2023 Personal Review and 2024 Goals

Martynt74

Martynt74

Martynt74

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Joined
20 Feb 2004
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Hondon de las Nieves, Spain
Figured a single thread for all sports was better than the specific running/cycling/weight lifting threads. Especially as some aren't that busy, and others are really busy and it's hard to track and review at the end of the year.


2023 Goals as per Strava

Running 573km/1500 - 617km behind goal
Cycling 1,630km/1207 km - 430km ahead of goal

My 2023 was flipped by my foot injury hindering my goals to build on a really good 2022 year in terms of running. I think my initial running goal was actually higher and the cycling goal lower, but i adjusted in around April to something more achievable. Overall i'm fairly dissapointed but i've had a resurgence the last 2 months and hoping to continue with this motivation.



2024 Goals

Weight
Get down to 90kg. I spent most of the last few years around 95kg, but then the foot injury caused me to increase to around 97/98kg as i didn't have the excercise to offset a bad diet. This has compounded with the move to Spain and an increase in food/alcohol. As of today i was 103.5kg having put a few kg on over Christmas

This is a key one, crossing over the 100kg mark in December was a big dissappointment, and it's starting to be noticed in running/cycling


General Fitness
Record at least 5hrs a week of activity. When i stopped running i didn't do enough cycling to offset the lower volume. I'm aiming to find a good balance and mix activities up to stay active through any injuries etc.
VO2 Max of 49. This is the highest i've ever had my Garmin watch show. It's currently down at 45 and so recovering to a previous high is a big focus


Cycling
3000km for the year. I'm hoping this should be easy given the decent dry weather here, but being sensible as it's double my 2023 goal
Complete a 100mile ride


Running
1000km for the year. My foot is currently feeling "ok" and so i want to try and have consistency even if it's just regular short runs
Marathon distance event. This is really pie in the sky, but i'm hoping that with lowering my weight and reducing impact forces through my foot, combined with a decent strength/prehab program and other mitigating work i might be able to get back to longer distances. If i can't i'm not gonna kick myself.


Strength
As above, i'm hoping to get consistency with strength work. I've got my home gym setup and have spent December doing the Knees Over Toes basic plan to try and bulletproof my body and mitigate injuries
 
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2023

I think my goal might have moved a couple of times through the year, but for a while, my target has been 7,000 miles cycling. (Last year I'd managed 8,000 miles) which has been closer than expected due to a recent cold and also the poor weather. This lunchtime's ride has ticked me over to 7,004 miles. I had set another goal to stay under 15st 7lbs, which I failed, but am back under that before Xmas, so happy enough. The other target I set was 10 new UK Top 100 Climbs. Tbh, I lost count of where I was with this. Some bad luck got in the way of this one, with a mechanical one weekend when I had traveled away and planned to do 3 more, so I kinda gave up a little on this. Tbf, if you include Spanish top 100 climbs, I think I did reach the goal.

2024

I think I'll keep the 7,000 miles and staying under 15st 7. I need a climbing goal, maybe just in Ft. 350k Ft would be good (339,600ft in 2023) and maybe 35 100km rides in the year (29 in 2023)

Additionally, I'd like to run a 5k at least each month. (But would be happy with 12 in total if I miss a month, or maybe a 40 miles total run would be fine)
 
Martynt74 said:
Figured a single thread for all sports was better than the specific running/cycling/weight lifting threads. Especially as some aren't that busy, and others are really busy and it's hard to track and review at the end of the year.


2023 Goals as per Strava

Running 573km/1500 - 617km behind goal
Cycling 1,630km/1207 km - 430km ahead of goal

My 2023 was flipped by my foot injury hindering my goals to build on a really good 2022 year in terms of running. I think my initial running goal was actually higher and the cycling goal lower, but i adjusted in around April to something more achievable. Overall i'm fairly dissapointed but i've had a resurgence the last 2 months and hoping to continue with this motivation.



2024 Goals

Weight
Get down to 90kg. I spent most of the last few years around 95kg, but then the foot injury caused me to increase to around 97/98kg as i didn't have the excercise to offset a bad diet. This has compounded with the move to Spain and an increase in food/alcohol. As of today i was 103.5kg having put a few kg on over Christmas

This is a key one, crossing over the 100kg mark in December was a big dissappointment, and it's starting to be noticed in running/cycling


General Fitness
Record at least 5hrs a week of activity. When i stopped running i didn't do enough cycling to offset the lower volume. I'm aiming to find a good balance and mix activities up to stay active through any injuries etc.
VO2 Max of 49. This is the highest i've ever had my Garmin watch show. It's currently down at 45 and so recovering to a previous high is a big focus


Cycling
3000km for the year. I'm hoping this should be easy given the decent dry weather here, but being sensible as it's double my 2023 goal
Complete a 100mile ride


Running
1000km for the year. My foot is currently feeling "ok" and so i want to try and have consistency even if it's just regular short runs
Marathon distance event. This is really pie in the sky, but i'm hoping that with lowering my weight and reducing impact forces through my foot, combined with a decent strength/prehab program and other mitigating work i might be able to get back to longer distances. If i can't i'm not gonna kick myself.


