At the start of the year I signed up to a 10k race and diligently set about finding a training plan. I love a challenge and wanted to beat my current 10k time of around 48 minutes, although I hadn’t raced one since my very first race (Race for Life) back in 2011. Spoiler: Nothing about my training went to plan but here’s how I managed to get back on track to run a PB.
Rest when you need to
In previous years, I’ve used spring races to motivate me to keep running through winter. This year, it being dark in the morning and dark when I came home meant I struggled to fit in the 4-5 runs a week I’m used to and my training was all over the place.
Then I got ill. I haven’t been ill, like can’t get out of bed ill, for such a long time. I took sixteen days off of running, the longest I’ve had off in years. I couldn’t catch my breath, had no energy and felt so sluggish and heavy. When I returned to running with just four weeks to go, I focused on trying to get easy runs in but even those felt hard. I needed to build my base (and lung capacity!) back up with slow running and lots of walking breaks. Ultimately, I decided not to run that race as I knew I wouldn’t get the time I wanted. Maybe not the decision everyone would make but the right one for me at the time.
Ease back in
I quickly found another race, another 4 weeks away which meant I had an 8 week block on top of the training I’d already done. To ease myself back in I repeated the training I’d done before; a mix of interval running at 10k pace and faster, 3 long easy runs at increasing mileage and a tempo run each week. By this time I had my heart set on a 45 minute 10k and was using this to pace all of my speed work. Did I manage to tick every single run off each week? Nope. Did I hit pace on every interval run? Nope, again. But this time I felt I had done enough to give it a good go and that’s exactly what I did this weekend at the Victoria Park 10k.
Revising goals
The hard work and waiting paid off as I managed a PB of 46:23 (from 48:25)! The race was challenging – a lapped course of the park, running alongside half marathoners and 5k runners as well as other 10k runners, so lots of dodging and weaving. It was also a really windy day and that definitely slowed me down, as one long stretch of headwind felt hard the first time and by the third lap it was killer. Initially, I’ll admit I was a little bit disappointed that I was so close to my 45 minute goal but I set myself A, B and C goals. Think of these as back up goals, they might not necessarily be about time but might be about how you want to feel during the race, or even just that you want to finish it. One of mine was just to run anything under 48 minutes, so I’m over the moon to have knocked two minutes off my time! This was my first London race since the 2018 London marathon and finishing 19th in my category at such a big event is really positive. Endlessly grateful for my cheer team and personal photographer (lol) for getting me round the course with lots of encouragement.
In case you find yourself in the same boat, here’s my top tips for when training doesn’t go to plan:
- Revise your goals where needed
- Don’t push through illness – listen to your body and rest
- If you’re following a training plan, go back a few weeks rather than jump in where you left off
- Ease back in to training and lower the pace
- Do what you can – pick quality over quanity when time is limited (e.g 1 x speed session, 1x long run and some easy miles)
- Don’t forget it’s supposed to be fun! If you’re not a professional athlete, you’ve set yourself a challenge and it’s really not the end of the world if you don’t meet a goal
I’d love to know what you’re currently training for?
