Happy Solstice

And so, finally, 2020 draws to an end. One thing we can all agree on, it was a truly shitty year, so good fucking riddance.

There might have been a few positives. No Christmas office party, for example, which is one major plus in my book. And the fact how I finally realised that working from home has plenty of plus points. But all in all it's good to leave this year behind us, write it off as a massive clusterfuck and move on to better things.

Mileage-wise it was another low for me, but I have the funny feeling that's just one more step on that particularly slope. By the time we hit New Year I'll be very close to 2300 running miles, and I'm not counting the cycling ones. I've gotten slower again, though I did manage a few plus points like a 5:54 mile, which was faster than any mile I've run for several years, and that 19:13 5k on the treadmill was better than I expected as well. As for races, I didn't realise how lucky I was to have signed up for Donadea in February, so at least I got one proper race under the belt before it all came crashing down.

For next year I'd love to catch up on all the races I missed out on this year but that would almost certainly a really bad idea. I no longer have the ability to do a marathon and recover quickly, so I will have to limit my races. So I guess that Ironman that was supposed to be this June but has been postponed to next August will be my focus for 2021; unfortunately I have no idea how I'll get the swim training done because I am not at all comfortable with going to a swimming pool for the time being, and swimming in the sea on a regular basis isn't all that high on my wish list either, to be honest. Make no mistake, I badly need to learn to swim properly before August and this will take some time, so that's something I need to figure out sooner rather than later.

I've been ticking over the last few weeks with most runs a 12 k loop around Bray, a shorter run when my legs felt particularly heavy and one longer run on Sunday, though nothing that I could call a long run in good conscience. The pace was generally somewhere between 8 and 8:30 minute miles, and a couple of attempts at a workout showed that I have serious issues when it comes to running faster.

For next year I do have one goal. I signed up for Ray's Marathon Challenge, a charity event with Ray D'Arcy as the figure head, but more importantly in support of LauraLynn, which to me is the single most deserving cause in Ireland, and one I really want to support. It means running at least 26.2 miles each and every week in 2021 (not in one go - that would kill me). I would really appreciate it if you could help out and donate, even if it's just a little bit. They have been really taking a hit with donations in 2020 and anything you can do to help will be highly appreciated.

Please follow the link to my donation page . Thank you!