Happily Ever After
Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running
Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.
Another Year Over
by Russell Turner - 14:33 on 31 December 2024
That’s another year of running done: my seventh full year since getting the London Marathon ballot place in October 2017. I might not have bothered today if I hadn’t totalled 999 miles of running and walking for the year, so the extra was inevitable, despite the weather. Two days of heavy rain had eased (for now) into drizzle but both ends of my regular route were flooded and water was pouring down the road outside The Rural Retreat; two splashy miles were more than enough, even in waterproof socks. Further afield are landslips, fallen trees and more flooding that leave only one clear road off the Black Isle. Reaching tonight’s Hogmanay gig in Nairn might be fun.
Ten medals and one glass were the reward for 12 races (although a couple were closer to jogs than runs). Highlights were the virtual London Marathon through scenic Glen Affric and Strathglass, and the Alloa Half Marathon, followed closely by the Forth Road Bridge 5k, run alongside Matchgirl – our first, and probably last, race together (as the foodie Malton 10k amble doesn’t really count).
The next training block begins in five days, 20 weeks before the Edinburgh Marathon; along the way (all being well) will be a 5k, two 10ks, two HMs and another virtual London, route still to be chosen. A return to Glen Affric is a strong contender. Whether I’ll ever reclaim the athletic heights of 2020-21 remains to be seen, but it would be good to threaten another PB at some point. Time will tell.
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