Last weekend I set out on Saturday afternoon to run 10 miles. This is a distance that I have only done once before and that was over a year ago, but I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it, now my pace is building back up again after injury.
So all prepared, with route planned, I headed out on a glorious sunny afternoon. Within the first couple of kilometres I felt that it was not going to go well.....breathing seemed laboured, legs felt heavy, niggles played up all over my anatomy and I was finding it hard work and not really enjoyable. By the time I reached 5k and had walked up part of a hill, I decided that 10 miles was out of the question, so I cut my losses and decided to do 10k instead.
After running for nearly two years, I don't believe in “bad” runs. Every run is training for the next one, has been my philosophy for a long time........but I have to put this experience down as the exception.......it was a bad run.
This Saturday I was out of the door before 7.30, with a fresh Easterly wind and the sun in my face and by the time I had covered those same two initial kilometres I was thinking, “This feels good!”It was. I loved every minute. I slogged up the same hill that beat me last week. I felt strong and nothing was hurting, my music was uplifting and the spectacular red soils of the ploughed fields vied for attention with the fresh green grass and the vivid yellow of the fields of rape, all under a deepening blue sky. I love Devon. Half way round I admit I stopped to have a chinwag with a mate who was out walking his dog, giving me opportunity to top up my fluids and get a breather. A mix of old familiar routes and some bits I had never run before, kept it interesting and my pace was up to where it was prior to my injury.
Life is good when you are running strong!
I knocked seven minutes off my last 10 mile time and my average pace for this one was 6:09m/k, including my stop for a chat. Last week, running much of the same route, I only managed 6:22m/k for the 10k, which left me exhausted.
Naturally when this sort of thing happens, you question what differences were there between the circumstances of the two runs. Time of day and temperature are obvious, my lack of sleep the previous week and the fact that I had just completed two work contracts before this last run also contributed to the variation in my preparedness, attitude and physical state.
Last week's “bad” run did not discourage me, while this week's brilliant run positively boosted me mentally and made me feel that I am just about back up to speed and got me thinking of strategies to attack my ridiculous parkrun PB, which has stood, without me getting within 30 seconds of it, for over a year.
Learning to run takes more than nine weeks.......it takes more than two years, I believe (I am a slow learner).....and developing the ability to assess what is sensible to tackle on any given day is all part of the process. Long may the learning carry on, if it is as pleasurable as my last run.
Every run is training for the next one.....keep running, keep smiling.
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IannodaTruffe
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There seems to be no rhyme nor reason to it. Recently got a parkrun pb and the next week my slowest ever time. I never seem to make a lot of progress but this morning was a good run so that will keep me going for the next few days - and tehn we'll see. Glad it went well for you.
There are so many factors influencing whether we perceive a run as good or bad, but I was really looking forward to that first run and surprised myself when it turned out so hard.
Wow, I love your description of the countryside you ran in today, so vivid, no wonder you enjoyed it. I'm glad it all came together for you today, but I also like your attitude & philosophy of it all being 'training'. I'm finding getting back into the training pretty tough right now, but I look forward to building up to some stronger runs in the future x
Keep plugging away. It is only in the last couple of weeks that I have begun to feel the return of any kind of fluidity in my running action, following injury and reduced running through the winter. It is a joy when you start to feel strong again and it will happen. Good luck.
I agree, truffe. A good run is absolutely the bees knees. But just what is the magic formula for a good run? I think we are all trying to crack that. sometimes it just feels right and sometimes its just pants. 🏃⚡️
Very astute comment about learning to run being a long process IT. So many ups and downs and (in my case anyway) stops and starts. But if you learned it all in 9 weeks it would be so boring wouldn't it?
Agree with every word. Totally agree about "learning" about running - I'm similar in that it has taken me ages to work out pacing, how you feel and how you deal with negativity (sometimes.)
Am jealous of you having Devon on your doorstep. Bloody love Devon me!!
This morning's 5k through the frosted riverside fields with the sun gently warming my face, reinforced, yet again, exactly why I run. Bloody marvellous!
