Amazing one day-pants the next!

[Wonkyknee]

Arghhhh somewhere out of nowhere a few weeks ago I became a speed demon (for me!) starting managing 5ks in 26 minutes,twice under 26!!!but it's gone and left me....on Tuesday managed 31min 5k and thought I might die after it,this morning tried running with the dig and was ridiculously out of breath after 1/4 mile and walked.i have has the cold off and on for past few weeks but feel loads better,just must have left me weak.im beginning to wonder have I imagined the 25 and 26 minute miles- imposter girl!

Well the husband is off for once On a sat tomoro and I'd planned to do a parkrun but I'm losing motivation and confidence,not even sure I'd get round!

Advice and a good kick probably needed cause at this stage I'm bottling it!

Assuming the wonky knees hold up too arghhhhhhh

[Wonkyknee Graduate]

Can I please say that 31mins is obv not a pants time incase I've offended anyone!! When I started I'd have been delighted with that it's just it's all relative,and I had got quicker and thought I was getting better at this running melarkey so for me personally it's disappointing .....

[misswobble Graduate in reply to Wonkyknee]

Speed demons have off-days too Wonky!

Do the Parkrun. You'll be fine. If you don't run it you'll be wondering how you could have done. Don't talk yourself out of it

[MarkyD Graduate]

I say "Go to Park Run and have a fun run". Instead of running to beat your PB, try and run the race to a pace that you choose - for example 6 minutes per km (a time of 30 minutes). We all know that you can ran faster than that, but running to your chosen pace is a great running skill to develop. It is not all about how quickly we can get round the course.

I must say, I was disapponted by your post. I read it expecting to learn about these "amazing one day pants" and knickers were not mentioned once

[Wonkyknee Graduate in reply to MarkyD]

I literally burst out laughing at that comment MarkyD !!! Not good for one day pants

[Hidden]

Do the parkrun - in the grand scheme of life what does it matter if you have to walk part of the way anyway?

The fast times will come back. We all have off days, some of them only appear fleetingly and some hang around for a while. There are many factors that effect our running (diet, weather, mood, etc.). Chalk it up to experience, keep going and accept that it will probably happen again but know that you can get through it and not throw in the towel!

[Wonkyknee Graduate]

Thanks all! Some good advice! Still hard to understand how can be over 5 minutes difference over a 3 mile distance in a month - never know what you're going to get with this wonky knee! I'm edging towards trying the parkrun now if i don't chicken out....

On a separate note I find it really hard to stick to a pace, no matter what I try my mile times always go down despite me thinking I'm going at a steady pace.cant seem to slow it down at start even know I know there'll be nothing left in the tank at the end? Tips?

[Tomas Graduate]

No, I don't think you need a good kick. I think you need a bit of a break. You've done amazing, and broken your PB twice, so it's no surprise that your body is suffering a little. Be proud of your achievement, but give yourself a chance to recover and then once you're fully recovered, go and slice another minute off

And as for the parkrun... if you go, then take it easy, yeah?

[Hidden]

31mins, wow thats good you are definitely being to hard on yourself . Go do the parkrun enjoy it do it for fun and no pressure about time

[ZoomZoom Graduate]

I am going through a rough period. I was training for a HM and got myself up to 10 miles.

And then I struggled to do 5k. I wasn't injured, but I just couldn't do a 5k without some walking. This went on for a few weeks, regardless of having numerous consecutive rest days inbetween.

On advise from here I have been doing just 20 minute runs and although they have been a struggle, my last 20 minute run felt good. I am not going to push myself because I think that was perhaps my problem.