These images represent my year of running in 2012.
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| Distance | Speed |
Combined
Following my graphical analysis for the last two years (see 2010 and 2011), I have repeated the procedure for 2012.
Some key features that are not apparent from the graphics:
- I recorded 19 days ill or injured (19 days were also recorded in 2011)
- Each running day* averaged just over 10 miles (10m in 2011) at an average of 7 minutes 42 seconds per mile (8mins in 2011)
The year was relatively quiet, but I was particularly pleased with a two month period (22ndApril until 23rd June) when I raced three marathons and completed a 50 mile run – the furthest distance I have ever run in one go.
The data suggests that I achieved all of the targets I set myself last year (see targets), which basically focused on an overall increase of speed.
One aspect I would change would be to start marathon training at a later stage. I trained hard through the summer (July and August), but seemed to lose motivation through September. I therefore plan on starting training for my next marathon closer to the race date.
I have already entered four marathons for 2013 and am thinking about entering more, particularly mountain marathons. These are therefore my targets for the year ahead:
- Increase the amount of hill training that I do (including races on the hills)
- Try to make one session of each regular training week (excluding the long run) mountain or marathon related – e.g. hills, tempo, long intervals or similar
- Make recovery a more focused part of my training – i.e. make a concerted effort to improve my eating and sleeping habits [I expect this to be harder than it sounds and am not yet sure how I quantify improved eating – all suggestions are appreciated]
Here goes…
*I ran twice a day on seven occasions
