I signed up to a 10k race for life back in January and for months I’ve been working towards it. I did my training plan managed to run up to 9K last week and was raring to go. Yesterday was race day in Crystal Palace Park and I got there half an hour late so all the runners had set off. I was allowed to do the race and set off by myself somehow during the first lap I got a bit lost but somehow managed to rejoin the course as I was running the first lap I could hear through my Nike running coach that the distance I’d covered was not the distance to markers showing and somehow managed to miss 1.5k of the course 🤦
Not only that but I’ve been working really hard towards doing a decent time but had never really ran on grass and found it so hard. Even though I can and have run 9K without stopping, on the grass it was just so hard and ended up having to walk for parts of it.
lots of people have sponsored me and I feel so disappointed with myself and like a complete fraud.
Written by
Monicamoo
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First of all - so sorry that things didn’t go to plan for you. That must have been so tough and I have only admiration for the fact that you set off on your own to do this anyway.💪🙂 I am sure that every one of your sponsors will feel the same so you should still feel proud that you have raised money for charity. 👏👏🙂
Yes, running on grass is certainly very different and can be quite energy sapping, especially if you are not used to it.
Chalk this one up to experience - and don’t let it put you off looking for your next 10k - where I am sure you will lay the demons to rest!
People don't sponsor you to do events because you can just dash it off... they sponsor you for all the work that goes into the preparation as well and you know you did that.
You had lots against you and you didn't just throw in the towel, you can feel proud of what you achieved even though it wasn't quite what you intended.
Hey, don't be too hard on yourself because everything is learning. Nobody really knows how race day is going to turn out. You showed up though and did all you could. Another time you'll be ready and able to put things how you'd like them. You can train on grass and trail and get there with everyone else...the hardest bit is doing it and you did just that.
This sounds like a bit of an anti climax and a disappointment but I wouldn't count it as a failure.
You turned up, you ran.
How many people who sponsored you can run 8.5K let alone 10K? I sponsor people for events because it's way easier than actually doing them. Sponsorship is about supporting the charity rather than judging the person doing the event.
Plus, absolute kudos for being late and running anyway. You were in a strange place on a strange surface and covered most of the distance, well done you.
Like everyone else has said, you have done fantastically well here. 10k is tough for those of us who rarely run that long of a distance. Pat yourself on the back, put your feet up and take it easy knowing you've put in the training and done your best.
By the way, NRC distances are sometimes dodgy so don't take what the app says as gospel. You did a 10k course and that counts as a 10k for me (says the woman whose NRC app didn't register the full distance on the only 10k course I've run which was measured, official etc )
It’s absolutely rubbish when a race you’ve worked for doesn’t go the way you planned. I had to pull out of a half marathon three quarters of the way through injured last year. I was really worried about was what everyone would think of me and just kept thinking about how all my hard work was totally wasted. I think I cried the whole way home, I really feel for you.
It’s totally ok to feel disappointed. You almost wouldn’t be human if you didn’t! You can logically know that you did your best, and that grass is harder to run on than road, and your supporters will be proud of you anyway but it takes time to feel it. You haven’t let anyone down-least of all yourself.
It just wasn’t your day today. There’ll be other days though and in time, maybe you’ll look back on this one a bit more kindly towards yourself. If you’re finding that hard right now, just think what you’d say to a friend and I bet it’s much nicer. Sending hugs. ❤️
When enough time has passed , you will look back on this with a totally different attitude…but at the moment you are feeling hugely let down. Something you had worked hard to prepare for, eagerly anticipated and then it went quite literally off piste. (And you are ‘piste off’!!)
My thought is get back on the bicycle. Get another 10k planned and focus on amending the history book-you can run 10k, that one was a stepping stone. Put it down to experience and move on swiftly.
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week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?
