With over 20 years of running under my belt I like to think\nthis qualifies me as an experienced runner, but this doesn\u2019t mean racing decisions\nare easier for me to make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s so easy to plan your race calendar, enter races and\nstart a training schedule, especially in the New Year when your bubbling with enthusiasm\nfor an exciting season of racing. New challenges, new goals, this is what gives\nus motivation and focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The longer the run up to races the increased likelihood of experiencing\nsetbacks, testing your strength and commitment. These often include niggles,\ninjuries, holidays, increased work pressures, illness etc. It turns out I\u2019m not\nsuper human (which I\u2019m most gutted about 😉) and I\u2019ve been beaten down by a nasty case of\ngastroenteritis. I\u2019m pretty sure this came from a kids swimming pool I plunged\ninto after a long run so blaming the kids entirely! Sickness never comes at a\ngood time, but a week before race day and 6 weeks before the London Marathon it\ncertainly doesn\u2019t put a smile on my face. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few days of illness and forced rest I accept and can cope\nwith but now, 7 days in, I\u2019m fed up, over analysing my B.R.A.T (Banana, Rice,\nApple, Toast) food choices, I\u2019m irritable and weak. Today the stairs in the\nhouse are causing a nasty lactic burn in my legs. I panic\u2026I\u2019m losing my fitness,\nthose weeks of training are under attack, I\u2019m being melodramatic, but I don\u2019t\ncare. It\u2019s hard not to be discouraged, self-doubt creeps in and your mind starts\nto mess with your head. Now is not a time for negative thoughts, it\u2019s wasted energy\nand let\u2019s face it I don\u2019t have any going spare. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each day comes with fresh hope, only for it to be thrown\nback in my face. So, again I plan by day forward planning, knowing exactly where\nthe public toilets are located. Showing little signs of improvement, it\u2019s time\nto give my first big race of season some serious thought. DO I\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A \u2013 Go do it? Get to the start, soak up the atmosphere along\nwith 15,000 other runners, plod around and treat it as a training run, if I can\nmanage that. Maybe without my GPS, now where\u2019s a thought. However, fully aware\nof my delated glycogen stores with a week of toast and little else not really a\nwise move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
B \u2013 Go and support? Can one still get an adrenaline rush\nencouraging others?! Maybe bedrest would be more beneficial right now? Am I\noverthinking this\u2026YES?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
C \u2013 Start listening and trusting my body, it\u2019s time to REST.\nTerrible runs are never fun, but they do happen. They should not be used to judge\nyour worth as a person or as a runner. Learn from them and move on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s C, a DNS (did not start). In my opinion better than trying,\nfailing and getting a DNF (did not finish). Your body is only ever truthful, it\u2019s\nour minds that lead us astray. Obviously, I\u2019m disappointed but thankfully I\nstill have my A race to focus on. London awaits\u2026. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With over 20 years of running under my belt I like to think this qualifies me as an experienced runner, but this doesn\u2019t mean racing decisions are easier for me to make. It\u2019s so easy to plan your race calendar, enter races and start a training schedule, especially in the New Year when your bubbling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p99bnz-lN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coreprogress.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coreprogress.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coreprogress.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coreprogress.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coreprogress.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1351"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.coreprogress.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1352,"href":"https:\/\/www.coreprogress.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1351\/revisions\/1352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coreprogress.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coreprogress.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coreprogress.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}