January
- Not a good start! Ran Edinburgh XC with a serious case of Man-Flu. Big mistake.
- Won the Northern Cross Country in a mud bath. Proud moment in the Derby AC vest.
February
- A win and a PB at the Armagh 5km (13:55). I have a sprint finish!
- Won the National Cross Country Championships. Even prouder moment in the Derby AC vest.
March
- Joined Team NB Manchester, got a Training Peaks account, bought a heart rate monitor and had an introduction to the Gym…the DOMS was atrocious.
- Went to Font Romeu and experienced altitude for the first time. Eat 114 almond croissants in a month.
April
- Won the English champs 5km in 14:00.
- Moved to Stockport and was made to run early in the morning.
May
- Finished 3rd at the Highgate Harriers Night of the 10,000m PBs (inc British Championships). Well and truly had my pants pulled down by Andy Vernon.
- 13:42.89 PB over 5,000m and second place in Nijmegen (Holland). An Aussie caught me on the line.
June
- 28:23.58 and another PB for 6th at the Gouden Spike 10,000m in Leiden (Holland). Massive night out afterwards and my new favourite place in the World.
July
- 3rd at the British Champs 5,000m. Andy Butchart ran a 400m faster than my 1500m PB pace in the middle of the race. It hurt.
- 13:29.90 PB over 5,000m in Dublin for 3rd at the Morton Games and a PB through 3,000m too.
- Another race and another PB for 5th in Cork. 7:54.01.
- Last race of the summer season. A 1500m that I didn’t want to do. Kissed the track mid race but still ran a PB of 3:48.96.
August
Rested and drank beer.
September
- Got injured and retired from running. Considered the Army, but instead got a World top 5,000 ranking on FIFA.
- Steve made me cross train….alot!
October
- Came out of retirement.
- Finished 3rd at the Great South Run. Somehow pulled that out of my ar*e!
November
- Went to Portugal and ran a lot.
- Finished 2nd in the English 10km champs in Leeds.
- Won the European Cross Country Trial at Liverpool. Heart Rate was low.
December
- 6th at the European Cross Country Championships. Well chuffed!
- Finished the year off at the Houilles 10km. Ran a 2:42 first km (uphill) and tasted blood for 9km. Finished 6th.
In Summary:
A good year.
Hills are good for you, the gym is good for you, science is good for you.
I’m better than I thought.
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