My Biggest battle is in my mind Wk9 run1

[Asthmaticsnail]

This morning I woke up, decided it would be too icy to run. Looked out the window - no ice or snow left. Put in my running clothes. Walked downstairs- oooh my left hip hurts a bit. Probably shouldn’t run should I? Don’t want to injure myself. Decide to give it a go for a bit anyway. Put my usual playlist on, Do I run a different route? No - not with a dodgy hip, it might be more challenging terrain. Don’t want that. So I start running. Can’t get into my stride. Ooh - is that a niggle in my right knee? I don’t feel right this morning, can’t do it. Probably can’t make 30 mins anyway. Breathings all over the place - going faster then slower. Sarah says ‘you’ve completed 5 minutes, keep up the steady pace’ I nearly cry - clearly she can’t see what a bloody hash I’m making of this. And 5 mins - is that all?!!! 7 mins in I check My watch, I must be near the end now! Nope. 7 mins in. Then something happened - my next usual song didn’t come on - I think I pressed shuffle. That’s totally ruined it then. Oh but wait - I love this song, didn’t even know it was in this playlist. And Boom, just like that, I just ran - no more aches and pains, no more thinking about pace or breathing or anything, just running and it’s great! I do my first 30 min run of the week and I conquered those voices those gremlins who want to stop me achieving. These gremlins will always be my biggest fight.

[Bladerunner2049 Graduate]

Fantastic and such a familiar feeling too. Sometimes I feel like an over weight octopus on roller skates for the first mile but then somehow everything settles down into a rhythm of some sort when I least expect it. It creeps up on you 😀

Two more runs till graduation!!!

[Asthmaticsnail Graduate in reply to Bladerunner2049]

🤣 overweight octopus 🤣 yes!! I’m with you

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Well done.

Are you aware of the Toxic Ten, explained here healthunlocked.com/couchto5... which explains why you should not push hard at the beginning of a run and also why you settle into it.

If your playlist is so predictable maybe you should abandon it or try podcasts or audiobooks for some variety.

[Asthmaticsnail Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Oh no I wasn’t - thank you. I’ll have a read. I didn’t know it was a ‘thing!’ Thought it was just me!

[NusiaFab Graduate]

Well done Asthmaticsnail for conquering those voices and pressing on through toxic 10! Graduation is there for you to grab it!😁

[misswobble Graduate]

Great stuff! Fun int it 😃

[Hidden]

So glad that it got better for you!! Amazing how you pushed through it and got to the other side, both mentally and physically!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Elfe5 Graduate]

Good for you, great perseverance.😄I have a “don’t think just go” attitude which spares me all that negative mind stuff. Unless I am unwell, I just get into my gear as quickly as possible (it’s all kept together in one place for speed and ease), do my warmup stretches and get out of the door. - I try to be out within 10 mins.

Then I do the first 10-15 mins extra super snail slow to make the toxic 10 less of a bother. - I find both of those in combination gives me a positive start - both for head & legs. 😄

[Indielass00 Graduate]

Loving this post Asthmaticsnail ! I struggled with Week 9. I remember thinking just before I started R1 of that week thinking it’s only an extra 2 mins from Wk 8 this will be no problem. Yet like you the first 5 mins seemed to last forever and I thought I don’t think I can do this.Then I got to ten mins and something clicked and I was alright for the rest of the run.Every run of Week 9 started as a struggle but I managed to get through it. Mainly because I told myself I’ve got this!

Well done for getting through it and battling those gremlins 😀👍🏻

[Rennur Graduate]

Yep. Mind over fatter... 😉 those gremlins. The only vaccine against them is you. You've got this now. It starts to become more a mental thing now.

[Couchphoenix Graduate]

Brilliant post, I’ve only just found it. It made me laugh 😂 all those excuses BUT you did it, which is great, continue to shuffle that playlist, graduation is now in sight

🏅👀