I've been running a 5k route now for about 2 months but have been struggling recently. I'm not seeing any improvement in my time and am often seeing slower times than I was used to. I was feeling disappointed in myself and knew that was dangerous territory filled with chocolate, cookies, ice cream, and french fries as I spiraled out of control after deciding this all wasn't worth it. Something needed to change or I was in trouble. But first, a bit of background - I'd worked my way up to the 3.1 mile mark over the course of 4 weeks from a 2-mile comfort zone I'd settled into. I had been running a 2 mile route for some time, and was working on improving my overall time for that distance (with significant success I might add!). However, I was reaching a plateau on my time. Seeing my time improve was my means of motivation - I just couldn't STAND seeing a slower time than I'd run the last time. Not that I ran faster every time I set foot out the door. That would just be ridiculous. But every time I was slower than the time before, I was that much more determined to get back out there and prove myself wrong. So much for claiming not to be competitive, right?! Anyhow...I sensed I was getting close to the point where I wouldn't be able to shave much more time off. I'd actually worked my way down from 28:30 to right around 20:00 for the 2 mile route. I know this is beyond awesome (at least I thought so!), and pushing hard wasn't making me much faster. I don't ever try to make excuses, but I have fluid under one knee and tendonitis in the top of my other foot. I wasn't sure if this was what was holding me back or not, but I wasn't going to let it ruin everything I'd worked so hard for.
With motivation running a bit thin, I decided I had to do something else. If I wasn't getting any faster, I guess I needed to run farther. Now, the million dollar question became how much farther I wanted to try to run. I remembered reading somewhere not to increase your mileage more than 10% per week on average. That's wonderful and all, but that still didn't help me come up with an overall goal. For some reason, I had this crazy idea that 3.1 miles was the winner. That way I could say I was able to run a 5k if I ever wanted to (refer to my Bucket List post here!!!!!). That was as good a reason as any I supposed, and so 3.1 miles it was. As the thought sunk in more and more, I became curious and decided to see what was out there in my area for upcoming 5k races. Well, there was one about 15 minutes away in 4 weeks. 4 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!! That was a little close. However, being an accountant by profession and a nerd by nature, I figured I could increase my mileage throughout that 4 week period and get to the 3.1 mile mark right in time for the race. It was pretty intense, but I simply increased my daily run mileage by a quarter mile each week (i.e. 2.25 miles in week 1, 2.50 miles in week 2, etc.), and ran 3-5 days per week. Close enough to that 10% increase per week, right? But I was intimidated by the thought of increasing my mileage that quickly. How was I supposed to get comfortable at each new mileage with only 3 -5 attempts at it? Well my competitive side came through for me, because each Monday when I was supposed to increase my mileage for the first time, I thought about how disappointed I'd be in myself and how embarrassed I'd be (in front of myself I guess???) if I didn't make it. I was determined not to fail. Sure there were times I had to walk for a few seconds here and there, but I never gave up until I reached that day's scheduled mileage. I even put my mileage goals on my calendar across each week so that there was no turning back.
And ya know what? It wasn't nearly as bad as my mind was making it out to be. It was hard at times, and sometimes I felt like I wanted to keel over and die, but I'd set a goal and I was going to stick with it. Long story short, I made it. I didn't run that original 5k I'd seen, but I picked one 2 weeks later. It gave me 2 more weeks to run at the 3.1 mile distance, and it was much much closer to home and on the same trail I always run. It was a huge feat for me, but I've already posted about that one :o)
Well since then, I hadn't been seeing much improvement in my 5k time. Now and then I'd have an awesome run, but more often than not, I was actually slower by a minute or two than I used to be, and felt like I was running really hard. Could it really be because I didn't have something to work towards at this point? But I kept going and kept trying my hardest (or what I thought was my hardest - I'm not convinced that it was really as hard as my mind was making it out to be). Day after day, week after week, it was the same thing. I even tried setting a goal for myself to get my time under 30 minutes. I still saw no improvement or slower times most days. My personal best had been set before running in my first 5k race - almost a month ago. What the heck?
I think I finally just got fed up with it all. This was ridiculous. No, I didn't give up and quit like you might be thinking I did. I sucked it up, stopped making excuses, and just ran - harder than I had in awhile. When I felt like stopping to walk, I told myself no. When I felt my legs get tired, I told them they were wrong - they weren't really tired. They'd done this before and could do it again. My lungs hurt, but I was still breathing right? (Ok, barely - but I was.) With each half mile, my GPS tracking app on my phone told me I was on pace. When I started to slow down or thought about walking for a bit, I didn't want to give up on the pace I had kept so far. I could do this. When I hit 2.5 miles, I was still on pace to be around my personal best. I just couldn't give up now. I couldn't! I wanted this SOOO bad. And so I kept going, telling my body it could keep doing this even though it was telling me it didn't want to. I hit 3 miles in pretty awesome time - just a few seconds over 30 minutes. Wait - this meant I had a shot at beating my personal best of 31:23. Like - a really good shot. I kicked it up as fast as I thought my body could stand for the last tenth of a mile. And you know what? I did it. I really did. 31:00 on the dot. I was dying but it was worth it. 31:00 minutes! No way! My best ever - a new personal best for me!
I was all smiles last night after that and couldn't help but brag. Today, all I could think about was how cool it would have felt to be just one second faster though - and see 30:59. How fun would under 31 minutes be? Oooooo - new motivation???? :o) I got back out there today to try for it. I didn't quite make it under 31 minutes today, but I came in at 31:16 - still faster than my old personal best of 31:23. FINALLY!!!! I'm back in the game, and boy does it feel amazing. I just needed to be reminded of how good it feels to compete against yourself and win. Loving it!
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