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Good luck Menna.
Sorry to say I let the side, and myself, down today and DNFed for the first time in 10 years of running/racing. No excuses, I just was having a horrible time out there. Looking at the stats now, I was actually going fine, it was all psychological.
The weather was perfect and I set off with the idea of going with a 4:10/km (6:42mm) pace and holding on as long as possible. This I did and went through 5k in 20:37 no problem, and then the demons set in. I cannot explain it, I just could not face two laps of this torture and began to think of pulling out after the first lap. I did think of the horrible recriminations I'd put myself through afterwards and the posible longer-term consequences of DNFing, but after going through 10k in 41:28 (still going to plan) I got to 11km and just stopped.
Who knows what was going on in my head - physically I was fine and holding the pace with no real problems. The suspect knee was giving me no gip, so it was all in the head. Maybe the lack of longer running over the summer is to blame. In sghort i just did not enjoy myself at all.
I feel very ashamed of myself. What to do now? Do I enter next week's 10k and blast it or knuckle down to more miles over October and November and then re-surface for a couple of races in December?
Ant - Brutally honest account of a tough day, try not to beat yourself up too much though as it's only running afterall and if your head wasn't right then sometimes you are powerless to do anything about it. You need a bit of time to get over it that's all and the next time you race and run well it will be forgotten about!
Look on the positive side of things 1. You are not benched! 2. You ran 10k in 41:28!! that's quick and 3. There will be many races in which you can redeem yourself!!! That's the great thing about racing 10k's & half's there's always another one round the corner!
Totally your choice about when to race next but if it was me and I was fit, I would run the 10k and try smash it! I am sure other fredders will be able to give you more sensible advice but I am a bit of a masochist me!
Ant - very odd. You say that you that there no problems physically but you also said "you couldn't face two laps of torture". Any idea why it felt torturous?
As GM says, it might be simply how you felt on the day and you'll smash things next weekend, but was there anything else (non-running) that you were thinking about and need to sort out beforehand?
Definitely no need to feel ashamed though - everyone's had a bad day at some point in time!
Hoping Gul enjoyed the rain in Peterborough.
Hi guys. Flying visit just to say I'm absolutely chuffed to bits with an unofficial time of 1:26:33. Report will follow later hopefully.
WOOHOO Gul, that's legendary
As brilliant, Gul, as it is deserved! Bask in that glory
!
Lorenzo/Gerard - No, as it goes, I'm in a good frame of mind these days, work-, health- and personal relationship-wise, so it's not that, though I appreciate the kindness of your asking about it. It was simply that I didn't fancy the task at hand (foot). Of course, just a couple of hours afterwards, I can't believe I was so weak-willed.
AR - the miles are in the bank, deposited on a "cnba" day, so good effort.
Ant - a bad day, of course, but no need for any "shame" - most of us have been there. Re the 10K, I'd say see how you feel this week - can you enter on the day?
Lorenzo - nicely done on reasserting yourself in the pecking order.
Was my club's XC race today - didn't run myself, but flagged the course and marshalled, whilst supporting daughter. Meeting chums at 5:25 (!) for an hour jaunt.
Looks like Gul happy - will wait for report; also Menna - any others?
Great time there Gul, bask away
Just wanted to pop in to say well done to Gul, thats a great time.
I got a new job, and now seem not to have any time to read or post here sadly, hopefully when things settle down I will pop back in.
Oh my goodness Gul you well and truly smashed it. Well done! I don't think there was ever any doubt going from you training.
Well done, Gul
Ant: we all get hit by CNBA at times; you just got hit by CNBA in a race. Put it behind you and move on.
(((Ant)))come to Momma A for a big hug.
I have often had moments in races where all of a sudden I've just thought about stopping. Only once have I done it - a lap HM last year and I just stopped at mile 10 - and I was first female at the time!!! I don't know what made me do it but I then spent a couple of days feeling under the weather. Sometimes during training, if I am myself, I find myself stop suddenly for no reason other than it seems like a good idea. I'm always annoyed with myself after but at the time I'm stopped before my brain registers it.
I agree 100% with Jools, just accept it and move on. Its no big deal and not worth trying to work out.
Aaaah...really feeel better after that virtual hug from Minni. O.k., I've entered the 10km for next week in Gijón (10€) and otro gallo cantará ( a different cock will crow, as they say here).
