Still feeling pretty good about finishing the program so set off this morning a little tired but I know I can do this.
Ten minutes in I was trying to think of good excuses I could write to justify a twenty minute run.....
I couldn't really think of any. Pushed myself to keep going and I did manage thirty minutes. It really wasn't easy or much fun but I keep reminding myself why I'm doing it and how far I've come.
Hopefully it will become a bit easier as I keep going
1- congrats for not letting the excuse win , ,
2- first few km to any runner is hard ,, even today after completing so many HM and FM i still suck at the first 2 km and then slowly i come in tempo or running ,,,
as more and more days will go this will become very easy ,,,,
so keep holding and keep going
I get this on most runs and have to push through. I tell myself to keep going until the half way point and then it’s a countdown. Then focus on the last 5 minutes once I reach the halfway it’s easier though 😀
This is my problem, I get to what used to be my halfway point, still have to turn there and head back but that's only about a third of the run now, it's a mental barrier I need to overcome
I, personally would find it tough to run past where I normally stop. When I'm doing my normal route, I really really hate having to run to where I started from, so I tend to run slightly past the half way mark, so that I get to stop beforethe place where I started. The thought of having to run to it or much worse past it would drive me batty ! It's all mind games !!
I have been varying my routes quite a lot more recently, partly to try and disrupt this game on start/stop places that I play with myself !
I think it takes a long time for those thoughts to go away. I was plagued all the time by "the gremlins" first time around. After graduation, the gremlins were always begging for a walk break. Found myself giving into them too often. I knew I'd hit rock bottom, when I'd got mysef into the position of running 10k in 1k chunks, decided it was utterly ridiculous, and cut out walk breaks altogether and that next week, I did all my runs with no walk breaks. So it really was mind over matter.
I'm a returner (re-did it starting June 2019), and I've not had any bother with them this time around (I just kept thinking, done it before don't start that messing about rubbish). They do resurface if I'm on the treadmill where I argue with myself endlessly about the pace. I now though do interval training on the treadmill, and increase the pace in small increments week on week, so it's harder for myself to argue about the pace !
I always run a minimum of 30 mins, partly because I know myself, and if I opt to do only 20 mins, I know the next week, the "gremlins" would make a case for 15 mins, then ever lower !
Yes exactly, I just had to tell myself I can run for half an hour, just get on with it and get it done. I really did feel tired but dug deep mentally to just keep going. I'm glad I did as it's too easy to become complacent and end up going backwards, which I certainly don't want to do, not after all this hard work!
It’s all mind games. We are all capable of doing it now. Just have to tell the “voice” to shut up and bugger off! 😂 I focus on the sense of achievement I know that I will get and the last five minutes are always done with a big grin on my face 😀
On my outdoor runs, at the moment, on the last kilometer in particular, I'm trying to focus on my running form and to increase the speed a bit (been trying to extend it to the last 2 KMs but not had as much success on that). To aid that, I imagine all the people I know are lining the pavement and watching the last part of my run, and I say to myself "do you want to look like you are dying, hunched over and on your last legs, or do you want to look like you are confident and finishing this run in style", it does sort of help to make me think of my running form and to try and keep everything together.
Not just me then?
I keep reminding myself that its always going to be tough to start. Sometimes its gets easier. Last night I actually enjoyed the last 10 minutes.
Sometimes if feels hard until I stop.
I'm struggling to find a route that I'm really happy with to. That doesn't help.
But, we're still getting out there. We're still doing it and we're still dismissing those excuses to stop.
Keep on doing it. It's going to get easier. And by the time summer comes, we'll be athletes 🤣
Well done for pushing through and doing it. I think it’s potentially harder without that finish line to aim for, so well done you!
W5R2 - Couch To 5k Diary 
Completed Couch to 5k!!!
