2015 on the way

The cliché look back at the year just gone in January is more of a look ahead this time.

2014 was great. I trained hard and got my rewards on a personal level. I set targets at the start of the year and thankfully these all became reality.

I captained the Great Britain Age Group team for the European Long Distance Championship in The Netherlands and took nearly an hour of my Iron distance time at the same event. My other goal that was sitting in the background would come later in the year in November at Leeds Abbey Dash where I wanted to get my first sub-40min 10k, which I did with 20 seconds to spare. Happy days.

I wrote in my race report from Challenge Almere that I felt I had more in the tank at the end and was slightly regretful of my conservative race plan in the end. All hindsight obviously, but it means my target have become greater and more challenging than ever for 2015. I want to further extend that Iron distance PB at Challenge Weymouth European Long Distance Championship, despite being on a tougher course than I’ve raced involving a sea swim. I want to build on that 10k pace and put that sort of time in a standard distance triathlon. I want to race more and at big races. I am doing the British Middle Championship at Bala in June and also doing Greater Manchester Marathon in April to see what I can do fresh in a marathon.

I’m continuing to work with Paul Savage as my coach, one of the best in the business and incredibly knowledgeable and inspiring every time we meet. My plans really work for me and have proven to show results every time. I’ve made a slight tweak to my riding position on the TT bike, which I am adjusting to well. Slightly more aggressive, without being too uncomfortable over long periods on the bars. Although the above video is not actually what I ended up with, it shows the original position I started with and began working with.

At the minute, it’s all about the base. Getting fit and trying to stay healthy for the big January block of training where the hard work really begins.

Christmas and the festive break inevitably saw me add a few extra pounds, while I kept up some running as a tick over.

Ireland was again a lovely change and good to see the girlfriends family, taking in a change of scenery and a few Guiness’ and large Bushmills. Still with reminders of the Giro from earlier in the year. there is a Gran Fondo on the same roads in June. December was a chance for me to let go a bit, work parties and I was injured for a most of it after my bike accident so it’s doubly important I have a solid start to the year and work hard to get back into the routine of loving training again and kick starting the year properly.

Roll on 2015, confirmed races as of January 2015:

March 1st – MTB Winter Classic at Cannock Chase

March 22nd – Wimslow Half Marathon

April 19th – Greater Manchester Marathon

June 7th – British Middle Distance Championship – Bala

September 13th – European Long Distance Championship – Challenge Weymouth