B210K W4R1- Whether you think you can or you think you can't- you're right.

[emkeenan]

Hello campers,

I've been away, and today was my first run for *she whispers* 8 days. I got back yesterday evening and have been flicking back and forth between this forum and my empty Garmin run calender ever since. Time to bite the bullet.

Anyway, off I went, feeling all 'wrong', throat dry, running bra twisted, one shoe to loose, one shoe too tight. Today was 3 18 minute intervals with Sami's usual 1 minute walking intervals. Despite the running gap I decided not to backtrack on the programme, W4 only adds an extra 3 minutes to the running in W3 and the longing for some new music and progress, in what is a fairly tedious programme, led me to forge on.

I set off, and found myself feeling burdened. Burdened mainly by the fear that this run would be hard. Should be hard. Might be too hard. By 8 minutes I wanted to stop, and by ten minutes, and even by 12 minutes. But I didn't, and the cocktail of guilt and anger was even proving quite an effective fuel, I was ahead of time. It was around minute 13 that the above quote popped into my head. I furrowed my brow and tried to believe that I could, and a good 60% of me fell for it

Onwards, trying a new route, enjoying the music as ever. All the usual distraction tactics, what colour was P!nk's hair in this video? Whose is that dog? What even is 18 +18+1? On and on. The new route was pleasant, if a little midgey, and the run was getting easier. The pace doesn't seem to have slowed much apart from on the three :/ occasions I ran myself into a dead end.

By the last third I knew I was ahead of time. I looked at my watch and after a quick calculation I decided I should aim for 9Km in the 58 minutes of running. I ploughed on wondering how on every run I start off wanting to speed up time and finish wanting to slow it down. At 56 minutes I heard Sami say stop, NOOO! I'd miscalculated, the run wasn't 58 minutes it was 56! Oh my poor oxygen starved brain.

I dutifully pressed stop on Gretta Garmin. I'd covered 8.92 Km. I was happy. I was frustrated. I was smiling at least. And that was the first run of W4 with Sami.

Thanks to Miles, Aussie, MissWobble, Treemouse, KittyKat, Spoonie and *KLAXON* BettysbOps and all my other forum favourites for helping me convince myself 'I can' over the past few weeks. I think it's working.

Happy running,

Emily

[spoonierunning Graduate]

I think after a weeks gap people often feel worried about that first run and if they will manage. Having had a few gaps I've been able to put those worries to bed as I know I can do it and now so do you it's a great feeling.

Sounds like it was a great run, even if you did manage to find 3 dead ends.

[emkeenan Graduate in reply to spoonierunning]

Thanks Spoonie. I was very worried as this was the longest break I've taken since starting running by quite a long way. Like you say, whether it's a holiday or an injury there will always be times I have to stop running briefly and it's really comforting to know I can 'get going' again.

My, very handy, personal trainer flatmate did tell me that I shouldn't have lost fitness in the time, but as we know it's as much in the brain as in the legs.

[loulou51 Graduate]

I needed to read this as I sprained my ankle on Mon 9th June and haven't run properly since. Walking hurts but the little jog across the school field yesterday wasn't too bad. So hopefully next week I'll tell myself I'm ready and hopefully at least 60% of me will believe it; if its the legs and head I'm on to a winner. Thanks for the encouraging post and good luck with your B210K

[emkeenan Graduate in reply to loulou51]

Thanks Loulou. KittyKat posted about coming back from an injury recently and it sounds like she found the combination of soft ground and intervals with stretches in-between worked a treat. I do hope it goes well for you-as you say get your thinking right and hopefully your legs will follow.

Good luck

[AncientMum Graduate]

Great quote Emily and one I'll be remembering. Well done on sticking with it and finishing on a high. Onward and upwards! Happy running

[emkeenan Graduate in reply to AncientMum]

I knew I'd missed someone AncientMum! Onwards and upwards indeed

[Hidden]

Great post and a great run... sounds like you certainly "can" even if you think you "can't"...

With regards to taking a break - it's not all bad news...

runnersconnect.net/running-...

I suspect that taking a good 4-5 days before a race is actually a good idea so you're in prime form to put in a solid performance...

I'm really glad B210K is working out for you. It was a bit too much for me but I'm looking forward to me W2R1 Aussie210K 30 minute run today... and my 6K on Sunday...

[emkeenan Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Aussie, that's a brilliant article! My flatmate also told me anything under two weeks wouldn't mean losing any real fitness. As you say B210K is hard going and I'm sure a break right in the middle won't have been such a bad thing. I hope now I'm rested I can power through and creeping closer to that 10K is certainly giving me a boost.

I look forward to hearing about more runs on the Aussie210K programme

[emkeenan Graduate]

Thanks KittyKat So close to 9km! In fact I think if I was running a route I knew I would have covered that extra 80m in the time I actually spent jogging on the spot confused and slightly lost! I agree that there must be some advantages to a break and I certainly appreciated the 'running rush' afresh last night. Having said that I am slightly more achy than I was following runs pre-break.

Thank you for your suppport, and it's great that we're back on track. Go grad team

[Miles_Yonder Graduate]

Good afternoon, Emily. Nice to see you back.

That does sound like quite the first run back after a bit of time off! You did really, really well, despite trying circumstances, and shouldn't feel frustrated or anything like that. You did great!

Dead end are great, aren't they? I've done it myself, twice in the last few weeks. Ah well, it all adds distance to the clock!

You seem to be getting on well with Sami at least; I must say that out of 'us lot', it's you who's got the furthest with B210K - very bloody well done indeed and yes, of course you can do it. You're doing a fine job. Onward! Always! Enjoy your rest; it's well deserved.

[emkeenan Graduate in reply to Miles_Yonder]

Thanks Miles, maybe I'm just the stubbornest of us all

Onwards, always onwards.

[Laurae Graduate]

Well done and another inspirational runner. I am still working towards building up to the full 5k every run and getting the speed up and the time down. I may even try the B210K in the future. Congrats, hope your next run has no twisted bras, great tension on laces, less midgies and is over the magic 9K XXXX

[emkeenan Graduate in reply to Laurae]

Thanks Laurae That next run sounds like the dream!

Keep us updated on the how the running goes, I'm sure the magic 5k is just around the corner x