I'm on week 4 and while I'm enjoying it, seem to only manage to run extremely slowly in order to manage the whole podcast. Is this normal?

[georgise]

I think even somebody walking fast would overtake me. I'm wondering if this is normal and keep thinking that it probably doesn't even count as jogging let alone running.

[dottiemay Graduate]

Not only is it normal - it is very sensible! It doesn't matter how fast you run, just that you run for the podcast time. You will probably find that as you progress your speed will gradually increase.

Remember that the idea of the plan is to get you running for 30 minutes OR 5k by the end of the 9 weeks. Most of us achieve the 30 minutes rather than the 5k!

[Oldgirl Graduate]

Ditto to all that dottiemay says, its not a race (yet) they can come later if you want them too. Don't try and go too fast too soon, it almost always ends up with shin splits, sore knees or pulled muscles. Let your body get used to this new demand your putting on it. You will in return enjoy the journey more too. Once you've graduated, that is run 30 minutes non-stop having done week 9/3 then you can start to think about building up your speed and getting to the magic distance of 5K cos the chances are like many you won't do it in 30 minutes to start with but thats quite normal. Good luck with the rest of the programme, your doing well.

[Hidden]

I did W4R2 this morning and only covered 3.4km. I'm hoping speed comes as the weeks go on

[greenlegs Graduate]

I only ran just over 3k in 30 minutes when I graduated. But I'm still running (still slowly) three months later, and I can now run for a lot longer too.

[georgise]

Thank you everyone

I will keep plodding on, I'm not sure what distance I'm covering so need to work that out I guess!

[Dora_the_explorer]

I feel your frustration and confusion. As a seemingly "younger than average" couch-er I expected much more of myself than I was able to achieve; concerning myself a lot with how far/fast I was going within the time. It was not helped by having a running partner, who whilst as unfit as me, had a much greater natural ability for running than I do, so I always suffered from the green-eyed monster.

Slow is FINE! The aim of the game is to move (jog or run) for 30 minutes.

I'm sure that if you went back to week 2, for instance, you could run it a LOT faster now, than you did the first time you had a go making a surprising increase in distance. However, at present, with every passing week you are not seeing speed improvements but are gradually running a little further.

Please don't fret about speed now. I know it feels a bit pants. But save it for post-graduation. You will be surprised at the improvements you are making. Every session you are running a bit further, how can you expect to be running faster as well! I have found, post-graduation, that you can only focus on one thing at a time, I tried to get faster and continue to increase distance but it didn't work. Post-laura you can start having 'speed' runs and distance runs, and you'll soon see improvements in both.

[georgise]

Thank you everyone

I will keep plodding on, I'm not sure what distance I'm covering so need to work that out I guess!

[georgise]

Sorry, not sure where the duplicate post came from!

Thanks Dora, that really does make sense, I probably shouldn't be reading everyone else's speeds as it's probably irrelevant, but hard not to. One thing I do knw, is that I'm moving a lt faster than I was on the couch!

[roundbutsound Graduate]

Yes I'm very very slow but I'm doing it and that's what matters. My daughter walks with her dog alongside me sometimes to keep me company