Never happy?

London Marathon Training
Week 8, Day 3

I’m not happy.

However, go with me on this … I’m not happy despite just recording my second best 5k time since November 2015.

I’m not happy because for so long on this run I pushed hard for a PB, only to let it slip towards the end.

But it’s good I’m not happy.

I haven’t run since Tuesday night, and I didn’t really want to run this afternoon, so for me to get so close to a PB despite not being up for it has pissed me off a bit. Just imagine what I’d have done if I had been in the mood.

I’m not happy because I let myself get into that mood. I need to stop that from happening. I need to trust in my training and my own ability, limited as it is, and believe that I am improving all the time.

However, this is all positive. Honestly, it is. If I was content with what I did today I *really* wouldn’t be happy. It’s good that I’m annoyed because I’ll be able to use that to drive me on.

Yes, I gave it everything I had but I can always give more. There’s always that nagging sense at the end of each run that at some point somewhere I could have squeezed a few extra seconds out here and there.

Ironically, looking at my individual km splits, three of them were faster than last week. I ‘lost’ it today in that pesky fourth kilometre – and even then it was touch and go.

Ending on a promising note, I did do this today after not running since Tuesday after all. Logic might suggest that having a rest is a good thing but, for me, I find that leaving it more than three days means I start to lose my form … today I didn’t.

It also reassures me ahead of my long run tomorrow, a half-marathon, my first since April last year. It’ll not be quick (deliberately so) and it’ll definitely not be pretty but it will be very interesting to see how I cope with the distance.

London Marathon Training (122.5 miles – 29 runs)
Week 1 – 12.2 miles (4 runs; average 3.05 miles per run)
Week 2 – 9.3 miles (2 runs; average 4.65 miles per run)
Week 3 – 17.7 miles (4 runs; average 4.4 miles per run)
Week 4 – 18.8 miles (4 runs; average 4.7 miles per run)
Week 5 – 14.9 miles (4 runs; average 3.7 miles per run)
Week 6 – 18.7 miles (4 runs; average 4.7 miles per run)
Week 7 – 20.3 miles (4 runs; average 5.1 miles per run)
Week 8 – 10.6 miles (3 runs; average 3.5 miles per run)