Couch to 5K support thread.

Cherryfudge

My breathing is okay so long as I keep slow: I have a natural tendency to go faster than I can sustain and when I do, my breathing's the first thing to go. I wonder if there's anyone more advanced who can advise us?

Malthusian

'Run at the speed of chat' is the standard advice for those who find themselves running too fast and exhausting themselves: in other words, run at the speed you can carry on a conversation. If you don't have a friend you can run and talk with, talk to your imaginary friend sotto voce. You don't actually have to speak, just find the pace at which you could if you wanted to.

Newcomers to running often struggle with this because they think they're going too slowly - they're not.

Cherryfudge

Malthusian wrote: »

'Run at the speed of chat'.

Oh my - can I go any slower?!

Thank you for this Malthusian, it could make all the difference. I'll give it a go.

starrybee

What is everyone's thoughts on moving on/repeating weeks

I'm currently repeating week 1 - I'm definitely better than when I first started and I'm doing all 8 runs fine, but the last 10 seconds of each minute I'm always ready for it to be over which makes me think I'm not ready to move on to the 90 seconds of week 2 - should I be waiting for the minute run to feel easy or should I move on to week 2 anyway??

CattyCatX

starrybee wrote: »

What is everyone's thoughts on moving on/repeating weeks

I'm currently repeating week 1 - I'm definitely better than when I first started and I'm doing all 8 runs fine, but the last 10 seconds of each minute I'm always ready for it to be over which makes me think I'm not ready to move on to the 90 seconds of week 2 - should I be waiting for the minute run to feel easy or should I move on to week 2 anyway??

I just completed W2R1 :j I definitely felt exactly like starrybee and was really counting down the last few seconds of the W1 runs so was sure that I would have to repeat W1.... However, I went out this morning to try the first run of W2 on the basis that if I couldn't complete it then I would repeat W1 but at least I would know for sure that I wasn't ready for the full 90 seconds and...

I have to say it was so much easier than week 1 for me! I think it's the increased walking time... Am sure there will be lots of bumps in the road but I completed all the 90 second runs and actually felt like I could have carried on for longer at the end (for the first time ever... after the W1 runs I felt like I was dying!!). So I'm really glad I had a go.

So, I would say try it and see? I think I'll definitely be repeating weeks in the future but will try the next run up first and see. I'm telling myself it's not a race and is similar to driving lessons - the more practice the better!

fire-wannabe

Well done, I just completed W2R3 * 2 ,as I was with a friend we didn't realise and went further so on way back we repeated it but I was pleasantly surprised I had no issues at all this time.....W3 might be a total different story though, a good day's rest and off to the new challenge, well done for starting ☺

Cherryfudge

CattyCatX wrote: »

I'm telling myself it's not a race and is similar to driving lessons - the more practice the better!

i really like this way of looking at it.

I haven't repeated an entire week but if I've missed a few days I'll repeat a run. I feel that when I seem nearly ready for a new week, then actually I really am ready, and so far (about to start W4) it's proved true.

The longer walks really did set me up for the longer runs.

fire-wannabe

How did you find W3?

Cherryfudge

fire-wannabe wrote: »

How did you find W3?

Not too bad at all - there are a couple of three-minute runs so I made sure I did them good 'n' slow! Then there's a three-minute walk to recover which was enough (I didn't push myself too hard with the walks, I decided keeping going was more important).

The most helpful things I've found are: choosing a route that's not too difficult, getting distracted so I don't focus on how I feel, pretending I'm coming up to the finish line in a run with my friends clapping (:D), not clock-watching and pacing myself.

fire-wannabe

Sounds good, looking forward to it