A ten-week training series started at club today, aimed at improving 10km times. I thought it sounded good, so left the house this morning fully intending to go.
As I left work, I still intended to go. Halfway home, I’d downgraded to a run around the block. Nearly home and I’d decided that my cycle counted as Juneathon and who needs to run every day anyway, surely exercising every day is enough.
As I reached home, I decided to change into my running kit and do a run of some sort. By the time I’d changed into my kit, the club session was back on the agenda.
Turns out, the training sessions are simple. 10 x 1km laps, alternating fast (race pace) and slow (this week 90secs off race pace). Which brought on another round of internal bickering. Slow, fast, slow, fast, slow. 5km That’s respectable. I can stop after 5km. Or I could do one more effort. And a slow lap to cool down. 7km is ample. But it’s only three efforts out of five. So maybe I could manage one more. And a cool down lap. But that’s definitely it. There’s no way I can do the tenth. Not even slowly. I’m stopping. I really am. Oh. The woman behind me is off on her tenth lap. If she can do it, surely I can do it. Slowly. Not as an effort. Just to round things off. I can. I can do it. For Juneathon.
10km. 1 hour, 34 secs. Done.
abradypus 
I think I’m supposed to be doing something similar but in miles. I did week one, but then things slacked off a bit because of the sunshine/rain/hangover/juneathon. Well done for winning the internal argument though!
A mile of effort would have killed me! It was hard enough getting to a km.
Well done. Sounds like now you’ve trained your mind to run its training you for speed!
your training exercise is faster than my PR. nice!
Only when I go to club. When I’m on my own, I dawdle. I really must go to club more oftern 🙂
Nicely done, how you pulled out of that mental nosedive 🙂
I rather suspect that you can do anything you put your mind to! 🙂
Well done, if I had lost motivation to do something, it’s nothing but a downward spiral from there!
Outside of Juneathon, the sofa would have won. So thank you to all Juneathoners for providing that little extra bit of willpower.
That’s brilliant and a pretty similar description of what happens in my head!
I am always in awe of your running, and then reading this I am reminded that you work at it.
Very good! Love the way you negotiate with yourself. Know the feeling…
Well done, it’s great to know that we all have the same mental battles at times!