It’s been a horrible week here. Feeling under the weather at the start, exhausted at the middle, and under a black cloud at the end. So I haven’t run for a week, maybe more. I was determined to get back to it today though, knowing all too well that if I left it any longer I’m far too likely to give into the fear of not being able to do it, and waste all the hard work I’ve put in over the past 12 weeks. So despite the lure of the pizza which I’ve bought for tea, I decided to get changed and go for it *before* putting the oven on!
Off I went, full of trepidation, feeling that it was unlikely I’d even manage 5 minutes, let alone the full 30 mins for week 9. The first few minutes were just awful, non-stop ‘I can’t do this, why am I doing this? Who am I kidding!’ But I kept going and it got better...
After about 10 mins of running I managed to switch off the stresses still going round my mind, and just concentrated on my breathing. I know many people find it difficult, but for me it’s the best way of leaving everything else behind and just getting into a settled steady pace.
I wasn’t bothered by all the faster runners passing me in both directions, but just kept to my own steady plod. And somehow I got to half way! And then, amazingly, there were just ten minutes to go. I was actually in that happy place of feeling as though I’d be able to keep going, and knew that I’d be able to do this. Five minutes to go, and feeling fantastic. Starting to feel more tired, but I knew I had it in my legs to do it. And then, done!
It wasn’t a quick run - I actually ended at exactly the same place as my week8 runs usually finished, somehow! - but I really don’t care about that. I went, I ran, I did 30 minutes.
And now the oven is on, and pizzas are waiting 😂