Felt a little nervous going out this afternoon after having such a hard time at the GSR, I was wondering if perhaps I was not really a runner after all. No need, a steady 5k felt very comfortable and left me smiling. Back to it and hopefully the virtual HUHM mid November will be strong.
P.s despite my insecurities I did enter next year's GSR yesterday πββοΈπ
Written by
LadyGault
Half Marathon
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The weather has been foul here in Manchester the last couple of days, and the gaps in the rain haven't been at the right times for me to be able to go out for a run to test my legs after my own 10 mile run on Sunday. I keep telling myself the extra rest day will do me good. π€£
Good luck to you for next year's Great South Run π, well done on running your steady 5K after Sunday's HM and feeling very comfortable, to run any distance only 48 hours after a half marathon is excellent. π ππΎ
This post reminded me of my own GSR three years ago. It was my first big event and I pretty much hated it because I found it so hard (I wrote an exceedingly long post about it at the time healthunlocked.com/marathon... )!!! But I'm still here, still running, still entering events and (in the most part) enjoying them! Don't let one tough event put you off. As you proved today, it doesn't mean you need worry about subsequent runs. Far from it. You will have learned things about yourself and your running that you will be able to put to good use in future. Every run is really just a training run for the next one π. Glad you enjoyed today.
Thank you so much for sharing and your encouragement. Like you did I aim to jump straight back on the bus and started looking for smaller events to get more race day experience. I'm entered for a Marathon in April one of the hugest disappointments of Sunday was that it shattered my hopes of being able to complete that. But I'm not giving up (yet π) . I am determined that next year's GSR will be all I hoped thus one would be.
I suspect you will be very pleasantly surprised by your next event. GSR will have made you mentaly stronger. Like you, I was swimming in other people's positive experiences and it took a while before I could find any personal positives from my own experience. But completing it and getting right back at it was one of the biggest positives. It didn't stoo me completing my one and only marathon. My last HM in May was awful, but it made me all the more determined for Oxford this last weekend. You really will benefit from this π. Just make sure you have fun doing so!
In your GSR you got swept up in the atmosphere and you started too fast. This happens to many people I think, if not everybody at least once. An event is much much different from a run on your own and because of starting too fast and all, it happens that the run feels bad. It does NOT mean you are not a runner. Were you running in the event? And I don't even mean constant running, you can have walking breaks between too (I am a Jeffer for example, but do consider myself a runner). So, were you running? Yes? So you're a runner. The fact that your run didn't go to expectations does not make you no runner. You have learned some new things, eg. that you might train on keeping your pace consciously slow. Doesn't mean by the way that at a next even you won't get swept up in the atmosphere again. But maybe next time, you will be able to slow down a tad faster, causing the run to be better. Just don't think you're not a runner. You run, thus you're a runner π
Sorry you had a hard time at GSR. I have run it twice (2017, 2019) and found it a bit of a struggle both times. Age is not on my side, and whilst I can train to 10k or so quite comfortably, I find it hard to make the stretch through to 16k, usually not getting past 13-14k in training and then hitting the wall when I turn onto the prom for the home straight in the event. I am currently recovering from replacement hip surgery so couldnβt have run it this year even if I had wanted to, but for all that I live only a few hundred yards from the GSR finish line, I think I will be maxing out on 10k events in the future. I recommend London Vitality 10k, if you have not done that. Similar event size to GSR, lots of fun, similarly flat course.
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