A very bad week

[VictoriaRuns]

Hello all lovely C25K forum.

I come to you a little worse for wear.

It's been a difficult few months. I went out for my long run yesterday and about 2km, I found myself unable to go on, feeling nauseous and just all kinds of out of sorts. I phone my partner to come and get me, and as soon as I saw the car, I burst into tears and sobbed like a baby on the way home and for a good hour after we got to the house.

I felt like such a failure.

I'm so stressed lately, running was the only thing I could think of where I would have some kind of control to make things better. And I couldn't even do that.

Hope you are all having a better time than me!

Hoping to get back on my trusty treadmill tomorrow.

[Hidden]

Oh, bless you. I want to give you a big hug and make it all better for you. Please dont let it get you down. If you have been stressed and had a bad few months, your whole system will have been compromised, so it’s not surprising your body finally caved. Try to see the run as cathartic. You opened yourself to the run and it allowed things to come to the surface. Hopefully this will have been a crisis point from which you can now recover. Am crossing fingers and toes for you xxx

[VictoriaRuns Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Thank you Flick. I read your reply yesterday but was just summoning the mental energy to respond today. I'm still feeling very blue.. but better still. Did some sprint/jog intervals on the treadmill today so that helped. Sorry for a rant, it's just my life seems to be spiraling, and not doing that run was sort of the final straw. But this forum helps tremendously.

[Hidden in reply to VictoriaRuns]

It wasn't a rant. I'm very glad you felt able to share how you felt. I think verbalising can help sometimes. Look after yourself ,😊

[MikeJones68 Graduate]

Oh bless you. That's such a shame. We all have bad days, some worse than others. You'll soon be back on form

[VictoriaRuns Graduate in reply to MikeJones68]

Thanks Mike. Yes I got back out there today. This all feels rather dramatic in hindsight, but I think it was the straw that broke the camels back.

[MikeJones68 Graduate in reply to VictoriaRuns]

Glad you got back out there again today. I do know what you mean. It can just take one thing too many to tip you over the edge. Keep your chin up and don't let the *******s get you down!

[Liz-is-trying Graduate]

No way are you a failure!! You went out and tried. It doesn’t always work how we want it to. There’s always another day. Hopefully you get a run on the treadmill tomorrow and keep your spirits up with that post run buzz. Good luck and keep us posted. X

[VictoriaRuns Graduate in reply to Liz-is-trying]

Thank you Liz. Like you, I too am trying! It just seems trying gets harder every day lately. But I did get back on the treddy today and am feeling a bit better for it.

[Liz-is-trying Graduate in reply to VictoriaRuns]

That’s a great boost to your mojo! Keep focusing on the positives and keep trying 🏃‍♂️

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Come on.. chin up... here is a hug

Now.. this happens, for many reasons.. but you had a go !

Not failure at all...just life hurling things at you... You ran and then....you let all the stress out.. wonderful. Now...

Just focus on taking a big breath, and hitting the treadmill slow and steady and breathe gently..just tootle along and think how amazing you are!!!

You will be back to it really soon.. and..guess what.. we will be right there with you tomorrow

[VictoriaRuns Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

Thank you Oldfloss. You are certainly helped me get back to the gym this morning, but I don't know about feeling amazing. Slightly less useless maybe!

[icklegui Graduate]

💙

[MickGJ Graduate]

Gosh, you only ran for two kilometres...do you remember (see what I did then) when you went from 60 seconds to 90 seconds? And then wondered if you could get from three minutes to five? And that was such a short time ago.

This programme takes you so far and so fast it's easy to forget that we all started from...zero.

Remember a lot of people--possibly the majority--will have taken no exercise at all this week. So you still did yourself a big favour today..

[VictoriaRuns Graduate in reply to MickGJ]

Yes... I know. I think I just really needed a win that day, and it sort of broke me to not be able to get there. But I got back out there today with some sprint jog/intervals all the way to 5K. I know I need to be kinder to myself, but it isn't half difficult at the moment. Thank you for being kind to me in the interim.

[MickGJ Graduate in reply to VictoriaRuns]

So glad to hear it. I know 5k is only a number but I was like a dog with two tails the first time I made it and like you I really want to stay up there. This programme has done so much for my mental health, I can't begin to tell you.

There will inevitably be bad days but the way I look at it is that there's no point doing anything yourself that other people will do for nothing, and that includes beating yourself up.

[Anthie Graduate]

So sorry to hear you're feeling very low and stressed. Sometimes tears need to come out so that we can feel lighter afterwards... I hope you'll be able to get back some balance and serenity very soon and that the runs indoors will help. Big virtual hug x

[VictoriaRuns Graduate in reply to Anthie]

Thank you Anthie. Trying to feel more centered today for sure.

[Hidden]

Missed this.....glad you are feeling better today. Here’s a hug anyway

Remember that just because you think something, doesn’t make it true. Lots of evidence to suggest that you are not useless, that you can run and that you have a nice partner who came to get you in the car 👍

[VictoriaRuns Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Intellectually I know these things.. but stress has a way of distorting truths in ways I think we are all unfortunately familiar with. But thank you, and I will try to remind myself of these things more