New Year, Old Targets
Same start to every year, set some targets.
A lot of these haven't changed from last year, or haven't changed much.
Swim
I did almost no outdoor swimming again in 2025, just 6 swims, all but one in races, and that remaining one in a tiny hotel pool. So there is an easy upside to be had there by being more organised and getting to outdoor swims.
The rumours that Bucksburn pool might re-open in Q3-4 2025 were much too optimistic and the new date is supposedly ‘Spring 2026’. That might just about match up with us moving house and me not using it anyway.
I have done 117 miles each for the last two years but in my review of last year I realised that again too many of those are short sessions that are not adding anything. Last year’s target was impacted by my change of job and as soon as a light July lost me a few miles it was never recoverable. I have taken the 2024 & 25 actuals added a mile a month to next year’s plan, and come out with exactly the same target as last year. However I have front-loaded it more, and allowed for a softer summer around racing.
The spreadsheet gives me a target of 130 miles for the year again. I have then decided on a 7.5% stretch target of 140.
That 7.5 % is blanket across everything and is based on giving me better windows for exceeding targets without impacting other sessions too heavily.
On swim times, I keep setting them at the time I wanted 5 years ago and have never got closer to. I have eased them slightly this year, but still not to anything I got close to last year. I can definitely swim better than I currently am, especially in races where I have developed a terrible habit of getting comfortable on someone’s feet and swimming their race instead of my own.
I also need to get in more swim races.
Bike
2025 moved from a lot of turboing to a lot of commuting. That just changes 30 minutes of Frasier for 30 minutes of Aberdeen traffic in the cold.
I missed my 2025 target by about 100 miles, but that was mostly due to lost time in Nov/Dec to my calf injury. Despite missing it I am going to wind the number up by a mile and a half a week from 2,000 to 2,078.
I did manage to get over my mountain biking target and over the percentage of cycling that I wanted to do on the mountain bike. I am going to arbitrarily increase those again. I want to do 36% of my bike miles on the mountain bike which gives me a target of 748 miles. That would be a 90-mile jump on what I did this year. I am going to keep that as the stretch target as well though, to keep things simpler.
Run
My average run speed dropped by another 11 seconds a mile to 10:42. Not a huge surprise as I have put on weight and slowed, with age, with my hip and with the underlying, undefined illness that continues to frustrate everything. I am also going to blame Slioch for a bit of that drift as he is definitely ageing 7 times faster than me and does really start to hold up the pace on any day that he is not in the mood or once we get past the 4k mark.
I was well on target to hit my miles until my calf injuries so I am going to basically retain them again for next year. I did a bit of shuffling and smoothing and somehow the number has moved from 1,100 to 1,142 so about an extra mile a week to find.
‘Run my age’ should now be a training a time but based on my race pacing this year I am going to have to rationalise the speed targets. Under 19 mins and 39 mins at the minute would require a miracle. I am going to basically line them up with last year’s best 5k and set them at 19:45 and 41:00.
Triathlon
I got back on the podium at the Scottish Aquathlon, … by default because only two of us turned up.
I managed to get 5th at the Euro Cross Duathlon Champs, … by default because only 5 of us turned up.
I have qualified for the 2026 Euro Aquathlon, Cross Triathlon and Cross Duathlon races. I am in a new age-group which should theoretically be easier but last years results suggest otherwise.
I would probably have been selected for all three events at Worlds as well but chose not to apply due to the Middle East venue and the cost implications of impending trips to Canada (2027) and New Zealand (2028).
None of that got me any closer to writing any triathlon targets though.
The Scottish Aquathlon is at Loch Lomond again. That frustrates me as it takes away a chance to qualify for the Cross races. I am still going to set that podium as my base target but I really want to get back to winning that race.
The British Cross Triathlon Champs are going to Aviemore. That frustrates me even more as the time of year makes that race ridiculously cold and basically a test of whether you can race in the cold rather than any amount of triathlon skill. I am going to put in as a stretch target to get within 15% of the winner of that race, but my main target would more likely be to just finish the race this time.
Glasgow Aquathlon is first up on my race list for this year. My target is to beat all the athletes that I coach (except the one 20-25 International male, because I can't make up the near 3 minutes head start he will get coming out of the pool).
I want to get in the top-10 for both Euro Cross races and top-15 for the Aquathlon, ideally getting in to an automatic selection place for 2027 so that I can then spend my time trying to qualify for Worlds in Edmonton.
Others
Basketball.
I never really set a target here before, but I do have it in my ‘Adventure list’ for scoring. I want to score 5 baskets in a game at least 7 times this year.
Yoga.
I really need to do more, and more consistently. I am going to put the target in at 52 for the year, but not set a stretch target.
Stretching and rollering.
I was fine with these through the year but some of those sessions consisted of 5 or 6 minutes. I am going to keep this as it was at 1/week, but try and make them into something closer to 20 minutes long every week.
Weights and Core.
As always I did some at the start of last year and then faded off as the year progressed. I want to do 52 of each but I recognise that historically that has been unrealistic. I am going to set that as the stretch target, and aim for the more realistic 1 session a fortnight.
Move house
This is a big one, that I only put in here because it potentially burns everything else on this list. A lot of my targets are based on what I can do from where I live, and where I work and the logisitics around that combination.
Lorna and I are looking at houses and if we find one we like a house move could change access to everything and my available time so radically that every other target becomes nonsense overnight.
Targets by numbers
Qualify for the GBR Age-group team for a 2027 European Championships.
Qualify for the GBR Age-group team for a 2027 World Championships.
Finish top-15 at European Aquathlon Champs.
Finish top-10 at a European Cross Triathlon Champs.
Finish top-10 at a European Cross Duathlon Champs.
Medal at Scottish Aquathlon Champs.
Finish Aviemore Cross Triathlon.
Swim 130 miles.
Swim under 6:15 minutes for 400m.
Swim under 12:00 minutes for 750m.
Swim under 16:45 minutes for 1,000m.
Swim under 25:30 minutes for 1,500m.
Ride 2,078 miles.
MTB 748 miles
Run 1,142 miles.
Run a 5k in under 19:45 mins or 10k in under 41 mins.
>52 Yoga sessions
>26 Stretching and rollering sessions.
>26 Core sessions.
>26 Weights sessions.
>50 Run reps, hills or ‘fast’ sessions.
Stretch Targets
Qualify for three GBR Age-group teams at the 2027 European Championships.
Qualify for three GBR Age-group teams at the 2027 World Championships.
Win the Scottish Aquathlon Champs.
Finish top-10 at Euro Aquathlon Champs.
Finish top-8 at the Euro Cross Triathlon Champs.
Finish top-8 at the Euro Cross Triathlon Champs.
Get within 15% of the 50-54 winner of Aviemore Cross Triathlon.
Swim 140 miles.
Swim under 6:10 minutes for 400m.
Swim under 11:50 minutes for 750m.
Swim under 16:20 minutes for 1,000m.
Swim under 25:00 minutes for 1,500m.
Ride 2,234 miles.
MTB 748 miles.
Run 1,228 miles.
Run a 5k in under 19:30 mins or 10k in under 40 mins.
Run another 5k in under 19:45 or 10k in under 41.
>52 Yoga sessions
>52 Stretching and rollering sessions.
>52 Core sessions.
>52 Weights sessions.
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