W6R1: How did you find it?

[matt9210]

Hey guys,

I finished the first run of week 6 about an hour ago.

The podcast says at the end that it's common for people to find this run harder even after W5R3 aka 20 minute run.

I could have carried on with the 20 minute run, but with today's I got back, started to cook, and just lay on the floor whilst my food cooked I personally think that for me, it's because the podcast voice, Laura, always says "go steady, don't go too fast", so that's exactly what I did - focused on getting those runs done rather than focusing on pace.

But that 20 minute run gave me the confidence to up my pace, and boy did it kill me, aha. I finished all the runs so I'll be progressing, and I maintained a faster pace for the first 5 minute run and 8 minute run. But slowed it down on the final 5 minute run.

How did you guys find it? If you found it harder, similar or easier than week 5, why do you think that is?

[gary_bart]

My W6R1 run was a bit of a mess (I posted a description). The short version is I had to start all over again after the initial 5 km. Overall, I'd say I took it a bit easier than I have been doing lately, and it was no problem.

Week 5, Run 1, 4th iteration (I think) was another matter. I really pushed myself, and had nothing left in the legs for about half of the last run (which I slowed down to probably slower than walking pace). The run itself was more pain than pleasure, the walk back was hard (where usually it's a nice unwinding, even when I give it a bit of a push), and I stayed tired for quite a while afterwards.

So to put that all together, it looks a bit like pushing things is the killer, rather than the time spent on the road, or the current hurdle being crossed. The physics of that makes sense, because kinetic energy changes with the square of the velocity (meaning that increasing speed produces an exponential, ballooning increase in effort). The time/ distance gained might tell you you only did a little bit of extra work, but in fact you've done far more than that.

[Anaverageman Graduate]

Personally i had a disastrous wk 5 r 3 ( was worst of whole process for me) so 6:1 and6:2 ( which many others hated) came as blissful relief to me...

[kmcxo]

For some reason I found Week 6 Run 1 better. I listened to music on that run and I think it helped me keep pace and stop my looking at the watch Up until that run I hadn't listened to anything while running and as the runs got longer I realised I spent more time thinking about how long the run was taking, now it's good I have something to distract me

I did notice my Week 5 Run 3 was faster than my Week 6 Run 1 but I assume that's because I had some walking in between runs

[Idolitorus Graduate]

Funnily, the same for me - not the laying down on the floor bit but the 20 min run seemed 'easier' in a way.

I think even though I was conscious of pacing, I was probably a little over confident and went a little faster than usual. The first 5 minutes was ok but hard work. The 8 mins was a little slower and felt a little better, so I kept it slow for the last 5. Surely the walking breaks shoul d have made it easier but I still preferred the 20 minute run.....