Be consistent

My number one goal is to train — to run — the whole year, without any breaks. By this I mean:

• not having more than three days for an injury or niggle

I did this in 2021. So let’s see if I can do it again.

Get stronger

I.e. more injury resistant and better prepared to run fast and long. This means:

• keep doing leg strength, kettlebell and upper body work two or three times a week
• add in core work (once or twice a week)

I also have some upper body strength goals:

• 24 pullups in a row (currently at 20)
• 3′ dead hang (two arms) (currently at 2′)
• 1′ dead hang on each arm (max. so far is 20″)
• 75 push ups in a row (currently 59)
• 40 dips in a row (have done 30)

Get faster

My
main events will be trail ultras, but I also want to improve my running economy and speed. So I’m going to try to:

• score over 70% on the age-graded percentages for 1 k, 5 k and 10 k as a 49- or 50-year old

Do more flat and fast running

To get faster and more economical, I’m going to do more flat and fast running than last year.

Last year I followed a vert-based, hiking-heavy plan. It served me well — I got though the ultras I did in one piece.

But
I don’t want to train like that forever, even if I only ever do ultras.
I felt I got slower (or at least not faster) and less economical.

And besides, I like road running as much as I do trail running. I want to do both.

I also like doing varied workouts each week. Both in terms of speed and terrain.

Improve the training plan

To
be able to do trail ultras and work on running speed and economy, I’ve
come up with training plan that I can use all year round.

It’s
a four-week cycle with one recovery week. The runs each
week depend on the phase (base or build) and the focus of the week
(hilly, flat or mixed). The focus has more to do with the long
run; each week has a mix of trail and flat running.

The goal for this year is to fine-tune this plan. Questions to answer include:

• Can I do hilly ultras in good shape (i.e. without muscle cramps and finishing) with a more running-focused plan?
• How much better can I get at doing hill and flat sprints by doing them all year round?
• How much can I improve my relative 5 and 10 k time by (I’m not going to get any PBs at this age)?
• Can
  my body put up with this amount of variation? For instance, I’m only
  going to do one hilly long run a month. Will my body be able to handle it
  and not get lower-leg niggles?

Focus on the plan, not distance or elevation totals

Last
year I kept my sights on weekly, monthly and yearly kms run and metres
climbed. It worked, 2021 ended up being my biggest year for both distance run and
elevation climbed.

This year, I don’t care about these totals.

Other
goals are the aim: consistency, workout variety, speed, getting through
the ultras well, resilience, long-term improvement.

But
I will track the distance and elevation gain of the long runs to keep
each type of long run in step with the others and build from month to
month.

For instance, right now ,
the hilliest long run I’ve done had about 1000m+. So on the next run of
this type, I’ll do between 1250 and 1500m+.

Do ten or more races or time trials

I love doing races, and I love testing myself, wherever my fitness is at.

I also like running with other people, and racing is about the only time I run with other people.

So I want to make sure I do enough races and tests. That’s what it’s all about for me.

Ten’s a good number as I did six last year, and the most I’ve ever done was nine, in 2015 and 2003.

Do the same ultras as last year

Out of those ten races, I plan to do the same ultras as in 2021:

• Ultra Montseny
• Ultra Pirineu
• Long Trail BCN

Plus at least one other:

• Els Bastions