Endorphins, Euphoria & Anxiety

I finally got through W4 yesterday & at first I felt brilliant, wonderful, invincible, magnificent, unstoppable & overall pretty darned pleased with my little self!! .. so it sounds like I had a "good run"

I managed to find a proper pace and got through all 3 sessions - really concentrating on breathing is helping me loads & this is the first week when I wasn't screaming inside, cursing at Laura and wishing it all was over.... I almost started to enjoy myself!.. which is a massive change around from the past few weeks of torture.

On paper it looks like I have made progress, physically it feels like I have & I can even see a time when I will face running in public space rather than on the industrial park where no one can see me....

So now I start with W5. My brain is telling me I can do it .... I have proved to myself that I can run 3+5+3+5 mins with a bit of walking, so I know I can run the 3x5mins & the 2x8 mins

But 1x20mins ... non stop, no walking .... I'm not so sure my legs will cope ....

[Jana83 Graduate]

I remember thinking the same - that first big, non-stop run plays on your mind - a lot! But then I thought, "well I've done 8 mins all in one go, so I can at least TRY to do 10 mins - that's halfway at least". Then once I'd got to 10 mins, it was just a case of reminding myself that I'd done the first half, the second half is all downhill from there (but not literally as I did it on a treadmill!).

Just start off slow and steady and you'll be surprised how a lot of it turns out to be mind over matter. The pain you feel while running is forgotten as soon as you've finished. All you can think about is how well you've done.

And IF you don't manage it, at least you've TRIED. And Lovely Laura wiill be there to help you through it when you try again.

Good Luck

[greenlegs Graduate]

When you've done runs 2 and 3, you have run for 16 minutes twice. In many ways, running with stop-start breaks is harder than just keeping going, so 20 minutes isn't really such a big jump for your legs. It's all in the mind, and as Jana says, if you mentally break it into two halves, it's actually pretty ok.

[Wheatls Graduate]

Definitely agree about it all being in the mind! I found that by telling myself I was doing two 10 min runs rather than a 20 min one helped me get through it.

[bloodofareptile Graduate]

Another vote for giving it a go and not worrying about it too much. I found I could get to 10 minutes without too much trauma, and by that point it was all a case of pep talking myself. It probably doesn't work for everyone but I do a lot of "it's only five more minutes - you can run that in your sleep" and "it's just one little minute - are you really going to let yourself lose this over one minute". And then it's over, and you realize that you've actually kept putting one foot in front of the other for twenty minutes!

[DavD Graduate]

I thought the same when I was to run my first 20' non-stop workout, but I agree when the others say that it's all in the mind, because it really is. I have a mantra that I constantly repeat to myself when I feel like I want to give up (something like 'you're not done yet, just keep running!!'. Sounds cheesy but it works for me. Also, if you listen to music while working out like I do, I find that concentrating on the beats/the rythm of the songs keep me from focusing on my heavy breathing or the pain in my calves. Hope it helped you a little bit! Good luck!!

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A big thanks to all of you for your encouragement - I like the idea of getting half way through as I always feel a bit more upbeat when Laura tells me I've done half & I think I can get through it mentally as I have already decided that last week I was walking/running for a total of 20 mins anyway & my jogging pace is not much more than my walking pace (I tend to walk quick anyway - 5-6 kph)