First 8 mins flew by, no issues at all. On the second 8 min run I kept looking at the clock ticking down instead of just focusing on running and listening to my podcast. Anyway, I stopped running with 1.47 to go. Legs hurt, was sweating and managed to convince myself I HAD to stop. Utterly disappointed and annoyed with myself.
In future, no clock watching, makes the run feel so much longer
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Mrun1
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Wow... you have a high bar set for defining success! You ran 8 and another 6 and a bit. That’s not a failure, failure is not starting.
Clock watching really does make time drag as I learned in history class many moons ago.
Now... you had a very good run when you think that 4 weeks ago you could do one minute intervals, and they were tough. Look back and look again at what you did today... you should be damn proud.
The voice in your head is a liar... tell it you can, tell it you will, when it says quit, tell it to **** off, out loud if it helps. Believe in yourself, you don’t need to see the timer because you could run longer. Keep the pace down and your head up... you can do this.
Thank you so much for that reply, I really needed it. I was feeling so terribly annoyed with myself, but you're right, 4 weeks ago I couldn't manage a 8 min or 6 min run!
I will repeat this run on Thursday and will NOT listen to the voice in my head and will definitely not clock watch!
Take the positives......... you were nearly there.
Lesson to learn....... don't clockwatch and also you may benefit at this stage in not concentrating on the running......find mental distractions...... music, podcasts or maybe my trick of giving yourself a running commentary of your environment and your run in general.
Getting over the desire to stop is obviously crucial to enabling you to run longer and further, but it does take a lot of mental adjustment...... which you will overcome, I am sure.
The podcast I was listening to got super off topic and boring, so I think that's what made me focus more on the run and the clock. So in future I think I will listen to a story or maybe just music.
Where I run is visually stunning, so that could definitely be used as a nice distraction.
Thanks for the tips. I'll retake this run and will avoid all contact with the clock
Thanks for such a supportive message! No clock in watching in future, I promise. Retaking this run on Thursday and already feeling confident that's I'll get through it.
Hmmm.... you're sweating? Reckon you can go slower? How is your breathing?
Your effort level should be comfortable - you should finish eash session feeling like you could carry on. Otherwise, you're going too fast and should SLOW DOWN
I wore a thick hoddie that doesn't unzip, as it was cold, but I think that contributed to feeling too hot/sweaty. Normally I wear a zipped hoddie and undo it half way through the run.
Also, my breathing isn't as it should be, I'm still trying to find the "right" way of breathing while running.
So I was hot and out of breath. The legs hurting I could cope with, but struggling to breath comfortably was what made me want to stop running. I was possibly over doing it on pace too...
Retaking this run on Thursday so any breathing tips would be much appreciated
You DEFINITELY need to slow down. Being out of breath at this stage is all wrong and a a recipe for failure which will only demotivate you. You should be able to COMFORTABLY hold a conversation during your jogging bits - it's called a "conversational pace". Seriously, you'll actually enjoy it.
Clothing: you're in the UK? In these temperatures, 2 thinnish layers is as much as you need. I get away with a t-shirt but we're all different. You should dress for it being 10C hotter than it is outside. Have a search for "winter layering guide" on here.
Breathing: relax! Take some deep breaths in and out in during your brisk walk. That'll help you relax. Keep your mouth open. When breaking into your gentle JOG (hint!) try 2 breaths in and 1 out. Works for me
If you fancy something very distracting so you don't clock watch, listen to the Confessions podcast from Simon Mayo drivetime show. Can't promise you won't laugh out loud.
Just wanted to thank you for the podcast suggestion! I'm now subscribed and it made my run this morning so much more enjoyable and the time flew by. Even had a couple of laughs along the way!
Once I got home I listened to another one while doing house work!
Always go at a pace that feels comfortable for you. Don’t worry about how fast you think you should be going/how fast other people are running/how fast you think they think you should be going!! Don’t ever be embarrassed that you are running too slowly. I always do the first few paces too quickly when Laura says 3-2-1 so I have to check myself and pull on the reins a bit. I want to reach the end and not feel terrible and over the weeks I’ve settled on a pace that works for me. Keep going...but maybe a bit more slowly x
Will definitely try a much slower pace on Thursdays run.
Don't know what happened to me today as I normally do go at a slow pace, guess today I was just wayyy too eager to finish and it ended up messing up my run entirely!
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