To whoop or not to whoop?

[nomoresloth]

Hello my wonderful and supportive Couch-to-5-K-Community!

I'm in a dilemma. I'm not sure if I beat my PB yesterday or not. Btw, it was also my first run since last Sunday, so I missed two runs which is also something I hate to do. To make it short: I can't motivate myself to run the same route in the park again (there's very little choice if I don't want to stop every few meters for traffic lights) so I ran again in the gym on the treadmill. I tried out the random programme for the first time yesterday and did my fastest 5k ever --------- 31:23 minutes, 27 seconds off my old PB.

Buuuut: The incline in the random programme was only between 0.4 and 1.5 (it changes automatically) and I usually run with a incline around 1.5 to 2.0.

Again, I feel like I have cheated because I ran on the lower incline. So I also feel, I just beat my PB because it was easier than my usual runs on the treadmill. I wonder if the run has the same worth as one with a higher incline (which also means its more like outside). I don't say the run was easy going and I was happy enough when I could slow down after the 5k mark. I ran for about 10 minutes at a speed of 10.0 to 10.5 km/h so it was a lot faster than I usually do.

Argh, I don't know if I should be happy about the time and see it as a new PB or not....Your opinions please

Another question: The weather is perfect but I can't motivate myself to run outside since I started to run in the gym two weeks ago. Can you give me tips how I can get those gremlins concerning the park away? Or give me the reasons why you run outside, perhaps I feel motivated again. I think a part of my problem is that I think it's easier on the treadmill and am a little bit afraid of the outside running by now... Oh, I should go into the park as soon as possible...

Thank you for reading!

[wilmacgh Graduate]

Don't over analyse! I'm sure even if it's not a PB it will be a huge improvement on what you could do a year or so ago.

I'd take advantage of going out while we still have decent weather. Are you sure there is no other route apart from the park? Could you do it the other way round? Get on a bus and run back from there?

[nomoresloth Graduate in reply to wilmacgh]

Thank you! You're right, one year ago there was no thought of running for more than a minute... I'll try to be less hard to myself. And even if the incline was lower than the normal one, I finished 5k in 31:23minutes. That is a new PB! I wasn't running downhill so I think it counts.

I live in a big city so there is hardly any route that doesn't cross a four lane street... I'll check out if there's some nice place within the distance of the tram.Thanks for the idea! I have never thought of it before

[Anniemurph Graduate]

I would definitely recommend trying to find somewhere interesting to run outside. I know what you mean about running in the city - traffic, pollution and people don't make it easy - but get out while the weather is good and try something new. It'll perk up your running