New year, same me

I just re-read my last year’s New Year’s resolution post. I say “resolutions” but I don’t really make them… basically it was what I had planned for the year basically.

It was really interesting. My plan for the Dubai Marathon, that I ran in January, was to “go for it” and my plan for the Brighton Marathon was to just bimble round. How different that turned out! Dubai was my slowest marathon time of the year (3:39:58) whereas Brighton is now my PB (3:16:28). It’s funny how things are never as you plan (well for me certainly).

2018 was a really good year for me in terms of running. I ran five marathons! I put the exclamation mark because this still shocks me. My body is so much stronger. SO much stronger. Regularly going to the gym and working on my strength has hugely helped. I know where my weaknesses are and what to work on. I’ve had minimal niggles, and anything that did crop up disappeared relatively quickly.


I ran 1,633.9 miles. I PB’ed at my 5k (19:40), was five seconds off a 5 miles PB (33:48), unofficiallybeat my 10k three times during training runs (41:49), beat my half marathon PB (1:31:106) and got a new marathon PB (3:16:28). So in purely performance-related achievements, I think I’ve done well!

Hitting my target of running a sub-20 minute parkrun, a goal I had at the start of the year, made me very happy. I mean it was horrifically hard and I felt every single second, but I got there (twice actually, I squeezed a 19:59 at Victoria Docks parkrun). I’m very happy with that time and feel no desire to attempt to go faster. Sure sub-19 minute sounds amazing but so does winning the lottery, some things in life aren’t meant to happen to me 😉

One of my most proud achievements was getting my parkrun Alphabet Challenge completed. It genuinely took me a lot of organising , but I had so much fun along the way. It gave me good excuses to visit friends, go to different places and have adventures. Something I see goes firmly hand in hand with my running.

So 2019. Well, I’d love to do 4-5 marathons again. In the plan currently is a Barcelona in March, Manchester in April (I know, scarily close to each other), Chicago in October (my LAST Marathon Major!!!) and probably Portsmouth Coastal in December again. I see a gap between April and October so I’m sure if all is well I’ll squeeze something in between. But I don’t want to become complacent with my new found “lack of injury” status I have so I won’t make any assumptions lightly!

It might be nice to get close to my marathon PB again. Manchester or Chicago might be viable options as they’re both flat. The New York Marathon showed me I could put a good time in and still enjoy myself so that makes me more inclined to try. But getting under 3:16 will require consistent, solid running and almost certainly with some speedwork put in. This is something I probably should have as a goal… but actual track? No I think I’m done with that. Let’s be honest, going from zero speedwork to intense PROPER speedwork on the track was never going to be a great fit for me.

So perhaps some less formal sessions with Hedge End Running Club (who are a bit more chilled about these things) and some sessions on my own… once in a while anyway. I won’t commit to anything as ludicrous as “once a week” as that’s a lofty target that I’ll never hit. Baby steps.

In terms of my life outside of running… well, if you couldn’t tell I’m very happy. I wouldn’t have thought I’d be this happy last year but I am.

It’s funny because I actually didn’t think I was missing anything. I was quite content bumbling along with my life and didn’t really think I needed anyone to “make” me happy. But there you go. Kyle and I have a lot of adventures planned for this year. I just hope I don’t mess anything up! I mean there’s bound to be many more Anna’isms through the year but I guess that’s to be expected…

Do you make New Year’s resolutions?

What are your goals for the year?

Did you achieve what you wanted in 2018?

12 Replies to “New year, same me”

  1. For a few years now I’ve avoided resolutions (if I want to change something, why wait until January?) and set goals for the year instead. This year, I don’t think I’m even doing that as I’m happy with how things are ticking along and just want to carry on.

    You had a great 2018 so here’s to the year ahead…
    Allison recently posted…My Year Of Running 2018 (Link Up)My Profile

  2. I’m so excited to see your adventures and progress through 2019! You really do inspire me. Can we make a resolution of dinner again or a parkrun?

  3. Aw what a lovely post- you’ve had such a brilliant year, running wise and life wise. That alphabet hoodie is just the best, and like you say, the travel and the people are what makes the tourism worth it.
    I have not made resolutions for years, but I like having goals to aim for. Although my goals are not very “smart”- make the most of weekends, try not to let work get on top of me, more parkrunning and enjoying the races I’ve signed up for.

    1. I like the sound of your goals. I hate things that are so structure and rigid. Especially time goals. I don’t define my progress or success by times so they’re kind of pointless. I think striving to improve, in whatever shape that is, is probably better. And to ensure that running is still fun and something you want to do. When it becomes like a job I think that’s when you have to take a step back and think if the goals are actually worth it.

  4. You had an amazing 2018; here’s to a new year (ish!) filled with loads of fun, food, friends, family and adventures. Probably not the right order but you know what I mean 😉
    I wouldn’t say I make resolutions as such, but I do like to set myself goals. I used to make completely overambitious resolutions and then feel guilty when I “failed” during the first week of January.
    I think I achieved most of what I wanted last year, some events were unfortunately completely out of my control. This year, my main ‘life’ goal is to find myself a permanent job. I’d also like to buy myself a car. The job will have to come before the car.
    Emma recently posted…Rants and Raves #32My Profile

    1. I think you did amazingly last year. I think people really have to be sensible when they set their goals. Being over ambition (or unrealistic) just means that you’ll feel rubbish or you’ll over-exert yourself trying to achieve something. Small but challenging goals that are attainable without killing yourself are the way forward.

  5. Happy new year, Anna! Can’t believe the Dubai marathon was almost a year ago – I told myself I’d do it this year but I’m now glad that I only signed up for the 10k again, this just isn’t the climate for marathon running even in our coldest months!
    You and Kyle are so cute! I felt exactly the same before I met my boyfriend, that I was fine on my own but it’s so much more fun having someone to share the adventures with.
    My goals for this year are to up my weights at the gym and hit some “ambitious for me” goals (I am such a weakling!) x

    1. To be fair, it’s not just the marathon it’s the actual three months of training beforehand which is the hard part, and Dubai just doesn’t have the easiest climate to train in. I don’t blame you for choosing the 10k!
      Oooh good luck x

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