elevenses
Congrats on your race. With all you've been through, you should be proud. You don't look hideous, you look strong in your pic.
Coralie- With the weight you've lost and the exercise you've been getting, you are healthy on the inside! Many of the people who look super fit might not actually doing the right things to take care of themselves- mark my words, you will catch many of them, and soon!
Also, I think you look great in your photos.
You've had a heck of a time with your ear, and you still found the toughness to get out there and finish your first 10K, and nearly beat your A goal! Way to go!
I thought it was interesting that you noticed that you maybe weren't all that fatigued when you took some of your walk breaks. I find that a similar thing happens to me. I start thinking about how much time/distance/whatever I have still to come, and try to convince myself to take it easy. But I've learned to do a quick inventory, and most of the time I'm actually fine at that moment, it's just the worrying about what is coming up that's getting to me. Hopefully something similar will work for you. Plus now you know you can cover the distance. Good luck in your 5K!
Great job overcoming all that, Coralie, for a finish almost at your A goal.
Bravo!
(And the pic looks just fine, not hideous at all.)
You are too hard on yourself, that you are even out there puts you above the people who may weigh less than you, but are sedentary. You did great considering the circumstances (and looked great doing it) so look at it as a positive! Mental endurance is something you can work on during all of your runs, visualizing yourself at various points of an event helps immensely. So what you learn is that success on race day actually begins days, weeks, and even months beforehand and is both physical and mental. Way to hang in there, hopefully you can put the health issues behind you!
You are too hard on yourself, that you are even out there puts you above the people who may weigh less than you, but are sedentary. You did great considering the circumstances (and looked great doing it) so look at it as a positive!
Mental endurance is something you can work on during all of your runs, visualizing yourself at various points of an event helps immensely. So what you learn is that success on race day actually begins days, weeks, and even months beforehand and is both physical and mental.
Way to hang in there, hopefully you can put the health issues behind you!
Agree with this completely. A couple of years ago, I felt that my mental toughness was holding me back and I spent an entire year with that as my main focus. It's not a catchy mantra but I'd repeat "mental toughness, mental toughness" to myself when I got to hard points in a workout and wanted to cut them short. I am able to use that same mantra on race day. The logical side of me says that such a tactic is silly and pointless but the other logical side of me keeps reminding me that, logical or not, it works.
Short term goal: 17:59 5K
Mid term goal: 2:54:59 marathon
Long term goal: To say I've been a runner half my life. (I started running at age 45).
Congratulations, Coralie. You almost hit your goal time, despite all the issues you had to deal with during your training period. And don't forget your little ones that also take up your time and mental energy.
How your body is shaped or how long it takes you to finish a particular race are just details that don't matter much. You run...therefore you are a runner and "fit in" at a race just like all the other runners.