So that's my first week back after 3 weeks off through illness and as far as my albeit autistic brain goes the curse of week 6 is that it teaches you it's ok to stop which is both dangerous and difficult.
So today I got to 12.5 minutes and the voice in my head that always says it's ok to stop (starts at about 0.2 seconds in!) got loud and I stopped. after all if stopped last time and the time before.
Then I cried and walked for a minute.
Then I ran for 8 minutes.
Then I stopped again because id already failed so why not.
Then I walked up a hill.
Then I reset Laura to half way through and told myself I'd run for a bit more.
I then ran for 12.5 minutes.
So ultimately I failed week 6. I ran for 87 minutes but I failed.
I'm moving into week 7 next week regardless. Week 6 for me is the week I stopped and is therefore a week of complete and utter failure overshadowing the 87 minutes of running I did during that week and I need to leave it behind.
At kthe end of week 5 I knew i could do it.
At the end of week 6 I'd proved I can't.
I lost faith in Laura this week.
I lost faith in me too.
Written by
Cheshiregal
Graduate
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All it proves is that everyone is different. Everyone. And thank God for that. Or the Universe, or whatever it is out there.
I won't say "you haven't failed!!" Because then you would think I didn't get it.
Ultimately, Laura is the person giving you instructions through headphones. She's probably not called Laura. Laura is a lovely name, she's probably called something clumsy sounding, like Edna. Sometimes I get really cross with her. I've been known to growl "stop being so BLOODY patronising" under my breath when she says "well done!"
And I break her rules, stopping when I shouldn't, and running when I'm still supposed to be walking. I'm not sure I like her very much, I don't think we'd be mates.
Failing is something I'm terrible at handling. I failed my driving test so badly that I haven't been behind the wheel of a car since. Instead of going "oh, well" and having another go I just avoid ever having to put myself in the situation ever again. I have no faith in myself as a driver. So I walk everywhere and get trains and buses. (And lifts).
There are degrees of failure though. I meant to get up at 7 this morning. Failed. I'll let that one go, I was tired and needed another hour. People who succeed at EVERYTHING are smug and dull. And probably not always very truthful, or humane. If you stopped because you came across someone who needed help, that wouldn't be failing. So how about you decide the person who needed help was yourself? And the way to help yourself was just to say "no, not today, stop."
Move forward to week 7, or do week 6 again. Listen to the person who you stopped to help, and see what they say.
Love from another Cheshire Girl (albeit 40 years ago when my family went dahn Sarf)
Hear hear AllieG. CheshireGal you haven't failed. You've been ill for goodness sake! Don't be so hard on yourself.
I took 17 weeks to do this programme, with all sorts of hiccups along the way. No run is a failure - it just wasn't quite right this time, and there's no point in worrying about it. Put that one in the bin and move on.
If your health is still not up to par, why not go back a couple of weeks in the programme to build up your strength again? If you feel fit and healthy, it'll be those dashed gremlins we all get pestered by from time to time. Just, whatever you do, DON'T GIVE UP. You've come so far - running for 12 and a half minutes ... I mean, go back to your posts after Week 1 and then think about how easy it would be for you to run 60 seconds 8 times now!
We all have our bad days and weeks but, imo, bloodymindedness will ALWAYS win out. I KNOW you'll get there, you just need to believe in yourself.
Off to sunny (hopefully) Cheshire this afternoon to visit the Ancient Ones again for a few days. Lovely clean Cheshire air (apart from the pong from the cow farms ...!).
x
Couldn't put it any better than Aliie , we are all here right behind you Cheshire take your rest day or days and regroup ,treat yourself to something even if it is an extra 5 min lay in , bottom line is you have completed C25K so far ,that isnt failing that is succeeding !!
What ever you decide to do about week 6 or 7 is going to be right for you keep at it you can do it
That's the spirit Cheshirergal. W6 is famous on the forum for being a complete nightmare. After the psychological high of w5, it comes as an unpleasant shock to revert to intervals again. The intervals are in there to build stamina and strength but w6 is officially horrible. But, all is not lost, because in your determination to get through it, you ran 4.5k in 33minutes. That's really good and, dare I say it, pretty fast too. I'm willing to bet that if you'd gone a wee bit slower, you'd have been on here being delighted at how well your run had gone. So you're absolutely right. Put w6 behind you and look forward to your next run. Just take it really slowly because, as you said, you have been ill, and even Mo Farrah takes time to recover after illness.
We don't use the F word on this forum. Just remember you are doing this for YOU...not anyone else. If you really want to do it, you will. There is no shame in repeating runs, which will prepare you better for what is coming. We all have to defeat the demons at times and there is no greater demon than our expectations of ourselves. C25k puts you in control of proving to yourself that you really can do it and therefore change forever the self imposed limitations that you put on yourself through your own expectations. The programme is a well proven guide to get you running for 30 minutes. Trust the programme and believe in yourself and YOU WILL DO IT.
Looking at the amount of time you've run for in week 6, and today in particular, I think the words of the late, great Eric Morecambe come to mind: "I'm playing all the right notes, just not necessarily in the right order". 4.5k in 33 mins? I'd take that. Keep the faith Cheshiregal, I'm rooting for you. Steve x
Can't blame you for leaving W6 behind it really is a horror! I had a terrible week 6 too, lots of us did. How can any running be a failure, you probably already don't know anyone who can do what you can do. I graduated 4 or 5 months ago, today I ran 4 KM in 32 mins, and I had to walk twice too! so you're already better than me... Are you enjoying your running, or feeling any benefits from it? I hope so,and you should hang on to those with both hands. Iannoda is right, the F word has no place here, none of who have even started the programme can ever be considered failures. You're brilliant, you're a runner, you'll get there xxx
Hey CG, I'm another one who was more than delighted to leave the tricky week 6 behind! I think you're doing great - especially as you've been ill for several weeks too.
I don't think that c25k is about winning all the time it's about taking part. the program is a tool to help you achieve a goal. In this case run a 5k in around 30 minutes.
If redoing a week or two along the way is what it takes then that is OK. If skipping a week works for you then that's OK too. Failure with c25k is not about stopping a run early, failure is stopping doing c25k.
Redo the week or move on to the next one - you decide, but don't give up - keep running and you'll get there in the end.
Move onto week 7, which is a new week and a fresh start. One thing that's helped me with the will to stop is saying to the 'stop' voice in my head 'yeah, ok, but only after 10 more running steps'. Usually by the time I've run another 10 steps I figure I can handle another 10, and another. And running home gets you to the teapot and the bath way quicker than walking!
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take your rest day or days and regroup ,treat yourself to something even if it is an extra 5 min lay in , bottom line is you have completed C25K so far ,that isnt failing that is succeeding !! 
keep at it you can do it 
My disastrous Week 6 Run 1 ( wasnt laughing at the time , trust me ) :)
Week 6 - ✔️
Hit a wall week 6 run 3........HELP
Week 6 Run 3 in the bag!
W5 R3 failed 😭😭😭😭
