Week 7 Run1.......Failed :(

[SolNaveen]

Gutted gutted gutted, after having a cracking 2 weeks, i failed miserable at 1st run of week 7. Got 14 mins in and the gremlins took over, and my back started to give me a bit of pain. tried slowing down to 9kmh instead of 9.2, but it didnt ease off, so i ended up having to walk for a minute

I did dial it back up to 9.2 for the remaining 9 mins, and added a extra minute running at 12kmh, which nearly killed me, but my back and knee were fine.

But its so infuriating when you miss a target Oh and ive put on a pound since last week

[f1roro]

Don't beat yourself up, we all get 'bad runs' and it sounds like you more than made up for the brief hiatus in this one. Put this one behind you and look forward to the next!

[Realfoodieclub Graduate]

It wasn't a failure it was a bad run. We all get them. We try not to use the fail word as it just makes you feel so bad. There could be many reasons for a bad run some don't show their head for a few days.

1) didn't eat enough/ ate too much

2) didn't get enough sleep

3) not enough hydration

4) coming down with a bug

5) not enough recovery time after last run

6) for women - time of the month

The list goes on. Some days it's just not there, try not to let it get to you, I'm sure your not run will feel so much better, try starting a bit slower and relaxed Incase you were tense and that's what hurt your back.

Happy running.

[Sandraj39 Graduate]

Agree with the others...park it and move on🙂! We all get runs like that and it can be frustrating to think you've missed a target. Other days (and often when you least expect it) you feel like you are flying! You are at week 7, you are out there running and everything will be just fine. Be a little kinder yourself🙂!

[Ullyrunner Graduate]

Some good advice above - maybe going a bit fast? You should be concentrating on doing the time, not speed at the mo. Plenty of time to speed up once you've cracked the 30 mins continuous running.

[JaySeeSkinny Graduate]

You're going really fast - maybe slow it down a bit? And I'll bet the extra pound is pure muscle from all that running!

[SolNaveen Graduate]

Thanks everyone, i feel less annoyed now! Ive done the rest of the program at speeds of 10kmh, but dropped it to 9ish kmh for weeks 5 and 6, and its been fine so far, week 6 went really well, as did week 5 on the whole. I think im going to see how the next run goes, and if it goes the same as today, i'll drop the speed a little for the final and repeat week 7 next week.

[wez70 Graduate]

Happened to me too ... but now I really believe that there are days when it just doesn't happen. Since graduating I've had a couple of those but it wasn't a failure, just didn't work out as you expected it to. I second all the other comments too but all in all, just one of those days. Bin it and move on

[yamiskoi Graduate]

I don't really think that I can add anything new to this discussion, but I think that it's very reassuring to know that there are all sorts of reasons why we don't always run at our best and that we shouldn't call ourselves 'failures'. Okay, maybe this run didn't go as planned - the next one will be better. Try not to get too bogged down with stats about speed etc. - you're out there being active and that's the most important thing

[Bluebirdrunner Graduate]

Hi, don't like to hear you say you failed.

Sounds like what happened to my hubby. He likes to run at 10 or 9.5kmh

but has really struggled since the runs have got longer. He runs out of steam and has to take a walk break. He won't run slower cos he says that's his natural pace... so he has practically given up for a bit, disheartened.

I am outside again now, but when we were on the treadmill I was running at 7.6kmh and could carry on for longer and longer with no problems. I believe it might be better to try to run at a slower pace in order to achieve the longer times. Once you have cracked these and graduated you can start to build on speed and if you get the chance to run outside will be able to slow down and speed up as the terrain demands and still be able to achieve the time/distance you are after.

Sorry if this sounds a bit of a nag, I don't expect you want to slow your pace down, but I know from my strava that my pace averages at 9.9 for 5k outside.

Good luck and hope you are successful with Week 7 as you are getting so close to graduation

[SolNaveen Graduate]

Thanks for all the positive words everyone. Just to say, i took the advice from here and dropped my speed to 8.9kmh for run 2, and i pretty much completed it with no issues, a just a minor back twinge at 27 mins or so. Run 3 started off a bit tough today, but after about 15 mins running, everything fell into to place, and i had enough in the tank to step up the speed in the last 5 mins, the last minute was run at 12kmh!!

One thing mentioned above about speed, one of the reasons why i focus on it, is that, im running on a treadmill, which general concensus suggests is easier and slower than road running, so im kind of wary that when i get back out on the road that im going to be slower, however my jabra pulse reports that im running faster than the stated speed on the treadmill!

On to week 8 now, and now i feel confident that I do have it in me to get to week 9.

[vixiej Graduate in reply to SolNaveen]

just saw this after I posted (that will teach me to read to the bottom of the thread first!). I'd just like to say "I told you so" Well done

[vixiej Graduate]

oh, no using the 'f' word please, not allowed. Its not even a 'bad' run, as every run is an opportunity to learn something, to gain experience. I'd like to call it an 'unplanned interim' run Don't worry about it, we all have/had them. Don't dwell on it, think about all the successes you have under your belt, we all have this type of run from time to time, generally it means you have a fabulous one coming up soon.

[Tallulahmoo Graduate]

I'm also a treadmill runner (one day I will venture outside just not yet!), currently on week 8 and I found around week 5/6 I had to drop my pace a little to feel comfortable. I'm also very aware of the difference between treadmill and outside. I'm not sure it helps that I am so conscious of my exact speed on the treadmill whereas you wouldn't really know outside.

I read an article the other day that suggested putting an incline of 1% on the treadmill is all it takes to equalise outside/treadmill. Having never run outside, I don't know if this is true, but it was a reputable source (which I don't recall!)