6K for Tortoise in New Shoes! 🐢

[Granspeed]

After aborting yesterday’s run at the warmup finish due to Drowned Rat Syndrome, I enjoyed this morning’s 6k in fitful sunshine. Nice to feel I’m finally launching into my slo-mo assault on 10K. 🎉 And the new shoes are now fully christened with residual puddles, wet grass and mud on the paths after yesterday’s deluge. Happily, the moat that often forms at the stream crossing bridge was not there - waiting perhaps for later in the year. 😄

I’ve read a few worried posts on here recently from folks feeling daunted by their slow speed compared to some other runners 😧 So I’ll be upfront here about true Tortoises: when jogging along, I am delighted if my pace per km starts with a 9. And on the odd occasion when that number becomes an 8, I become ecstatic and might spoil it all by going over in a faint. 👏🏼😄 And I am perfectly happy with the way my running is going, 6 months in from C25k graduation.

So really, really Folks, relax into what is right for you. My OH and the son are natural sprinters (and so are some women!), but I am a stamina person, it turns out. I can trundle along for over an hour and be neither tired in the legs nor out of breath. Twenty minutes of speed intervals has me looking for the coffee shop! I do them sometimes, but really... 😧

So don’t feel bad if you’re not a sprinter. Focus on time and build stamina, and Enjoy Your Running. That, after all, is a good thing too! 👍🎉

[Buddy34 Graduate]

Glad you got out for a proper run in your new shoes. You are so right your pace is yours and that's that. Well done you 😊😊

[grumpyoldgirl Graduate]

Absolutely true, granspeed, I love it when I beat my own time, but there's really no point comparing myself to anyone else. Glad you managed a nearly dry run 😊

[Granspeed Graduate in reply to grumpyoldgirl]

It was drizzling as I set off, so I felt the sun coming out was my reward for virtue! 🤣🤣

[grumpyoldgirl Graduate in reply to Granspeed]

😎😇

[Hatman Graduate]

So true gel. 9 something per km is totally respectable. You don’t have to go fast. You just have to go! Keep it up!

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Huge well done.... slow and steady absolutely rocks!

[Bluebirdrunner Graduate]

I absolutely agree Granspeed, there are no rules about distance or speed...

If we enjoy our running it's much more likely to become something we do regularly, and that is very good for us!

Happy running 😊xxx

[Granspeed Graduate in reply to Bluebirdrunner]

I think we need to keep spreading the word, especially to newish runners. Too easy to forget not everyone sees the relevance of stamina as easily as the fun of speed statistics.

[backintime Graduate]

I have a happy pace like that, around your pace where I can pootle along for a long while. I am trying to find another gear just to have one but it won't replace my happy pace : )

[Granspeed Graduate in reply to backintime]

Yep , my position exactly. I just feel bad that new runners seem to get put off by slow pace before they have a chance to discover its rewards. I’ve seen a worrying number of such posts lately - perhaps the new runners from the summer.

[backintime Graduate in reply to Granspeed]

Slow and steady has it's rewards...definitely a speed worth developing

[Nannyto2 Graduate]

Such a wonderfully motivational post! Well done Granspeed, keep up the good work👍👏