Running solo is not something that I done often until now. I enjoy running with people, so my typical week would involve a running club session, a mid week run around Newcastle with a friend, park run with my other half and nearly 3 year old (in the running buggy), finished off with a Sunday long run with a group of running club friends. I am a bit of a running social butterfly.
In the run up to the lockdown I was preparing in the same way as most people, what food do we need, how will we work from home, and the all important where is my gym going to be. We were lucky enough to set up a small garage gym with a few weights.
Running was on my mind a lot, mainly thinking that how fortunate I was for being able to continue with the sport I love (unless we went into a really strict lockdown). My plan was to run most days and make the most of having the opportunity to do so, I hadn’t really thought too much about the fact I would be running solo.
I started off well and motivation levels were high, I actually enjoyed getting out on my own and clearing my mind. Aside from having to run on the road a lot to keep my distance from people my solo runs were going well. was enjoying running around where I live, which is something I never do. I set myself a goal of at least 5 runs a week including at least 10 miles on a Sunday.
I powered through my first few weeks and was amazed at how much I enjoyed my Sunday 10 mile runs, even if I didn’t have my Sunday run crew to keep me company. Places where quiet, there were less cars and I taking in my surroundings and looking at the world for a change.
Somewhere along the way I started to struggle with motivation, and found myself stopping on runs a lot. I would feel a bit tired or hit a hill (there are lots of hills where I live) and I would just stop rather than trying to run through it. This then started to happen on short runs where I had no reason at all to stop.
It really started to get to me, but the more I thought about it the more I stopped. I knew I wasn’t stopping because I physically needed to, it was a mental barrier that I just kept running into. I ignored it for a bit then realised it wasn’t going to go away unless I made some changes.
Circulate run routes definitely helped as a few of my regular routes were out and back, these are mentally more challenging as there is the option to just turn around at any time. So I planned out some new routes to try and keep it interesting and avoided out and back runs.
Small goals really helped me, breaking my run down into easier segments. Forgetting the totally distance I wanted to run and thinking about the goal ahead of me. I tend to use the half way mark, then 2 mile sections, then the final 3 miles I think it’s just a park run. With 2 miles to go I tell myself that it’s only 1 mile as the last mile doesn’t count as that’s the easiest (even though we all know it’s the hardest).
Today I ran 13.1 miles, my longest solo lockdown run! To be honest when I set off I wasn’t feeling it after a few red wines and a late night, so I just thought as long as I do 10 I’ll be happy. The morning felt quieter than the last few Sunday’s which was nice, the sky was dull but the Tyne was perfectly still like glass. I took in my surroundings as I kept running through those small goals. I stopped for a couple of photos at the odd hill on the way back, but nothing liked I was in previous weeks. Another thing I had decided was that I needed to stop beating myself up for stopping, I wasn’t racing or training for anything so what’s wrong with the odd stop.
My friend who is a keen marathon runner runs every mile of her marathon for a different person, thinking about that person and running for them during that mile. The last 3 miles of my run today where up hill so I used this technique for the first time. Mile 11 was my daughters mile, thinking about her shouting go mammy and her smiling face when she sees me running, mile 12 was for my other half who is my biggest running fan, and mile 13 was for my dad who thought anything I done was amazing let alone running a half marathon, and it would have been his birthday next week, so my last mile was a Happy Birthday dad mile.
Solo isolation half marathon. Done.
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