Mental hurdles?

Gska17

Anyone else? I'm nearly finished...I'm on week 7. A few weeks ago I "ran" a 5K. It was a very humbling 42 minutes. My problem now is I'm downright scared to keep running. I've been nursing a knee injury which truth be told might not be as bad as it seems.

I have another 5K coming up on July 24th and a 10K in September. I just want to crawl into a hole. I don't know how to get out of this headspace! Am I crazy?

MeanderingMammal

Personally I found I got more from my running by increasing the distance. I don't find 30 minutes a particularly satisfying session, so generally tend to go out for at least an hour.

I guess I'd ask what's scaring you?

All that said, treat the knee pain. Whilst it may be reasonably benign, with a knee injury it's best to address it. But you could be transferring some concerns to that.

I do know where you're coming from. I had a slightly disappointing half marathon a couple of weeks ago and hit a bit of a downer afterwards. I do have another in six weeks, so need to get my training back up to scratch again.

Gska17

I don't know what's scaring me, precisely. Maybe the possibility that I actually can't do this?

I've really aired my dirty laundry on here, eh? I appreciate your kind words. I have a call into my sister, and Ironman, for advice too. I've never felt this way before. Then again, I've never attempted anything like this before either.

JSC145

Sounds like you HAVE been doing it. No need to be scared... Think back to when you started the program and how far you've come.

But NO, you are not crazy...

MeanderingMammal

Gska17 wrote: »

I don't know what's scaring me, precisely. Maybe the possibility that I actually can't do this?

You've done it before, and 42 minutes is reasonable, if not spectacular.

I did a 10K about a month ago, one I'd done before and had the anxiety about doing worse than I'd done last year. I ended up just having to recognise that I just had to run the day, and if it was slower than a year before then so be it. As it turned out I did three minutes better than the year before.

DaveAkeman

Coming from someone who has done C25K twice (with a 9 month 5K2C between) I'm guessing you're not scared that you can NOT do it . . . you're probably more scared that you CAN do it.

When I finished my C25K the first time, I ran my first 5k in about 45 minutes. I patted myself on the back for having reached my goal, then I stopped. I knew I was losing whatever I had gained, and I did go out a few more times - running a couple miles every other week - but I pretty much stopped running. I had achieved the goal of running 5k, but in my mind, I had never come to think of myself as a runner. I was still a fat guy who sat on the couch. And that's what I went back to.

9 months later I did it again. It was a bit easier this time, either because I retained a little of my earlier gains, or because I knew what to expect. More importantly, I no longer had a goal of running a 5k . . . my goal this time was to get more fit. I finished the second C25K quickly (doing 4 or 5 runs a week). It's been about 6 months now, and I now run 5k several times a week. My best time is about 33 minutes. I have also worked on increasing the distance a little . . . I have run almost 5 miles in an hour. The big difference now is that I have started thinking of myself as a runner, and I really DO want to be that person. I am no longer scared of the change.