Alan Murchison's blog by Alan_Murchison

Hi realbuzzers, Happy New Year. Looking back it’s been a mixed year for me personally in 2011. Some great training followed by some hugely disappointing races or two, then a mis-diagnosis for Sportsman’s Hernia which lost me 12 weeks of training. So all in all, a bit of a rollercoaster year, but all good fun mind you and I am looking forward to a very exciting 2012. So with that in mind, I thought I would give my view of the best of 2011. My best race of 2011 was the Bath Half Marathon in March. I ran 71.07 and it felt like a walk in the park, literally. It was hugely surprising given the previous week had been my highest ever mileage week of marathon training and I had done a session 3 days before. But it’s always great when you cruise round a race 'as training'

My worst race of 2011 was without a doubt the Virgin London Marathon. I had such high expectations and felt really good. Training was like clockwork, but nothing is ever straightforward during a marathon. I quote this as my own personal worst race due to my wheels coming off by mile 16 and then having to endure the longest 10 miles of my life. Cramp was to blame and I am still none the wiser why. The last 2 miles took me over 25 minutes and were truly savage. I have re-entered for 2012 as I have a score to settle there. This year I aim to nail sub 2.30 or I am retiring from marathon running.

My best session of 2011 must be during my August Majorcan cross training flare up. A 2 mile sea swim, 4 hours on the bike at 20mph average speed followed by 2 hours aqua-jogging at threshold pace. It was brutal because the temperature was in the mid- 30s, but it was one of those days when I could have kept going all day. My worst session of 2011 must be a swimming session. I never enjoy any of these work outs. Probably my failed attempt at swimming 10k in the sea, when I managed 5k and just could not do any more. A measly 3 miles and I felt gutted. Next day I couldn't move my arms, pathetic.

My best bit of kit in 2011 is a recent addition - a Garmin Forerunner 610. What a piece of technology? The best thing for me is the ability to download all your training and monitor your performance against previous runs. This should prove a great training tool for marathon preparation, but it’s not cheap though, but it is so much better than any of the other systems I have used in the past.

The best sporting moment 2011 for me has to be Mark Cavendish winning the World Road Race champs. The British team put in a herculean effort from the start and had a strategy that just couldn’t be beaten. Bradley Wiggins was a complete animal, pulling the whole peloton along and then with 1k to go you just knew that Cav would find a way through the pack. It was an inspirational performance and a fitting finish to an amazing season. Athlete of the year 2011 must be Mo Farah has for me because he has now truly shown his quality on the world stage. In this year’s World Championships he took on the might of Africa and won, something that has not been done for many years by a British athlete.

Along with an amazing win over 10,000 in Eugene which had one of the highest quality fields ever, I am also interested by his 60 min win over the half marathon, which shows there's a good marathon in him. But he had a brilliant year with a very exciting 2012 coming up. My best TV moment of 2011 was watching my training buddy Louise Damen running the last 400m of the 2011 London Marathon to run the 4th fastest marathon debut by a British female and to post a time 1 minute inside the Olympic marathon 'A' standard. Even though I was watching a recording and so I knew the time she’d run, I was still shouting at the TV! Having shared a fair few miles with her, I knew how much work had gone into this result. Fingers crossed this year she runs even faster this year. And finally some of my goals for 2012. A sub 2.30 marathon at the age of 40. A sub 70 minute half marathon. To complete a Half Ironman Triathlon. Swim 10k in the sea And win the British Masters Cross Country. No pressure!!