W7 - Humble Pie with a cherry on top!

[Maud42]

Week 7 - this should be okay... It's only W6D3 repeated three more times.... Right?

I have ran every other day without fail for 7 weeks. I can't say I was feeling cocky about it but I was pretty proud of my streak. But then this past Sunday came around. I had had a very hard nonstop week and it took me a while to get up and around for my morning run because it was my first day off in quite a while. By the time I got out for w7d2 it was almost noon, sunny, 86F (30C), and very, very humid. The air in the woods was unbreathably muggy and the sunny places were scorching. I had not yet ever stopped before Laura told me to but at 17 minutes I felt woozy and my body just stopped running. There was no time to talk myself out of it. It just happened. I walked the rest of my walk but felt just horrible about letting myself down. I recuperated physically pretty quickly though.

Sure, I had maintained the "every other day" but I felt like I had let Laura down. It was 48 hours of disappointment with myself mixed with self pity. I had considered going out the very next day to do w7d2 again but decided it would be best to "fully recover". I just felt deflated and questioned my ability to "do the hard thing".

So yesterday I laced up my shoes and got back on the trail. I really had doubts about it but you wont' know if you don't try. It was only 70 (21C) and the woods was freshly washed by a thunderstorm the night before. The run was amazing. I kept waiting for the moment I would fail again but it never came. In fact, when Laura said I was done with my 25 minutes I was pretty sure I had at least another 5 minutes in me!

If c25k is all about playing with your edge, my edge slapped me down hard and hurt my ego in the doing. But that was just that day. Yes, I get great satisfaction out of willing myself to push through to the end but the lesson of week 7 has been picking myself up, brushing myself off, and persevering after seriously disappointing myself. Not only is my body stronger as a result of c25k but I have also learned a lot about forgiving my body for being human and kindly getting myself back on track despite "failing". (I've never been good at failing) I never ever expected so many benefits from running!

[Debston Graduate]

Well done for getting back out there, sounds like a super comeback run!

[Decker]

Well done Maud. There will always be the odd bad run for a variety of reasons, but you got back out and that is what counts. It’s so important to laying the foundation for making it a long term habit amidst adversity. Just keep showing up and you will do great!

[NewRunner4 Graduate]

Lovely story. Well done dusting yourself off and having a great run. 👍

Realising that not all runs are going to go well was a bit of a turning point for me and it makes you more resilient. No run is a bad run, it just makes you stronger for the next one - as you found out! 😀

[Buddy34 Graduate]

Try and try again and you did and you won. Well done you 😊

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

86 degrees? I’d be delighted with 17 minutes in that!!! Bloody well done. Ideal distance running temperature is 45 degrees, which makes us feel like it’s 65 when running. It’s always tougher in the summer. Very well done getting it done today.

[Onewomanscrusade Graduate]

What a fab post. I’ll try and remember this on the tough days. Thanks for being honest and telling it like it is 👍

[Murielbez Graduate]

I am going through exactly the same experience than you with week 7

[Ping-pong Graduate]

What an inspiring read. And "playing with your edge" - my vocabulary is definitely expanding this morning 😊