This will be a perfunctory post today. No great insight or allegorical themes. I completed today and it was tough, but this was my fault. For a little while, despite the advice given to me and me to others, I’ve had the pace of my runs nagging away like a domineering, but loving, mother towards her lackadaisical offspring.
Currently, for I’m about to reveal my pace for the first time, I’m looking at a 42 minutes to complete 5km. This is, I know, pretty slow. For someone that played a lot of competitive sport and without any attempt at a humble brag, one at semi-pro level, a bit of disheartening. The mantra is repeated on this forum and in my ear all the time, “Pace doesn’t matter. Time and Kilometres in the legs do.”. However, I’ve not been able to shake my current pace out of my head.
So, this morning I set off having already completed a 25 minute jog and been able to complete the final 2 minutes in something close to a run. Also, I had my occasional running partner, in form of my very fit middle daughter, accompanying me. She is the hare to my tortoise. The combination of these two, in addition to my nitpicking inner dialogue, led me to start off with a pace akin to a Mo Farah warm up.
It felt comfortable until the first time check and I was significantly further on my route than normal. This immediately focused my mind on the fact I had the start of a stitch. I hadn’t had this since Week 4. This is when I’d adjusted my pace down significantly to prevent the appearance of the beetroot headed, heavy breathing, gorilla near to complete collapse.
It is one thing to pick up the speed. But once you have settled in to the rhythm of run it is very difficult to slow down. I’d force myself to slow down but a minute or two later I’d find I’d sped back up. Physically I was suffering and the mental effort of either forcing myself to lower the cadence or prevent myself from stopping took it’s toll. You already know that I finished. And, I did but there wasn’t the gallop in the final minute towards the finish line. It was a stumble; then relief; then anger; then shame.
I’d allowed my pride to get the better of me. I was an athlete but this was 20 years ago. It took me 10 years of hard work to reach that pinnacle. There has been almost 15 years of virtual inactivity before the last 2 months.
I have a goal and I’m getting there. But, let’s swallow that pride and be realistic. I’m very overweight and middle aged. You are not going to be able to run 5km in 30 minutes for quite long time. Don’t push it. It will come. Enjoy the journey.
Remember, you’ve just run 25 minutes without stopping. It was slow, yes. But this more than you have achieved in the last 15 years.
So, when you hear the mantra “Pace doesn’t matter. It’s time and kilometres in the legs”. Listen to it you proud wally. Listen and understand.
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BeaglesEnd
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You are certainly your own worst critic! Be kinder to yourself. Enjoy more runs at whatever pace that is. Then you can speed up later. Your pace doesn’t seem so bad to me, but there again, everyone is faster than me. At the pace I ran today it would take me 53 minutes to run 5K. I’m thinking maybe in week 9 I will speed up - maybe! I’ll get there and so will you. Perhaps you think I’m not competitive. I am fiercely competitive, but this is not my time - yet! We’ve only been running for 6 weeks and your fitness level isn’t what it was and mine was non-existent. You can get it back again, it will just take time. Well done for the run!
Thanks, Julia. You are right, of course. In my mind I’m sometimes still that 24 yo charging around the rugby pitch! I so enjoyed the previous 25 minute run and it is that I don’t want to lose. Especially if I cause it myself!
So easy done, I’m sure everyone here has gone off too fast and then regretted it at some point, important thing is, pride aside, you came through unscathed, but again it just shows how important the mental side of running is. Well done 😊
Love your post Matt- Glad you finished!..woohoo let's celebrate that!..... FIRST AND FOREMOST!... 👏👏👏
I worked my run times out yesterday too!.. I've been researching all day if there is another creature even slower than a snail 🐌 or a tortoise 🐢 ... Guess what... there is! The lesser spotted Tiny Tears!... 🤣I was going to post them but like you ..pride kicks in!.. what a pair of Wally's we are! I saw someone post on here that her vile work colleagues made her feel deflated because she had share her 5k time of 40mins.... Then again my reply to her was mine will quite possibly start with a 5....
I was W7r1 45 mins
W7r2 44 mins
Both shockingly slow!.....
I'm going to shout at your and feel free to shout right back at me!... Michael keeps telling me in my ear its about getting out and doing!.. pace will come later!... the lesser spotted tiny tears has an impatient streak, like you and has a little devil on her shoulder saying 'Go faster, Go faster!