Wow Gul, talk about smashing through the target. Well done and well deserved.
Ant, I don't do man hugs; anyway Minni has the hugging all sorted! Sounds like a tough mental day, but fortunately its wasn't at a 'A' race. I guess not dwelling on it, and looking forward is the best approach. It is still a bummer though.
Gul - That's low flying man, really well done, now go celebrate!
8k race/run for me today so brief-ish report .
1st run after mara and was happy just to put my gear on again after a week of physical inactivity. Plan for today was to just pitch up with my mate Rachael and run 7:2x pace. Arrived there and was suprised to see about 30 runners or so all looking very keen to get going. My mate Rach is a good runner but has not raced much in the past 12 months, so I was mindful not to try and spoil it for her by going too fast. Last time I ran this course I ran 31:30 so today was going to be a different kind of run and I set off with Rach at a nice steady pace with an eye on some junior female tracksters, one who had an Island games 300m shirt on! The course itself is very undulating and we ran with one other chap but tracked the two female juniors and overtook them at about 1.5k. Got to the turn in 17:38 so well within target pace. Chap who we ran with for about 4.5k felt great and he pushed on as we continued our steady pace. I said to Rach at 6k that barring a disaster she had the womans race in the bag. We reeled in one more junior, this time it was a young chap and we crossed the line in 11th & 12th position in exactly 35:00 so about 7:02mm pace. Very enjoyable run and Rach was chuffed with her first place, so job done. Splits were 4:25,4:24,4:25,4:24,4:25,4:30,4:19 & 4:07. Looking forward to nailing some shorter speedier stuff now with some 10-20k's being at the longer end.
Gul - that's brilliant and doesn't surprise me in the slighest. Your training was spot on, you were feeling confident and you fully deserved it. Delighted for you. Now looking forward to the report, once you've come down from Cloud Nine!
Superb result Gul. That is a real breakthrough performance and one which many on the thread have been hoping for for you.
Very well deserved indeed.
Excellent pacing work GM.
Ant, pull your finger out. Get down to that 10k and smash it to pieces or else!!
Wow, well done Gul, I seem to remember a much more conservative time goal...
Ant, come and join my DNF club with all the cool kids. We can sit in the corner and plan our amazing comebacks. As soon as some of us stop limping.
Great news Gul, you deserved that.
I'm also letting the side down. No run today. I slept until nearly midday and felt unusually tired and weary so decided to do housework instead. Then at about half past three was hit by a decidedly dicky tum. Some sort of bug presumably.
Great parkrun PMJ, I only won a parkrun once so I know how good that feels.
Glad you enjoyed the XC Lorennzo and solid 21 miler AR
Ant I's say get straight back in the saddle- it sounds like you worked that out for yourself within a couple of hours.
Big Congrats to Gul- that a great run and time and you are a fella that deserves one.
Sounds like you are under the weather Speedy- may explain the poor run yesterday.
A laboured 15 miler for me. Family pet rabbit died y/day, must have been mauled by a cat in the garden and slippd away quietly in our arms. We are all in bits.
Gul - Wow, very impressive - congrats. If it was the same as Swindon pretty bad conditions as well.
GM - Nice racing.
Ant - Put it down as one off, try and move on. I think the more we run the mental side becomes more important and crucial to good race performances, "how bad do we want it " etc. You were physically OK and are not injured. If I was you I'd do the 10K next week.
My statement this morning was a little off the mark, it peed it down in Swindon from 10 o'clock, watching the race was bad enough.
Brilliant Gul - Never in Doubt
That's a proper target smasher . sub 1,25 has just moved past the horizon and in real touching distance. Well done. I am looking forward to you explaining how you got your pacing strategy so superbly wrong !!
JD3 - Hope the new job fits.
Ant - That cock of yours will be crowing soon in Gijon.
10k in Mold, for me. 22nd overall and 3rd in v40 cat. The halfway spilts tell their own story. 1st 5k 22.20 2nd 5k 17.36.
Truly unpleasant all ends up but hugely satisfying. I too had the jib it fairies on my shoulder after the 3rd KM. Lots went past but they were all stopped by the top. Lots of positives from today but the chap I beat pre injury beat me by 2 mins today. I now have a new and very personal target
and a lot of ground to recover.
Fantastic result to read from you, GD! So pleased for you after all those months years ago of running laps around a rutted field and nursing an injury. Long may this streak continue.
