What kind of runner are you? 

Are you the kind of runner that goes with the flow with a fluid plan of the races you’re going to take on in 2023? 

Or are you the runner that has got two or three goals next year with your training mapped out to target each of these events? 

There’s no right answer, of course; It depends on what type of person you are. 

I’m very much in the latter camp. I would love to do more events but I still don’t have enough confidence in my body that I can cope with a heavy schedule of races. 

Perhaps it will come over the years but I feel like I made some progress this year because I targeted the Chicago Marathon so heavily. There were naturally races I wish I could have done in the run-up to this but it wasn’t worth putting Chicago at risk given the Achilles problems I was managing. 

Fortunately, I’ve since been able to have a bit of run afterwards at Run Norwich and the Big Stampede as well as a half marathon personal best at St Neots. But I’d like to think 2022 has given me something of a template to follow for my training. 

That’s why a lot of my running now is being geared towards the Cambridge Half Marathon in March. It might seem a bit early to some but I like to think it takes some of the pressure off if I miss a run here and there, just as I have this week due to yet another cold being brought home (when will it end?!) 

READ MORE: Neil Featherby on how he started running

I’d like to run another marathon next autumn with Berlin being the first choice but I will have to wait and see whether the ballot gods are kind to myself and my wife, Alison. At the time of writing, we are yet to hear.  

Norfolk Gazelles’ Kyle Brooks put out a really helpful list on social media of a lot of marathons people will be targeting for 2023 and when you need to start training for them if you’re looking to undertake a 12, 16 or 24-week plan. 

Twenty-four weeks might seem an extraordinary amount of time to some but I like the idea of building up very slowly to whatever marathon I choose next year. 

It would allow me to factor in the odd rest week where the intensity is dialled back a little to allow my body time to recover and adapt. 

In an ideal world I’d love to run most days, smash out some miles at a decent pace, and do very little strength work. 

In reality I know I can’t do that. I’ve lived that runner’s life and it ends in injury and a period on the sidelines. 

What’s more is that I have come to enjoy some of the work outside of running. The bike rides, the strength and conditioning, the mobility work. 

It’s all part of the process and makes me feel like I am earning the privilege of running that marathon how I want to; as quickly as possible. 

But I will be parking the marathon training for a few months.  

It’s all about Cambridge although there will naturally be the odd Sportlink Grand Prix race thrown in here and there... as long as I think it can help bring down the half marathon time. 

Looking at the weather, it might just be time to get the thicker gloves out, throw on another baselayer and make sure I keep getting out the door when life allows it. 

It’s tough for so many people at the moment but at least, as runners, we always have that to fall back on.  

It’s not easy, but that’s not why we do it.  

It’s the routine; the consistency. If you have those things in your life then you can put it to good use in so many areas of your life... not just running.