Ahead of this week, I came to the conclusion that it was okay to find the running difficult. If it was easy, that would mean I wasn’t pushing and wasn’t getting on any further. However, as you’ll see, by the end of the week I have come to a completely different conclusion.

Week 7, Day 1

Run 15 min/walk 1 min. Repeat x 3.

Tricky run today. I had an aborted start, after less than half a kilometre. The second attempt was hard because all my legs felt tight and seized up. By the end of the run, I had to give up worrying about how slow I was going and concentrate on just getting the distance.

Week 7, Day 2

Run 15 min/walk 1 min. Repeat x 3.

Won’t bother with the graph for this one. Went out with the intent of running a complete distance, but only got about halfway round. It was super duper windy, and I hate the wind as it is, let alone when I’m trying to run into it.

Also noticed that my calves still felt tight and I think it’s the way I’ve tweaked my warm-up. Still got work to do there. Will repeat this day.

Time Trial

Following on from the disaster yesterday, I wanted to go out and try again but I was faced with an unexpected day of work that meant I didn’t get home till late. It was starting to get dark, so instead of doing a full run and/or leaving it until tomorrow, Mr C suggested I just do half what I would have normally.

This planted the seed of an idea in my mind. What if I could run a set distance over and over and try and improve the time? That would stop that niggling doubt in my mind that I will never ever get faster. Unless I really don’t get any faster, then the doubt will be less of a doubt and more of a proven fact, but let’s not dwell on that.

So, with darkening skies, I headed out for a 2.5km run, aiming for an inaugural benchmark to try and improve on. Please don’t judge me for how pitiful this is.

That’s the first benchmark. The idea is that perhaps in between the other longer runs, I could do a quick time trial and see how I’m getting on.

This first one was tough. My breathing went all funny because I was trying to be faster, and by the end I had a bizarre sore throat.

Week 7, Day 2

Run 15 min/walk 1 min. Repeat x 3.

Wooo, an actual 5k! With just two minutes of running mixed in the middle. Wasn’t a fantastic run but considering the scrappy week I’ve been having, and compared to the first time I ran 3x15 minutes, it’s a vast improvement.

Week 7, Day 3

Run 15 min/walk 1 min. Repeat x 3.

Bah. It was hot, I was tired, blah blah, excuses, excuses. I’m glad I finished, considering the bright sunshine and how tired I was after the first stint. Slightly concerned about whether I’ll be able to move on or not though.

All told, it’s been a really difficult week. I’ve struggled with being tired, being hot, trying to fit the runs in, having to repeat days, all the usual nonsense, but there hasn’t been a good run to offset it this time.

I’m pondering whether I’ve reached the limit of how far I can push myself. I was up to a 5k last year, and I’m getting to that point now as well. Perhaps that’s it?

Who knows. Next week is meant to be 17x3 but I may just repeat this week to see if it makes any difference.