By: jamesmackeddie
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2019 in review – time to crank things up a notch

I’m not one to get too nostalgic about the year that is coming to an end, for one, I don’t go to New Years eve parties or think hard about resolutions or what could have been.

The closest I came to this was a instagram post a month ago, the result of scrolling through my iPhone photo album… I had experienced a lot more than I remembered. Why I conveniently forgot certain parts of the year, I’m not too sure, however, it went like this;

View this post on Instagram

Moustache Reflections – Adventure 30 days with a tasche has got me thinking about the past 11 months If you were to ask me how my years gone from an adventure/athletic performance perspective….. I would have said pretty ***** . It started off well, some consistent miles, digging trails & attending #pyllonxp2 – however, when I got ill at the end of March (for the best part of a month), on my birthday no less, my fitness, endurance & mental edge left But Looking back through photos tells a different story I set new road pbs, while overtaking hundreds of people in a marathon relay, spent my first day on skis, pushed my limits in Les Gets Bike Park with @saefftagram, my first mountain road ride since 2010 with @deanscott84, slept in the car camper for 4 nights at Skyline Scotland, shot a 24hr OCR race with @samuels_charity, waited on a hill in Fort William for e-bikes with @joekrejbich, spent a weekend on @trashfreetrails Spring Trail Clean Tour meeting great people, ran round fields of hops & apples in Friedrichshafen, got a little damp shooting UTW, sang & danced on my night marshall point at @maverickrace, spent a weekend in the lakes with @mountain_run_uk, a longer one with @kendalmountainfestival & that day with @shane.benzie/ @ultra_damo & then there’s all the random day to day mishaps, adventures, twists & turns life throws at you It’s been a year without structure, one with little consistency & my minds focused on adding some to 2020. The body’s been ready to for a while, convincing the mind has been a bigger challenge 3 days at @ispo.acceleratingsports in a few weeks & a winter of training with @pyllon ahead . 📸 from the Cairngorms in January #powerofthemoustache

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There in an instant, you can see there have been a fair amount of moments worth recalling and reconnecting with those I shared experiences with.

One thing that this made me think about was the website, THIS website.

I won’t lie, it has been neglected somewhat this year. Fortunately, if I get all nerdy and look at the statistics, they are showing growth and positive action, however, I know you, the subscribers, followers and the many who find there way into my little world via search engines, are not getting the best out of me.

You aren’t getting the level of service, content and information you are here for.

Truthfully, I’ve not been my usual self; demons from my past caught up with me, triggered from a long illness in the spring and I’ve been in a dark place for part of the year. This is part of the reason I took part in Movember last month, to raise awareness about mental health in men.

I’m on the mend and very much on the more positive side of life now.

Therefore, for 2020, I promise to give you greater reviews, interviews, random happenings and more of what you love. I always set out to do things my way and give you something different to what is already out there on the internet. YouTube will be seeing regular uploads and as much as I want to provide information, I want to do so in a more creative way.

Please hold me to account.

If you ever want to get in direct contact beyond the comment boxes on articles, you can contact me directly on jamesmackeddie@live.co.uk or via my instagram DMs.

Oh and I’m also back racing in 2020, more on that to be announced soon!

Thank you for the support this year.

James