Happy New Gear!

Christmas has been and gone, the decorations are down, the last of the vouchers have been spent, any unwanted gifts have been returned, and the sales have been ravaged.  Just when I though that I had accumulated all of the new kit I was likely to get for the year I received a pleasant surprise.  I had won a prize from Up & Running.

Throughout December Up & Running had been giving away a prize a day as part of an Advent competition.  Prizes ranged from pairs of socks to GPS watches, but I won a bundle of goodies including; a Choob, water belt, off road socks, a phone holder and, a training diary.

I have already started to use the diary.  I have a record of every run I have ever completed since I started running back in 2012, but I know that having a paper copy to flick through will keep me happy.  I don't run often with my phone so I'm not sure that I'll use the phone case.  I'm going to try the water belt on my next long run, just to see how comfortable it is, after that I'm hoping it will become part of my marathon training kit.

Every runner loves socks, so these have gone straight into circulation.  The final item, The Choob is a bit of a wild card for me.  It has already been Christened as the "super-snood", a light weight multi-wear tube of material designed to keep your neck/face/ears/head warm, depending on how you wear it.  I am comfortable with my winter running wardrobe so I don't think it will come out running with me,  however I'm sure the super-snood will make an appearance, not least in my Trailtrekk kit bag.

2015 is going to be epic!

Having looked back at everything that I achieved in 2014 it's now time for me to focus on the year ahead.  I have big plans but, having learned some valuable lessons last year, I will not be running myself into the ground.

My first target for the year is to take part in a marathon.  When I finished the Leeds Half marathon last year I entered the ballot for the London Marathon.  Luckily I didn't get a place, I'm still on my way back from injury and there is no way that I'll be ready to run 26.2 miles by April.  October on the other hand is much more realistic.  The Plusnet Yorkshire Marathon on 11th October is my goal and every step for the next ten months will be propelling me towards it.

To get a place for the marathon I bought a Run for All season ticket.  As well as a guaranteed place in the marathon, the ticket includes places in the Hull, Leeds, Pennine, and York 10ks.  Goal number 2 is to improve my 10k PB.  Having managed to run sub 50 minutes last year I'd love to run sub 45, but as my training is going to be for distance not speed that will be a happy by-product, not something I'll be actively trying to achieve.

On top of the Run for All 10ks, I have also entered the Harewood 10k.  I enjoyed it so much last year that I couldn't stop myself from entering it again.  I will also sign up for the Abbey Dash, and the Leeds Christmas 10k Challenge, assuming they both go ahead.  So that's 7 10ks and a marathon, 4 times to beat, 4 new races, and pleanty to get my teeth into.

However there is one more challenge for 2015.  It's not running it's walking, but that's by the by.  Team "Llamas Not Included" have signed up to take part in the Oxfam Yorkshire Dales Trailtrekker Challenge.   We will be setting off on the 22nd August to walk 100k through the Dales in under 30 hours.  It is going to be tough, but with the help of our support crew and plenty of peanut butter and honey sandwiches we'll get through to the end.

That little lot should be more than enough to see me through the year.  If you see me going near any more race entry forms feel free to point out how much I have planned already.  2014 was a great year and I achieved loads, but 2015 is going to be epic!