Defeated by Gremlins.

Oh yes. They finally won today and made me change my plans.

Yesterday I carried out cadence drills and must have been going too fast and hard. It was only 3.22km but completed at a pace of 5:30. As I was going through the program the Gremlins were giggling aloud "oooh you're going to hate this weeks Parkrun. You can barely cover 3km. Look at the state of ya - Ha Ha"

Whilst being secretly pleased with the pace the feeling of terror the Gremlins left with me was doing me no good at all. I still really struggle to go slower. I guess in my mind I see it as failing. 😫

Today's run was a pace run. Supposedly 1.6k at an easy pace and 1.6k at race pace. Determined to start off slowly the Gremlins started " is that all you can do - loser ha ha". Needless to say I speeded up a little to keep them quiet but they just carried on. By the end i was shattered again and they were all high fiving and chuckling away about how awful parkrun is going to be.

When I arrived home I received an e mail from the local Parkrun team requesting volunteers. I didn't hesitate. The Gremlins had won 😭😭.

However, I decided I would do a pre parkrun over the same course an hour earlier. That way i can do the run at a slower pace and enjoy it (and not have a time recorded a few minutes slower than previously) and also do some volunteering duties as well.

So, ha ha to you Gremlins. I win 😎

Apologies, rant over.

I need to pull myself together

[Hidden]

Don’t beat yourself up too much. You have clearly been putting in a lot of effort and perhaps running on consecutive days? If so, this could just be your body saying “whoa” and asking you to take things easy for a few days. You’ve look to have been making great progress, but sometimes we benefit from taking it down a little. You’ve listened to your gremlins; perhaps this time those gremlins were helpful ones 😉. Enjoy your own Parkrun and volunteering!

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

You are right, of course.My goal is to run 10k as I much prefer a longer slower run to a shorter faster run.

Tomorrow is a rest day and then Saturday has to be a slow, calm 5k hence my decision to do the pre parkrun run so to speak. I know my competitive urge would take over otherwise.

I have to slow down as on next week's program there is a negative split 8k and I can see the gremlins already giving each other a nudge in preparation 😂

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate]

That’s hilarious and you beat them in the end

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10]

I think it's the dichotomy new runners struggle with. At least I do. Gave in to the run-faster-devils in my first attempt at running and I spent a year on and off the IC as a result. I applaud you for resisting. 👍👏👏

[Hidden in reply to ForbiddenPlanet]

I've not resisted yet!!! I keep trying and failing 🙃

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

It's the hardest thing. Turns out the most difficult part of the intensely physical activity of running, is the mind. Still working on it and always will be I suspect .

[Cmoi Graduate10]

Hang on, volunteering is great, but if you're trying to ensure that every Parkrun time recorded is faster than your previous one, surely you're setting yourself up for the impossible?

Plus if you're aiming to get to 10k it's highly improbable that you'll do so while running at your fastest 5k pace.

Running more slowly is not a failure, and the "go-faster" gremlins need putting firmly in their place.

[Hidden in reply to Cmoi]

Oh yes. Hit the nail on the head. Absolutely spot on.Every single word.

I want every run to be faster than the last and therein lies my downfall. I would be blowing away all competition at the Olympics within a few months if that were the case 🤣

I have given my head a good wobble and will hopefully be addressing those gremlins shortly.

[Sandraj39 Graduate10]

Not sure if it’s of any help, Alan but I read some advice somewhere long ago, about keeping one focus for each run of the week. For me this tends to be one 5/6.5K at an easy pace☺️, one 5-6.5K at a faster pace or easy plus fartleks😃 and my weekend long run, which I usually run at a easy/steady pace. New distances or building distance back up for a race -always at a slower pace.🐢😂Sometimes we have to slow down in order to speed up!

The science is explained here…

runnersworld.com/uk/trainin...

Ignore those gremlins and never fear the slow miles - they make the faster ones possible!🙂

[Hidden in reply to Sandraj39]

That was a very interesting read. Thank you. I really am going to try an easy one on Saturday to both see how I feel and also fix this mental programming thing which is going on.

Thank you.