I will admit to being somewhat apprehensive about this run. The more I thought about it the more I began to fear it. It had all the hallmarks of a tough pacey parkrun which usually leave me shattered and wishing I hadn't started halfway through.
Anyhow, I needed to try it so drove to another parkrun location, this time a single 5km lap around the Reservoir.
It was early and chilly on my start line and I faffed around to get the tech going feeling the cold. Eventually off I went grateful that Coach B was holding me back during the warm up as I eased into the run. One km under my belt, two kms done, blimey I feel in control. I look at my watch which confirms I'm going at my usual parkrun pace !!!!!
All the deer have lined up to watch me go down the trail path, so close i could have touched them. I wish now I had stopped to take such a wonderful photo.
Up the hill, starting to pant by the time I reach the crossing then ease off the gas slightly to recover.
With just a km left to go I round the corner onto the top of the dam and see the expanse of water in front of me with the sunshine dancing off the surface. How beautiful.
I'm feeling tired, but energised. I've actually got this and I can even speed up as I have a bit left in the tank.
By the time I finished Strava awarded me a huge bag of goodies 🏅 🥇 🥉 including 3rd best 5km which pleased me. It pleased me as the previous two faster runs were done "out of control".
A huge thankyou to GailXrunning . I discovered I was actually scared of the word "tempo" more than the run itself.
Happy days everyone. Keep smiling and enjoy those runs. 😊
[Copying the celebration from our other thread, as it deserves to be here, too! Not sure if all the emojis will translate, though....]
💫🌟💫✨Whoop-whoop!! FABULOUS news!!! Go celebrate that truly amazing and mental barrier-breaking achievement! You’re a star, Hidden 💫🌟💫✨Manageable. Controlled. I think it’s the emphasis on maintaining the controlled effort. It’s the exact opposite of the all-out dash-to-exhaustion experience that still haunts me from school days. And it turns out ‘tempo’ is slower than the geared ‘paces’ we practice. I think I imagined it to be faster!
And, yes, the feeling is just totally ‘sweet’ , as the young ones say… or used to?🤔 Oh, dear, I’m losing track of the decades.😂
Ah! Thank you again Gail. I got myself all worked up over this run and the reality of it was absolutely fine.
It was such a feeling of strength to be able to say "I am in control now" and also recall the feeling of exhaustion at certain points along the route on previous runs which were done clearly - out of control.
You are absolutely right that a controlled run is so much better than that horrid all out dash to exhaustion.
I'm still on a bit of a high to be honest. Whoop! 🥳🏃😁
Imagine you will be for the next day or two! Enjoy. I remember that particular run so well for all the same reasons (fearful anticipation, initial avoidance, etc.). I was overjoyed when I'd done it and to feel like, by some miracle of the NRC virtual coach, I'd even done it reasonably well. 🙌🎈
I loathe tempo runs and only did them during marathon training, as I have no desire to feel "comfortably uncomfortable" at all. However, they were incredibly useful in teaching me that I could put up with something I hate for much longer than I thought possible.
Those words again! That was exactly part of my initial fear. I certainly didn’t fancy being ‘comfortably uncomfortable’. However, in retrospect, I think I confused the concept with ‘uncomfortably uncomfortable’!😉 And the coach helped pace much of the run firmly in ‘comfortably comfortable’.😃 Whatever, to have done it at all feels brilliant.
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Steady 6k Followed by The NRC 1 Minute Run ! 
NRC 10k Plan: 555 second run
