The I can't do it feeling

pmur

Hi all,
I need a lot of motivation. I did week 7 day 2 today (5k runner). Both day 1 and day 2 were 20 mins runs with 5 mins warm up and cool down. I didn't feel exhausted or pain but I felt like I just have to stop after about 15-16 mins. I just could not do it. I had to push myself through it. I did it but I kept thinking in my head that I cannot do the 25mins run that comes next. Physically, I'm fine. I just want to stop once I reach 1.5 miles. I had to push myself hard to do the last 4.5mins and did .2 miles in the last 4.5 mins. Basically I slowed down to a snails pace to finish the run. Afterwards, I was fine. This happened on day 1 too. I've never experienced this so far and am confused. Do I have to slow down. I feel fine with my pace. I was thinking of repeating this day 2 until I can get the 20 mins down but I still can't pin point what my issue is. Please help. How did you overcome the mental barrier of this is enough, I can't run more than is.

rduhlir

Hate to tell you this....but the mental barrier will always be there in some form or another. You just need to figure out how to mentally over come this. When I was on week 7 it was reminding myself how far I had come, that helped bridge the final few minutes. That same mantra gets me though my runs to this day. I still have days where I feel horrible, like I won't get through the run. I actually had one of those days on Tuesday for my 4.5 mile run.

Eventually you develop mantra's and thoughts that work for you. I have several that I use. Some are words, some pictures that I think of...or songs that play in my head (that song from Forrest Gump, "Against the Wind", is a big one lol). Just figure out what works for you.

You know it is all mental...you just need to break down the barrier that keeps telling you that you can't do it...because you can.

pmur

Thank you! I'll work on it.

toomanycats1975

It could be that body needs to repeat the week before you move on. I would repeat the week and give your body and mind some time to adjust.

pmur

I'm thinking of repeating the 20 mins runs couple of more times. That may give me the time to adjust, like you said.

determinedhealthy

Try again, some days I can run longer than others. I chalk it up to fatigue or mental.

pmur

I will give it another go! I was sick a couple of weeks ago, maybe I'm fatigued. I don't feel tired though. Thanks for all the responses.

likitisplit

1- you probably do need to slow down a tad. Do you always run the same route? You could be hitting a slight incline at that point.
2- week 7 just sucks for a lot of people. You will work through this and be fine for week 8
3- even Olympic marathoners have to deal with this feeling. Usually it goes away after 10 minutes or a mile
4- read this article by The Oatmeal. He calls it "The Blerch". The article was an instant classic

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/running

pmur

Varda,
I run in an indoor track. Same track round and round and round. I'm going to do it outside tomorrow. I've got to try the great outdoors! I've got the Zyrtec and the nasal saline. All I got to do is get out and run!
Thank you for the kind words and the motivation. I need it.
Btw, I'm going to slow down too. Distance trumps speed. I'm sure in time the speed will come.
I love the fact that I'm not the only person going thru this. Thanks for the Olympians perspective. I had no idea.
Oh and I love the oatmeal blog. Thanks a lot for the URL!

likitisplit

Also find something to distract you, like music or an audiobook.

pmur

Thank you everyone! I decided to give day 3 a try today. I thought I'll definitely push for 20 mins and then see if can do those last 5. Nice day today. I took Zyrtec this morning and got ready. I headed to the park and decided to run around the pond. I slowed down spoke to myself in my head and started. I downloaded tons of good songs yesterday. After the first 1.3 miles I got the feeling but then a great song kicked in. I got distracted. My daughter called, another blessing. I spoke to her without stopping and just continued. By the time I checked I had only 3 mins left to go. Once I saw that I wanted to stop but I just continued and finished the entire 25 mins. I went around that pond 4 times(about 2.2-2.3 miles) and could have run some more!
I'm glad I posted this thread. I got a lot of motivation and best of all, I learned that the 1.5 mile marker may be my Waterloo but I once I get past that I'm good! I also learned that even marathoners have this, the tough first two miles.

Thanks a lot everyone! I'm glad I headed out today. I killed two demons in one run. The fear of running outside and the fear of not being made to run past 20 mins.
It was 73 degrees outside and slightly breezy but I felt HOT after the first 5 mins. Time to buy some running shorts. I was in Capri tights! I also need my sun glasses.

goldthistime

Thank you everyone! I decided to give day 3 a try today. I thought I'll definitely push for 20 mins and then see if can do those last 5. Nice day today. I took Zyrtec this morning and got ready. I headed to the park and decided to run around the pond. I slowed down spoke to myself in my head and started. I downloaded tons of good songs yesterday. After the first 1.3 miles I got the feeling but then a great song kicked in. I got distracted. My daughter called, another blessing. I spoke to her without stopping and just continued. By the time I checked I had only 3 mins left to go. Once I saw that I wanted to stop but I just continued and finished the entire 25 mins. I went around that pond 4 times(about 2.2-2.3 miles) and could have run some more!
I'm glad I posted this thread. I got a lot of motivation and best of all, I learned that the 1.5 mile marker may be my Waterloo but I once I get past that I'm good! I also learned that even marathoners have this, the tough first two miles.

Thanks a lot everyone! I'm glad I headed out today. I killed two demons in one run. The fear of running outside and the fear of not being made to run past 20 mins.
It was 73 degrees outside and slightly breezy but I felt HOT after the first 5 mins. Time to buy some running shorts. I was in Capri tights! I also need my sun glasses.

Congratulations! Thanks for sharing, and what a lovely bunch of responses!

And lucky you to have that great weather. I am just starting week 4 and I just now realized that by the time spring (and decent weather) rolls around here I should be ready to run. So exciting!

ShannonKN

Great job! I agree with the others that the mental block doesn't really go away -- every time I run, I still question whether I can do it. Like a lot of others, my first 1-1.5 miles is the hardest. Way to push through your barriers and find yourself successful on the other side!!! Now that you know you can do it, you can always tap into the confidence of knowing you've done it before and can do it again.