Despite finding an embarrassing note I've discovered from myself to myself written in 2007 where I claimed that my goal was to win the Sheffield Half Marathon in 65 minutes, I am lucky enough (or maybe luck doesn't come into it) over the last 18 months to have achieved all of my wildest of targets.
I have surpassed my modest athletic, time-based obsessive goals which in my eyes would validate me as a runner, to the point where the last 3 PBs that I collected this summer didn't provide the same sense of invigoration or self-satisfaction as I expected.
Equally, the idea of subjecting myself to further training when I have opportunities to explore other things just to get a handful of seconds quicker doesn't cut it for me. I've questioned whether I'm done in this sport.....have I lost the hunger?
I don't think this is the case. But I do think some lateral thinking is required to motivate me for my next challenge.Like when Mo Farah took his family across the Atlantic to train with Alberto Salazar, or when Ed Banks shocked the free world by announcing that he would be switching from imperial to metric units to record his training, I am proposing a change: At a time when I have entered a new decade of my existence which will rigorously and unkindly age my youthful body, I shall no longer primarily run for times.
So what does that mean?
I have 10 career first places to date, some more valuable to me than others. Racing for position (on the local scene obviously) seems like a very interesting goal for this next year. A form of running where I would no longer be choosing races or deploying tactics to achieve an optimum time, but instead responding to other runners, and trying to best my fellow competitors.This, for me, is the new goal, and as soon as I get over this latest bout of injury, I'll be at it.
