A Slow and Plodding Mid Morning 10K

[Instructor57]

Well, the last time I did a 10K (well, it was 14k) was June last year !

Then unfortunately life , niggles and the odd illness got in the way and my running was completely derailed .

My fitness and mojo both went AWOL along with my fitness age and VO2MAX

I have been gradually building back up again and also re started mixing my runs up again and I am happy with this progress.

I have been using NRC runs to get me back on track .

Last Sunday's long run was an 8K

And today's was due to be a 10K.

There were lots of Gremlins around this morning accompanied by equal amounts of faffage ! But I eventually got out around 10:30.

It was a little chilly at first in t-shirt and shorts but after the warmup walk and 5 minutes jogging then I was soon up to temperature .

I purposely started off at an easy pace !

I wanted no more than about 8:30/Km .

This was around my start pace on the 14K back last June !

The run started off fine , I was comfortable and relaxed.

One thing I did notice was the NRC app was way off on distance .

No worries though , I know the route and I will run to Garmin distance not NRC .

At a Garmin distance of 2K, NRC was reporting 3.5 !!! 🤔

I reached 5k on Garmin no problem but NRC reported 7, ahh well, ignore NRC.

It was a little annoying because mentally I would feel the run was done well before it was .

Ahh well, carry on .

When Garmin reached 7.5K NRC said 10K Done !!!

I stopped the app and carried on .

I was tiring at this point and it became both mentally and physically hard to continue with still another 2.5K to go !

But I kept it slow and steady and plodded on .

My calves were tightening up a bit at this point and I was not sure if I would complete the run but just kept it at a nice easy pace .

I knew where 10k would end and I must admit I was happy to see the finish line !

So 10K done , I think my slowest ever !

But I don't care !

Strava 5K and 10K April challenge completed !

Back home , stretches done and flop on the couch for a few minutes 🤣

Then a nice relaxing shower 😁

So I will stick with mixing the runs up but may do 1 or 2 more 10K's before pushing on with the distance !

Happy Running! 😁

[Frenc Graduate10 60minGraduate]

Ah that’s brilliant, what a fab run. It sounds as though mixing it up is really working for you! It’s really hard when the mind has left the run so that’s quite something. Well done Ian 😊😊😊.

[Instructor57 Graduate10 in reply to Frenc]

Thanks Kate !Yes , I knew I had 2.5 to go when NRC reported 10k and run done!

Very frustrating and yes, mentally chalenging 😐

[Week7 Graduate10]

Nice one! Hope thenextvone is goes as well as this one. 🏃‍♂️

[Instructor57 Graduate10 in reply to Week7]

Thanks !It was tough !

I hope the next one goes better 🤣

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10]

Congratulations Ian on completing your first 10K for a while, a bit flustrating regarding the distance on different devices.

[Instructor57 Graduate10 in reply to AlMorr]

Thanks Al 👍And yes, very frustrating!

I have done that NRC run several times before and it was fine !

Don't know why today was an issue but it certainly made a difference mentally 😐

[Roxdog Graduate10]

That's brilliant - a milestone for you! Well done, nice and steady got you there.

[Instructor57 Graduate10 in reply to Roxdog]

Yes, thanks .I actually had my doubts towards the end 😐

[Birdlady64 Graduate10]

That's brilliant Ian! So happy for you getting back up to 10k. Well done 👏😁It must have been frustrating with NRC being so far ahead on distance - and a mental challenge, even though you know the route and all the km markers - so a double well done 👏👏😁😁

[Instructor57 Graduate10 in reply to Birdlady64]

Yes, it certainly made it mentally tougher 😐I'm broken now though , I had a bath and went back to bed for 2 hours 🤣🤣🤣

[Oldfloss Administrator 60minGraduate]

Mixing it up and mental battles sometimes go together. But you are on the way,,, you are back to 10K, ( I am not too far behind you:)I do find it amazing how we find that bit of something that gets us to where we want to be, despite the odds.

Well done you... the next one.... it will feel a tad easier.... believe it

[Instructor57 Graduate10 in reply to Oldfloss]

Many thanks , and youl be back there soon 👍It was probably my toughest run to date , tougher than the 14k 9 months ago 😐

[Hidden]

It's a cracker of a run Ian great stuff

[Instructor57 Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Ian , it almost broke me which was a bit of a shock 😐

[Hidden in reply to Instructor57]

What don't break ya makes ya stronger 💪💪

[Instructor57 Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

So they say 😁👍

[Jools2020 Graduate10]

I can imagine it was tough to carry on after NRC was saying 10K, but you did. Well done for that ‘first in a long time’ 10K 👏👏👍👍

[Instructor57 Graduate10 in reply to Jools2020]

Thanks Julia !It was a tough run 😐

[Maz1103 Graduate10]

Well done. I've not done 10k for a year (knee pain etc). In fact I rarely do 5k. It's niggling me though... May give it a go !!

[Instructor57 Graduate10 in reply to Maz1103]

Thanks !I built up to it again slowly but even then it was tough !

Calves are a bit sore now 😐

[Mormor1 Graduate10]

So frustrating for you ( that NRC was so far out). Have you worked out why? Did it set off before you?? I'm building up to 10 again, I want doing 10k and longer to feel easier than it did last time round so doing each long run at least twice before I up by a k. I think it's a 9 this week, tho having woken up to wind and rain, it won't be today.

[Instructor57 Graduate10 in reply to Mormor1]

Yes, very frustrating, and no, I started the app and when the countdown of 3 reached 0, I started my watch .The opening comments and everything were as expected.

But the first Km call came early .

Ahh well,

And yes, I'll certainly do another 10k before pushing on

[Yesletsgo Graduate10]

Well done on the 10k. It's annoying when you get a different measure for distance. When I do my local Parkrun NRC always says I'm on 4.8km when I go through the finish. I feel obliged to carry on a bit longer as otherwise it'd annoy me. I think I'd have been tempted to stop when NRC said I'd covered the distance so double well done to you

[Instructor57 Graduate10 in reply to Yesletsgo]

Thanks, Thing is I know NRC was wrong (Very wrong) so couldn't and wouldn't stop .

I'd only be fooling myself .

I know the route well and I know where each Km is reached .

I have also run this NRC run previously on the same route and I could tell by when various comments came in that they were in a different place .

Ahh well 🤔

[Yesletsgo Graduate10 in reply to Instructor57]

Technology. Hmmmphh.

[Instructor57 Graduate10 in reply to Yesletsgo]

Looks like the NRC app was still set to 'Indoor' 😐

[Beatlesforever Graduate10]

That is brilliant, well done! 🥳🎉🤸‍♀️👏👏👏 I always have that problem with the NRC 10k run. When CB says 'done!' and you know you still have 2.5k, that's really tough mentally so extra kudos to you 💪👏👏👏

[Instructor57 Graduate10 in reply to Beatlesforever]

Many thanks !I think I have just found the reason !

The app was set on 'Indoor' following my last treadmill run ! 😐

[Beatlesforever Graduate10 in reply to Instructor57]

I've just read your other post, interesting! My app is always on 'ourdoor' because I never run indoors but I still get NRC telling me I'm done when I'm have ages to go. I think it might be my phone's GPS but I'm no expert (unlike you!)