Well, what can I say…. I’m pretty rubbish at this running thing. I’m doing it, but almost everyone else I see, seems to have got it licked, whereas I just plod along, step after step until I’ve had it.
The treadmill, I can do, but I’m struggling getting above 5 + k outside. I get to around the 5k mark and I seem to have this mental block for actually continuing to run terribly much further without stopping for a good walking break.
I went out with a friend this week, for her first day of couch to 5k. I really actually enjoyed redoing the walk 2.5 minutes and run for 1 minutes spells. She struggled, as I did when I started, and I found it quite strange to not even get the slightest bit of change to my breathing while she struggled… BUT, I was there a few short months ago…..
I’d love to be able to run the whole 10k, I really would, but with only 4 weeks to go, I’m nowhere near ready to manage that distance. I’m not young, and I’m about a stone away from where I’d like to be. I tell myself that running will be a whole lot easier when I’m carrying around that 14lb less, but I know that’s only fooling my brain while I’m reaching the end of a run… 🙂
I’m still self conscious outside. Actually, I find it excruciatingly embarrassing to plod along, as people tend to look up. I know they don’t give a fig, but hey, we’re only human, and it’s tough to ignore people looking when you’re very self conscious. I’m ignoring it as much as I can, and persuading myself not to care, although I’m still only very rarely running in our village.
It goes a little like this:
See a car coming towards me, lift my head, speed up a bit till it’s passed, then slow down a bit to get breathing under control. See someone walking towards me, close my mouth and breathe through my nose till they go out of sight…….
But, it’s for a good cause, right? Without the race for life, I wouldn’t be outside at all really. I’d still be plodding on my treadmill, sweating buckets and thinking I was slower than a sleeping tortoise. At least I know my timings are faster outside now, even if I’ll still struggle to finish the 10k in the alloted time. I’m practicing speedwalking too, in the attempt to finish my 10k in the hour and a half, even if I have to walk half of it. I’ll be alone, so I hope to have a bit of a crowd somewhere I can get lost in. It’s a daunting first public distance outing. I’m half wishing I’d opted for the 5k. At least I know I could finish that, but then I wouldn’t be pushing myself, would I?
There’s no shame in walking though, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed there will be other walkers on the 10k, and they’re not all the local super speedies I see out and about 🙂 I know lots of people walk the 5k, and I wouldn’t mind having walkers on the 10K, but with only 456 people signed up to my local 10k so far this year, I’m starting to worry…..
In the meantime, I’m off out for another run, and intend to walk a 3k afterwards to build the distance to run and walk outside. Oh, and if anyone has any tips for how to stop myself going scarlet in the face while I’m out running, I’m all ears…….
Sign up for a race for life place yourself at Race for Life – Cancer Research UK