In this episode, part 4 of this series, Cherie tells the story of her return to formal training and workouts after recovering from an injury. And, back at it, Cherie returned to racing and experienced a frustrating bought of race anxiety. This set Cherie down a path to tackle this difficult barrier and think deeply about what this goal means to her and the importance of believing in abilities.

Cherie discusses the strategies she been practicing to overcome race anxiety and big wins she's experienced by putting these strategies in place. She also identifies her next big challenge in this process: pacing well in racing.

This goal, Cherie sees, is like putting together a puzzle, and piece by piece, it's coming together. And, Cherie is grateful for the support she's getting all along the way, especially from her coach, Verity Breen, and her husband.

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 January to March 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. Please click the links below to hear those episodes (they're not prerequisites to this episode, but they do provide details and context).

The release of this this episode also marks the 4 year anniversary of the podcast! In conjunction with this milestone, Cherie is launching a new Instagram account focused on this 5k project. There, you can find more details and more frequent updates about this journey, in between podcast updates, which come out every few months. Please follow! @over50sub20_5k_project.

Come along for the journey.

Mentioned in this episode

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

Cherie Turner: The Over 50, Sub 20, 5k Project: Part 1, Setting the Baseline: https://womensrunningstories.com/cherie-turner-the-over-50-sub-20-5k-project-part-1-setting-the-baseline

Cherie Turner: The Over 50, Sub 20, 5k Project: Part 2, Learning to Train Well: https://womensrunningstories.com/cherie-turner-the-over-50-sub-20-5k-project-part-2-learning-to-train-well

Cherie Turner: The Over 50, Sub 20, 5k Project: Part 3, The Reset: https://womensrunningstories.com/cherie-turner-over-50-sub-20-5k-project-part-3-the-reset

Self Care Simplified interview with Dr. Caroline Leaf: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5PbGZ4OVqbREbSNC7atvVt?si=9Q8mtfEKQl2ZwlhNQ5U-kg

Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories

Instagram: @womensrunningstories

Facebook: facebook.com/WomensRunningStories

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/444164966663627

Website: womensrunningstories.com

Email host Cherie: [email protected]

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

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