Music instead of Laura's encouragement?

[Jol_Keen]

Just about to start wk7, all timed runs now. I was thinking of making a play list on my phone of music that has the beat that I am happy to keep my pace at. Anyone else do this or do you stick with Laura saying 5 minutes left and you thinking drat I thought it was less than that...lol?

[Hidden]

It's possible, as I understand it, to have your own playlist and also Laura speaking over it (on an app). However, if you feel comfortable doing it without Laura that's fine too. Quite a few people have just had their own playlist and run without encouragement. It's a personal thing really - what works for one won't necessarily work for another. I stuck with the podcasts to graduation then tried the Stepping Stones, etc., but they didn't work for me so I am using another podcast (Samantha Murphy) which I find suits me better. Go with what you are happy with. Best wishes.

[grannyjudes Graduate in reply to Hidden]

can you give me a link to that podcast please Fitmo ( by the way your terribly supportive, love how you always reply )

[Hidden in reply to grannyjudes]

Hi, I'm possibly not going to be much help here because I haven't a clue how to do links. How I found these podcasts was to use the search box (above right) and type in Samantha Murphy B210K. Hit the search button and several threads will come up - have a hunt around them because a couple of them do have a dropbox link to easily download the podcasts. The link is likely to be found in the responses to some of the threads rather than the original post - hope that makes sense! Thank you for your kind comment about being supportive - don't see any point in being anything else. If it's possible to help or encourage someone that's a lot better than ignoring or demoralising them - and, believe me, I've been on the receiving end of that kind of thing many times in my life. We used to have a family friend who always had to be right, always had to have the last word, was always finding something to criticize, and so on and so forth. To this day, he cannot understand why he is no longer a friend or, indeed, welcome to visit any longer. Anyway, hope the info about the podcasts is useful. Incidentally, I am not looking to train for 10K so I only use half the podcast - whatever I'm comfortable with. I did the whole podcast today (W1) but walked through the first ten minute run - leaving just 32 minutes of actual running before the warm down walk (I ignore the walk breaks as I prefer solid runs, others may find the intervals work better for them - individual choice). Hope you find the podcasts - the music is really fantastic. Best wishes.

[grannyjudes Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Fitmo, just seen this, will look later, I rally ought to get some house work done ! I have spent my whole life being put down and laughed at, when I decided to do this for our Jess ( grand daughter fighting cancer, doing 5k for her ) my Mum said and my OH has admitted her felt the same " you will never do it " well guess what I blooming will and I blooming am, and what's more I am obcessed,

[Hidden in reply to grannyjudes]

Don't worry - you will do it anyway, obsessed or not. You have a goal and it will carry you through. I think you mentioned July for the race in a previous post? You've time to train up for it so please don't put yourself at risk by overdoing anything at this stage. Cheers.

[spoonierunning Graduate]

I used my own playlist to get through week 7, and debating it for week 8 as well, i do find the constant time checks seem to trip me up at is were

[Treemouse Graduate]

I am now using Runkeeper which will give you time notifications every five minutes, and also tells you the distance you have run and your pace. When you get home, your route is all on the computer for you to analyse when you get a dull moment. The beauty is that the app let's you play the music on your phone, so I have created an up-tempo playlist just for running, and use this. You don't get the encouragement of Laura, but I feel that this is outweighed by the music Here's what it looks like on pc:

runkeeper.com/user/tracyfra...

Another advantage is that I can now gauge how far off I am from the 5k. Hope this helps

[helcl Graduate in reply to Treemouse]

This is what I did too - set up my workout based on what I was meant to be doing in that weeks run, with intervals etc. I'm now doing the zen c210k programme, and programming my garmin with the intervals. I love running without music now, and just have my watch buzzing me when it's time to walk or run

[runner56 Graduate]

I ditched the lovely Laura at the start of week 7 and run to a shuffled mix of my own. Like tree mouse I use runkeeper which pops up every 5 minutes to tell you time elapsed, distance, pace (and I discovered yesterday that you can add some additional info like current speed, etc)

I hadnt listened to the music of week 7 but some have posted on how dreadful it is.

Good luck.

[GoogleMe Graduate]

I stuck with Laura through the programme. Being able to do something different when I graduated was a motivation. Just didn't make sense to me that a long term running habit could turn on whether I did or didn't like a few tracks... and in fact I think 'music I like running to' and 'music I like' are not the same thing (and 'music that makes sure I do what I set out to do' perhaps a 3rd) That said, my musical horizons have been widened as a result.

I think if it is just keeping going that's the issue and Laura's time checks not always working, a spoken word podcast might suit better anyway. I'm always more aware of time passing with 3-4 minute music tracks.

[Hennith Graduate]

Apologies if I'm boring everyone as I've said this on here many times, but I found Laura's time checks and comments really demotivating once I was on the longer runs. When she said 'you've done 5 minutes' I would think 'ONLY 5 minutes'. I also found it hard when she said things like 'you're probably feeling tired by now'. It hadn't occurred to me actually Laura, but now you mention it.... So I made a playlist of some favourite songs that lasted roughly the length of that day's run and listened to that instead. It worked for me, but we are all different! Good luck!

[frannyfran Graduate]

Done all my runs without Laura as I don't have an MP3 or a smart phone. Just a stopwatch. Started week 5 this morning and overrun a bit in the last section as I "forgot" to check the watch! (too busy laughing at the dog trying to chase a hare and falling in a ditch!..... the look on his face!!!!)

[Shadowmichael Graduate]

I actually appreciated knowing how much time I had left, or how much I had just finished running. Somehow that helped me to keep going.