2023 End of Year Review
Green - Did make it.
Red - Didn't make it.
Orange - Needs explaining.
Targets by numbers
Represent GBR age-group at multiple international events.
Finish top-20 at European Aquathlon Champs.
Finish top-15 at World Aquathlon Champs.
Medal at Scottish Aquathlon Champs.
Swim 156.9 miles.
Swim under 6:15 minutes for 400m. - No races
Swim under 11:45 minutes for 750m.
Swim under 25:30 minutes for 1,500m. - No races.
Ride 2,133.8 miles.
MTB 711.3 miles
Run 1,128.9 miles.
Run a 5k in under 19 mins or 10k in under 40 mins. - 18:47 and 39:30.
>52 Yoga sessions
>40 Stretching and rollering sessions.
>40 Core sessions.
>40 Weights sessions.
>50 Run reps or ‘fast’ sessions.
Stretch Targets
Qualify for the GBR Age-group team for a second 2024 European Championships. - Aquathlon, Cross Triathlon and Cross Duathlon at Euros in Coimbra, Portugal.
Qualify for the GBR Age-group team for a second 2024 World Championships.-
Win the Scottish Aquathlon Champs.
Finish top-18 at World Aquathlon Champs.
Finish top-10 at any International Cross race.
Swim under 6:00 minutes for 400m. - No races
Swim under 11:30 minutes for 750m.
Swim under 24:59 for 1,500m. - No races
Ride 2,240.5 miles. MTB 746.8 miles.
Run 1,185.3 miles.
Run a 5k in under 18 mins or 10k in under 39 mins.
Run another 5k in under 18:30 or 10k in under 39:30. - 39:30
>69 Yoga sessions
>52 Stretching and rollering sessions.
>52 Core sessions.
>52 Weights sessions.
Breakdown
It has been something of a weird year. It feels like a successful year, with 3 International trips and 5 good races (number 6 was the one where I was sitting 4th in Europe and managed to snap my bike).
The lack of the local race series though is hampering everything. Even though I did over 40 "races" this year. A lot of those are just a Parkrun at the weekend. The only three triathlons I did this entire year were World Cross Champs and Euro Cross Champs, and then Craggy Island at the end of the year.
Swim
I had to binge on swimming towards the end of the year to get to my annual target. That included my 3 biggest swim weeks of the year all coming in the last 5 weeks of the year.
I didn't manage to go sub-12min in any of my 750m swims in races. My best effort was a 12:23 at Dundee Aquathlon at the end of the year.
I continued to train with Aberdeen Uni Tri Club whenever they were in session and that does definitely help my swim speed. But they disappear during race season and i lazily revert back to just doing steady swims to collect miles instead of planned sessions.
Bike
My plan was to do about 1/3 of my miles on the mountain bike trying to prep for Euro and World Cross events. I did some, but nowhere near enough. And since damaging my mountain bike in Italy the only time I have ridden it since was at Craggy Island Triathlon, where I had a frankly terrible race.
As with every year, as soon as it is warm enough I need to get back out on the mud and do some real technical mountain biking and stop making excuses.
Run
I got a second round of hip injections in October, 18 months after my first set, even though they are meant to be every 9-12 months. They have definitely helped, but have been nowhere near as effective as the original set.
I only managed one 5k under 19 minutes with an 18:47 at Inverurie Parkrun and my best 10k was 39:30 for a run that I paced terribly.
After losing a week at the start of December to the flu, I also had to binge the last two weeks to scrape over my target for the year.
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. I swam slower than last year, even though last year was done with a broken rib.
I did one 10k this year and managed to get round under 40 minutes despite terrible pacing.
April I did my first ever cycle-cross race because I decided I wanted to race on my mountain bike before going out to Ibiza for the World Champs. Then I went out to Ibiza and had three decent races at the World Champs.
May I went to Inverness and defended my ridiculous North District hurdles streak and then went out the following weekend and ran a marathon on my own. Beating my previous time, but not by a lot.
July I managed to defend my Scottish Aquathlon title, this time at the Bikeless Beastie at Loch Lomond. I would rather have been racing the cross race that day but decided that my title defence was more important. That will be the same again next year as they are hosting again.
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 European Aquathlon in Mens, Belgium, which meant a nice holiday to Amsterdam, Delft and Kortrijk.
September was then a trip to Verona and then on to Riva Del Garda in Italy for a holiday and to race the Euro Cross Champs. Then a pretty poor race at Craggy Island.
Other
I didn't even bother to rewrite this section as it is as true this year as it was last year. The only exception being that I didn't get to basketball anywhere near as much as they have moved to a night that clashes with my swim sessions.
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 9 times this year.
Comments
Post a Comment