I'm so upset with myself. 7 days ago I did Week 7, Run 1 without any major issues. Did it hurt? Yea, but not enough to make me stop. Then today I do Run 2, and I stopped about 5 times because I couldn't take it anymore. 10 minutes in and I stop because my calves felt like they were literally going to rip apart. And right now my calves are huge. I'm talking almost the size of my thighs. And I have big thighs.
Then I start up again after i stretched a bit. And I've got to stop 3 minutes in because of my left knee. Stabbing, sharp pain. And for once my husband wasn't with me and I was scared if I kept running I would blow out my knee. So I stop, rub my knee, stretch, then keep going. But the pain keeps coming back and I keep stopping.
I don't know what happened!!! Early last week I asked about taking more than one day in between runs because my work schedule was changing, and everyone said it would be fine. It might even be better for me. I didn't mean to skip a whole week but those extra hours were brutal and I needed an extra day or two to recuperate. Today was the first day I felt good again, felt rested. And now I feel like a big pile of poo.
I'm so upset and disappointed in myself. I don't even wanna do Run 3 because if I fail that too, I know I'm gonna give up. If I just stop now i can give myself the excuse that I was on the verge of getting hurt.
I'm so sad. I hate my body.
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Sodaonthesofa
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You havent failed !!! You have had a 'bad' run. Trust me we have all had them. If I were you I would try to challenge these negative all or nothing thoughts that could lead you to give up rather than persevere. Many factors, that we are often unaware of, influence our running and some days are just no go days. Your best run could be just round the corner but if you give up now you will never know. Dont hate your body - empathise that it is on a journey of change and try to be gentle with your body and your mind. Keep going with the journey and you will be surprised where it takes you.
Bad runs happen to everyone at some point, it's not a failure.
The important thing is to rest and try again in a couple of days, do not have another attempt the very next day, this usually will make things worse.
Try and work through the issues you've had:
Calves - Do a proper warm up with some dynamic stretches. Maybe do more than a 5 minute warm up.
Knee - Why does it hurt? Terrain? Will running on softer ground help? Are your shoes ok?
Again downhill running on tarmac can have an effect on your shins/calves as you are using them to brake instead of propel you so do you need to change your route?
Do you need to repeat a week? It's no problem if you do, this needs to be done to match each persons individual ability. I hit some quite big road blocks around week 5/6 which I managed to work through. The biggest of which was learning to slow down.
We try not to use the 'f' word... you had a horrid setback. No wonder you feel so low...but having accepted that... time to move on !
Try to focus on just how far you have come... not how far there is to go. You started this.. against all odds and you determined to do it! So.... do it
You missed some runs and your body is letting you know that...with a vengeance... So, rest those legs..but.. do some gentle strength and flex exercise whilst you do ( link on here) massage and maybe a roller? A knee support could be useful too.
Then.. you need to get out there again... and take it slow, really, really slow... slower than a laid back snail. When you think you are moving at your slowest.. slow down.
You can do this.. you just have to want to... set yourself.. small targets.. just run to that lamppost, that tree, that corner.. think of anything other than the run.. Christmas carols, all the folk on here, who are right there with you, willing you on...
" The moment that you're ready to quit, is usually the moment, right before the miracle happens. "
Come on.. do it.. for all of us..but mostly for yourself!
That was what we call a practice run, we never have a failure on this forum.....you were out there running, how can that be a failure? You have come so,so far, do not let those gremlins win! Follow the advice above on warm up, stretching, slow and steady etc. When you are ready get out there and continue that great work you have already done! Be sure to post to let us know how things are going. Good luck, and remember we are all there alongside you!
No, you haven't failed at all! You have succeeded for 6 weeks and hit a bit of a bump in the road, that's all. Rest- take a few days and ease back in. No shame in going backwards to come forwards again. Consider repeating week six and take it from there but DO NOT GIVE UP! Good luck! x
You know you can do this run as you've done it twice before - it was just a bad run and we've all been there!
This is as much a mental game as a physical one now. Your body gave you trouble this time so it's up to your mind now to put that behind you and give it another go tomorrow.
Oh I feel your pain but trust me you didn't fail. No one fails on this forum. As many have said the "Bad Run" is a horrid thing but don't give it more credit than it deserves. So many thing can make a bad run. Your next run will be different.
What a rotten run - no need to feel discouraged! Maybe slip back to repeat week 6? The thing is you are doing so much more than you were 7 weeks ago.
Are you running on road? I am also in week 7 and I did run 1 on road, run 2 mostly on grass (running to playing fields and round the edge) and the soft surface was massively easier on my knees. After run 1 they felt shattered (even though I have a tubular support thing round my dodgier knee)
Ah, dont be so hard on yourself, just think how far you have come to get to here .
Youve already done this run once, you can do it again .
Weve all had runs like this. Once when I was coming back from one, I felt like just chucking all my running gear in a skip and then throwing myself in with them . Ha ha
It happens to us all , even Paula Ratcliffe had "bad runs" and she's an Olympic Gold Medallist
I would just like to add the importance of reframing & changing your language. The mind is so powerful, that even talking about "failing" wk7r3 & then giving up, is almost bound to make that happen. (Is Andy Murray a better tennis player now than a year ago? No probably not - but he got Ivan Lendil back in his coaching team, not for his tennis ability, but to sort his mind out! Result now world #1!)
So! May I encourage you to rewrite your post, and looking at it from a different perspective? You didn't "fail" you had one bad run. You don't need to be upset with yourself, you can congratulate yourself on how far you've come! If someone had told you when you did your wk1r1 that soon you would be running 25m non stop, would you have dared believe them?!
Honestly self-talk is the most powerful tool & it soon becomes self-belief, soon becomes self-fulfilling prophecy.
If you need to have a detour & revisit one of your earlier runs to get your confidence back, I'm sure that would be a good investment!!! 😀🏃♀️
Maybe you are being too hard on yourself, give yourself a break and tell your body it has done well and you love it. I know this probably sounds like some kind of hippy hooey but I find that this method does help me some. I hope you feel better.
Aaaah... you are just ready for the magic of C25K...
The successful are not those who don't encounter problems, the successful are those who don't read too much into occasional dismal events and just get on with it. I am not saying tell yourself off for all those negative thoughts - just know that's all they are and are not any kind of guide to future action.
It really sounds as though you set out all tensed up because life generally is a bit challenging at the moment. Next time try loose, almost floppy - a running motion, not anything to do with speed.
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Failed!! 
I set myself up to fail!
Week 2 Run 1 - Failed - do I keep going or back to Week 1?
Fail!
Should I try third run only or entire week if I failed only 1 run?
