W9R1 - it's all in my head!

[Sanndila]

This forum is so positive and so supportive that I hate coming on sounding negative, but yesterday I found W9R1 the hardest yet - the middle 10 minutes were torture: not physical (my legs kept pumping) but mentally I wanted to be anywhere but doing what I was doing. Found myself breaking a routine task I do at work into minute steps as if I had to explain it to a complete novice....anything to keep those gremlins at bay! I have recently switched to listening to classical music and luckily, just when I was thinking of throwing in the towel, I clicked on an 8 minute piece that matched my cadence exactly, and that kept me going until I had only 5 minutes left and I convinced myself I'd hate having to come on here and say that I quit.

Not sure if I can face in to W9R2 tomorrow, but don't want to have it hanging over me - I really want to get to the end, but it's (self-inflicted) torture. How do people deal with those gremlins?

[Wickwarrunner Graduate]

Blimey! You've done absolutely amazingly getting this far - just remember how far you've come and what running felt like 9 short weeks ago...

I'm in week 8 and I can definitely relate to how you're feeling, sometimes the long runs are unenjoyable and feel like a bit of an ordeal; and sometimes everything clicks and you're flying around!

Not sure what to advise... Beyond maybe changing your route? Trying a different time of day? Giving it an extra day's rest? Putting together your absolute favourite songs or classical pieces on a 30 minute play list? Planning a really nice treat or new running gear/gadget for your graduation prize?

Best of luck! Look forward to seeing your new shiny green badge on here very soon!

[hacw]

I too am finding the longer runs much more difficult it was wk8 r1 yesterday and the first 15 mins were torcher, then i seamed to get into a stride and when Laura said 5 mins left i felt very deflated and my legs just wanted to give up so i stared to count birds which too my mind of the pain and when i had finished i was so pleased with myself for compleating it. Iv decided to make my own play lists to match my running pace and now i cart wait to try it andsee if the beat of music helps. I downloaded an app called BPM Detector and went through my itune libary picking song at 150Bpm which is for a pace of 6min per km. To work this out i went to jog.fm and you put in how long it takes you to a km and it does the rest and come up with a list of tracks that you can download but me being tight i flicked through the list and when i found a songthat i had on my libary i then put it on my playlist. Iv made 2 lists 1 at 150Bpm and 1 at 160BPM to see if the beat could speed me up.

Well done for getting this far, you CARNT! give in now its just 2 more runs till graduation and like wickwarrunner said give your self a graduation treat as an insentive to carry on.

GOOD LUCK

[Anniemurph Graduate]

But it's hard! You're running for 30 minutes! Think back to when you first started, and just look at how far you've come, mentally and physically. I found I needed to leave an extra day between runs when I got to the 28 minute mark, just to let my legs recover. If it's just boredom - try your own play list, or a different route perhaps. But don't despair, you're nearly there and you are doing so well! I hope the next two runs are better for you. I look forward to seeing your graduation blog