W5R3 - Can't believe I enjoyed it

[onward]

Like most reaching this point in the program I'd been dreading W5R3 and its jump to 20 minutes. The program had allowed me to progress as scheduled so far, but I wasn't entirely convinced that it had me prepared for this big jump. And then the first couple of minutes seemed unusually awful, really tiring, and I worried that I wouldn't even be able to do the eight minutes I'd done twice a few days earlier.

It being Saturday, there were a lot of more experienced runners and joggers at the park and I suspect I may have been pushing my pace a bit too hard. So I slowed up just a bit. When Laura said I'd run for five, I wasn't sure I could go much farther, but was determined not to quit at less than eight minutes. Then Laura unexpectedly said I'd run for 10, and as I now felt less tired than during the first couple of minutes of the run, I told myself that the next ten would be easier than the first ten. And that turned out to be right. At about eleven minutes, I began to feel strangely refreshed. At 15 minutes, I was quite sure I could finish 20 minutes even picking up the pace a bit.

I have been doing my runs on paths around a lake, 1.6 miles around. By the last two minutes I could see my start point coming up ahead so I pushed even harder as I wanted to be able to say I'd now been able to jog all the way around the lake. Blew past the start and went several dozen more yards before Laura told me 20 minutes were up. And I felt really great at the end of the run, physically not particularly tired.

When I started this program as an out of shape 65 year old, I was dubious that it would actually work. It does! If you are dreading W5R3, keep at it. If I can do it, you can (and I did!)

[Hidden]

superb , well done

[onward Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Thanks, Rob

[JennieHolden]

Omg well done brilliant xx big hugs

I do mine on Monday

[onward Graduate in reply to JennieHolden]

I'll be looking forward to hearing of your success with it.

[gary_bart]

It's a great run, isn't it? You walk away from it knowing confidently for the first time that you really are going to make it to 30 minutes, just by continuing to build as you have. Up until then, somewhere at the back of one's mind is the feeling that there might be some point at which it all becomes a bit too much, but after this run, you start to look forward much more positively. Great that you managed to finish it in such style, too.

[onward Graduate in reply to gary_bart]

Yes, it is. Maybe that's why it is where it is in the program, a real confidence builder.

[AvatheGardener Graduate in reply to gary_bart]

G_B- How beautifully expressed!

[Lotty41 Graduate]

Well done 😊

[onward Graduate in reply to Lotty41]

Thanks, Lottie

[JoolieB1 Graduate]

You did it alright! Once you can run for 20 minutes, you can do ANYTHING!!! Once you have a good pace and you breathe well, as long as you keep going like this, who knows what you might do. I found week 6 was still a challenge, so take it easy and take rest days. Excited to hear your week 6 news! Julie

[onward Graduate in reply to JoolieB1]

Thanks, joolie, I will rest tomorrow and start week 6 Monday. Will try to avoid getting overconfident, I've seen other posts here also saying week 6 surprisingly hard despite getting past week 5.

[JoolieB1 Graduate in reply to onward]

You can definitely do it, I managed it, just one run at a time 😀

[RunningForBroke Graduate]

That is wonderful!!!! Congratulations to you!

[Hidden]

That's great to hear, very well done. Good to hear that, dare I say it, you actually enjoyed it ? Apart from actually starting the programme its a real running achievement.

[AvatheGardener Graduate]

How fantastic- well done you! I really enjoyed reading your post, describing how your emotions played out through your run. You really deserve to enjoy that feeling of achievement- and the confidence it will give you to tackle all the coming runs. For W6R1 I would recommend going slow... And then sliding down some more... And only speeding up if Laura says there's a minute left, and you feel as though you have a lot left in the tank. On paper it looks easy but don't be fooled by that! However you can definitely do it 😀 well done you!