I ran the Lincoln 10 on Sunday in 54 mins which was the same time as I had completed in 9 days previous. What I cant understand is when i did it as a practice I was a bit tired but not too bad yet when I ran on Sunday I struggled from about 6k breathing really heavily and didnt think I could make it. My legs carried me through to the end but I felt like bursting into tears I have never felt such a struggle and felt terrible afterwards bringing on a bit of a migraine. My legs have nearly seized up and I am a bit light headed. I was a bit tired last week but ate well and made sure I had plenty of pasta and lucozade sport. It has really scared me, I know I was a bit nervous for a few days prior but even my shoulders and arms were aching when I was running. Is my career over???

Hey cash, sounds like it's just a case of going all out when you ran, pushing yourself to the limit. How are you feeling now? If you still feel bad, you might want to check with a GP, but I suspect you're already feeling loads better..

No need to worry about ending your running career I'd say

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TARGETS
Sub 1.35 HM October 17th
New HM PB before end of 2010
Sub 20.00 5k before end of 2010

How much running did you do between your practice 9 days beforehand and the day of the race?

only a short set of quick runs on the treadmill in a circuit class on the wednesday previous. Today i feel like ive got a hangover, very heady but have taken plenty of fluid on. The legs have improved but I dont think I could do any hard exercise i think i would faint!

I just ask because I find if I do too little in the run-up to a race, my legs feel like they seize up on race day! And if you do too much they're fatigued... In your case it sounds like you're coming down with something, so I do hope you feel better soon! Any more races in the pipeline?

Thanks for your reply. I am going to the Woodhall Spa 10k in June but its all on the flat so I expect it will be a quicker pace and I am a bit worried the same thing will happen again. Ive had a couple of swims this week and not going to run for another week im chilling out. Im going to put the whole experience behind me and think Im under the weather at the moment as I know I can run this normally without any problems.

How was the weather? was it warmer than normal?

Also... did you time/pace yourself? In an event it's incredibly easy to set off too fast because you feel so fresh at the start and the competitive spirit encourages everyone around you to run faster too - of course your natural instinct is to run at the pace of those around you. If you did that you could quite easily be really struggling at 6km and worrying whether you'll finish or not. Even pacing throughout the event is key!

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www.richardsimkiss.co.uk
'The minimum requirement to achieve something is to believe that it's possible'

I passed a lady athlete at around 6/7k (Long fair hair in black) who was really struggling and breathing hard - Was it you ?

I would put it down to a combination of being under the weather and maybe setting off a bit too fast - Perhaps if you had been 100% setting off a liittle too quickly might not have been a problem but anyone running whilst poorly (no matter what pace they ran) would have struggled to don't give up

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Races booked:

Humber Bridge Half Marathon - 27/6/2010
Great North Run - 19/9/2010

The weather was warmer than the 2 previous times I had run it. I had timed myself at certain places on the previous runs and was no faster when I actually ran the race. I am wondering whether I was dehydrated the legs had seized up on Monday I have never been to stiff is that a hydration problem?

I had long black leggings on and a white top, hair is fair but was tied up and was with a girl with a pink top it could well have been me. The pace did seem quite quick but I settled down and Im sure my partner would have noticed if we were too quick. We had timed ourselves previously at certain spots and did exactly the same time as previously. Ive still got a thick head which makes me wonder if its deydration.