Not that long ago I was boasting about how a 10k was no longer difficult to me and it was just a question of getting my pacing correct and even going to the point where I was running more than 10k and only stopping because it is cold and I ran out of water.
You could say that I became a bit arrogant in my progress and is often the case with me and a lot of other people, that lead to me deviating to what got me there in the first place.
My change wasn't abrupt outside of me going and having perhaps too many drinks on one night and then also imbibing on other days. I normally say to people that "I don't drink a lot, but I do drink frequently" and this is true about me. But I also know that booze has no good aspects to it despite what some studies that are likely funded by the booze industry will tell you about heart health. You know what is really good for your heart? Exercise.
Anyway, I started slipping and noticing the slip after just a week of not really being devoted and yesterday was a real eye opener for me. I had what I thought was all the pieces in place: I was motivated, had my good socks on, had my tunes arranged for maximum power, kept monitoring my heart rate to keep me in the "correct zone".... yet still failed.
Don't get me wrong. I"m cool with the 800 calories being burned and to make matters better I ate healthy that day, hydrated plenty, took my vitamins, ate some vegetables and lots of protein, and didn't drink any alcohol. Yet I simply couldn't finish the 10k.
A lot of this is mental and I am aware of this but I stopped when I did because there is a crossroads at around 9km where if I go one way I go home if I go the other I am committed to an additional km. I was weak... and walking at that point anyway.
I started to mentally break down around km number 5 and from that point forward I kept checking my watch often hoping that somehow I was close to an even km so I could stop. That's exactly what I did after km 6 concluded. The idea here was to walk for 300-500 meters and then try again but that didn't work, my mind had already been resigned to failure.
I had noticed during several glances at the old sport watch that my heart rate was higher than I expected as well.
Some days I just can't really explain what is going on but in my case I think maybe it was a series of excuses to not go running or even walking, when I really should be subscribing to what got me here in the first place which was R.E.D. (run every day). I think I have to get back on that horse. It doesn't have to be a long distance, but just to get out there and do something even if it is just a walk.
I felt like crap after this run and did a bunch of stretching on the floor in front of the TV and lamented my failure.
I don't know exactly what the problem is but I think it was a combination of me blaming my mild illness for about a week and then deciding to go have drinks for several nights in a row with one of them being a pretty heavy drinking day. These are the sort of life choices that lead to me being a fat ass in the past and at least now I am nipping it in the bud and I am going to reverse this curse. I have the dedication and discipline to make this happen, I just have to wake up every day determined to stick with it and actually DO IT.
I'll be back to running 10km runs easily again soon. I have blisters on my right foot as well. I thought I was past that.
It just kind of goes to show that it doesn't take very much time at all for you to slip as far as your training is concerned.
