End of Year Review

With only two days on from the last weekly review there isn't a huge change change to my final numbers but here they are mapped against the targets I set this time last year.

As an up-front guide to what you might expect. I coloured the entire rest of this post red and worked backwards rather than my normal tactic of colouring line by line. The three that have gone green were almost accidental. I have managed to get selected for 5 International races next year, mainly on technicalities. If I had been in the selectors chair I probably would not have picked me. 

I have some sort of low-level illness that I am still struggling to get a diagnosis on, and my available time to train is being impacted by coaching, work, and general life. 

Anyway,...

Green - Did make it. 

Red - Didn't make it.

Orange - Needs explaining.

Targets by numbers

Represent GBR age-group at multiple international events. - Didn't even go.

Qualify for the GBR Age-group team for a 2025 European and a 2025 World Championships.
Finish top-20 at European Aquathlon Champs. - Didn't even go.

Finish top-15 at a European Cross Champs. - Didn't even go.

Medal at Scottish Aquathlon Champs. - 5th.

Swim 144 miles. - 117 miles

Swim under 6:15 minutes for 400m. - 6:51 (440yds)

Swim under 11:45 minutes for 750m. - 12:18

Swim under 25:30 minutes for 1,500m. - 27:56 (non-race)

Ride 2,000 miles. - 1,739.4 miles
MTB 677 miles - 423.6 miles

Run 1,100 miles. - 1,048.1 miles

Run a 5k in under 19 mins or 10k in under 40 mins. - 20:08, 42:27

>52 Yoga sessions. - 16

>40 Stretching and rollering sessions. - 9

>40 Core sessions. - 6

>40 Weights sessions. - 27

>50 Run reps, hills or ‘fast’ sessions. - 41

Stretch Targets

Qualify for the GBR Age-group team for a second 2025 European Championships.

Qualify for the GBR Age-group team for a 2025 World Championships.

Win the Scottish Aquathlon Champs. - 5th

Finish top-15 at Euro Aquathlon Champs. - Didn't even go.

Finish top-10 at either Euro Cross race. - Didn't even go.

Swim 151 miles.  - 117 miles

Swim under 6:00 minutes for 400m. - 6:51 (440yds)

Swim under 11:30 minutes for 750m. - 12:18

Swim under 24:59 for 1,500m. - 27:56 (non-race)

Ride 2,100 miles.  - 1,739.4 miles

MTB 700 miles. - 423.6 miles

Run 1,100 miles. - 1,048.1 miles

Run a 5k in under 18 mins or 10k in under 39 mins. - 20:08, 42:27

Run another 5k in under 18:30 or 10k in under 39:30. - 20:08, 42:27

>69 Yoga sessions - 16

>52 Stretching and rollering sessions. - 9

>52 Core sessions. - 6

>52 Weights sessions. - 27

Breakdown

This year has been awful. I have some sort of low level illness that is leaving me exhausted at random.

I missed the World Champs (by choice) as Australia just wasn't a viable option. 

I missed the Euro Champs (by choice) at Coimbra after they retitled the Cross races as 'Urban Cross' and turned them in to street races round the town with long stretches of cycle path that didn't even warrant a description as gravel and certainly not as mountain biking. 

Swim

I missed a lot of miles this year. Going to Westhill in the mornings is not time efficient. Having to go three consecutive mornings and do short sessions in lanes full of weaker swimmers is not effective at all. 

Having to coach the Uni Triathlon Club swim sessions in Q4 has cost me somewhere in the region of 14 miles. Even if I had done all of those I would still be over 10 miles short. 

Bike

 

Again, way under due to my general illness, and also due to my laziness about getting outside and riding properly rather than just sitting on the turbo trainer for half an hour at a time. 

Doing some spin sessions with the Uni is still beneficial, but not as beneficial as I have to be able to talk / instruct / coach so I am operating at about 90% of where I should be for those sessions. 

Having had another bike stolen last year I am also loathe to commute anywhere that I will have to lock it up outside. That doesn't account for a lot, but it is enough to  just cost me 5-10 miles a week, and those numbers eventually add up. 

I did more on my Grand Tour challenge this year than I normally would, but that just results in three blocks where I road appropriate weekly volumes sliced up in to small daily chunks.

Run

It has been over a year since my hip injections, and no sign of my next set. That on top of my unknown illness resulted in not breaking 20 minutes for 5k all year. And the last two weeks (where I have done no biking and barely any swimming, have somewhat rescued a terrible annual total by dragging it up over 1,000 miles. 

Race

I am going to skip the (9) Parkruns that I did. 

I started the year with Blairgowrie Walk-Run which was slower than the previous year, despite not doing a Parkrun before it this year. And that was pretty much the highlight of my racing year. 

My first real race of the year was Glasgow Uni Aquathlon in March. I swam well enough, but then got swamped on the run by guys I should be able to run away from. 

I did one 10k this year and struggled to get round in 42:27 minutes. I can blame the seconds on the traffic from lapped athletes, and maybe a minute on that and the course design, but even with those excuses I wasn't breaking 40 (or even 41:30) and yet that was about the peak of how I ran this year.

I did the Triworks Duathlon as my first closed-roads, draft-legal duathlon. Ran poorly, rode okay, ran ok the second time. 

I did Westhill Duathlon. Ran poorly, rode okay, ran ok the second time. 

I did Balmoral Duathlon. Ran poorly, rode poorly, ran ok the second time. 

I did Loch Lomond Aquathlon. Swam poorly, ran worse. 

I did Aviemore Cross Triathlon. Swam so poorly I didn't even finish half the swim. 

And so on through the year for a total of 41 races. 

Other

I did minority rewrite this section as it is basically true this year as it was last year, and the year before. I played more basketball this year, and if I counted in those sessions as running miles they would more than cover my shortfall for running. 

Anyway, 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, but nowhere near enough. And I can always find an excuse to miss out on the core and weights sets.

My weight has been rising through the year, and is likely a symptom of my undiagnosed illness. I have essentially put on 1kg / month despite intentionally running at a calorie deficit almost continuously through the year.