Dreading Week 5 Days Two and Three

[Far2Fat4ThatDress]

Did my three lots of five minute runs on Monday which was okay, though the first five minutes run was a but ugh because it was ever so slightly uphill, and today I've got the two lots of eight minutes which I'm dreading BUT what I can believe is that Day Three launches straight into 20 minutes!!!!! I thought it was a glitch in the system and so went to look at the following week and that's Day 3 28 minutes!!!!!!!!!! I'm absolutely dreading this as it seems such a huge jump from three lots of five minutes to one lot of 20 minutes made worse by the fact that there's not a lot of flat areas to run in my area. How did everyone else cope?

[Purplesparkle8 Graduate]

Hi there, I'm on week 9 and I felt the same when I saw week 5 run 2, eek! However, I just slowed it right down and took it easy and it was no way near as bad as I thought! You can definitely do it! The program has got you this far and you can do it! Week 6 is 25 minutes not 28 so little better

[grannyjudes Graduate]

I have just finished wee4 this am, and Im not sure how I feel about that 20 minutes, scared more then anything, I so want to do it but not sure I can eeeeek

[runningnearbeirut Graduate]

If you can do W5R1 and W5R2 then you CAN do W5R3. It's what the programme has been building you up towards. Slow and steady is the key. Hills add extra challenge but also do wonders for your stamina in the long term, so pace yourself and you'll be fine (don't get too carried away on the flat/down bits!).

You don't say how steep your hills are, but if necessary shorten your stride and just keep going. It might seem like you're just running on the spot, but you WILL be going forwards and at this point it really doesn't matter at all how quickly or otherwise that is.

[Far2Fat4ThatDress Graduate]

Thank you for the replies - after doing the school-'run' I'll be doing my two lots of 8 minutes. The hills are long steady inclines with the odd steeper incline, the problem is that there are virtually no flats for that sense of relief - I'll report back in an hour or so!

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

C25k is a wonderfully structured training plan, which WILL get you running for 30 minutes. W5R3 is just another run in the plan and you should trust that you have been prepared for it by all the work you have already done. As runningnearbeirut says, keep your speed down, relax and don't fear. Above all, remember to keep your face muscles relaxed since they will be called on to give the widest grin you have ever grinned. Remember also that repeating a run is no shame.

Keep running, keep smiling.

[Far2Fat4ThatDress Graduate]

Okay I'm back - the last 20 seconds of the last eight minutes I felt sick but I said to myself 'just get to that lamppost and don't let yourself down' and I did it with an average run pace of 06:34 - my best pace was 05:50 on Week 1 Day 3 and longest Run Distance was 2.24km Week 5 Day 1 so I don't know how that stacks up.

Thank you for the encouragement - looking forward to Day 3 (if only you could hear the sarcasm in that statement!).

[Becca66 Graduate]

You can do that 20min run. Like you I was absolutely dreading it, and the run I did had a nasty bit of uphill in the middle which I just did very slowly. Once that was done, I knew I'd be fine - and I got to the end. Just go slowly, and remind yourself that a few weeks back you couldn't even run for 5mins. Let us all know how you do!

[Far2Fat4ThatDress Graduate]

You know what I did think that - 'It's okay I couldn't run 1.5 minutes a few weeks ago, I can do it' and I breezed through the five minutes during this eight minutes stuff - it's just all so scary. Another thing is that I haven't suffered any aches, pains or injuries and wonder whether that's down to me doing my runs at 09:00 and then just keeping on the move throughout the day so therefore everything is staying stretched so to speak?

[Hidden]

Well done on getting the first two runs of W5 out of the way. You don't need to be scared by the 20 minute run - you have done the preparatory work and trained up to it - you'll be fine. Just keep it slow and steady, don't worry about speed or distance and try to stay calm. Good luck with the run and I look forward to seeing your successful post afterwards. Best wishes.

[Far2Fat4ThatDress Graduate]

Well I'm going with a couple of friends who have planned out the least tortuous route for me. I'm going to try and concentrate on my breathing (in through nose and out through mouth) - the other challenge is that my friends can't stop talking when they run, in the end I revert to hand signals!

[Far2Fat4ThatDress Graduate]

Well can you or I believe it - I killed that Week 5 Day 3 run!!!!!!!!!!! Looked at my watch and thought 'oh that 1.5 mins was easy, that 3 mins was easy, that 5 mins was easy, blimey I'm at 10 mins I'm on the home stretch, just done 15 mins, just done two lots of 8 mins, okay aim for that tree, aim for that patch of sunlight, aim for that bench, do a mad dash to my friend's backside for the last 10 seconds!' When it came to logging how do you feel - my friend said put the smiley face because I was smiling as opposed to being sick in the bushes! So then we walked home (four miles as we took the long way round!) plus a reminder came up to do my seven minutes of High Intensity Training so did that as well. For the first time since doing this programme my legs are a bit achy but no injuries. So Week 6 Days 1 and 2 look a breeze - Bring It On! Thank you all for your support.

[faithr Graduate]

This is very encouraging, I'm doing my wk5r2 this evening, and have been really worrying about it, although I'm using a treadmill which is much easier I'm guessing than outdoors. I know I've already built my stamina loads as I couldn't run for even two minutes before. I stick to a pretty slow pace of 5.5 now, I used to go a bit quicker, but I'm worried about running out of steam now the runs are longer. Thanks for the inspiration!

[Far2Fat4ThatDress Graduate in reply to faithr]

Well I'm on Week 8 Day 1 now - today will be my first 28 minute run and in the rain. The thing that keeps me going is targets such as that tree, that patch of sunlight, that bench and the two friends I run with, though last week I had to do a 25 minute run on my own and really push myself just so not to let myself down. My friends are doing the Life Run next Sunday but I haven't reached 5k yet so I'm ducking out of it because so far I've had no injuries because I've stuck with the app and as far as I'm concerned if it ain't broke... Anyway like you I can't believe I can run for more than one minute - still a bit purple at the end of it but at least I co-ordinate with my running top! Good luck with your running - give outside a go as well.