Wanted to just circle back on what has been the best 12 months of running so far.

I remained generally healthy, but struggled with Plantar Fasciitis from July. It was consistent, base building that enabled me to do well at the longer-distances. Managed to PB from 5km all the way through to 42km.

Highlights below:

1. Base Training (Jan to March) - early January I was still in recovery mode from the 6 Inch Trail 48km Marathon a few weeks before in 2013. Post that, I had 3 months injury free base building. Most of this was frolicking around Melbourne. Managed to build to a 100km week with 5k parkrun every Saturday.

6 Inch Trail Marathon (Dec-13)

2.  Parkrun WA (Jan to August) - Moved my 5km PB down to 16:13. Must have gone sub 16:20 five or so times this year. This compares to 17:30 in Aug-13, so a 85s improvement.

Albert Park Melbourne Parkrun (Jan)

Claisebrook Cove Perth Parkrun PB (March)

3. Bunbury Marathon (mid-late April). First place and 2:38 marathon in hot, dry and windy conditions. 10 minute PB from my sole-2013 marathon (Perth City to Surf). Leveraged a solid 12 week build-up and turned up physically and mentally fresh. Race was run even split 79 / 79, but pulled away from a pack of 3 others at about 15km and put a 10 minute gap to 2nd place.

Bunbury Marathon at 15km (April)

#1 in 2:38, a 10 min PB

4. Perth Marathon (start June). Third place and 2:35 marathon, so a new 3 min PB vs 6 weeks before. Only decided to run this 3 days out, hence effectively no taper. Week before was 100km, and I ran 6-10km per day right up until the day before. Went out conservatively despite great weather, expecting to fade in the last 10km. Passed half way in 79:30 odd, 18th place.

#3 in 2:35 at Perth Marathon (June), a 3 min PB

The dreaded wall never set in and I moved from 3:45 pace to sub 3:40s and ran down the field. 2nd half 76 was a half marathon PB by a considerable margin. Finished strong, felt fresh and that was my peak for the year.

5. Injury Plagued (June to August) - back to back marathons in 6 weeks really took its toll. Was unable to run consistently and struggled with PF at least until October. I had taken 2 weeks off but it was not enough. Lesson learnt.

Walking Parkrun with an Injury and Sasha (August)

Had to say goodbye to Perth to make the interstate move to Sydney. Met some incredible people that became a 2nd family.

Parkrun crew in WA (Aug)

Resumed training with HuRTS from August. Despite a bogus left foot, I still limped over the line to record a few more PBs for the remainder of the year.

6. Striders Homebush 10km (September) - 34:18, so over a 90s PB vs 2012.

10km PB at Striders Hombush (September)

7. JP Morgan CC 5.6km (November) - 18:17, so a 2 min PB vs 2011

Taking a leaf from Tom's Blog, a few lessons:

1. Base building critical. Consistent mileage with speedwork on tired legs is really beneficial to being a strong 2nd half runner

2. Don't ignore speed. Didn't do this well first half. It meant my 5-10km times are really a tier below my marathon

3. General nutrition matters. Put a lot more good fat into daily staples. Nuts, seeds, avacados, coconut specifically. Helped with weight maintenance, satiety and less reliance on sugar for fuel.

4. Race nutrition not needed. Ran Bunbury with one gel, and Perth with nothing. Didn't need any carb intake during the race. I did all my long-runs  on no breakfast, no nutrition.

5. Rest days are important. Still trying to work on this one...

6. Most important 2014 lesson, appreciate the wife. Follows me around the country, drives me to events, runs with me. joins me for runs without complaining. Also a great partner in crime for brunching.

Small size, tiny appetite but big heart

2015 Goals

- Trail ultra - just finish, don't care about time/place.

- Road marathon - low 2:30s.

- Half marathon - sub 75.

- C2S (14km) - sub 48.

- 10km - sub 34.

- JPM - sub 18.

Races I have in mind including any (but not all of) 6 Foot, Canberra, Melbourne, C2S, SMH Half, Blackmores, NY and various local 10kms.

Thanks for reading and happy NY.