2011 was full of ups and downs in terms of running. I had a solid winter of base building behind me, and I was in pretty good shape when I started my visit in New York in the beginning of March. At that point I really needed just some race sharpening, and it was easy to smash my previous PBs: I ran a 1:25:15 half marathon at 13.1 New York, just 15sec shy of my season’s target, and only eight days later I recorded my current 10k PB of 37:41 at the Scotland Run, taking care of my season’s target of sub 38min.

The rest of the summer was spent mostly on getting to marathon shape for Helsinki City Marathon in August, and ultimately Amsterdam Marathon in October, but I seemed to have lost my speed as I just couldn’t improve on the the half marathon and 10k times that I did in April. My confidence was low, and my training suffered from constant travelling and flu viruses. Still, I surprised myself by running 3:02:31 in Amsterdam, well below my target of 3:10h for the season. My total running mileage was also well above target (2000 miles), being 2316 miles for 2011.

I didn’t really have a chance to improve my 5k PB (18:46), even though I’ve recorded at least three faster 5k times since then in 10k races and in training. There just weren’t any fast 5k races at an appropriate time. 5k is a low priority for me anyway though.

UNC-Chapel Hill track

After Amsterdam I was keen to get back into base building and get some good mileage in, but I suffered from illness and some persistent niggles brought on by the intensive marathon, so I didn’t get nearly as many miles in as I was hoping. 2012 started with some more intense travelling and yet another flu virus, but in the last two weeks of January I have finally gotten back into proper training, and it looks as if I’ve somehow managed to find some speed in my legs too. The climate in North Carolina, where I’ve been since the beginning of 2012, is ideal for running — I can run in shorts in the middle of the winter! The University also has a nice track where I’ve been doing some speed work. Well, it will be put to test very soon, as I’m running Kappa Delta Shamrock ‘n’ Run 5K right here in Chapel Hill in just a week’s time. I’ve also signed up to my first ever 10-miler, the Tar Heel 10-miler, which is in April, also in Chapel Hill.

Right now I’m feeling great, and looking forward to clocking ~60-70 mile weeks with some quality speed work thrown in. I’m also biking up to 50 miles per week (commuting to town), and doing 2-3 gym sessions per week. I haven’t been swimming here yet, but I’d hope to be able to fit in a weekly swimming session too if I can. I just hope that I can stay healthy — I have a tendency to push my training a bit too far when I’m feeling good…

I’m doing a lot of trail running at the moment, since the best places to run near where I live are all trails (I hope to post some photos of those trails soon). I love it, but I’m concerned that my legs will forget how it feels to run long distances on asphalt. I do think that the trails are great for strengthening leg muscles though, and I suspect that the sudden increase in speed that I’ve encountered is largely due to the trails.

I’ve finally updated my running goals for 2012, but let me state them here for everyone to see as well:

5km: <17:30min
10km: <36min
Half Marathon: <80min
Marathon: <2:55:00
Mileage: 2500+ miles, or 4023+ km

The marathon is my priority, and I’ve already signed up for the fast Berlin marathon in the end of September. I hope to do a marathon around May or June as well though, just to see how I’m doing. The 10k and the half marathon targets look a bit tough to me at the moment, but if I can keep training at the level I’m doing now, then I’m optimistic. Really I’d be more than happy if I can just do a sub 3h marathon this year though, everything else is extra!