Ben Fish shared his last fast 10 post of 2018 and reflected on a year he was glad to see the back of.

Well, that seemed to fly by, though I have to admit, I’m glad to see the back of 2018. It’s been one of those years where things just didn’t fall in place and I think the only PB I could claim would be getting ill the most frequently in a calendar year!

There’s been some good results and training at times went really well, especially in the first half of the year. This past month has been very frustrating; I got off to a solid start with 31:15 (a seasons best out of a bad bunch) at Percy Pud 10k, a cracking race on the outskirts of Sheffield, quite a fast course despite being undulating. A few days later I got ill and it wiped me out for the best part of a week, perhaps in rushing to try and get back some form for Ribble Valley 10k, I ended up getting ill again and I decided to withdraw from the race, drawing a thick black line under 2018 – time to move on!

It was a pity, the conditions were excellent and both the men and women produced some incredible times, with both course records going. It was depressing watching the race, I hate not running and being a spectator, but I have to say, it was inspiring watching so many runners produce excellent times and personal bests.

I’m already looking beyond January towards Barcelona half marathon, I have six weeks, so it’s pretty much a case of sh*t or bust. I still think it leaves me enough time to get some form together. After that it’s speed, speed, speed! No spring marathon and I want to have a right good go at the track season, I regret not doing more of those this year.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s had a year of performances that have fallen below expectations; if I can offer any advice it would be that it’s all part of what running is about, it’s not supposed to be easy is it?

Work hard every year and make plans, it won’t always work out, but more often than not it will. When it doesn’t work out, you can put it down to experience and treat it as a toughening up experience that will make you stronger for bigger challenges ahead.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed sharing my story with you all on the class of 2018 blog, I hope some of you might have learned one or two things, or even if you learned nothing and just enjoyed a good read.

So, 2018 is a year I’ll put down to experience (one of many at my age!) and it will toughen me up for better races ahead in 2019! All the best for the New Year and I hope it’s one that brings more great memories and happy results!

Ben Fish features in the ‘Fast 10: class of 2018’ and over the course of the year will share his running journey. You can read Ben’s previous posts here and further information about the ‘class of 2018’ can be found here.

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