Strength
As above, i'm hoping to get consistency with strength work. I've got my home gym setup and have spent December doing the Knees Over Toes basic plan to try and bulletproof my body and mitigate injuries
Click to expand...
good luck dude!
 
2023
Cycling - 4030 km with 56km of climbing, 133 hrs
Weight 78kg
FTP 285

2024
Cycling - 5000 km, 55km climbing
Complete 2000km of this on my road bike rather than indoor. I only got the bike late in season and want to do more outdoor riding.

Weight - keep the same roughly
FTP - get over 300 - appreciate that power meter differ, but always good to show improvment
Complete my first imperial century
Ride in a sportive
 
2023, mainly walking, either treadmill or outside anything between 10,000 steps and 30,000 a day, and occasional exercise bike. Ate far too much junk food.

2024 plan, start the year with 'dry January' join a gym, cut out pretty much all junk food and get a bit more serious about things. I'm getting older, and it's getting harder.
 
2023
Continued what I'd been doing for the previous 5 years.
Hill sprints and Hill lunges with the weight vest everyday. Gym 4 days a week in work.

Covered around 1200km on the hill this year and 400km of lunges.
It's been more of a mental challenge this year with work influencing the timings, often meaning either early in the morning or late after work.
Easy enough in the summer months but winter is always rough with the dark mornings and nights.
Christmas day was crap but I got it done.
I enjoy the mental challenge though and it's a test of self discipline especially with a new born.

Totals so far.
11500km covered.
2600km lunges.
8 pairs of trainers.
2 weight vest.
7 different earphones.
2021 sessions on the hill.
Hard targets
Min 5.3km sprints.
Min 1.3km lunges.

2024 end of year goals
Daily
Cover 1300km sprints.
Cover 500km lunges.
Increase weight in vest to 25kg if possible at halfway point.

Gym
Cut to 84kg by summer
Winter weight 90kg

Increase deadlifts 220kg
Increase bench 140kg x5
Increase squat 170kg x5

There'll be spanners thrown in the works I've no doubt, but it's part of the challenge.
 
2023

A week ice climbing in Norway.
A week climbing big trad mutlipitch in Morocco
Loads of gritstone trad, first E1 E2 and E3.
A bit of grit bouldering, another f7a tick.
A couple of sport climbing sessions, 6b+ onsight. Worked a 7a for a session.
Started going gym on non-climbing days doing antagonist training and swimming.
Really got into soloing, and bold trad routes

2024
Do another week in Norway, get a WI4 lead
Tick The Velvet Pelmet, a D7 dry tooling route at Masson Lees.
Tick a bunch more E3/4. Go for an E5, probably The Snivelling ***** at Millstone, or Strapadictomy at Froggatt.
Keep training hard! Less antagonist, more pullups!
Get a 7a+ boulder
Tick a 7a sport route.
Go back to Morocco and do some E1/E2 multipitch
Do some big mountain soloing in Snowdonia.
 
Doughnut007 said:
2024

Weight down to less than 90kgs
Marathon in under 4 hours
Complete emergency fund
Book Ironman for 2025
Click to expand...

What’s this emergency fund?

Ironman is looking an option for me. I was always more runner than cyclist but if I can find a balance I think I could tick one off.

I love a mass endurance event and ultra running might never happen for me again.
 
2023
My worst year of cycling in 15 years. A pitiful 421 miles with nothing recorded since September. Previous years had averaged 5,000 miles
Combination of illness & general lack of motivation.
Gained approx 18lbs

2024
Find my motivation
Cycling goal of 3000 miles set
Get back to my old weight of 170lbs
 
Martynt74 said:
What’s this emergency fund?

Ironman is looking an option for me. I was always more runner than cyclist but if I can find a balance I think I could tick one off.

I love a mass endurance event and ultra running might never happen for me again.
Click to expand...
It's just having enough set aside so sudden bills or lack of income don't become crippling.
As a benchmark you should have between 3 and 12 months of your required outgoing set aside.

I really like the look of the ironborne event down in Eastbourne.

I loved the marathon but other than a sprint years ago have not done any Tri's
 
Doughnut007 said:
It's just having enough set aside so sudden bills or lack of income don't become crippling.
As a benchmark you should have between 3 and 12 months of your required outgoing set aside.

I really like the look of the ironborne event down in Eastbourne.

I loved the marathon but other than a sprint years ago have not done any Tri's
Click to expand...

Ah of course. Had thought it was something relating to exercise!
 
2023 - managed to maintain my level of fitness through doing a fairly stupid amount of Zwifting (18296km according to Strava). The 2023 power curve and VO2max are pretty identical to 2022. Kept the weight down and lost a couple more kg later in the year - not been this weight since probably my 20s.
2024 - more of the same really, but it would be good if I could eat a bit healthier and maybe do a bit of swimming again to mix things up a bit. The main aim is to avoid injury/illness or losing motivation (and if I stop I'll struggle to keep the weight down). At 58, age isn't working in my favour, so if I can end 2024 at the same fitness level I'll be happy!
 
