‘Leap’ing into the new year- my 2020 vision for the running year

Another year has started and I am raring to go with this one. I will not be adopting my normal scatter gun approach of signing up for 50 but just running 30-35 races over the course of the year, with the races themselves becoming the training for the next, wasting thousands of pounds on DNSs due to sickness, injury, double booking and poor motivation. This year, at the time of writing at least, I have the smallest number of races since 2013 and am not in the mindset to change it too much. I have targets. I have aims and those are even more specific (and achievable) than last year:

50 parkruns (this should be simple as I am on 47 and even I do more than 3 a year)
Parkrun PB (I think if I can get to Burgess then it is on)
50 marathons towards the 100MC (again simple as I am on 45)
10K PB (A real rarity for me, but I have one booked in June so we shall see)
PB at Half Marathon (I have 4 planned and shall target my training to wrench the PB from Brighton 2016)
PB at Marathon (at the moment I have 4 booked, and 3 have PB potential)
Top 100 finish at GMU45 (although I have never run the reverse course)
Beat my Chicago 2019 time (should be pretty easy as kept Heartrunnergirl company for 1/3 of the race last year)
Most Miles Run in a Year (#standard)
End the running year completely happy with how it went (that would be a first since my first 12 in 12 year)

And so, after opening the year with a 10K joggette on New Years Day I am truly focusing on what I have to do. I know Zermatt will be a challenge as long as I get there. I know GMU45 will be a big step up from the 30, and the reverse course will make it a lot more challenging. Things do look completely different when you look at them backwards. But I am up for this. For me it will be switching the training plans around to allow me to get speed work in at the start of the year for the halves, then again for the summer for the half in May and 10K in June, whilst maintaining marathon plans for the maras. GMU45 I need to just keep moving and not get lost. And so to the race calendar and, yes, it has changed since the 2019 review .

I think the plan may be workable. If I spend the first two months of the year trying for a half PB, or near as dammit, then that could be a good start. Although it would mean I am only half marathon ready as I trudge my way around 45 miles of Bristol at Green Man. I then have 6 weeks to get ready for Hamburg and my first PB attempt at mara. But, like the halves, the first is a marker, then the rest I want to see some sort of improvement. So Hamburg will be a marker. My top two marathon times are the first two I ran (Berlin and Manchester), with Manchester 2016 still standing despite running dozens since. I think I just fell into the frame of mind where I didn’t want to destroy myself running them so take it easy as I plod around. Sure it is an achievement in itself, but clearly not one I was truly proud of. So, for 2020, let’s get it on. Half mara PB? Bosh! Mara PB? Bosh! Top 100 at Green Man? Those will be the ones I would be truly proud of. So let’s be ‘avin’ you!