Reasons or Excuses?

Skye_NS

I am so tired right now that I could cry. Despite getting up & leaving the house at 4 am to drop my husband off at the airport, I decided to go on my planned run for w8d3 with only 4 hours of sleep! Sigh. It did not go well. I ended up walking 3 times - once at the 10 minute mark for about 3 minutes (hill/no legs/oh so tired) . again at 14 mins for traffic, and another a minute or so later for a nasty, steep, jerk of a hill.

My run:


My excuses:
1) 4 hours of sleep.
2) Woke up with the beginnings of my son's cold
3) Different route - deceptively steep hills that you don't notice when you're in a car.
4.) Had to push the stroller for the entire run because hubby is away.

This is the first time I have failed a running challenge since I started c25k and I'm kind of p@##$d off at my self. I just didn't have the lungs or legs for it today. My 5k is in a week, on an unfamiliar trail that could have nasty hills and I'm discouraged. I think I walked at least 1.5 to 2 km of today's 4.8 in 44 minutes. How in the world am I going to manage running a full 5k with less than a week to go?

rduhlir

Ah...welcome to the world of running. This one run doesn't make or break anything. So what you didn't have a good run. You had just made a list of the reasons why this run sucked. Remember them. Remember that those things cause issues when you run. But the important thing is, you finished it. All runners have bad runs. I still get them. And you will have more bad runs as you continue on. The trick with bad runs is to learn from them and to just get them done.

Just remember to get rest before the 5K and you will be fine. If during the 5K you still show signs of the cold then take a dayquil a few hours BEFORE you start the run so that the meds are flowing in your system and your cold is controlled a little bit.

AglaeaC

Good advice from rduhlir.

I usually think of my less good days as points of comparison; if I have a better day another day, regardless of how badly I'm doing it will still be better than the very lousy performance. Thinking like this averts the attention from beating myself up; I've acknowledged the temporary whining, but have put and end to it by presenting the comparison to myself, and can move on to analysing my breath or whatever else seems more constructive. So far there hasn't been a single run without some whining, but during the best runs I've successfully nipped the yadayada in the bud. Only you can tell if something is whining or worth paying attention to, respecting as real limits, though. Manage yourself wisely

Skye_NS

Thank you both. I was pretty frustrated yesterday wondering how lack of sleep and a cold could throw me so far off my game.

I still have this little voice in the back of my mind wondering if it was 'really that bad' or if I was taken in by the Blerch. Considering I still feel terrible today, I'm going to say 'yes, it was really that bad'. So, I think I'm going to chalk this one up as a bad day and move forward. I didn't have any trouble with the other two 28 minute runs so I feel comfortable trying the 30 minute one. If I have trouble with that I'll drop back down.

It just sucks. First my son got this mess and then I got hit with it 3 days later. I have spent the last few weeks worrying about my husband coming home sick from his business trip. It's an annual event and every year for the past 10 years he has come home with a rotten cold or flu. While I fretted, begged, forbade & nagged, I didn't once think that I would end up being the sick one! :grumble:

ShannonKN

Sometimes, bad days happen even without any obvious reasons. I had a 5K race earlier this summer that was terrible: despite running ~16 miles per week, I couldn't actually run the entire way through that 5K and thought I was going to collapse out there in a sweaty, stiff-muscled heap. I was a cranky mess afterwards (and during). The next week I had an awesome run for well over that distance, where I felt so good at the end that I could have kept going for more mileage if I'd actually had time. I'm learning to embrace the Zen of running, accepting that some days will just be lousy and that it's no reason to beat myself up as long as it doesn't prevent me from lacing up my shoes the next time. Running as you were, on little sleep, an incipient cold, and up significant hills with a stroller (!!!) is plenty of reason to have an off day. Big hugs to you and hopes for a speedy recovery! Good luck on your upcoming 5K!

likitisplit

You're telling me that you would have finished a 5k in 46 minutes, pushing a stroller up hill, with the beginnings of a cold, with walking intervals and this is some sort of fail???

Remember your beginnings, woman.

Just_Ceci

You're telling me that you would have finished a 5k in 46 minutes, pushing a stroller up hill, with the beginnings of a cold, with walking intervals and this is some sort of fail???

Remember your beginnings, woman.

Ready2Rock206

Doesn't matter the issues along the way - you did it and that's a huge accomplishment. Do you know how many people would have just skipped it all together?! Great job! Don't be so hard on yourself! :flowerforyou:

Ready2Rock206

. My 5k is in a week, on an unfamiliar trail that could have nasty hills and I'm discouraged. I think I walked at least 1.5 to 2 km of today's 4.8 in 44 minutes. How in the world am I going to manage running a full 5k with less than a week to go?

My guess is you'll surprise yourself. I ran my 5K on a unfamiliar trail, I hadn't finished C25K, I hadn't run in weeks before hand, there were a lot of hills. But when you're there in the moment you just go and do it! You'll do great!

taeliesyn

You're telling me that you would have finished a 5k in 46 minutes, pushing a stroller up hill, with the beginnings of a cold, with walking intervals and this is some sort of fail???

Remember your beginnings, woman.

So need a like button for this post!

Skye_NS

Thank you all for your messages of support! I only managed one other run while I was away this week - but it was a really good one! Counting the 5 minute warm up and cool down walks, I did a solo run of 5.05 k in just under 44 minutes.

I am super excited about my run in the morning! If we walk some, we walk some. It's still miles ahead of where we were this time last year (or, in July! :laugh: ). Either way, it's going to be lots of fun!