Thursday 22 December 2016

The Remainder of 2016

It's been a while since I posted on here, but this is not because of inactivity. After having to miss out on JEC, I was back training almost straight away, with frequent races on weekends and progress definitely becoming apparent. A few highlights will be given below; one from each 'discipline' if you like.

Only one week after JEC I was able to race one of my dream routes for 2016 - the Pentland Skyline. Although much longer than anything I have attempted in the past, I was familiar with the route and I was ready to race after a warm-up XC race on Saturday, even though I knew the biggest bonk of my life was lurking somewhere around Bell's Hill. Such was the case, after a really good start and a top 10 potential position, and I was caught by one too many runners, in the end finishing in an upsetting but still solid 11th place and 2:35 time - one to definitely improve on in the coming years. Emotions at the finish were like no other and I spent the next few days consuming anything which my heart desired.


Following on from this was the FRA's, the British relay fell running champs. For the first time in a number of years, the Haries sent out a team comprised of 3 orienteers and 3 runners. In the end everyone had mixed runs and enjoyed the experience, and hopefully we have kick-started a Haries' fell running comeback.


Next up was my final real orienteering races of 2016 - a Middle and Long distance in the beautiful Culbin forest. I could tell my navigation was already going rusty by the unfamiliarity of my regular technique but in the end Culbin was kind and rewarding, with a 1st place in the middle, seconds ahead of GG, and a 2nd in the SOL on Sunday (which secured the series) - as well as a good amount of miles over the weekend.

November mainly comprised of Cross Country racing, and I took part in 7 races in the run up to Christmas. My results got worse as the season went on but I'm confident that I'm still getting faster and the results were due to a high mileage in the legs. I came out the other side with a place in the Inter Districts' Scottish Uni team in January, something that will definitely be a struggle but also surely a good experience. Hopefully I can finish off my so-far successful Borders' series (2 wins out of a necessary 4) and fit in a few more XC races (including BUCS) in the run up to selections' season in Spring.

Otherwise training has been going exceedingly well - my mileage has been higher than ever, niggles fewer than ever, and although I recently had a bad spout of 2 colds in a row, things seem to be going very well indeed. I have been enjoying a weekly progression run, the best of which resulted in a 10km PB on the meadows of 33:58 with a 10km steady, sub-4min/km run-up. Only a few days ago I lugged round the skyline fairly easily, on a very blustery day, with miles in the legs - something I wouldn't have been able to do even a few months ago.



After the new year (with a 5 and 10km race) I plan to start introducing some fartlek and hill rep training, to hopefully build on the big endurance base that I now hope to have. Additionally, after 2 months of no orienteering, I clearly should be starting from near scratch and building back to the decent state it was in where I left it in October. Hopefully with minimal injury and illness, next year can be a big one.