The Top Ten of 2011

I wasn't intending to write a post to describe my 2011 year in review, unlike the past two years. I thought my Three Years in the UK post covered my feelings on the matter, but after looking at previous posts I couldn't resist doing another one. Plus, my three years post covered my three years in the UK at a very high level, but what about 2011 itself? What were the highlights (and lowlights)?

2011 was the year in which I felt that I came full circle, that I redeemed myself somewhat. After spending most of 2010 outside of the UK, away from my comfort zone, and not knowing exactly where I was going to end up next, I now have that feeling of security, that I have regained some sort of control. Living in another country where things were provided to me constantly wasn't the type of life I wanted to lead, and to come back to the UK allowed me to put my feet on solid ground again.

My Year of Running - A Review and What I've Learnt

What a difference 11 weeks can make. After a rubbish performance in the Reading Half Marathon in March, followed by an unlucky outing in the British 10K in July, I managed to set another PB at Berlin in a race where I wasn't expected to, after the less-than-impressive start to the running year.

I can't even stress how badly I started out this year. Over Christmas and New Years, I had a much deserved holiday back in New Zealand where running was pretty much put on the back burner. Those times that I did go running, I found it tough due to lack of fitness and the hot summer conditions, which is unlike running in the UK on a summer's day. January was pretty much Holiday Month, while February was Sickness Month. During mid-February I struggled with illness so much that it sidelined me from quality training. Finally when I got well again, on came March, or Moving Month. I had to settle back into life in the UK once more. The Reading Half Marathon came around and I pretty much struggled through the entire run.

The Consultant. Runner. Aaron. Trilogy - Three Years in the UK

They say that all things come in threes. And it made me think about my three years in the UK (or more specifically, three years away from New Zealand).

If you've read the Lord of the Rings books, or seen the Godfather or Star Wars movies, you would've noticed that they involve the same characters or settings, connected by common themes or epic adventures. Strangely, or maybe coincidentally, my time spent in the UK has been like an epic trilogy. Well, the three years I've spent here have certainly been an epic adventure, but let me try to convince you how it fits into a trilogy-like structure, which I've, rather lamely, titled The Consultant. Runner. Aaron. Trilogy. Here's how my adventure so far boils down into three movements.

Berlin Marathon 2011 - Race Report

It's great to be a part of history, and on my third Berlin outing this race has provided that in threes.

• A new men's world record was set.
• Haile Gebrselassie and Paula Radcliffe, the men's and women's world record holders were both there.
• I set a new PB, and for the first time I broke the 3:20:00 barrier.

I won't go too much into my training for Berlin as all of it is published on my dailymile page. What I'd like to mention is that in my hardest training weeks, I managed to log 30 consecutive training days, averaging over 90 km a week in that month. I've never done that sort of volume and frequency before and I was quite surprised to get through that without feeling the least bit tired, injured or sick. Though I have to put that down to being extra careful, eating healthy and getting plenty of sleep.

Haile, Paula and Me

This year will be my third Berlin Marathon, and it also happens to be the one where competition is at an all-time high. I've seen stacked fields in major marathons, but this promises to be the most competitive yet. Indeed, the world-record holder and the women's world record holder will be making an appearance in the 38th BMW Berlin Marathon..... along with me. 

I'm talking about Haile Gebrselassie and Paula Radcliffe, possibly the two greatest marathon runners of all time. And I am truly honoured to be racing alongside with them. While my chances of winning Berlin just got a lot more complicated, I can honestly say that there's still a minute chance that I can finish ahead of these legends on race day, so much so that I will provide an "objective analysis" of their strengths and weaknesses and how I size up in comparison. 

Six Months Done And Dusted

I haven't been blogging for over two months, and I have to say that it is entirely my fault for putting this on the backburner. I must admit that settling back in the UK has taken a lot longer than I thought it would, but there have been other events that have needed my full attention. Here's a recap of what happened in those two months. 

