Robert - it's great to hear from you again. I remember you, of course. I always remember the people who say nice things about the site. Sometimes I want to chase them up and demand that they return, but I have to accept that people will come back if and when they want to.
60 minutes for a 10K? Well that's exactly my position in the athletics firmament too. I've been there for about 97 light years. PB is 1 hour and 11 seconds I think. One day I'll finally dip under it.
The motivation question is always one of the toughest. We (you and I) talked about it here once before. Without wanting to abandon you, I think the first thing to say is that we all have different answers to this question, and what (usually) works for me might not do so for you. So the real question should perhaps be: "What will work for me?", and only you can answer that.
There are standard tips that really do help, like "enter a race", as suggested by Miss C. I find this works best for me if it's a race distance I've not done before. Just a personal thing perhaps, but I know I can get round a half, and even get round a marathon, so the element of fear has gone. In some ways this is good - not as stressful to train for - but it definitely reduces some of the motivation as well. I loved training for my first marathon. Every week I was running a bit further, and it was a constant challenge whether I could push it another mile further the following week.
Weren't you going to do a half marathon? Reading? Did you ever make it? Why not aim to do it next March? Or the Silverstone Half? I'll probably be running the coaches again to Silverstone, and Reading is my local half, so I'll probably end up doing both again. They are usually on successive weekends.
Why not aim for one of them? This gives you just over 5 months to train, which is very do-able. I'll do it/both with you if you like. You just have to get up to 10 miles between now and then. If you can reach 10 in training, you can reach 13 on the day - I guarantee. Take a look at
http://www.halhigdon.com for some training plans.
More generally, well it's hard for me to be too smug because I've had a very bad summer, running-wise, and have only just got back into it. But September and October are great months for running. Cool but not cold. A great time of year to run early in the morning. When you run, you feel good; that's all you need to know. If you want to feel good, then get running again. Most of us have had a bad summer, but we seem to be getting cranked up again with our spring race goals in the distance. Why not join us?
The worst thing about running is the thought of doing it. Once we're out there, and into the second mile, we know we've done the right thing. But for some reason our front-of-brain thoughts put up a lot of resistance before we get to that point.
You have to be sort of smarter than your own brain, if that makes sense. Underneath those initial instincts, you KNOW it's a good idea to get out there.
Let us know how you're getting on, and we'll try to encourage/cajole as best we can.
And thanks for reminding me that I need to sort out a race or two myself.
Cheers
Andy
