Couch to 5K support thread.

Cherryfudge wrote: »

How's it going CattyCatX? If you haven't already done R3, don't worry: I think it sounds worse than it is. Your body is almost there from the previous weeks' training, it's not as much extra as it looks, and if I remember rightly the next week is a bit lighter in comparison. If you do have to repeat any runs, don't worry - it's all training and it all makes you stronger.

Thanks for the encouragement and kind words Cherryfudge! Well, this morning... I did it!! :j W5R3 - 20 minutes non-stop! I honestly never thought I would be able to do this and had in fact told all my family and friends that there was absolutely no way that I was going to be able to do it so had also told them not to ask me about it afterwards cos I would have failed . Even as a child or a teenage dancer (when I was at my peak of fitness) I couldn't run for 20 mins - it makes 5K seem achievable now...

I did find it very hard but for me it was definitely the mental challenge: the first 8 minutes were absolutely awful and I was still telling myself that I wouldn't make it but when I got to 10 minutes I realised I'd run further than ever before and the next 10 just flew by (well, they metaphorically flew... I'm doing pretty steady 12-minute miles but it's the distance not the speed, right?)

Looking forward to the rest of the programme much more now, and I actually felt grateful to Sarah Millican today instead of getting really angry at her! :cool:

Congratulations! That's quite some achievement! (I'm afraid I was still in bed at that time ).

Must have been a chilly start too.

Well, I just did Week 6, run 3 this morning AKA 25 mins!! :T Found Week 6 fairly tricky overall but this last one was a killer... I felt much, much worse than at the same points in W5R3's 20-min run but I think it must've been cos I was going far too fast... My 'happy' (aka coping!) pace seems to be 7.49min/Km but today I was running at 6.5min/Km for most of it - I managed to make a conscious effort to slow down in places but then would unconsciously speed up again. My last 5 mins were such a struggle and so, so slow that it brought me down to an average of 7min/Km. Any ideas on how to pace myself?! I really did think I was going to throw up today, so think it must be the (for me, excessive) speed. I did complete it though and am really hoping that Week 7 will be easier if I manage to pace myself and get used to running for 25 mins... I'm also thinking of trying out a new route for W7R1... not sure whether that will be a good or bad thing but am a bit bored with my current route now... Argh, please say it gets easier!!:o

CattyCatX pacing is the hardest part for most runners. Even experienced racers have issues pacing.
My advice would be to stop consciously thinking about pace at this stage and just go at whatever is your natural pace.
Everyone has a pace where if they stop concentrating their body will drift back to, for me its about 7:15 / mile. If I want to go slower I have to think about it, likewise when I want to go faster.

To be fair, whilst it does get a lot easier the more you run; some days are easier than others.

Hope you find something good to listen to! Even one good song playing on a loop might cut it, but there are lots of upbeat playlists you can download. (I generally have Verdi's 'Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves' in my head when I run but after several months it's getting a bit same-y! It says a lot about the pace I run at too! When I was running with my husband and mentioned it as we slogged uphill, I noticed that my stride immediately lengthened and I went faster - but that wasn't what I needed at that point so even Verdi has his limitations :rotfl:).

I'm all for trying new routes: if you do the same thing all the time your body gets too used to it and doesn't build new muscles or face new challenges.