So it was Race the Estate, 10km race on Sunday morning round the grounds of a beautiful country estate and deer park. Given the awful weather on Saturday , we were informed by the organisers that the ground was likely to be very soggy and to wear trail shoes, which luckily I do have .
Sunday morning, although a bit chilly, was bright and sunny and not knowing what the traffic would be like as its a big country show, I set off really early to get there. Number collected, pre race toilet trip (as you do) and then waited for the rest of our running club to arrive. Didn't realise that there was a HM as well as the 10km and at first I was tempted to see if I could do the HM, however, I am so pleased I didn't, read on...................
We set off and I've learned to set off steady, infact I tried to slow down one of my race buddies who always sets off too fast and makes herself ill. For the first 1km Im feeling ok, there's three of us from the same club running together , enjoying the countryside views and the lovely sunshine , and then at 2km, from no where, I felt severe tiredness, legs were lead, so heavy and just couldn't get comfortable with my breathing. Its a tough course, much more trail and inclines that I'd imagined and I start to feel more and more uncomfortable. I kept telling myself I was fine and I could do it and my legs weren't really heavy, but in reality, I could have easily stopped at 5km, I felt absolutely awful. Then to make matters worse, at about 6km, I felt like I needed the toilet, and when I say needed the toilet, I mean needing the toilet properly.. I could not believe it that halfway round a race I felt that I was getting the runs!! The remainder of the race was just awful, the two people that I usually easily pass, sailed past me and at one point when I slipped in the mud and fell backwards (not hurt at all) I could have quite easily just stayed there.!
Anyway, I got round the course in 56.11 which is way slower than I have ever done, but it was mainly trail and I felt like I just had no energy whatsoever.
The frustrating thing is that I thought I had hydrated well both on the day and leading upto it, Im veggie and have a really good balanced diet and I'd had carbohydrates the day before and porridge oats for energy early that morning. Just lately though most of my runs have felt quite clumsy, in that I have just struggled all the way round. Energy just not there and heavy legs. Feels like I'm going backwards not forwards😒
However, I have another race on Friday, so I want to go into that feeling positive. So I'm trying this week to get better sleep, hydrate well , good balanced food as usual and not get it into my head that Friday's run will be the same.
The positive is the beautiful medal, isn't it just gorgeous?!
Written by
Hedgehogs123
Metric Marathon
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You must feel so proud that you got round, and in under an hour. Many many people feeling as unwell as you did and having such a tough race would have stepped aside, held there hands up and given up. You are an amazing runner and I'm hoping Fridays race will be a good one for you. The medal is beautiful, wear it with pride.
Aww thank you. I just wanted to get my medal and get home. It has made me reflect though, need better sleep, and maybe not let other people's targets to get PBs get to me. Need to get back to why I started running in the first place.
I'm in a similar place with my runs, stepping back, slowing down and enjoying just running, although on a whole different level, I couldn't imagine 10k in under an hour even on my best day, really enjoying them, but still hanker for a faster pace. We often don't realise the importance of sleep and hydration, wishing you good luck for Friday
So sorry you didn’t enjoy your race much Hedgehogs123 , I can imagine trail races were pretty heavy on Sunday after all that rain. You did really well to finish in that time , feeling like you did. My time is 72 minutes on a good day! I hope you are feeling better now.
Oh I sympathise. I’ve had a few races like that and it’s not at all fun. But you did it!!! Yeah 💪 Well done on a great time too! And what a fab looking medal 😍
How did you feel the next day? Has everything settled down ok? Hopefully it was just a one-off and the next run will be fine but you’ve done this one, you’ve got the gorgeous bling and the discomfort is already in the past.
