2025: The Plateau
I started running in 2019 and, since then, each year has felt like progress. The distances got longer, the PBs rolled in, and I had this sense of continually getting better. I hit my first half in 2019, first marathon 2020, then started going up the ultra distances from 50k in 2021 up to my first 100 miler in 2024.
2025, however, is the first year where I've felt like I've plateaued. Sure every season has its ups and downs, but this one has, at times, felt like either my progress has stagnated or, in many respects, gone backwards.
There's a lot of toxic positivity online where the focus is on what has gone well, the achievements, the big wins, whilst ignoring when things don't go to plan, when we hit these roadblocks and need to find ways past them.
Yet I think any runner whose in this game for long enough will experience this to some degree. Progress isn't linear, it has peaks and troughs, and learning from when things don't go to plan is the key to growth.
So, with that in mind, let's talk about it!
2025 In Review
Goals
I entered the year with 2 goals:
- Completing the Wild Horse: a 200 mile non stop race from Chepstow to Rhossili in the Gower, a challenge of both grit and logistics
- Perform well in the Pegasus Slam: 6 ultras in 6 months varying from 30 to 50 miles
The Wild Horse ended up taking over my every waking thought, to unhealthy levels. Yet with all that planning and overthinking, it ended early in a morale sapped DNF at mile 51.
The Pegasus Slam was a mixed bag: some efforts I was proud of, some I feel I fell short. At the VOGUM and EDDUM I ended up with my own PBs, I was especially proud of my EDDUM performance. Whilst the CANUM, HOWUM, PIGUM, and RIDUM all felt like misfires, with heat exhaustion, mishandled fuelling and poor pacing leading to results I'm not as happy with.
The sub 12 hour EDDUM is my big win of the year, that's the one I'll hold high for 2025, finishing a race I find so tough confidently.
Training
Content warning: I talk about my weight negatively in this section
From a training perspective things have gotten more difficult. A mixture of work, school drop offs, busy weekends with the kids and life in general has made fitting in the volume I feel like I should be targeting tough, not to mention any strength and mobility work.
Since Epona training in 2024 I've also put on a solid 11kg (1.7 stone) in weight that I've been struggling to shift. Ultra training does not go hand in hand with weight loss, you need to eat to recover, you're always hungry, and it's easy to get into the habit of overeating.
Due to that I feel like any gains I may have had performance wise are now offset by carrying more round my waist. As someone whose come from a background of obesity this also has a morale impact, body dysmorphia makes any weight gain feel more impactful than it likely is.
Worthy Rivals
I remember when I first started doing ultras in 2021 I didn't really know anyone else doing these races. It felt like I was the only Running Punk there!
Over time that's changed as more and more folks realise how weirdly accessible ultras are, along with how often the communities around them end up being full of hugely supportive, lovely warming people.
One thing I think has contributed to this feeling of plateauing is seeing many fellow runners really improving their own game, in many cases to outperform me in races.
Don't get me wrong, I am immensely happy for them, I saw some awesome performances during this years slam (notable examples here: Wolfgang, Andrew, Jo, Will, Rhods, Jamie) and always smiled when they were handing me my arse, however it does make me reflect on my own training to try and work out what I need to do to harness the same level of progression.
Residual Fatigue
Rather than feeling rested on the lead up to races, this season I've definitely felt a lot more tired.
I believe it is a case of the fatigue building up between races, never fully dissipating between the next one. It did mean by the time the RIDUM came around I was happy to plod it in, my body was done.
However I didn't feel this same level of fatigue last year when doing a similar amount of races, so I wonder if it's more to do with the drop in volume and long runs in general, my body being less used to running on tired legs.
Improving My Game
So as we come into this off season, what are the main lessons I can take away from 2025 to apply to my next years challenges?
Training
Heat acclimation was a big one: most of my worst races were marred with struggling with the heat, hydration issues, nausea. I've been revisiting how I hydrate, how much water I target per hour and what I'm wearing (light breathable fabrics). I'm also looking at my training, trying to get out on hot days for both runs and hikes to build up that acclimation early.
My training needs to improve: I've gotten into a rut due to a busier life (2 kids will do that to you!) that means my volume isn't where I need it to be. I'm looking to restore high volume weeks with some early starts, but more specifically I was inspired by Nathan and Nat's training where their cornerstone is back to back long runs. Those are difficult to fit round the family, but I'm thinking a Sunday long run followed by a Monday pre work one would work well for build weeks.
Training plan wise I've always used this detailed day by day approach, however for next year I'd like to simplify a bit, as I feel like the previous approach led to a lot of over thinking when in reality there's only 2 main things I need to worry about each week:
- What total volume do I want to hit this week?
- Following the build for 3, cutback for 1 pattern
- Build week: 10% more than last week
- Cutback week: 50% of the volume of the previous week
- What high intensity sessions will I do this week?
- 1-2 a week
- Hill reps, tempo / threshold intervals
I want to bake in more strides on my long runs, possibly setting a timer to tell me to push for 30 seconds every now and then.
And finally, the dreaded strength work. I still suck at baking this in, I just don't enjoy it. I'm looking at starting small with just a single full body session once a week, and focusing on establishing that habit first before building on top of it (thank you to Sarah for the advice on that 🙏).
From a weight perspective I'm on a diet during off season where it's less important to be eating to recover, with the aim being returning to my goal weight before entering the 6 month training block for 2026.
Gear & Planning
I need to be more focused in my efforts when it comes to gear. The big lesson from the Wild Horse is that I was far, far too concerned with the correct shoe / sock choices, where I should have instead be focusing on the logistics of the race. Ironically what I ended up using on the day wasn't the best pick, I ended up with sorely bashed toes and an inflamed extensor tendon at only a quarter of distance.
What I need is a trusty set of battleworn gear I am confident in, rather than all this faffing about, if only to save my bank balance!
To that end I've:
- Transitioned back to using Altras
- Reduces my options down to a set of shoes I am very comfortable in and know will serve me well especially over long distances
- Lets me focus on training up in a set of shoes all with a similar stack height and same zero drop platform, rather than flitting between other possible options in an unfocused way
- Locked down a set of socks that work for me: Bridgedale T2 Merino
- I only use these now, which is one less thing to think about
- Using my off season to test things I'm not sure about: my nutrition and hydration, a new pack (because the Salomon Adv Skin 12 is no longer trustworthy) and so on
- With the aim being I am ready with a strategy for when training begins in 2026
- Planning race logistics better: the food, the distance between aid stations, the layout of the route, what backups I will take if my Plan A isn't working and so on.
Signing Off
2025 wasn't the year I wanted, but it might have been the year I needed. It forced me to hit the reset button, to confront my plateaus and rethink my entire approach.
The Ona Series is next: three 100 milers over 5 months. I know it’s a huge, daunting undertaking, but I'm ready to apply the lessons from a year of frustration.
Here’s to the long, winding road ahead. Let’s see what we can do.