The Dragon Runner

Reflecting On 2018

29 Dec 2018

The year started with a great deal of promise, with a couple of key events lined up with Narrabeen Allnighter 12 Hour Race in January and Ultra Trail Australia 22km race in May. My plans began to change less than a week into the year, with a sudden & painful return of my knee arthritis symptoms during the Narrabeen Allnighter on January 6. I called time on this race early, after completing only 3 laps (15.82km).

I completed my first parkrun of the year a week later, but my knee wasn't good & it ended up another two months before I ran again. When I started UTA22 on May 18 I had managed to run a grand total of 74km year to date. Losing so much crucial training before UTA22 meant that I was starting with the only goal being to reach the finish line within the 7 hours time limit. I found that the combination of huge hills, a warm autumn day & lack of preparation had me completely exhausted & withdrawing at the halfway aid station. It didn't help that only a couple of days later I was sick with influenza as well.

I was encouraged to enter the Sri Chinmoy track marathon at Cambelltown Athletic Stadium on June 2, and withdrew from this event after 21km with recurring knee issues. Following this race I made a commitment to avoid all events longer than 5km until I was able to comfortably complete this distance without suffering from painful knees.

My weight had blown back out to 116kg, my blood pressure was not being adequately controlled by the medication that had worked for so long, my knees were deteriorating and my fitness was evaporating fast. I had to draw a line and I had to do it now.

I set myself a very simple goal - to achieve my daily step goal as determined by the Garmin Connect app as often as possible. On July 1 this goal was a measly 5,981 steps & I did not achieve it. The app automatically recalculates the goal every day - achieve the goal & the next day's goal will be higher; miss the goal & the next day's goal will be lower.

For the period from October 24 until December 22 I achieved the daily step goal every day, earning the Garmin Connect 60 Day Goal Getter badge in the process. Over this same period I ran parkrun every week and began to run further & faster was each week passed. My weight dropped back down to 109kg & I am feeling fitter & healthier. I finished the year having run 28 parkruns & not missing a single week starting from October 6.

Over the course of the winter cross country season from March to August I raced with St George DAC on 11 weekends, a number of times completing the two short races on the same day. Distances were short at 1.5km or 2km, with my longest race of the season being 2 miles (3.2km). The highlight though was the Merit Award that I received from the club in June.

I look forward to tackling some bigger goals in the new year - my 100th parkrun will be in late April & I am planning to run the Sri Chinmoy track marathon in June. After that I will continue to challenge myself to improve my health, fitness & race goals.

#reset #refocus #rebuild #health #fitness #wellness #beactive #challengeyourself #pushlimits #becomebetter #dowhatittakes #nevergiveup #metime #newlife #fitter #faster #stronger

2018 Statistics

	Total Steps	Avg Monthly Steps	Avg Daily Steps
January 2018	235,590	53,197	7,599
February 2018	165,471	41,367	5,909
March 2018	223,610	50,492	7,213
April 2018	187,807	43,821	6,260
May 2018	236,888	53,490	7,641
June 2018	167,250	39,025	5,575
July 2018	188,677	42,604	6,086
August 2018	195,470	44,138	6,305
September 2018	239,728	55,936	7,990
October 2018	277,433	62,646	8,949
November 2018	386,712	90,232	12,890
December 2018	324,094	79,217	11,316