Banishing the Demons

With a week to go to Cardiff Half Marathon the Demons have starting to raise their ugly heads.

I have three with me constantly

Self Doubting Demon– Self explanatory this one. It’s the one that says Can I? Will I? I Can’t. I won’t. He is there continually nagging away at my confidence, like a toddler he is hard to silence.

Whispering self doubt

Ill Health Demon – Every sniff, cough, sneeze is the flu, ruining weeks of training. For this one I am taking, vegetables, juice and plenty of water.

Ill health on the run

Mother Nature Demon-Not going in to this one at all you will be pleased to know, but her picture says it all.

Hot mess

This morning’s parkrun was about banishing at least one of those Demons and to get out there and smash it.

Last year I achieved a parkrun time I never thought I would do, I also got a great 10k time, oh and the half marathon time that was stuff my dreams were made of. This year its been a slog getting back after the Grizzly injury so I needed to run well today to believe I can run well next weekend.

It was hard, I was a mess (think snot, drool, heavy breathing, not pretty) but I got to the finish line 10 seconds away from my PB and my fastest time this year! Also the fastest “old lady” out of eight.

Yay, one Demon down, two to go!

Whose idea was it to run a half marathon?

About shazruns

I have been running since 2004 when I decided to do the Race for Life, as a close friend was terminally ill with cancer. Following that I did a couple of 10km at Leeds castle and Sandringham. Then in 2005 ran my first London marathon, then another in 2007 in blistering temperatures. I have entered the London marathon every year since but have been rejected, am now find maintaining my fitness & motivation hard, so when the email came through about Janathon I thought why not! Am hoping this helps with fitness, motivation and weight loss!! Wish me luck!

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5 Responses to Banishing the Demons

KarinB says:

September 26, 2015 at 5:16 pm

Good luck! I’m working on all of those demons and hopefully I’ll get to banish one of them soon!

- shazruns says:
  
  September 26, 2015 at 5:20 pm
  
  Not easy is it! Good luck with your Demon slaying!
  
unsportywomencanrun says:

September 26, 2015 at 10:38 pm

Oh Shaz, you say this so well. I’m dealing with those demons too. In fact that one we have to deal with post 50 is being really troublesome for me. The night before my 28km training run I was up and down with night sweats. I’m just hoping that that demon won’t be there on race day.

And you did a 10 second PB? Wow! That is so good. Congratulations! You will smash that half, you know you can do it!!! Let’s put some running angels in there to counteract those demons: The Can Do Angel, The Good Health Angel and the Cool Angel (as in no hot flushes or PMT).

Really loved your post, so glad I’m not the only one slaying demons at the moment xxx (just slay them Shaz, don’t let them hang around!)

- shazruns says:
  
  September 27, 2015 at 5:39 am
  
  Oh Annie, thanks for the comment. Just had another awful night, however am I going to run 13 miles on no sleep – it’s been like this for a week! Your mileage is so impressive your Demons will surely run off with their tail between their legs!
  PS Have edited this post to read better-I was 10 secs away from my PB not past it! (Next time) x
  
  - unsportywomencanrun says:
    
    September 27, 2015 at 10:08 pm
    
    That’s the strangest thing, we can still keep running despite the bad sleep! 10 secs awat from your PB? That is still awesome. I’m like seven minutes off my 5km PB at the moment. Loved your post Shaz, got so much strength from it!!!