Lose Or Boost Your Confidence

Confidence is a fickle thing. It's a vital thing in everyday life but sometimes it seems like it's so easy to lose it and practically impossible gain. On Thursday morning I ran a tempo run after my Body Pump class. I felt weak and tired, despite not challenging myself with any great speed and I had to properly push myself to get through the 45 minute session. When I stepped of the treadmill I had zero confidence and thoughts like 'I'm not gonna get through the marathon' were running through my head.

Fast forward to yesterday when I ran intervals, the much feared and highly effective Olga intervals! I decided to take the easy road and run my intervals alternating between above and under threshold, as I didn't have the time to calculate all the different paces (I don't even have a mile pace...). As Thursday's run had been so abysmal I stepped onto the treadmill with apprehensive legs and nerves fluttering in my stomach but after a kilometre long warm up I knew things were different. I ran 3 sets of intervals, with a 3 minute rest inbetween, alternating between 14k/h and 12k/h and you know what - I felt bloody great! Maybe I should've cranked up the speed a bit more to make it 'so-hard-you-almost-puke', and I definitely should've done another set but work was calling.

When I stepped of the treadmill yesterday I was brimming with confidence and was ready to take on the world. I think that the moral of this story is that one bad run doesn't define you as a runner. Have faith in yourself and your abilities. Allow yourself to have a bad day, because a good day will soon come. Today I'm resting ahead of tomorrow's race and am hoping that yesterday's confidence boost will carry me through the 20 miles.