2016 turned into a lousy running year with very few positive running stories to remember. I felt I was just turning up and running on automatic at most events and on many was lucky to actually finish. Too many times I felt that I shouldn't even have turned up to start....that old saying about things that don't kill you just make you stronger?...it didn't feel like it. At the start of the year I had set myself targets for each race, hoping to improve upon the previous years times. Its always hard to squeeze a PB out year after year after year, but you always try and strive towards that goal. So in hindsight I was just setting myself up for disappointment after disappointment. There were a couple of Positive runs in the mix but they ended up in the shadows being cast by the negatives. I had lost that 'loving feeling'.
So in March it was business as usual.....the D33......again.

Again....... I turned up at Duthie Park on another cold morning and couldn't help feel that I was only turning up to keep my 'ever present' status at this event. I normally try and start off my racing year with the D33 and is always a jolly and a very well organised and managed event from George, Karen and their team. And it's cheap. Beer, cake and a unique handmade medal. Truly ...'Epic Shit'.
Year number 7. I trudged round the out and back 33 mile route not really wanting to be there, I was tired, under trained and just 'not in the mood'. I had lost the fun feeling today before the race even started. When your head isn't in it it's not long until your body follows suit.
The Anglo Celtic Plate was back in Perth in 2016 and so was I for its 50K race.
Round and Round and Round we go. I managed a course PB here, by a few seconds. I enjoyed the day more than when it was last here, 3 years ago. Although being lapped again and again and again can, and does, get frustrating! But I came here to stick to a pace and just get the mileage done, using it as a means to an end and was happy at maintaining a consistent pace.
My 8th Fling start, which we now know will the last to grace the word 'hoka' before it. It remains, despite suffering from a malfunctioning arse this year, my favourite all round event.
Not long after Milngavie I knew this wasn't going to end well! My stomach began to protest and had several stops along the way to make deposits, leaving a trail of blocked toilets and stinky bushes in my wake . Getting slower and slower as the day went on. Last year I was in tyndrum in under 12 hours, this year I crawled in on over 14, my slowest fling to date.
So I've now finished 7 out of 8 Fling races I've started, with this one being the hardest physically and mentally.
So the first three races of 2016 were done.......surely things could only get better?
