Bridge to 10k - week 4 over, but what a struggle!

[JaySeeSkinny]

I normally run in the morning, certainly on work days. But I might not be able to get a long run in at the weekend so I re-worked my week so that I could run after work this evening. This running business must be important to me because this evening's run totally disrupted my routine. But that's fine. And I looked forward to it all day. Sped home, got changed, couldn't find my bum bag, earplugs in and out of the house into the pale evening sunshine. The weather conditions were actually perfect, sunny, cool, crisp and beautiful. The last run of week 4 with Sami Murphy, 3x 18 minutes with a 1 minute walk in between the runs. I've already done it twice before, so no surprises.

After 3 minutes I realised my legs were going to be a problem. Soooo heavy, like leaden pipes. After 10 minutes I got a horrible stomach cramp and started planning a dash into the woods. Ultimately it wasn't necessary, you'll be pleased to know, but that has never happened before. In the first walking bit I took my light jacket off and tied it round my middle, at which point my earphones decided to go all crackly - and stayed that way no matter how I jiggled them around. The second 18 minutes I slowed right down as my legs got heavier and heavier. Clodhopping was the word that sprang to mind. I shuffled through the woods, trying to persuade my legs to lift my feet up higher so I wouldn't go sprawling over a tree root. My attempts at timing failed abysmally as I ended up having to run up the motorway bridge and the second walking bit came just as I was at the highest point. All that lovely downhill slope wasted. The last 18 minutes saw me slowing down even further. My right foot went numb (but returned to normal after 5 minutes). Then I got back ache, which hasn't happened in yonks either. This was getting silly, obviously my body was trying to tell me something. But with 10 minutes of running left I knew I was not going to stop (barring tripping over a rock/tree root/any other protuberance).

I was very glad when Sami told me I could slow down. That was one of the toughest runs I've ever done. I had a rhythm going for about 2 minutes late in the run, otherwise it was just a long, hard, clumsy shuffle. I suppose it's character building😎

[misswobble Graduate10]

😊 it's tough but hang in there ! I got well bogged down on week 4 and had several goes at it before pushing through. the music does help! ☺ i'm a survivor, not gonna give up ... tum ti tum 😊

[JaySeeSkinny Graduate10 in reply to misswobble]

Lots of Pink. Yes, I am enjoying the music. I haven't had a "practice run" on week 4 although I had a couple on previous weeks. But am definitely finding them tough - to be honest even tougher than anything on the c25k programme.

[Irish-John Graduate10]

You continue to soldier on! You were an inspiration in the 5K programme and now doing this you are again!

And, we ALMOST discovered what a JSS does in the woods...

[JaySeeSkinny Graduate10 in reply to Irish-John]

Very, very rarely - but it has been known. The worst occasion was when my sister's family was over and we all went for a hike in the mountains. We took my future daughter-in-laws little dog with us, who was wonderfully behaved and adopted me as leader of the pack. Having asked everybody to go ahead, with dog, and found an appropriate spot I was doing what I had to do when suddenly there he was right in front of me, head on one side, looking curiously at me. Never been so embarrassed by a dog. Couldn't even call someone to take him away, as that would have been worse. Don't know what the moral of the tale (or should it be tail?) is. Don't get caught short in the woods?

[Irish-John Graduate10 in reply to JaySeeSkinny]

Just so long as you did not leave a poodle behind

[Tryinghard2016 Graduate10]

The one thing with these bridge to 10k podcasts I wanted to ask was are you going each one thrice in a single week? Because that seems like a lot of running to me!

[JaySeeSkinny Graduate10 in reply to Tryinghard2016]

No way I could do that. No, I tend to take them as my long run at the weekend. If I have a day off mid-week or there's a bank holiday I might do 2 in a week, but I couldn't go through them as I did with Laura. Might try to zap the last week though with three runs in the next 8 days. But it's just a thought I'm toying with (we have a bank holiday on Tuesday here in Bavaria) and it would be a real challenge.

[Tryinghard2016 Graduate10 in reply to JaySeeSkinny]

That makes sense. Because three of those in a single week would be very very hard work

[Sandraj39 Graduate10]

But you did it - these are the runs that make us mentally stronger, I think. Well done☺

[misswobble Graduate10]

I did them 3 times a week. if you get,bogged, down, as I did, don't worry. you will come through ☺

This is bridge to 10k. You should expect it to be harder than couch to 5k.

I HAD never heard any Pink but I love it now. ,Your Hand really makes me laugh 😀

[Bluebirdrunner Graduate10]

Hi jaysee, haven't heard from you in a while. Hope all is ok. I think about you when on my Sammy runs and realised you haven't posted recently. xxx

P.s you might still be in Zambia of course.😊

[JaySeeSkinny Graduate10 in reply to Bluebirdrunner]

Hi Bluebirdrunner - thanks for asking! I'm back from Zambia, but haven't got round to posting much here. Posted a huge catch-up post last week, but there were site and internet problems and I lost it all! Still running, but no great highlights and time is a bit short at the moment. Will try to catch up with you all soon!