So, how has 2014 been for my climbing? Mostly pretty lousy to be honest, but if you read my last post, I’ve explained all that! However, on the bright side, I’ve got myself in decent running shape, and I’m ending the year carefully getting back on the Bouldering wagon.

So, on the running. For the past few months I’ve attempting to be improving my 5k time, (I.e. I really want a sub 20 min 5k!) and I’ve been following an Endomondo training plan for 5ks. It’s not really worked out well. A combination of being in Poland for work (where running is hard due to it being dark, unfamiliar and bloody freezing), spending a lot of time not at home and starting to boulder again really messed up the training in the last month or so. I think I should be able to run the Hillsborough Parkrun on the 27th, so that will be a good test but I doubt I’ll get near my 21:18PB. We’ll see I guess!

The next year? I’ve only gone and been roped into running the Venice Marathon with the Embrace lot. It looks like a great route (flat, no repeating sections, running into Venice!) but I’m still quite nervous! I plan to start the training in the New Year. I’m really not sure of what target to go for. Obviously I’d like to beat my PB (3:55) but by how much? That was run without a good training regime and no real idea what I was capable of. Mind you, I still don’t know. Could I do 3:30? I’ve an app which reckons that based on my 5k PB, I should be able to do it in ~3:26. Perhaps I should aim for that? *urk*

It’s likely I’ll throw the Sheffield Half Marathon earlier in the year, being as it’s a nice new route following the complete cock up last year. I suspect it’s going to be a tiring one though!

Climbing wise? What’s my aims? I’m starting to get my grades back on the bouldering, but it’s slow going. I’m probably back at 6a indoors, struggling to do many of the 6a-6c problems on the Black and Wasp circuits at the Climbing Works, but I think it won’t take too long to get back to around 6b which is where I probably peaked last year. Where do I want to be? Back there! (Although being able to go 75% of the wasp circuit by the end of the year would be great!)

As for rope climbing? Doing some again would be nice, but I’m not really sure how I’m going to fit it all in. At the back end of 2013, Kiri and I had got ourselves back to 6c/7a leads, and I really want to be back confident on 7as again and trying for 7bs but I really don’t know how I’m going to manage it while keeping the bouldering going and training for a Marathon. I guess I could mix the ropeclimbing with the bouldering as they help each other from a training pov, but it does seem like quite a bit to organise!

I guess once thing I could definitely do is try and post a bit more about my climbing and running here. Might give me some perspective on progress that will help when the new bouldering motivation I’ve found fades in frustration like it normally does!