2023 saw massive progress in my shape - dropped to a 34” waist and came into a normal BMI which I’m very proud of. After aggravating my back in the summer I took on swimming and have achieved a mile swim non stop which I’m pretty pleased with. Cycling has dropped off which is a real shame as the weight reduction should make that much more enjoyable. I’ve been cycling to work as usual but that’s not huge distances. Energy levels and general fitness seem improved.

2024 I want to get back on to Noom and get leaner. I’ll plan to keep exercising as much as possible, but diet is going to be the mainstay of this.

Good luck everyone!
 
2023 Goals and achievements

Running 581.44 Miles / 935.74 KM
In April I completed the London Landmarks Half Marathon in aid of the charity, Tommy's. I used a 16-week Hal Higson training plan, to stay injury-free throughout its duration and arrive on race day to improve my PB from 2:25 to 2:20. Well with the help of the 2:20 pacer, I was able to smash the target and achieve a 2:11.44! The whole event was fantastic and the atmosphere of the crowds made the day. Being 13 weeks premature myself, I also was able to raise £590 for the charity. This was probably my highlight of the year.

A few races in the middle of the year, but nothing special.

In September, on my birthday no less, I competed in the Belfast Half Marathon, with no real target and I wasn't aiming to beat my existing PB and didn't, with a 2:24. It was very wet, cold and disorganised and wasn't my favourite race by some margin.
Finally, the last race of the year, the annual Dundrum 8.5 miles, was overlooked by the Mourne Mountains in Newcastle Co. Down. This race is our running club's annual pilgrimage and we took a bus down, to allow a few drinks on the way back. It was a rather hot day for November and remember sweating buckets, despite a two-mile run along the beach into a headwind. Afterwards, it was seafood and pints of Guinness and then more drinking on the bus home. Great craic this one!

Triathlon - Carrickfergus Try-a-Tri
This event is held annually in Carrickfergus, on the shores of Belfast Lough, with its Norman castle being the dominating feature of the landscape. A few members of the running club decided to challenge themselves and do our first triathlon. I had to learn how to swim and ride a bicycle. Training for the three disciplines was enjoyable and I felt fitter doing all three. The event itself was a mixed bag. The 250m open water sea swim was awful, and I panicked, the 12-mile cycle was non-descript, and the 1.5-mile run was hard with the jelly legs but I felt proud of doing it. I don't think I'll do another open-water sea swim any time.

Cycling 414.12 Miles / 666 KM
Having now cycled since I was 12, I felt apprehensive of this however having bought a £600 bike from Halfords, I loved it! I steadily went out for longer rides and eventually joined a local cycling club. Since about September, I've not done much cycling as I have no motivation to ride in the rain and wind. I don't love it that much!

Swimming 22.64 Miles /36.37 KM
Most of the year's swimming was in a pool in preparation for the triathlon, however having since completed that in July, I've not done any more.

Generally, I felt happy with my exercise over the year, and it still amazes me that having only taken up any kind of fitness 6 years ago, how far I've personally come.


2024 Goals
Running
No mileage target for the year, as the main goal for me is to complete my first marathon at the Belfast Marathon on 5th May. I felt it was time to step up from doing halves and finally go for it. The plan is to stay injury-free for training and see what I can achieve on the day. I reckon that I'll be just over the 5 hours for the race and hopefully won't be too disappointed if I'm significantly slower.

Beyond the marathon, I've no other goals. No triathlons, no swimming or cycling, as I don't want to get distracted. I'll revisit my goals following the marathon and see what other targets/goals to aim for.
 
2023.

Bit of a mixed bag fitness wise. Due to work commitments, it was difficult to maintain any regular routine with any fitness really.

However, since Augusr I have pretty much refocused what I do for physical fitness. I have started regular kickboxing and I have pretty much eliminated running from my fitness routine. I only run if I have to with work. My cardio now consists of a lot of rowing machine and body weight movements, maybe throw in ski erg and assualt bike.

2024.

After around March (due to work again) I'm aiming to pick up regular kickboxing and I'm hoping to get my first ever belt and potentially enter a competition.

Only working away will stop me... which if it does I'll be a bit gutted about.

I do eventually want to run a marathon but whether that is this year, I'm not sure. I'm feeling alor fresher and fitter by not running at all at the minute
 
I didn't have any goals for 2023 other than work towards reaching 108Kg by March 2024 and generally increase my fitness.

For 2024, my goal is still 108Kg by the end of March and then under 100Kg by the end of the year. I'd also like to be able to do unassisted pull-ups and start running - so far I can do 60Kg lateral pulldowns (forward and reverse grip) and I've built up to 30 minutes on the cross trainer.
 
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