#6: Reality Check Riverside 5k

Tuesday 6th January

Run #6

Twickenham Riverside 5k

I'm not going to lie, I don't 'love' running. Most days I'm not even sure I like running. But what I do love is the feeling I have after running. Usually, if I can make myself get out when I'm in a blue funk I can, through much gnashing of teeth and swearing under my breath, run it off to an extent and after feel a whole lot better and more positive.

This run was the exact opposite of that.

I went out feeling pretty positive. I had psyched myself up in the day to get out once I got home from work. I knew where I was going and what I was going to wear. So I set off feeling none too shabby. But just couldn't seem to get going. As mentioned I live at the top of a hill and usually enjoy the chance of getting my run underway with the assistance of a chunky downhill to pick up a bit of pace while I get the blood moving. Today, by the bottom of the hill and at the end of the first k, my Garmin evidenced that I'd not even managed my regular pace for running on the flat! I decided it was probably a Garmin thing (satellites. It must be the satellites…) and kept going for the rest of my flat route, pushing as hard as I could.

I did think I'd picked it back up, pacing out along the tow path towards Twickenham and back, pausing only for a bit to retrieve a glove I very nearly lost into the Thames when it fell out from where I'd jammed it into my waistband. In the last k I stepped it up as much as I could and honestly thought I was on for a good time (for me, anywhere near 26min for 5k) but was surprised to come in at a few sec under 28min. Yes, I was naffed off. I really thought I'd tried and wasn't expecting to be 2min over. So, gnashing my teeth and swearing under my breath, I jogged back up the hill to home.

But later on, after a bit of a reality check from M and a bit of a think I realised I had lost site of the objective which is Run Every Day. That's all. A I need to respect that, especially for a runner like me, running every day will affect my performance and I can't expect PB-beating times on every run. It's about getting out there. Every day. And getting ks under my feet. No matter how slow. So I'm going to think a bit more on that, stop getting hung up on the wrong things and get out there again tomorrow.