2016: a year of learning

2016 wasn't a great year of running for me.

If I am honest, a few things I'd been doing wrong for a little while finally caught up with me. Turns out, you can follow the perfect training plan and if you aren't sleeping and resting enough it won't pay off.

2016 was, however, a very important year of running for me. I've learnt more about myself, my health and my running this year than probably any other.

The advice I have received from some amazingly knowledgeable and kind people has given me so much to work on in 2017.

Here are some of the things I've learnt:

To train more you need to recover more

I increased my mileage following my 2014 marathon PB. However, my life also got stressful, very stressed. Consequently, building up the training back-fired and I felt awful. Rather than telling my coach, I pushed on regardless, blaming myself for being weak until I hated even going out for an easy run.

In 2017,  I will: pay attention for my need to rest. 

It's okay to take a run reaaaallly easy. It's also okay to admit you are finding the training tough and it's okay skip a second run if you're really tired.

Okay sleep isn't enough

I kidded myself that because I was in bed for 8 hours, I was getting enough zzz. Newsflash...if you're waking up more than once a night and not waking up feeling rested, you're not.

In 2017, I will: continue to fix my sleep. 

This is a tough one for me but I am trying lots of things to sort out my issues with insomnia and it's going in the right direction.

Negative emotions have massive negative effects on training...and you can't just run them away

I felt stressed or anxious way too frequently this year. A lot of this was life changes, but if you are feeling down about yourself or your life situation this will translate to your running.

In 2017, I will: continue to work on staying in a place where my job, my living situation and my friends compliment my running and make me happy.

More mileage isn't always better

I got drawn into thinking that the more I ran, the better i'd get. Turns out this is true up to a point, but everyone has a limit where adding in more miles is counterproductive. If you tell your coach when you are feeling fatigued, they can help you recognise this point and rein it in. However, if like i did, you just keep on pushing, you won't get anywhere.

In 2017, I will: keep my mileage conservative at a level I know works for me as advised by my coach.

You need to be kind to yourself

Feeling tired isn't being weak. Having to ask for help isn't failing. Admitting your struggling isn't complaining. When I started to struggle in running, I also started hating on myself.

In 2017, I will: be kinder to myself. Give myself a break and a rest when I need it.

The talk below really spoke to me. Give it a go if you are guilty of being too hard on yourself.

If something isn't right, keep looking for answers


I've gotten fantastic advice and insight from many people this year: my coach, a nutritionist, a sports doctor and friends. All of it has been so useful. I finally feel like I have a plan to get me back on track, not just in running but in terms of health and feeling good.

In 2017, I will: put into place this plan :)

Here's to a great 2017!