So with this year in mind, and following a really inactive year in 2024, I've decided to write a list of challenges to make sure this year is hopefully a little more active. Some challenges are un-finished business, some rely on others and the rest, well, take a look at my list:
- Complete a Rat Race or similar. (The Rat Race in mind is a 100 mile coast to coast adventure in the Scottish Highlands that incorporates running, cycling and kayaking. It's not 100% definite yet - just waiting on Hodge to run through the logistics before we sign up. If this is a no go, will look to find a similar alternative).
- Cycle the Cantii Way. (Wanted to do this last year and plans were formed but the weather told us 'no'. We spoke about cycling this as a feature of Hodge's stag doo - he's married now, but, we could do a post event thing surely).
- Sleep in a bothy. (Have 'the' book, the gear and a vague idea).
- Run more than 16 ParkRuns in a calendar year (and beat my 2023 record). (After todays effort, that leaves just 16 to go).
- Run a ParkRun in under 25:21 (and hence beat my fastest time in 2024, not likely to beat my fastest time ever, which was 21:39).
- Complete A-Z of ParkRun. (Only have 4 letters remaining, these being J, V, Y and Z. ParkRun's in the UK could see me complete 3 letters, however, the Z would require a trip to Amsterdam or Germany.)
- Cycle at least 1 x 200k audax. (Have vague plans of cycling the January Sale Audax on the 4th).
- Cycle more than 4,398k (and beat 2024's effort).
- Run further than 286k (and beat 2024's effort). (Knocked 5k off today).
- Drink some of Ron's nettle tea. (This clearly depends on motivating Ron at the correct time of year). (Ideally, this tea should be consumed during a wild camp).
They say 'start as you mean to go on' and this year started with a run. A little later in the day, I managed to squeeze in a Zwift cycle ride and walked Ernie too. Would be great if something like this continued.
