Post C25K Run 2 - Man, that was tough!

[bexbridge]

Having delighted in my ability to make it to 35 minutes of running on Thursday, I was hopeful that 30 minutes would be within my grasp today.

Oh how wrong was I!

It was my own fault. I wasn't able to run during the day because hubby was working, had to wait till about 7pm in the hope that my dinner was suitably settled. Started off ok, but by 12 minutes I was huffing and puffing, bit of stitch, legs felt very, very heavy and leaden and there was more shuffling and stumbling than ever before.

It wasn't going well.

Still, kept on hanging in there and despite my pace dropping off I still managed 4.1km in 30 minutes at a new record average pace of 7:19 minutes per km. Hurray! But when I slowed to my walk it took all my willpower to keep my legs moving and to stop myself throwing up. I'm not sure how I wasn't sick or how I got home, but was so relieved to see my front door.

I think what I have learned from this is that I am a morning runner. If I can't get out there between breakfast and lunch then I need to forget it until the next day. That may change once the warm weather kicks in and it's cooler in the evenings, but at the mo that is definitely my way to go.

The 5km I'm aiming for seems a long way away now, I'm hoping the next one will pick me up again x

[Anniemurph Graduate]

At least you've identified the conditions that make a run successful for you. And this one was successful! You did what you set out to do and in a faster time than before! Hooray and well done you You'll get to the 5k, don't worry.

[vixiej Graduate]

congratulations on the PB, the fast pace may have been what tipped you over the edge, given you'd eaten earlier

I also could only run in the mornings, with water, after drinking a certain amount and eating one banana. To begin with, if I changed my routine, I would also have an experience more like yours. It would throw me completely if I missed the banana or ran in the evening, etc. It sounds like you had quite a few things going on out of your routine. What I have done to reduce the effects of changes is practise changing one thing occasionally, so maybe the time of day I run, or whether or not I carry a drink (I was obsessive about carrying water for the shortest of runs during C25K, now I hydrate before and run for one hour without). Over a few months I've learned to cope with the changes, but it wasn't really until I had already graduated a couple of months before I started to mess around with things and find that I could cope. I think it was a change of mindset, as much as anything. I just told myself that I could do it, much the same as I had (even when I didn't believe it) during C25K

Don't be hard on yourself. Remember that every day is a new day, some days our bodies are up to more than on other days, we need to listen to our body and acknowledge, accept and adjust accordingly, without judging. It is what it is.

Good luck on the next run, I'm sure it will be brilliant

[bexbridge Graduate]

Thanks Ladies x Will keep you posted on my progress