I get it completely!.. i feel the same BUT We are a pair of silly Billy's!...
Cut yourself some slack!... in fact I will even provide the scissors ✂️
This journey is amazing and you are doing awesome! (I have a fitty daughter and you are braver than me going out with yours!... It would really dent my pride as a newbie runner)
So cut yourself some slack... give yourself a pat on the back for finishing what felt like and reads as a tough gig and pour yourself a glass of whatever you fancy!
Thank you so much, Jane. You have a remarkable talent for making me, and so many others, feel better about themselves after a bad run.
I’m not sure I’d feel so bad if it was the first time I’d done this, but it happened in Week 3. It was a real shock and I’d thought I’d conquered that pride voice! Well I‘m sure I’ll have other bad runs; just need to take the lessons from them.
And the daughter is a proper speed demon. She does a lot of sport, mostly team, and has really struggled during lock down. So despite her being embarrassed coming out with her old man, and how badly she shows me up, I try my best to get her out as much as possible! To be fair the other three are nightmare to get to do anything physical, so I’m grateful that one of the brood enjoys sport as much as me.
Anyway, your advice is well and truly taken on board! Thank you.
They say pride comes before a fall .. but there we both are... full of it! 🙈🙈
Bad runs will happen...But as I said .. we learn from those.. I think that’s why we have them!..
I really don’t like them but I’m realising they are a necessary evil with the intent of making me more resilient.. physically and emotionally.
I’m going to make a bold statement here and say I will make efforts to embrace my inner snail 🐌 .. That way it will perform the miracle of metamorphosis... to that of a Racehorse
🐎
All joking aside tho... we are doing pretty fab... and we pick each other up on bad run days ...
My girls commit and deliver (easy when you’re their age I guess) - I couldn’t go out with them haha!
They are chuffed I have embarked on this tho so that’s enough for me..
so cut yourself a big piece of slack- bad runs happen so you can congratulate yourself on the good ones...
oh and take a few steps back - think back to week 1 .... ALL runs were bad! 🤣
We couldn’t differentiate but we have grown as individuals and have learnt the difference!
Confession time. I did the first 25 minute run (W6R3) and smashed it. Great little two minute speed-up at the end. Then I checked my watch, did the maths, and worked out how long my 5km would take. It deflated what should have been elation at running for 25 minutes without stopping. That was the rebirth of the pace pride. That is what I will call it, Pace Pride!
We have that to go with the Week 6 Biatch runs, now. 😂
What a brilliant post. My father always says 'there is wisdom from excess'. Well done, but please don't injure yourself - you knew someone had to say it.
Thank you. Your father is a wise man! My Dad always has said “A mistake is only a mistake if it made more than once”. I think that is why I was annoyed with myself; I’d made the same mistake back in Week 3. It was just a bit of Pace Pride!
There is nothing wrong with a 42 minute 5k, I know, I have that time logged on my Garmin for a 5k I did last year, I even managed a 44:xx something on Christmas Day with a duff ankle after 1.5 miles, I was on track for my first ever sub 40 minute 5k.
Now my ankle is better and I'm working my way back through the program I'd be glad to get back to a 42 minute 5k.
Go easy on yourself, ignore the 5k part, the aim is to run for 30 minutes non-stop, once you can do that then the world is your running track so to speak.
Thank you. It is so good to hear from others that are around my pace. I said in reply to others that I used to be a reasonable sportsman (about 20 odd years ago) and I certain that my pride got the better of me. I‘m certain, having done it once before, I won’t let it happen again!
Don't beat yourself up. It can be good to push it in just one run, a. to prove that yes, you can go faster but it's harder and b. as you found, to remind yourself why steady is good 👍🏻🤣
42 mins is perfectly fine for middle aged and carrying extra investment, it gives you something else to work on later. 😁
It’s so go to hear that about pace. I see a lot of people giving their pace around 32-35 mins. I’d got it in to my head that this was the norm. Add in that on my runs I’m normally overtaken by almost all the other joggers and I’d got myself worked up about it. I’ve mentioned it in other replies, I used to play a lot of sport 20 odd years ago and that old competitiveness came out!
Thank you for the reply. It was really comforting!
