How far did I run in 2023?

2023 was the first year since 2018 when I didn’t train for a marathon. I ran marathons in 2019, 2021 and 2022 and got two-thirds of the way through a marathon training programme in 2020 before it was cancelled.

After running not very far at all in December 2022, I made a good start to my year of running in January. I was back to running my regular days and regular distances, without anything stopping me.

I got injured at Forest of Dean half marathon, so my distances were down a bit in April. In May and June, life kept getting in the way of running, with having to give people lifts various places in the morning.

My distances increased in July and August, but my mileage was right down in September. I had two races – Cheltenham half marathon and Worcester City half marathon,  so I spent most of the month either resting before a race or recovering from one.

In November, I joined a running club and a gym. I had literally never set foot in a gym before that!  It took a bit of time for my legs to adjust to both the gym and the fast pace of the weekly speed endurance training with the club. So my mileage and the number of runs were lower than they might have been for November.

How far did I run in 2023?

• In January I ran 22 times and covered 112 miles
• In February I ran 18 times and covered 93 miles (including Bourton 10k)
• In March I ran 19 times and covered 105 miles
• In April I ran 15 times and covered 91 miles (including Forest of Dean half marathon)
• In May I ran 16 times and covered 92 miles (including Weston Super Half)
• In June I ran 19 times and covered 90 miles (including Gloucester 10k)
• In July I ran 21 times and covered 114 miles
• In August I ran 21 times and covered 122 miles
• In September I ran 13 times and covered 76 miles (including Cheltenham half marathon and Worcester City half marathon)
• In October I ran 18 times and covered 119 miles (including Stroud half marathon)
• In November I ran 19 times and covered 100 miles
• In December I ran 22 times and covered 108 miles

That is a total of 223 runs and 1222 miles for 2023. It is slightly further than I ran last year, but a lot less than I ran in 2021.

I start marathon training again in 2024 and have five half marathons planned, so next year could be another big year of running.