I can't predict which runs will be tough

[ForbiddenPlanet]

After my first sub 30 5K last Friday, I thought Monday's 10K would be a rubbish time, as it would be anti climactic after Friday's euphoria, and I still find running 10K to be intimidating. But Monday's 10K was actually a minute faster than my previous PB.

5Ks have felt easier lately. I wake up on a 5K day and think "Yay - only 5K today!" But I really struggled today. Really felt like giving up after the 4 km mark.

Looking at the stats I notice my heart rate was higher than usual for a 5K, and in fact my resting heart rate overnight was 69, which is at least 10 bpm higher than usual. Interesting! Maybe my body is processing something - maybe fighting off a bug.

I plan to do 8k on Friday as part of working up to 3 10K runs each week, so lots of rest today and tomorrow I think.

[Buddy34 Graduate10]

I don't know why but I always seem to find the 5k two days after a 10k a bit tough. Can't explain why it just is .

Enjoy your rest day and good luck with your next run😊

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10 in reply to Buddy34]

Thanks buddy. That does ring a bell with me. Sometimes I take my extra rest day after my 10K day because my legs are aching, but mostly I prefer to take it before the 10K so I am good and rested.

[Grannyhugs Graduate10]

I think so much impacts, weather, stress, sleep, change of route. I’ve stopped second guessing and just count each as a run complete. 👍😀

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10 in reply to Grannyhugs]

Thanks gtb. I guess that's the ticket - keep running! 🏃‍♂️

[Grannyhugs Graduate10 in reply to ForbiddenPlanet]

I now just go for a run and stop when I’ve had enough rather than plan a distance, takes off all sorts of pressure

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10 in reply to Grannyhugs]

Very sensible gtb. And unfortunately not in my nature! 🤣

[sTrongFuse Graduate10 in reply to Grannyhugs]

I'm with you there. Sometimes it all comes together and sometimes, for no discernible reason at all, every footstep is a struggle. I just go with the flow. I can't set a PB every run but I'm happy to settle for "that'll do" knowing that at least I've managed something.

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10 in reply to sTrongFuse]

Thank you. You know it's really something just to be a part of this community, and sound off, and hear from people trying to do the same stuff and how sometimes it's great, and sometimes it's not. 👍

[sTrongFuse Graduate10 in reply to ForbiddenPlanet]

If it was great all the time, we probably wouldn't actually get so much out of it. The less good runs make us appreciate how far we've come and the fact that we can put set-backs behind us.

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10 in reply to sTrongFuse]

That's so true, and I'm loving the journey and everything it entails.

[Jazzyrunner Graduate10]

It’s very strange how variable it is, isn’t it? That does seem like a big rise in your resting heart rate though and I’ve read that that’s what happens if as you say you’re fighting off a bug 🤷🏼‍♀️ Every run makes us stronger though!

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10]

Thanks Jazzy. Too right. Onwards and upwards! 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️

[Mummycav Administrator Graduate10]

Lots of things can affect a run...sometimes even at 3k I want to stop!!! Maybe you’re right, you might be coming down with something or it might just be your body complaining!!! good luck with your next run

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10]

Thank you Mummycav. I guess I have to get used to there being bumps in the road (I'm still a novice runner). I love having the data the Garmin collects, though, and I love to analyse it. 🤓

[JonathanP Graduate10]

Congratulations on your PB FP!👍😀

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10]

Thank you JP! 🙏 I kind of forgot about that. I'm greedy now though - I just want it be sub 60 for the 10K! 😀

[JaoJao Graduate10]

I enjoyed reading this. Like you, I too wake up and think yay ONLY 5K today 🙂. When I do a 10K which is once every 2 weeks I find my time reduces each time by a minute or so which I am very pleased about too.

Keep going!

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10 in reply to JaoJao]

Thank you. It's so nice to know there are other people like me around. 😀

[UpTheStanley Graduate10]

"Unfortunately not in my nature" rings lots of bells - if I "just run" without a clear objective then I won't achieve anything worth doing. Classic example this week when I had two half-hearted, contradictory targets in mind and therefore achieved neither of them.

However ….. I've been doing this long enough to know that, apart from the first phase when you initially get off the couch, you can't improve with every run - good runs are almost inevitably followed by less good ones, which makes the next PB (or, more likely as time passes) season's best that much sweeter when it does turn up. You had two fabulous runs, two PBs, on the trot …. that's fantastic, so who cares if the next one wasn't so great? Actually, looks like it was still two seconds faster than your previous PB, and a minute and a half up on anything you achieved in the first half of January …...

We've all (assuming we're over, say, 35?) got a gently declining performance ceiling, though we don't know what it is exactly. We want to get as close as possible to that ceiling, and slow the decline. The closer we get to it, the harder it is to improve. But the point is, we're still trying …… At your recent rate of improvement, sub-28 looks a given by Easter. I wonder where your ceiling is?

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10]

Thank you for that very thorough and thoughtful analysis - much appreciated. I would love to know where my performance ceiling is. Being overweight is a limiting factor, though since I got a little faster in the last week or so, I have dropped a few pounds - just hope they stay off.

Looks like I have a new objective now - sub 28 by Easter - thank you for that! 🤣 And congrats on your 50+ park runs (and the hat!). 👍

[ju-ju- Graduate10]

It sounds to me like you’ve done a lot this week. Are you careful to increase your weekly mileage by no more than 10%? Is one of your runs a more gentle one? I may be wrong but it sounds to me like your body is tired.

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10]

Ooh - thinking it over I think you hit the nail on the head! I've been running the same distance each week since before Christmas, but it's several weeks since I last had a gentle run, as I began running 10K closer to my 5K pace. I will change my planned 8k on Friday to 7K, to make it a 10% increase, and make it a real slow run, as I did when I began to work towards my first 10K. Thank you lots! 🙏