I used to be great at chin ups when I was a child... 🤣🤣🤣 I'm not a child anymore...
My motto is further, not faster. I'd rather achieve a marathon in what is classed by some as a "slow time" and have fun doing it than chase a sub 25 min 5k and literally want to die doing it any day 👍🏻😁
Try to leave the ego at home and seek the fun for now. Plenty of time for PBs and races once your body is fully reacquainted with exercise.
Comparison with others, or even who we used to be, is always the thief of joy.
Yep, don't be hard on yourself, ditch the stats or ignore them for a while and just concentrate on how you feel, work on slowing down and controlling your speed demon when you know deep down you are going too fast.....enjoy the runs, don't risk injury , you are doing fantastically. Great post......laughed out loud at beetroot headed gorilla, I resemble a beetroot headed sasquatch whilst running 🤣
Thank you. A little self deprecation helps me ground myself sometimes. And I’m glad it made you laugh. I can’t take credit for it as it is how my eldest described me when I literally crawled through the door during week 3!
I’ve three teenage daughters and, the youngest, a son (who is completely spoiled by the eldest two). I don’t want for constructive and non-constructive criticism!
Your posts always make me chuckle. My super fit daughter comes with me too & she’s a great support, cheering me on and is happy to run at my pace as this is just a warm up for her before she goes out and knocks out her own run afterwards 🤣🤣
Well done on the 25 min runs - I’m doing w6 r3 next ! Eek
Thanks! I understand you. My daughter just went out for another run with my youngest daughter after destroying me this morning. Proud but bloody annoying!
Well I can’t really add any more than others have said and what you know yourself. But I do think, aside from having to face up to the fact that I’m not as young as I’d like to think I am any more, that running is a different sort of fitness. I was a gym class bunny before lockdown and would have rated myself reasonably fit- until I started this! 😱
But my first post graduation was about 40 mins (maybe a bit more) and now I’m about 37 mins so the fitness and running legs definitely keep improving. The trouble with all this technology is that we focus on stupid stuff instead of important stuff. I am genuinely not bothered about doing 5K in 30 and just as well as I probably never will- but I am amazed that 5K seems to be becoming a bit easier each time and I feel like I could go to park run when they’re back and not be the loser who has to walk. Not that there’s anything wrong with walking but it wasn’t what I did C25K for!! I didn’t do C25K for park run, I just wanted to maintain gym fitness but over the weeks it’s become something I think I might want to do.
So my very long rant is really just to say, focus on the important stuff - you can run for longer than you did 6 weeks ago and I’m guessing you feel pretty good- that’s why you run. It might even have helped your mental health and well-being. Everything else is just faff - have goals if you like, but remember why you’re doing it and don’t be a slave to stats. Here endeth today’s lesson!🙏🏻😜
A run is a run is a run I'm personally always happy with a five k of 40 or under, some days better some days more of a "practice run"
I do feel an inate urge every now and then to run "better" - or "faster" - but that's just another Gremlin insidiously whispering in my ear.
For me, it's about context when it comes to "measurements, standards and comparisons" I run with a very imperfect body, with a lot of draw on my time and energy such as work, home etc. I am far from young, genetically gifted and with no dedicated team of Coaches, nutritionists, support crew etc.
In all honesty - there are days when I bet that given the same circumstances the legendary Kenyans would come in behind me My best runs haven't been my fastest or longest - they've been the ones I have everything I had to without being hung ho stupid and asking for an injury
I knew a top Marksman once, he was beyond human when he shot. I asked him once if he'd ever been beaten or missed. No, he said...but some day if I do this long enough I will be so I'm just enjoying me being good and not because everyone else is worse. I've never forgotten that, and when I find myself running slower than usual I remind myself to just enjoy "Running John" and glad I'm not "Slob on the sofa John" anymore
I appreciate your post, it's a good reminder that it's not just about the physics of running, but the mental aspect as well and I bet I'm not the only member who can relate to it
Thank you and wishing you many happy miles in your future
Thank you so much for the sage words. I’m actually glad that it happened and that I put it in to words. I’ve received so much amazing advice and support from everyone. This forum is one hell of an amazing resource!
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I'm personally always happy with a five k of 40 or under, some days better some days more of a "practice run" 
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