Joining a running club

When I returned from Norway, one of the things that I made clear to myself was that I had to join a running club. Being part of a club has allowed me to enjoy my running more and push myself in training harder (well it helps when Coach pushes you as well). My training group is not large, so that helps with Coach knowing who's who and what our abilities are. Since then, I've seen improvements in my personal best over shorter distances, and this will hopefully translate well to the longer version. 

My new sporting hero

My running heroes are Usain Bolt and Paula Radcliffe, where the two combine raw speed and power in the 100 metres and controlled efficiency in the marathon. But recently I gained a new sporting hero.

One of the things I got an appreciation for while I was in Norway was cross country skiing. The physical demands in cross country skiing are not too dissimilar to running, whether it'd be long or middle distance. And what better way to make the sport more attractive and popular to people that don't come from a winter sports background or country without a huge participation in it, than to have a very gorgeous-looking lady winning a gold medal at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo this year!

Well, ladies and gentlemen (but mostly for gentlemen) it gives me great pleasure to write this post about this very gorgeous-looking lady, Therese Johaug. 

Starting Over (for the nth time)

After moving around like a nomad for the past year, I've finally settled back in the UK. I was actually quite disappointed to leave Norway, but as always all good things have to come to an end.

In hindsight, I was quite relieved to return back to the UK as it meant that life was more-or-less heading back to normal. Moving to other countries and living out of a suitcase with no fixed address is NOT normal. And now that I'm back in the UK, where I feel I belong, I'm hoping that I won't have to relocate to another country for a long period of time. I don't mind travelling for work, but relocation for 3 months or more is very difficult and not something I'd want to do again - after all I've relocated 5 times in under 3 years. 

Reading Half Marathon 2011 - What Happened?

In a previous post, I resolved that I wanted to go sub-1:30 at the Reading Half Marathon. The intention was good and a plan was put in place. Yet, I finished 9 minutes outside of my target time and over 5 minutes outside of my PB.

It's always gutting to see plans not going the way you want them to go. As objectively as possible, I've listed out all the reasons I can think of. They might come across as excuses, but that is what really happened and I hope not to fall into the same situation again.

The Sun Always Shines On TV

After 8 months in the Nordics, I've finally returned back to the UK. I couldn't have imagined that leaving the UK for a life in Oslo, to work on a massive project fraught with political problems, in a diverse team for such a challenging customer, was definitely one of my best working experiences ever. So, naturally I'm feeling pretty bummed to leave Norway.

One of the first things my colleagues showed me on arrival was this "induction" video. I highly recommend viewing this before reading the rest of this blog post.

World Championships and World Cups

Yesterday was the opening ceremony of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. I'm not a passionate skiier by any stretch, but living in Norway has given me an appreciation of how passionate Norwegians are to winter sports, in particular Cross country skiing and Ski jumping. Hailing from a rugby nation (New Zealand), it was quite strange to see Norwegians urge their cross country skiiers the way we New Zealanders urge our rugby players up the field.

Modest gains from now on

The days of big gains in my running times have come to an end. Gains of 10 mins off my PB in a half marathon or up to 30 mins in a marathon weren't uncommon back in the day. And I thought that if I put in the hard work in training, I could keep up the big gains to get faster.

Now that I'm a more mature and more experienced runner, I've come to realise that gains in my running will be a lot less than before, even with an increased training load. When I set that goal to break 3 hours in a marathon last year, I had no idea how much work it would take to improve by 22 minutes at my current running level. In the end, after a long period of training, I was only able to improve by 80 seconds, and I thought I worked pretty hard too.

Introducing my revamped blog "Running With Aaron"

Happy New Year to all readers. To close out 2010 and welcome in 2011, I've decided to undertake a major overhaul of my current blogs.

In 2010, I started a new blog, Breaking Three Hours, a blog dedicated to running and my journey towards the sub-3 hour marathon goal. Over the year, I blogged heavily on Breaking Three Hours, so much so that I hardly wrote anything on my other blog, which I've had for over 5 years. My personal blog contains well over 150 posts ranging from topics such as work, music, travel, sports, current affairs and, of course, running. Not wanting to maintain two separate blogs, and not wishing to throw away 5 years of writing, I've decided to consolidate both blogs into one, and this is the final result.