Well.. Hello here we are again and after a lengthy absence I have decided to (re)set some goals for this year (2018). It has been four years since I had run a PB in any road running event distance upwards of a 5km.

Last weekend after completing Wellington Round the Bays for the 5th time I reflected a little on my past performances at this event in the 21.1km distance.

From 2011 to 2018 the progression is nothing spectacular however I have an attachment to this event and the distance as it was one of my ‘Big’ goals back when I re-started my running. Incidentally in 2016 and 2017 I volunteered and paced 1:45 and 1:50 groups.

So why this history and nostalgia? To be honest I’d kind of given up on having goals in beating PBs and just got around to the simplicity of running because I liked it. There were a few moments where I saw that if I do focus that I could potentially get better even though I am now past a certain age where improvements are hard fought. The inevitable question or rather doubt in my mind was ‘could I really be bothered?’

Then I started looking at all my half marathon results.

What stood out was that since 2014 I hadn’t really gone that far aback – OK I admit that 2014 was a great year where I set PBs from 5k (18:25) to my best Marathon (on a tough course at Rotorua) to my Half PB of 1:26 also on a rough wet day on a somewhat hilly course in Taupo. I also remember that I was quite diligent that year and everything clicked. Apart from that most my Half marathon times have been around the 90min mark or better. (Some runners work hard for that sub 90min mark I know)

So what changed – in all honesty nothing much, I did spend most latter part of 2014 and all of 2015 overseas and through back to back winters but that on reflection wasn’t that much of a set back rather an adjustment.

So what has changed now? – Last few months I started to enjoy the competitive nature of shorter distances. I started with aiming for a faster Mile by subscribing to an online coaching boot camp at Milermethod.com run by Olympian Nick Willis.

I found that I enjoyed the shorter intense workouts. One huge boost from that was running a 1500m track race in the first week of February in a new PB for that distance. Nothing spectacular again but I did find that I really enjoyed it. Cogs started turning and I suddenly felt that I could probably set a few goals for the short term. Perhaps aim to run as close to a 18:25 5km again? A faster 1500m? This thinking has certainly made me excited.

When I got a free entry to Wellington Round the Bays about 3 weeks from the event I decided OK – ‘I’ll have a go and see what happens’. The truth was I actually enjoyed the race and it was clear that with a bit of diligent planning I can indeed re-set my goals to match or even better 2014.

Maybe it also has something to do with the fact I got beaten by someone who had put in the work. Time to settle the scores.

Bring IT!