Despite not being an ultrarunner, I do consider myself part of the community, and as people around me start signing up for things, and announcing plans etc, I am very excited about how 2014 is shaping up. I'll be volunteering, support-crewing, and generally cheering from the sidelines, at a number of the Scottish ultras this year, and am waiting for entry to open any day now to actually run in my first one... As part of a relay team. ;)
It's quite scary, the thought of running as part of a team - I don't want to let anyone down, so (assuming I get registered before it fills up) I think without putting any pressure on myself (ha) I'm going to call the Clyde Stride relay my A-Race this year. What I mean by calling it that yet not pressuring myself (ha) is that basically most, if not all, of this year's training decisions will be made around this race. Not based on other races, not social occasions, not the comfiness of my bed; on this race. But it's in late September, and before that there is a lot of exciting races to enjoy (i.e. not run in, haha). I'll be volunteering at the Fling again, because I absolutely loved my day there last year, and I'll be support-crewing for Amanda in the West Highland Way race which I simply cannot wait for!! Previous plans to crew in the Devil and Glenmore both fell through, but there is plenty of time - especially bearing in mind someone's already asked me if they can put my name down as support on the application for the Devil, and also thinking about the fact that last year I was asked to crew Andy just the day before Glenmore...!! No worries, I'll be there for both.
This year, for the first time, I'm hoping to spectate/cheer at the Glasgow-to-Edinburgh race, and D33. I definitely intend to be at John Lucas 50, in whatever capacity, and I have yet to make decisions on attending others further afield - Cateran, Great Glen, Kintyre Way, GO33, and so on.
Away from the ultras, I'll be running a few 'shorter' races this year (long for me, short in comparison to ultramarathons!). Sadly, it's already the 17th of January, and I've not even ran a total of 10 miles yet in 2014. Neeeed to get my act together, and a proper plan in place, and get running. Yesterday I signed up to beginner evening classes in badminton, so I can run around a court sweatily for a couple of hours every week (and hopefully actually get better at the sport) and I've sussed out the various gyms at work, so that regardless of which building I'm working in, there are options available for me. The plan is to keep a full gym kit and running gear in the car at all times, and take advantage of every possible bit of downtime that I can. I also splashed out on a Bosu ball and heavier kettlebell for home, to work on my balance and core strength when I'm watching TV, rather than lounging about. I've probably only lost about 1kg since 1st Jan (the scales show more but I can't be more accurate, as I've been ill this week, so my weight is likely to fluctuate now that I'm better), which is slow progress but it's going in the right direction. It's time to step things up. x
No comments:
Post a Comment