does definitely help my swim speed. I have increased my targets for next year to try and get more volume in. I am still doing way too many sessions where I turn up, paddle 1km and then go. Especially sessions before work. 

Bike

 

My plan was to do about 1/4 of my miles on the mountain bike trying to prep for Euro and World Cross events. I did much more than that this year as I got to nearly 700 miles on the mountain bike this year. Given that, I still struggled with the technicality of the the Romania race course. But I learned a lot. And when I got to Spain the Duathlon course there was right on my limit, but only because of what I learned in Romania. 

I haven't spent enough time riding off-road since then. As soon as it is warm enough I need to get back out on the mud and do some real technical mountain biking.  

Run

I got my hip injections at the start of March and they made the world of difference to my running. 

My 5k PB prior to 2022 was 19:15. I ran 9 times under that this year, with the fastest of those an 18:15. I also took my 10k PB from 39:51 to 39:07. I also did a 10:32 for 3K.

Race

I am going to skip the many Parkruns that I did. 

My first real race of the year was Glasgow Uni Aquathlon in March. Despite a broken rib I managed to swim 12:40 before a solid run. It wasn't what I wanted, but was a decent start to the year. 

A fortnight later I ran my new 10k PB.

April I did my first ever cross duathlon because I decided I had better do one before the World Champs and ran my first ever sub-19 5k.

May I went to Inverness and defended my ridiculous North District hurdles streak and then went on to win my first Scottish Aquathlon Championship. 

June I was in Romania for two World Championships. First time I ever traveled with my bike. I managed 7th and 10th at my two races on the same course, despite the second of those being a disaster from start to finish (hopefully I finally posted that before you read this one!). Then I won my first Parkrun (Ellon).

July I ran my new 5k PB (18:15), won my age-group at the Beastie Cross Triathlon (and then forgot about that when I was meant to keep that in my pocket for next year's application!).

August was World Aquathlon in Bratislava and another amazing trip to Vienna and Bratislava and finished 12th. And met my new girlfriend.

September was my big trip to Romania and three races squeezed in to 4 days. That was too much. And while I raced well at all of them 9th in the Cross Duathlon, 20th in the Cross Triathlon and 22nd in the Aquathlon weren't the results that I was hoping for. 

Other

You know the story by now. I skipped these more and more as the year went by, like I do every year. I did yoga when my hip gets too painful not to, or when I want to do something fast or long the following day and need to mitigate the pain. I did bits of stretching and rollering every week, but nowhere near enough. And I can always find an excuse to miss out on the core and weights sets.

I kept my weight fairly stable through the year, and being between 71 and 73kg has made a difference to my running. Not as much as the hip injections but certainly enough to be noticeable.

Basketball I went 40 times this year. And by the end of the year was actually playing like I should. It doesn't help my left knee as my right-handedness means my knee gets loaded up a lot.

I met someone knew, things are going really well. As you will see in next year's early posts, she has had a fairly major influence in my life and adventure planning.