Just back from my last run of 2025 and it feels like a good time to review the last year against the hopes I had laid out for myself at the end of last year. I came into 2025 with four goals:

1. Improve my marathon PB again
2. Improve two other PBs
3. Help at least 6 other runners achieve success in a half or full marathon
4. Stay healthier / more injury-free

✅ Goal 1: Improve Marathon PB – I ran two marathons in 2025 (my first time running two in a year): Rotterdam and Chicago. Rotterdam came just 18 weeks after Valencia, which didn’t give me as long of a block as a like. A new groin injury impacted some key late season workouts, and strong wind and warm-ish temps on race day pushed a PB out of reach. Chicago was a different story. I threw down an excellent 22-week training block with weekly mileage peaking at 112km and averaged 105km in the six weeks pre-taper (by comparison, in my Valencia 2024 block, weekly mileage peaked at 102km and I averaged 91km in the 6 weeks pre-taper). Chicago race-day weather wasn’t bad, but the hot sun wrecked lots of PB dreams in the last 10km and helped kill my sub 2:40 ambitions. I came through in 2:42:36, a two-minute PB over Valencia.

✅ Goal 2: Improve two other PBs – I actually ran three other PBs, though they were all really small. 

• I improved my 5k PB from 16:45 to 16:38, a time I’m confident I can beat in my next 5k race.
• I narrowly improved my 10k PB from 34:23 to 34:19 on a much slower course than the one where I ran 34:23 in 2024. We’ll see whether I can improve this further next week in Valencia…
• I also narrowly improved my half marathon PB from 1:17:19 to 1:17:15. Whereas my 2024 race in Geneva was 10/10 execution, beating my target by over two minutes, my 2025 race was more like 8/10. I lacked focus and grit late in the race and only managed to PB because I booked it when I saw the finish-line clock.

I suppose the upshot of these being small improvements is that they leave lots of room for further improvement in 2026, even as I turn 40.

✅ Goal 3: Help 6+ other runners achieve success – This was the goal I was least sure about going into the year, but it was probably the goal on which I ‘performed’ best. I worked 1:1 with 14 runners in the build up to the Chicago and New York Marathons, and all of them ran their fastest marathon. Four were first-timers, three qualified for Boston for the first time, and the non-first-timers averaged a 19-minute improvement. This was wonderful to see and gave me confidence in working with more new runners in 2026.

😐 Goal 4: Stay healthier / more injury-free – This was the goal with which I struggled most. I did make some adjustments that moved me in the right direction (eg adopting a pre-run activation and post-run stretching routines), but nearing 40 means I’m fighting an uphill battle while running 80-110km weeks. In March during Rotterdam training, I developed a stiffness and soreness in my right adductor that impacted several workouts and still hasn’t fully resolved itself. It seems to have compounded with a mild case of osteitis pubis, which has to be one of the most stubborn injuries I’ve ever had. This seems to be improving slightly with lower mileage as I’ve shifted into 10k training. The other big injury I dealt with this year was a left calf strain. I’m really proud of how I dealt with it, shifting immediately to non-aggravating cross-training for five days so I didn’t lose too much fitness. I was able to come back off it and, just three days after resuming running, throw down the aforementioned 5k PB. A respiratory virus knocked me out for a few days this December, which may ultimately impact my 10k PB prospects in Valencia, but fortunately the sickness was short-lived compared to other respiratory illnesses I’ve battled. So all in all, I stayed pretty darn healthy and consistent throughout 2025. Considering the increased mileage and completing three marathons in 10 months, I’d say I was mile-for-mile healthier in 2025 than in 2024. For next year, increasing my strength training and mobility diligence is going to be the best path towards better injury prevention. Doing only one marathon as an A race will probably help as well.

I’m targeting another 4+ PBs in 2026 and looking forward to a bigger and more diverse lineup of races. Here are ones I’ve got on tap:

• Valencia 10k (Jan)
• Aix les Bains 10k (March)
• Annecy 5k (April)
• Geneva Half Marathon (May)
• Fyne Terra 8.5k (May)
• Ultra-Trail de Haut Giffre 9k (June)
• Ljubljana Marathon (Oct)
• Others TBD