The naysayers/media will keep the masses in a perpetual thought of never-ending doom. Switch off the news and just look after yourself and others.
The world will keep turning so reflecting on my short year...
A first race in absolute ages and it did feel good to be with other people, other runners at an event.
Feb brought severe back to back storms but managed to get out on a water micro down the River Wye.. fun times trying to find campspots, even funnier, for those that stayed dry was the other canoe taking a fast flowing corner and getting sucked under a fallen tree with Rob being jettisoned. While he pushed the canoe all we could hear was him shouting at Mike to PADDLE, Mike was calmly waving at us for a photo.. with worsening weather the next day the trip was curtailed. 
March with spring in the air i headed to cornwall for back to back training plan. 2 Ultras (29m+32m) on the coastal path meeting up my crew (Greg and Tony) on the first night to camp out on the beach with beers, bbq and swim.. what a great plan/trip.
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April the colours are out and I got a place in the Tor des Glacier (450km race in Sept) So the hard training starts and typically i get an injury with a bad hip!! which still lingers to this day.
August, final month to bag as much training as possible. Started out well with a trip with Dan to North Wales and explored some good loops in the mountains as well as an uneasy Crib Goch ridgeline for Dan.. Then showed our age by celebrating DTs 60th with a cracking golf day where i got 2nd place even though i felt rough as rats but scored well. 
September and its all about the Tor des Glaciers. Its finally here. Meeting up with Paul its starts of bad witht he tunnel shut so we stay in Chamonix. But then we are in Aosta, Italy. we chill for a few days then we race the 450km TDGlaciers. Excitement was feverpitch. I enjoyed most of the race, the highs were just being out and testing yourself in moving around such a vast mountain area. the lows was simply the DNFs. Paul went first, he struggled for a couple of nights and then after a quick nap was violently sicjk and his race was over. I carried on and had had a wasp sting early that day and then suddenly whilst up high on a mountain my thigh stopped working and was extremely painful. I tried resting, massage, strapping, sleeping, even walking backwards etc but all to no avail the pain and slowness was too much to carry on for 100miles and so i pulled out as well. Gutting as i so felt good. We go again maybe in 2024?
So what do you do after that. The rest of the month i did nothing. Then when i did get out for a Beer Train overnight micro (great fun with the boys). I caught covid (finally) so that laid me out for more time. When i finally felt better i just had a lovely weekend with my old girl Lola, hiking and camping on the on the Coast - perfect.
Another holiday down to Devon - this time North near Bude for a nice chilled out stay with no training required it was just long dog walks, cafes and pubs...lovely.
December. I finished the year with a race. wanting to explore the Lake District more I did the Tour of Helvellyn on a cold weekend. So cold that they shorten the cours
e due to iced paths. But the racing was good and my spare day I got out into the hills for my own loop with was a nice little adventure to finish of the year.
Then down to meet the old boys (Greg and Tony) in dartmoor for a cold outing..brrrr.. the old fellas nice and toasty in their campervans whilst i hunkered down in my car with only the dog to keep me warm.
Tring to do an ultra a month I went and did the the 30m Punchbowl Ultra.
Then a solo micro to the Black Mountains with Lola. Shes getting older so these trips are extra special being able to spend long days in the mountains with her. Perfect weather and managed 60km over the weekend. Only downside was getting the trots after a bad dry food meal..ps.. do this trip every year.
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The month started with a nice trip with Pa and Bro to see my Uncle on the IoW. Then straight into the south coast classic SWCP Weymouth to Poole (42m) with Dan on a glorious day.
Finished with another classic in the Dartmoor field for Hikes, runs and swims with the micro gang.
May, another well conceived plan. Have a holiday in Cornwall and sneak in back to back ultras. This worked a treat so enjoyed some chilled days walking the dog and then banged in a couple of Ultras on the SWCP. Now i am thinking of linking up the entire SWCP with running legs ( I have already walked it).
We then did a local micro with a bikepacking trip around Hampshire including over to the IoW.
The end of the month I met up with my Czech friends (Jaro and Milan) and went on a self made fast packing trip circumnavigate the entire country of Liechenstien. Magical trip and the type i feel like doing more than actual races in the future.
June, ramping up the training and started out with a Dan insisting a nighttime training run was required and so we headed down to the best spot the very cliffy Coastal path at night.. was good fun.
It was then time to taper for my first big race of the year. 3 years waiting for this one due to covid but i finally managed to get out to Norway Xreied 130k. The race, people and the country did not disappoint. The race was tough as nails but made up by the wonderful people in an outstanding country.
We then did a local micro with a bikepacking trip around Hampshire including over to the IoW.
The end of the month I met up with my Czech friends (Jaro and Milan) and went on a self made fast packing trip circumnavigate the entire country of Liechenstien. Magical trip and the type i feel like doing more than actual races in the future.
It was then time to taper for my first big race of the year. 3 years waiting for this one due to covid but i finally managed to get out to Norway Xreied 130k. The race, people and the country did not disappoint. The race was tough as nails but made up by the wonderful people in an outstanding country.
July, after a quick rest it was back on the training trails.. another fantastic loop around dartmoor with Tony and the dogs on a hot weekend - refreshed by plenty of dips in the rivers.
then onto another fastpack.. 100k around the Brecon Beacons with a pub to overnight in at halfway. A great outing linking in as many waterfalls as possible.. and when not with the dog this might be an ideal weekend get away.
Just about recovered i headed over to the Alps, and the Valais region in Switzerland for a wonderful few days exploring the mountains and to get some acclimatising done...perfect way to finish 6months of training.
Also got back into climbing and deciding at this moment in time i'm prefer the climbing to the running. So thinking of mixing it up in 2023.
I finally got around to buying a new bike, the old one was just to broken to keep going with it. And with some deja vu my new bike broke within 5 miles of its maiden journey (its all fixed and had its first bike packing adventure in jan23 with no hitches)
e due to iced paths. But the racing was good and my spare day I got out into the hills for my own loop with was a nice little adventure to finish of the year.
That was the year 2022. Lots of training and a lack of motivation. Hard to understand the lack of impetus, the hip injury through out the year, the years of covid, less people doing the outdoor micros, age - i'm getting older and depressingly so is Lola. Or a combination of it all i'm reckoning.
So next year could be less racing (i dont have the time in any case as wil be off to the Rugby WC for a month) and to try and pick a few great trips to do with friends, mainly a climbing or Via ferata one. That should get the juices flowing.
Stats for the year.
Impressively i have run the most with around 1650miles...not expecting to beat that again.
Have now done a ton of indoor climbing and enjoying then progression. I can now climb 6c and will aim to see if i can get this to 7a this year...
Not much biking but with the new bike and an old dog plenty of bikepack trips i hope will be planned. One challenge will be the SDW in under 12hrs?
Hopefully more micros, most of the fellas now seem distant from it so time will tell if i can persuade them to pick up the rucksacks again for more enjoyable outings in the remote outdoors.
Swimming has taken a backseat with more climbing but it will be good if i can still find time to fit in a session here and there.
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