A year of Running: 2024
- Ellie
- Jan 7
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 8
2024 was my biggest year of running to date, my legs took me over 1000 km (precisely 1036 km), 286 km further than 2023.
I’m sat with a cup of tea, next to the fire, inputting my running data into excel and despite only reaching February I am astonished at the distances I was running so casually. I started 2024 strong and the training for Bath Half went pretty well. I ran a PB on that course and achieved my target time. I remained fairly consistent after Bath Half in March. June was my biggest month of mileage and elevation. I’m not surprised considering I was in full swing training for my ultra marathon and I moved to Bergen where there are more hills than Bath. However, I am surprised by the elevation I was running in prior months, with May being my second highest month of elevation.
Intriguingly my average distance per run varied from 6 to 10 km for January to July even though it felt like I was running further. Something I often question is whether I did enough training for my ultra marathon. I think we all believe we can always do more but realistically life always takes over. I love running and would love to do it all the time but running isn’t my job. It’s a passion. In the buildup to race to the stones I ran one 30 km (with >800 m elevation because I’m a goon), a few 20-25 km runs, and lots of runs around 16 km. For me this was enough as I did not know how tired my body would get with higher training and I wanted to go into race to the stones more undercooked than overcooked in terms of fatigue.
After pretty consistent mileage in the first half of the year, both my distances and elevation dropped from July onwards. This isn’t surprising given the after effect of my ultra, and the recovery time I needed and finally took. Despite living in hilly Bergen, I was running a lot less, hence my elevation is lower. From September I tried to up the mileage again, but was a lot less consistent. October turned into a busy month of travelling to South Korea so I wasn’t really able to run much. I started to find my form in November and December again but finding the time to run has proven a bit more difficult, and sometimes I lack motivation to go for a run.
Still I look back on 2024 proudly, I achieved so much running-wise. I ran my first half marathon race, a 12 hour backyard relay, my first ultra marathon (and marathon included), and continuously surprised myself with my 5 km times. I wanted a sub 25 minute 5 km by the end of this year but I think I managed this in January, so the goal was to focus on sub 24. However, every time I tried I was not speed training, training for a longer distance, or recovering from covid (I know… I have great timing). I signed up on a whim for a 5 km race in Bergen in November, after not doing much training and surprised myself with a 23:12 on icy conditions. A sub 23 would be nice for 2025 (is sub 22 possible???). I also ran 26 parkruns, only one less than 2023 which is pretty consistent. Pippa and me enjoyed two canicross races, she did me proud in every team run, always putting in her maximum. Since we moved Pippa to Norway in September we've been dabbling in some canicross runs, enjoying the new routes and slowly building up her fitness again.
The 12 hour backyard relay in Eastnor was a fun day out. As a team of 4 we ended up winning the race for our category and running the furthest distance overall with 21 total laps. I ran 33.96 km that day, it was my biggest distance to date and set me up with confidence that I could run race to the stones a few months later (review here).
Other notable achievements include working on proper fueling and running with a pack, learning to acknowledge when my body needs a rest and being able to wear heels to my PhD graduation 3 days after running 50 km. I have a few ideas and upcoming plans for 2025 which I will share throughout the year and I am excited to see where my feet take me this year.
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