My ‘A race’ this year was going to be ‘Baby Celtman’ aka Celtman Solo 10.5. However, as Iain Twinbike Run qualified for the full Celtman itself, and Baby Celtman being the following week, I could only go to Applecross once and supported his race instead. So, my main race this year involved me sitting in a car having a snooze while waiting for Iain TwinBikeRun to finish swimming. And how did I get on? I can honestly say I smashed it. Just look at the genius move of bringing a pillow with me to make my snooze even more comfortable. If supporting was a race, then I was a gold medal winner. 

For actual running, biking and swimming, I had a back up goal of trying to run a bit faster this year. I’d noticed my average times were creeping down and I wanted to try and push a bit faster. By the end of the year I was running around 30 seconds faster a mile than the start. I’d like to say there was a dedicated training programme to achieve this but it mostly involved finishing work at 5 and having to be home by 540 as that’s when our nanny finished. There’s nothing like having to avoid paying overtime to make you run faster. 

Overall, a decent year that reflected two things. One, a one year old in the house which meant I was very restricted about anything longer than an hour. Two, a broken rib and then COVID to finish the year so Oct to Dec was patchy as I had to avoid pressure on my rib and then anything which set off a cough for a couple of weeks. 

Next year, ‘Baby Celtman’ is the goal again and I’m looking forward to being back in Applecoss, even if I have to be there with a bike and running kit and not a comfy pillow.