Great post also great advice - you learn running over two years not nine weeks, that actually helps me a lot, to know what only 4 months in it's ok to take my time, take each run as it comes. Keep smiling indeed
What a lovely evocative post IdT. Yes the reasons for this good run/bad run difference often elude me, I do wonder how the professionals deal with it (I realise they are professionals and have a wealth of experience to fall back on, but still...)
Thaks TT. Pros always work on percentages, as far as I know. So you control all those things that will have a bearing on your performance, to the greatest possible degree, hoping that each aspect will have a positive contribution, but accepting that it is almost impossible to get everything right, as you have just found out. I read your latest post and hope you haven't done any serious damage.
On this last run I met the local running group setting out at 9am as I was on my way home. I was invited to join them (I know most of them) but I was at 14k when they were at 2, and along with the fact that I prefer to go at my own pace (which is still erratic) I declined the offer. Mind you, they might have got my pace up to that which you achieved. Very impressive.
Thanks c4ts. I am sixty this year and it is often said that the body enters a decline after that, so I have to raise the bar, before I come to rely on age grading alone. We shall see.
Fascinating and uplifting post! One of the most interesting things about my own longest run was watching the ups and downs of my mood/thinking over the two hours.
I think the biggest thing we learn sometimes is simply acceptance.
Running really involves learning a lot about ourselves, both physically and mentally and regulating our own expectations and personal goals to keep it enjoyable and still satisfyingly challenging. Acceptance of personal limitations needs to be tempered with a self competitive spirit, in my view.
Ah, 'acceptance of personal limitations' is not quite what I mean by acceptance in this context. I am talking about acceptance of feelings rather than making (probably mistaken) decisions about not being able to *do* things as a result of those feelings.
Nope. I think most of us experience the feeling of "I don't like this/I can't do this" during runs. For example, many of us even describe the first 10 minutes of *every* run as being like this... and we learn to just accept the feeling, to 'be with it', if you like. Which does *not* mean we stop our run at that point or even run slower.
so very true. Learning to run is very much like learning to drive I think - its only once you pass your test (in this case, c25k) that you start to learn what it is to get out and "run" properly.
Rings true on many counts with my own experience (not the pace tho ... I'm patiently working towards my second running year reaping the pace benefits!)
Those first 9 weeks planted the seed from which the running lifetime grows! Hopefully!
Nearly two years in, I don't get the almost continuous buzz that the C25k programme provided, but as you say those seeds have got their roots firmly planted and the intermittent highs, which come with most runs, are something that I value and thank C25k for.
Hiya Ned. I have never been one to dwell on negatives, although I am a prevaricator, and once an action has been taken there is very little point in regretting it. Take the positives and move on. Life's too short for regrets.
What a lovely post IT. I can just imagine how it was as you described it beautifully. Any chance of posting a few photos? We always love a great photo.
What a difference a week makes! That's some distance and a great pace. Think you're on the up and up again.
Thanks O'HRH, the colours are spectacular at this time of year. I will see if I can either find or take a photo that sums up their glory. That run has given me a great boost, along with a beautiful run through frosty fields this morning and now the mud has dried up running has become such a life affirming pleasure.
Fabulous post. You describe the differences between runs so well and I think the majority of us are left wondering what it is that makes one run better than the other. I find it strange that often on the days when I don't think I'll do so well I do better than I expect and vice versa. Your last run sounds absolutely wonderful and a great pace too, especially considering you stopped for a chat! Love the positive attitude
As I know you are only too well aware, we all have to take it on the chin and get on with life, however difficult that may be. Running gives us that wonderful space in which we can either order our worlds or forget about them completely for a brief spell, amongst all the chaos that surrounds us at other times. I hope that running is providing you with some respite from your recent bereavement. We have to be positive, or we drown.
You're absolutely right there IT. I couldn't have said it better. I do think if it wasn't for the running I would find it more difficult and would quite probably be in fear of drowning!
When it all clicks, like it did for you here, running is just wonderful. And I think you're wise to see the less-than-perfect runs as just practise for the good ones. Impressive pace for 10 miles also.
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sounds like a great run and a positive general philosophy! 
Another run done - springing into September 
First post-graduation run - another good one!
Another one for Bazza
One run away from Graduation!
Encourage one another...
