Week 8 trouble :-(

[kmcniece]

Hi everyone

I've been lurking on here for a while, taking motivation from everyone else's inspiring stories, and gradually working my way through C25K. I started in July after shocking myself on holiday about how unfit I am, and realising that I had to get my butt in gear to keep up with my 3yo and 5yo!

It's taken a while, for various reasons, but I've continually surprised myself by how much I've been able to do and I've gradually worked my way through to week 8, and still can't quite believe I can "run" for 25 minutes! All on track, or so I thought. Then I hit week 8 and the first run was a bit of disaster. I'm c*** at failing anything and it's kind of taken the wind out of my sails.

Logically I know I did a lot of things wrong - I've never run in that much wind before, I reversed my normal route and ran up a hill instead of down it (at least I actually managed to run up it!), I'd spent 2.5 hours in the pool that morning for work and hadn't eaten properly, and I'm fighting a head cold. It was always a recipe for disaster really, but I had a child-free window of an hour at the weekend and thought I'd give it a go. I probably did manage to run for 28 minutes in total, but I haven't had to stop for walking breaks since week 6 and I had to keep running through the cool down period to do it. I'm feeling kind of flat about the whole thing now, and I know that run 2 of any week always seems to be the hardest for me so the motivation to get out and sort it is a wee bit lacking right now.

Advice would be great, but really I just wanted to share. Thanks x

[weeble73]

Hi I can't really give you any advice as I'm a novice (just completed W4) but just wanted to say I think you've done brilliantly and I'm in awe of anyone who can run 25 mins and run up a hill!! Please don't think that you've failed. It didn't go to plan but it sounds like you know why. I'm sure other people who are more experienced than me will offer better advice and encouragement. I didn't feel my run went well today and the support I got from here was great

[kmcniece in reply to weeble73]

Thanks weeble73. It was my first "bad" experience, and it's just shaken me a wee bit that's all. Glad you've got support from here today. I've enjoyed lurking in the background reading other people's stories, it really does help. I don't feel like a runner at all, and am still totally astonished at how fast my fitness levels have improved. The programme really does work, so keep at it. I'm not sure whether it was my body or my mind that did for me the other day, but something just wasn't right. Hopefully it'll come good

[runswithdogs Graduate]

Any bad run could be physical, mental or both. Anytime I didn't complete one of the days in the program I tried to set myself up for success the following run. If you've got an easy route, run that to gain your confidence back. Or a new route to keep you interested. Save the uphills for days that you want the challenge, and don't feel at all bad if you need to walk some of them. An extra rest day might help if you're feeling run down. And you might consider ditching Laura and her music selections with a handful of tunes that jazz you up.

You'll be fine the next run. We all have those humps - be proud of yourself that you went out and ran. You're so close to graduating - I look forward to that post.

[Hidden]

Hi kmcniece. Welcome on board and thanks for joining us .

First things first - well done on making it to week 8. You have already taken back control of your fitness just by getting off your butt and going outside and it sounds like you are already surprised at what you are achieving. That astonishment will just keep coming months after you graduate.

You also sound like the kind of person who gets pissed at failing at anything and who has a strong determined and 'bloody-minded' streak within them. This is cool and you will need it because some days running is going to seem tough. You will feel you're puffing like a steam engine and not really getting anywhere. In your case above you already know what happened.... running uphill, into wind, not eating properly and feeling unwell - need I (or you) say more? On other days you won't know what's wrong. Your body will be trying to tell you something and the brain will just not have clocked it. Let's get real here, if running was easy we would all be Mo Farah's by now.

However the really really excellent news is that for every tough day there are some gloriously easy days when running seems easy, you're relaxed and you enjoy the scenery while the kilometres just seem to glide by. (I had one of those last Sunday when I ran a woodland trail in early morning autumn sunlight which was gently lifting the fog. I covered 14.4km at an average pace of 6min 35secs and so enjoyed myself I went for a 27km cycle ride with the wife a few hours later. She was knackered and complained that I was 'mega fit' which left me with a large smug grin and pleasantly tired legs and, believe me, I am just as astonished about that!)

So the upshot is this - don't worry. We all have bad days and I would be surprised at anyone who graduates from C25K without having experienced at least a couple of them. Listen to your body and get back out there when you feel ready for it and I, for one, will look forward to raising a glass to toast your graduation which, by the way, cannot be far away for you now! Good luck and happy running.

[Slookie Graduate]

Wouldn't worry about it kmcn. We all get them and sometimes don't know why but you have identified lots of things which make your run a triumph in the circumstances! As runwithdogs has said, set yourself up for a win next time to restore confidence and, if you feel it is a struggle, SLOW DOWN. I mean really, really sloooooooow down.

By week 8 the improvement has been exponential and we love it, so when it doesn't happen for just one teensy run, we beat ourselves up 'cos we expect to make huge improvements each time. Just compare your 'bad' run with the day before you started Week 1 Run 1.

[kfeedil Graduate]

You are doing absolutely great. As you identified yourself, a mix of factors just made it more difficult than normal. But you can totally recover from that and keep going.

I think maybe the underlying issue is that we start off and it's really hard but when we get to a milestone like 5 mins running we get a bit of a boost. Then by the time the later weeks come and we're running 25 mins plus - in our heads we'd be sailing through this by now. But it's still hard.

I did week 9 run 2 last night in the wind and rain. And it was hard.

And I'm pretty sure my graduation run this week will be hard. But I'm running for 30 minutes 2-3 times a week. One day this will feel easy and the next challenge will be hard.

Keep going, you're almost there x

[misswobble Graduate]

Don't worry about taking a walking break. Runners do it all the time! It can make the difference between finishing or not, running further or not, so don't worry about it. If you need to take a minute then do so, let your breathing return to normal and then jog on.

[Hidden]

Hi i did my W8 R1 last night ,luckily no rain but very windy and i surprised myself how good a run it was some days are harder than others ,seems like that is the life of a runner which you are now The next run will be just fine

[MarlyParly Graduate]

It sounds like you gave yourself a lot of challenges, whilst you were already as you say run down, etc. I think it is amazing that you managed the 28mins all things considered! I wouldn't be beating myself up at all. I would take the advice of trying to give yourself the best possible 'edge' for your next run - a rest day or more and an easier route, etc. and see how you get on. If you struggle again (I'm fairly sure you won't as much!) then maybe you are a bit rundown/sick and need a bit longer rest before you resume. Best to rest up and slow progress a bit, then risk getting totally disheartened/very sick and giving up. You have come SO SO far, there will be other pants runs ahead (we all get them), but there also will be some amazing ones where you even forget you are running and you just feel free and clear your mind of stress/thought, truly liberating! Rest up and take care of yourself, and then when you're ready, get back out there and SMASH IT!!!!! We know you can xxx

[kmcniece]

I've been trying to post a reply to all of you all week, but for some reason my phone won't let me and this is the first time I've had the computer on since my last post. Thank you all so much for the support, and advice. I've felt a bit flat all week, so it's taken a wee while to get around to it, but I managed to get back out for the first time since "the debacle" this morning. (School holidays and weather really mess with your routine don't they?!) 28 minutes done