msnIs there any other sport more frustrating then running? Besides the one pr you might see in the season of xc or track, the rest is entirely dissapointment. Well, thats the way I see it anyway, i am rarely satisified, not to say any runner ever is, its just first nature for us to never be happy with ourselves, but mine is a particularly unique case. I work my ass off everyday in hopes to hit that 16 minute mark in a 5k, i feel absolutely ashamed to say that as a runner who runs 45+ mpw i can't even break the 18 minute mark, and why not? I have the perfect build, with long legs and strong upperbody as well as a weight of 150lb. I dont think it is a lack of knowledge on how to train,(did i mention i coach myself since my school doesnt have an adequate xc program), i have had very strong cross country coaching back ground, in the 8th grade my team came 1st at the provincial meet (which would be the equilevant of the state meet for the us'ers) as the 4th man on the team and the following year our team came 3d and i was the 1st man on the team placing 9th overall. i havent run a faster time in the 5k since that meet, and i have only increased the intensity. this is but my reflection on the last weeks progress, if you can even call it that. I ran an 18:09 at a 5k road race after a previous hard day of training, i feel fairly confident that if i had have recovered appropriately the day before, i would have gone under 18 minutes. the day after the race i went to the local track with a 31minute 10ker (in his prime) to train , i had told him i would like to recover and take it easy since i would be running a 7k highschool meet the following day, instead for some reason we ran a 4.5k tempo, which went fairly well, however the next day when i was suppose to race, there was zero pop in my legs, they were shot and they were tired. So i listened to my body, and for the first time in my life i pulled out of a race. i took the day off to recover, i tried to run the next day, legs were in the same state, so i tokk that day off and tried things again the following day, and the legs still hadn't recovered. By now i was worried i would get behind on training because provincials are within two weeks. I went out today and attempted to go for a light easy run, at first the legs were a bit stale but had some pop underneath all the stiffness, i was able to to push through an easy 10k. As im sitting here on my couch i can feel a developing sharp shoot of pain up my shin. where did this come from?! tomorrow i am suppose to go run a speedwork out o 3x1000 at 5secs faster then race pace 1x800 and 4x400 and then the last 4x400 are all out as hard as i can run them. i feel confident in my trainign and i trust it so i believe i will be able to run 17:25-35 by the time provincials rolls around the corner. time to put the pedal to the medal and see what im made of.