I did a NRC run today and enjoyed it more than the last one. It was a 6k run with Coach B and I did it because it occurred to me ... I can run 6k! This was my fourth run of the distance - 6.4k in 45 minutes today following Saturday's 6.3k in 43. This seemed at "easy" way of ensuring I ran over 40 minutes, that being the figure I'm more interested in as I try to very gradually increase the time I run for.
Three things struck me about the run:
1. Coach B said I should be proud of the fact that I'm running. ๐ซฃ
2. I'm still probably running too fast, but I learnt a bit about pacing as for a few hundred metres in the middle he encouraged a slightly faster pace, and then a slightly faster still pace. This was HARD. If my pace had been a bit slower to begin with, it wouldn't have been as hard. (I am going to leave that sentence if only to prove that I am eminently capable of stating the bleedin' obvious! But you know what I mean: there's a degree of "just" pushing it with my running anyway.) I am not at all good at messing with my pace and like to run at the pace I feel comfortable at.
3. I have ran 6k four times. I have ENJOYED the runs. (Even on Saturday when I was surrounded by entirely non-threatening and utterly friendly dogs on two occasions, which messed with my focus and pacing, I still managed to run out of my funk and back into my happy place.) I have (whisper it) looked forward to these runs. That may not last and it may not be a feeling I get on every run, but it's the first time I have had four runs in a row that I have actively enjoyed since Laura accompanied me on C25K.
To return to my headline and first point: YOU should be proud of your running. You're getting up and getting out and moving forward. Really well done!