So excited!

[Krupskaya]

I'm tackling week 5 run 3 tomorrow morning and I'm so excited about it! It's Friday 13th - lucky for some haha! Any tips for a successful run? It seems such a leap from 8 minutes - but I can't wait

[flossieflyblow Graduate]

Slow and steady. Concentrate on not getting too breathless and wearing your self out. It doesn't matter at all if you don't get very far distance-wise. The important thing is to be able to keep going for the full 20 minutes. By the time you get to 10 minutes you're half way and you might just as well make it to 15, by which time you'll think that it's worth plugging on for the last 5 minutes! It's a mind thing!!

[Hidden]

It's great you're looking forward to it. I was terrified! Lots of people worry about this one, but loads of people have reported their successes, so it's definitely doable. Good luck and enjoy! Main tip I think is just to go slower than you think you should, and just keep going

[Krupskaya Graduate]

The only issue I have is that I'm doing the whole thing on a treadmill (dreadmill!) at least until my muscles and joints toughen up a bit. I had to abandon progress several years ago as my knees and ankles were just terribly painful - so much so I could hardly walk. I don't have even a twinge on the treadmill. But...it's boring! And my eyes just fixate on the time ticking on and my heartrate rising, which is not ideal. I just have to do my best I guess...Just don't want to let the side down and fail!

[RainbowC Graduate]

I'm doing Week 5 run 3 tomorrow morning too (don't be misled by my Graduate badge - I did the whole thing a couple of years ago, kept it up for six months, then life got in the way and I stopped. Now on my 4th attempt at getting going again!). I'm definitely aiming to plod along steadily, not thinking about my speed (yeah, right. I'm obsessed with working out my pace after each time check!), and just to keep going for the whole thing. Maybe put a towel or something over the treadmill display so you can't keep watching the seconds tick by? And what I used to sometimes do when using the treadmill was to imagine where I'd be up to if I was running outside. So after what felt like a couple of minutes I'd be at 'that road' then a bit later 'passing that gateway' then 'just getting to the edge of the woods' etc. I'm sure my mental timings were complete nonsense, but it added a bit of interest so I wasn't just staring at my own reflection in despair!

[GILLS1]

I did mine this morning and I'm treadmill too due to past injuries. I just made sure I had decent songs on my playlist that I could sing along with in my head and focused on the song words rather than the time. The 2nd 10 minutes seemed to go in quicker than the 1st for some reason and believe me when I say if I can manage it anyone can. I kept my pace slow for most of the run then upped my speed for the last 2 minutes to push myself to the brink. Tiring but what a great feeling when you hear you've done it! Good luck for tomorrow.

[Irishprincess Graduate]

You're physically ready for it because you've done the programme and it sounds as if you are mentally ready too. So take it slowly and you'll be fine. Just think how great you're going to feel afterwards! Good luck.

[Krupskaya Graduate]

Thank you for your kind replies all. Now the big day has dawned I'm blumin terrified. EEEEK!

[Curlygurly2 Graduate in reply to Krupskaya]

Have you done it? Tell us!

[Krupskaya Graduate in reply to Curlygurly2]

Yay - I DID IT! I was pleasantly surprised - it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Mind you the sweat started running down my face towards the end and I did trot along really slowly (7kph). Plus by minute 12 I was thinking I'd like to stop now. Instaed i ran through the checklist several of you lovely people have suggested - so I checked was I out of breath - no, were my legs hurting - no, so carry on. And I did. Hurrah! I'm so pleased! Really looking forward to starting week 6 on Sunday!