What a fabulous result for you too, Mennania. You went in thinking it wasn't going to be a challenging race given the gradient and came out with a top category prize! Your kids must be so proud of you.
I do like this vicarious racing. I feel quite good now.
Ant - sounds like a course with laps is best avoided perhaps? It gives those doubting Thomases too much capacity to get inside your head despite a great performance. Have you ever considered some hypnotherapy to deal with the psychological aspect of racing? I have only ever done natal hypnotherapy but it has come in handy when running and I would highly recommend it to anyone who needs an extra boost who has all the other components for success.
Great races Gerard and Mennania.
(((((OO)))))
nuff said.
Barry glad you took the sensible decision today.
Gul will you sell your HM training schedule please?
Just de-lurking to say a huge congrats to Gul. That is a fantastic time.
AR- 21 miles is still 21 miles.
Ant - sorry you had a bad day. I'm sure you'll come bouncingb back.
JD3 - good luck with the new job.
GM - well done in the 8k race.
Speedy - get well soon.
OO - sorry to hear about the rabbit. Horrible.
Mennania - cracking result - well done on the podium finish.
Minni - my training schedule is all here in the thread if you'd care to piece it together!
I'll now try and do a race report. Bear with...
Great Eastern Run Race Report
Drove over to Peterborough in very heavy rain - had to take it easy to avoid aqua-planing. I was still trying to work out a plan for changing/warming-up/queueing at the start. I usually just jog down to the start from home in racing kit!
Made it safely to the car-park with loads of time to spare. Left the family in Cafe Nero and headed off to the start area. I checked with the baggage tent and there was no problem getting my bag back before the start. Headed off to the changing tent and discovered it was a rather small area with nothing other than grass inside. Managed to get changed without getting wet or pulling a muscle. Dropped my bag off and did a spot of warming-up. At the last possible minute I got my bag back and dropped off my jacket before making my way over to the start area.
By now the rain wasn't too bad so didn't get too cold waiting for the gun. Felt like a sardine in the pen. (No sign of RJ at the front. I'm guessing he didn't run. Has anyone heard from him lately?)
Couldn't believe I was about to race a HM - the last one was in March 2010. I could have almost wept for joy.
The race started and I was over the mat in about 15 secs, but then it got rather bunched up. So a bit of shuffling and then hopping around for the first few minutes. Spotted the family near Cafe Nero and gave them a high-five. The first mile marker popped up and a bit surprised to see 6:33 on the watch. I was expecting it to start with a 7.
The field was still a bit bunched up, but managed to start finding my rhythym. Second mile completed - time 6:47. I don't have a garmin, so going by the course markers. They were stuck on lampposts so told myself not to pay too much attention to the splits.
Feeling comfortable and the next few miles sped by - 6:32, 6:37, 6:37, 6:45.
A little bit faster than I had planned, but still feeling good so confidence was high. I was running in a small group now with 3 others and checked what sort of time they were aiming for. A bit shocked to hear 1:25/1:26. We passed the halfway point in 43:xx, I think. I was then even more surprised when I found myself pulling away from them, but I didn't feel I had speeded up. So go with the flow...
7th mile in 6:40. I then started imagining I was running home from Sandringham to give myself a visual idea of how far to go. The next few miles were a bit faster - 6:34, 6:28, 6:30 and 6:30.
Just 2 and a bit miles to go and I knew I was home and dry as long as I didn't blow up completely. The 12th mile was a bit slower 6:42, and I found myself struggling for the first time. I convinced myself that I was slowing down and had to start shouting at myself. Very embarrassing.
I knew I was very close to the finish, but it came upon me without much warning. Missed the final mile marker, but I could see the finish. And the time!!! I was so elated as I crossed the line. Final 1.1 miles in 7:10. So didn't slow down at all. My watch said 1:26:33.
Wonderful to see the family shortly afterwards and share the celebrations. The finish area etc... was a quagmire, so I skipped the changing area and just grabbed my bag.
Official time now in - 1:26:34 and 196th place overall.
It still hasn't really sunk in. Was that really me? All I can say is a huge great big enormous thank you to all you guys. I wouldn't have got anywhere near this without all your advice, encouragement and camaraderie.
Brilliant Gul, just brilliant. You have been very patient and trained really well and it all paid off on the day. I'm so pleased for you.
Right, what next...?!!! 
Awesome Gul, simply awesome.