33 weeks, 73 miles and some interesting experimenting with negative self talk

I had a physically more challenging week this week, than the last few weeks have been. This was completely self inflicted and stemmed from a fall I had on my 7.5 mile run on Wednesday evening. I had ran 7.5 on Tuesday which was fine but didn’t see a tree log on the pavement and face-planted, injuring both palms of my hands and my right knee. I quite enjoyed being annoyed at myself and used the extra energy I had from my hands stinging from the grazes so I managed the remaining 7.2 miles at a slightly faster pace than usual.

Unfortunately this extra effort meant my Thursday 7.5 was quite sluggish and my first few laps on Friday generally felt the same. I managed 3 more laps of the 7.5 mile loop and was pleased to get through the first 2 relatively comfortably. I found my legs chafed quite badly on the last lap and I had to cancel my run with Ben for Saturday as I could barely walk!

This meant I had to do 2 laps of 5.4 miles at 7am before my run with Tom today to ensure my 70+ average was maintained. I found I was largely able to use my frustration at cancelling on Ben to get through this and then moved onto an 18 mile run at 9am. This was one lap of 7.5 and 2 laps of 5.4 miles My energy levels dipped on the middle lap but I was able to drag myself through that by knowing I only had one lap left afterwards. I found my mood brightened on the last lap and I was pleased to maintain my weekly average despite yesterday’s setback. While the use of negative self talk was not sustainable, it did appear to work effectively for the two occasions I had to use it this week. I am fully aware it is something I have to use sparingly but am glad it served its purpose this week.