Cherie Louise Turner: Over 50, Sub 20, 5k Project: Part 5, Seeking Calm, Addressing Expectations

Women's Running Stories

In this episode, part 5 of this series, Cherie shares how she's getting away from being so reliant on the GPS watch and committing to learn how to run and pace by feel. This is, she continues to discover, a work in progress, especially when it comes to pacing.

Cherie also gets into addressing race anxiety and confidence and how these are challenges that take time to overcome. The journey is not linear. And she gets into how expectation can lead to frustration and burnout, and how applying the well-known advice of breaking a big goal into smaller pieces is really important.

Cherie remains healthy and enthusiastically committed to this goal. Keeping in mind the importance of intermediate goals, Cherie is currently focused on breaking the 21 minutes barrier, which is tantalizingly close.

In June of 2023, Women's Running Stories host and producer Cherie Turner closed the chapter on running longer distance races (at least for now), like marathons and ultras, and turned her attention to the 5k. Her goal: break 20 minutes in the 5km. Cherie is currently 54 years old and she has never dipped under 20 minutes at this distance. The closest she's ever gotten was back over a decade ago, when she ran 20:19.

This update spans March to May 2024. Part 1 of this series concluded with Cherie setting a baseline time of 21:10 on August 30. Part 2 ended with Cherie learning more about how to train well and some of the lessons she's continuing to work on. In part 3, Cherie discusses how she experienced a non-running injury that took her out of structured training and workouts for 8 weeks but ended up being a healthy reset. Part 4 traces Cherie's return to training and racing, and how she realizes the need to address race anxiety and develop belief in herself. It's not a prerequisite to this episode to listen to the previous episodes in this series, but they do provide valuable details and context. Find the series here.

Come along for the journey.

Mentioned in this episode

Katie Arnold: Zen on the Run: womensrunningstories.com/katie-arnold-zen-on-the-run

Emilia Benton: A Boston Marathon Journey: womensrunningstories.com/emilia-benton-a-boston-marathon-journey

Sonia Samuels with Jae Gruenke: Olympian Rediscovers (Pain-Free) Form: womensrunningstories.com/olympian-sonia-samuels-with-movement-expert-jae-gruenke-recovering-skillful-pain-free-running

The Confident Mind, by Nate Zinsser: goodreads.com/book/show/57863475-the-confident-mind

The Power of Full Engagement, by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz: goodreads.com/book/show/68985.The_Power_of_Full_Engagement

Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories

Over 50, Sub 20, 5k Project Instagram account: @over50sub20_5k_project

WRS Instagram: @womensrunningstories

Facebook: facebook.com/WomensRunningStories

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/444164966663627

Website: womensrunningstories.com

Email host Cherie: [e-mail]

Women's Running Stories is a proud member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/

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