Yep you're right, not all races can go well. I enjoyed the 10 miler last weekend, but no way could I have done 10 miles on Sunday feeling like that. It was like my legs had already ran a HM, felt like I had concrete wellies on! Tonight, trail run on my own in the sunshine and get my running head in the right place for Friday! 😊
56.11 is way slower than you've ever done for 10K Hedgehogs123 ? Let's put that into perspective - I've never run a 10k that fast, and I'm pretty sure there are quite a few people on here who would be ecstatic at a sub-60 10k!
Sorry to hear you weren't feeling good. It could be just one of those things. However (and of course I'm a lazy cow and could be way off the mark here) are you sure you're not overtraining? You've been doing lots of races while carrying injuries, and you quite often mention your running club and even parkrun being competitive, and keeping up with runners 20-30 years younger than you. Maybe taking things a bit easier would help you to come back refreshed and run even more strongly?
You know what Cmoi that was what I was thinking though. . ParkRun and our running club have become very competitive, compared to what I joined for. I do still enjoy my Sat morning Parkruns but just lately a lot of running buddies are just concerned with getting a PB , and our Tuesday evening running club runs were always relaxed runs where we had a good chat and catch up and felt good afterwards. They too have become really fast runs. And yes, I'm still running with injuries, arthritis in my feet, so waiting for referral back to bone specialist and the GP wonders whether the 'groin strain' may be a slight tear. So I've started my Theraplate sessions, second one this week, (I'll do a write up about Theraplate soon) think its helping as the pain has been much reduced, infact it was ok on Sunday.
After Sundays run, I felt quite deflated, legs feeling as heavy as they did, reminded me of when I first started running and didn't really know a lot about hydration etc. I though maybe I'm over doing it. Sleep has not been good over the last few months, got loads going on in other areas at home and work and I guess it all adds up.
So tonight, I'm going for a little trail run on my own , at my pace, and so I can enjoy my surroundings and feel comfortable with running again! 😁
Some runs our legs just don’t turn up for Hedgehogs123 ! 🤷♀️Perhaps you were fighting something off - and probably will never know. Well done for pushing on through - and good luck with your next run on Friday!👍🙂
Yes maybe. I have reflected though and sleep hadn't been good so maybe that didn't help, but the heavy legs and lack of energy seems to be a bit regular so something isn't right somewhere. I'm hoping to have a much more positive run on Friday ☺️
Uggh, it's no fun feeling like that so early in a race is it. It happened to me on a trail half marathon; I got to 11 or 12k and just couldn't be bothered. It was the strangest feeling and I ended up walking lots and making it one of my slowest ever halfs (back page of the results!!!).
Trail is so different to road, or even to laps of a playing field; it's inevitably going to be slower and that's still an amazing time. Don't be so hard on yourself 🥰
But feeling so tired is the worst thing. At least with your next one you can fill your head with cake and get a wriggle on 😍
Gosh reading your report brought back many memories for me of exactly those runs. I can usually sense before I’ve run whether or not it’s going to be a tough one but those ones that come from nowhere are tough to deal with. The worst was my 2019 Brighton 10k where I felt great and was having a whale of a time for 5km then out of nowhere I felt like my legs had turned to stone and I could hardly catch my breath. Truly dreadful feeling but like you I kept going and the crowd and atmosphere got me to the end but boy was that hard.
You did well to get through it and shows what a tough cookie you are. See how you go on Friday but maybe your body is saying it needs more rest. Good luck 👍
Oh gosh yes it was a tough one, just wanted it to end, which was a real shame as it was a beautiful run with lovely scenery. But my legs would just not move, it was like they had gone on strike! Trying to get into a more post mindset for Friday's race! 🤞
Felt better by Monday evening, thank goodness., I compare it to previous races and just wondering how and why most of my last few races have felt incredibly hard. The race on Friday will be an anniversary to a year when I ran my first 10km, and last year I remember feeling really elated at my first race. I just expected to get a lot better, but lately it's got harder , everything feels such an effort but I know I expect a lot of myself. Think I need to go back to basics and remember what I love about running and why I started in the first place.🥴
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