Respawn Number 3...4?...maybe even 5?

[minimuggle]

I feel like I've respawned so many times over the last year or so that part of me thinks, what's the point in starting again this time?  It'll be no different.  But NO! I will try again.  I can already feel my low moods and bad habits coming back and I don't want to be the person I was 3 years ago so I let my sister talk me into doing a 10k and now I'm crapping myself!!

 

I like that I've got something to work towards.  It's helped keep me on track in the past.  I did a 5k obstacle race this summer and the bit I struggled with most was the 1-2k uninterrupted run in the middle which doesn't bode well for a 10k does it?!  I'm not the best runner, I'll be honest, but I'm ok on the treadmill.  Running outside is a whole different matter though!  Before I tried it I thought it would be exactly the same as the treadmill but it's not is it?!  I do like exercising outdoors though so I'm looking forward to that.  My main problem is my head.  I know I can probably run for longer than I do without stopping but my head tells me "I can't", "I need to stop" or "you're so crap at this, why are you even bothering?" and I can't get past it. I'm really going to try and shut that voice up this time!!

 

Past experience of couch to 5k plans have taught me that interval running plans like that don't really work for me as I feel crap about myself if I can't run for the amount of time it tells me to so I'd like to follow a different kind of training plan this time if possible.  I don't expect to be able to run the whole 10k but it would be nice to be able to run the majority of it.  I just don't really know how to plan my training so if anyone could point me to some good resources that would be great! Thanks!

 

[Peasant]

Hi man, I hope what I have to say can help. Even if it's only a little. 

 

DON'T GIVE UP! Everyone has there respawns, it is not the number that counts BUT whether you picked yourself up. If watching a few hundred episodes of Naruto have taught me anything, is that you NEVER give up.

 

Tell your mind to go to hell! Sometimes my mind is a negative little bitch, I tell him to shut up. Just ignore those negative thoughts or replace them with positive thoughts.

 

About the intervals, I too used to feel poorly that I couldn't run the whole way. The

I realized the ONLY time I need to beat is my own, I am racing myself every time I go out and jog. Does it matter if I walked more than I ran? NO! WHY? Because I made the effort to jog and improved even if it was only by a few minutes.

 

A silly trick that I use when running and I start to get tired I say "Okay legs lets run to the end of the street then we'll rest", I run past it and say "HaHa, I lied!" and then I keep on jogging . Make it fun and you will forget about the rest!

 

Don't be so hard on yourself! 

 

Good luck 

 

Mathew

[Raincloak]

Okay, relax.  A 10k is just 6 miles and change.  It's really not that bad.  It'll be over in like 90 minutes.  Even if you walked the whole thing, it'd only take a couple hours.  (Come back and whine when you sign up for a marathon...)

 

Interval training improves your speed and endurance.  Slow runs will also improve your endurance, and possibly your speed, although less effectively.  If you hate intervals you don't have to do them.  I did a half marathon last month with zero interval training.  (I was really, really slow, but I ran that race.)

 

As for the head games, Peasant's suggestion (run to the next landmark and then keep going if you can) is a good one.  I also like to bring my iPod and listen to uptempo music when I run.  The more you focus on the music, the less you think about how tired you're getting.  (Make sure to mix up a playlist that doesn't have very many slow songs.)  

 

Ignore the little mean voice.  It won't go away, but you can decide not to do what it says.  Remember "Inside Out"?  Everybody has the little voices, but they don't know everything.  Think instead about running that 10k.  If you don't put in your training, you're going to be in a world of hurt come race day, and you don't want to shuffle across that finish line in front of everyone like a wounded tortoise -- or worse, not finish at all!  Your training sessions may not be as easy or perfect as you hope, but you get most of the benefits just from showing up.  Don't expect perfection.  Just go for consistency.

[minimuggle]

Thanks Peasant and Raincloak!

 

Hi man, I hope what I have to say can help. Even if it's only a little. 

 

DON'T GIVE UP! Everyone has there respawns, it is not the number that counts BUT whether you picked yourself up. If watching a few hundred episodes of Naruto have taught me anything, is that you NEVER give up.

 

Tell your mind to go to hell! Sometimes my mind is a negative little bitch, I tell him to shut up. Just ignore those negative thoughts or replace them with positive thoughts.

A silly trick that I use when running and I start to get tired I say "Okay legs lets run to the end of the street then we'll rest", I run past it and say "HaHa, I lied!" and then I keep on jogging .

 

What you said did help!  I'm keep trying to focus on the fact that I did get back up again and I'm giving it another go.  Trying again is better than not trying at all right?

 

I tried your little mind trick on a run this morning.  There's a part of my run which is just a longish straight road and it defeats me everytime!!  It's actually not that long but my brain tells me it's just so far to the end!  Today, I tried your little trick - "I'll just run to the red car" and then "I'll just run to the weird looking house" and then "just on to where that old guy is doing his garden" and what do you know?  I made it to the end of the road without stopping!  Hooray!  Feels good! 

 

Okay, relax.  A 10k is just 6 miles and change.  It's really not that bad.  It'll be over in like 90 minutes.  Even if you walked the whole thing, it'd only take a couple hours.  (Come back and whine when you sign up for a marathon...)

 

Interval training improves your speed and endurance.  Slow runs will also improve your endurance, and possibly your speed, although less effectively.  If you hate intervals you don't have to do them.  I did a half marathon last month with zero interval training.  (I was really, really slow, but I ran that race.)

 

As for the head games, Peasant's suggestion (run to the next landmark and then keep going if you can) is a good one.  I also like to bring my iPod and listen to uptempo music when I run.  The more you focus on the music, the less you think about how tired you're getting.  (Make sure to mix up a playlist that doesn't have very many slow songs.)  

 

Ignore the little mean voice.  It won't go away, but you can decide not to do what it says.  Remember "Inside Out"?  Everybody has the little voices, but they don't know everything.  Think instead about running that 10k.  If you don't put in your training, you're going to be in a world of hurt come race day, and you don't want to shuffle across that finish line in front of everyone like a wounded tortoise -- or worse, not finish at all!  Your training sessions may not be as easy or perfect as you hope, but you get most of the benefits just from showing up.  Don't expect perfection.  Just go for consistency.

 

6 miles?  That's not far in the grand scheme of things is it?!  Congrats on the half marathon!  The fact that you completed it without interval training gives me hope.  Everything I see seems to concentrate on that so it's good to hear there's another way.  Your advice made me realise that even if I don't run every single one of those 6 miles, the fact that I'm out there and doing it beats sitting on the couch wishing I was out there doing something.  So although my run this morning was only a quick 15 minute run, and obviously I will need to do longer sessions, those 15 minutes are better than no minutes at all.

 

Thanks guys!