W3R1 done!

[ashishkulkarni]

At one point I thought my heart was going to explode out of my chest. But I managed the two 3-minute runs.

That's W3R1 done

[Diane57 Graduate]

Well done,bet you feel great x

[Lotty41 Graduate]

Well done 😃 the main thing is you did it 🎉

[JoolieB1 Graduate]

Maybe slow a little and breathe deeply too so u can get through to the end without suffering too much.

[Rhedwr Graduate]

But you've done it now, and it'll never be that tough again. Well done 😊

[ashishkulkarni Graduate]

The one thing I keep thinking is if I give up now, this will always come back to haunt me and I will never get beyond that number

[gary_bart]

Bravely done, but you might need to start working on developing the slower than slow pace you sometimes need to just give yourself a bit of a "running break" from the exertion. We don't want you to go bursting your heart over this, you hear? You'll get a good scolding from a lot of people if you do that.

[ashishkulkarni Graduate in reply to gary_bart]

Thanks Gary.

I hear you.

I will reduce my running speed from 7.5 to 7 for my next runs...and walking down from 5 to 4.5.

Fingers crossed

[gary_bart in reply to ashishkulkarni]

Ah! You have instruments you can refer to while on the move? Yes, that could be a very handy way of doing it. The idea would then be to try to create yourself a series of discrete "named speeds", each of which does a particular job (and eventually you might even have one labelled "flat out" that you use at times). So maybe for now, 7.5 could be "slow", and 7.0 could be "slower slow". And then maybe you could finesse that a bit, and bring "slower slow" down to 6.7, and lift "slow" up to 7.6.

I know when I started I had just one speed, and it was clumsy and awkward. I then built up a quicker version of "slow", and was probably overdoing the attempt to add faster speeds. But then at some point I somehow managed to add a super-slow speed every bit as slow as my initial clumsy accident-looking-for-a-place-to-happen gait of early times, but nice and balanced. From then on, I was always able to finish a run, because if worst came to worst, slowest-slow was a pace I could keep going at for a very long time, and a pace at which I could get my breath back without stopping running.

In fact had I known then what I know now from participating in this forum, I would probably have been better off to just follow the whole c25k as gently and slowly as possible (no messing with "fast-slow" speeds), and to have run either slowly or slower than extremely slowly.

I don't think you need to reduce your speed throughout a run, though, unless it's causing discomfort or risks chucking the baby out with the bathwater. Maybe set out at "slowest-slow", build up to "slow", try to sustain that as long as it makes sense to, and only fall back to "slowest-slow" again if you're hitting too much resistance. That way you get the best of both worlds. This is roughly what I try to do on the spinning cycle now. I set out at a nice, manageable speed, and then as soon as I'm comfortable, I make myself a bit uncomfortable, and try to fight that a bit. However, I let myself off the hook before there's any sign of harm approaching, and if it gets too tough, I'll even do a minute or so of slower than slowest slow. There's a balance to strike. Too little challenge, and there's no gain; too much, and the gains are not worth the pain.

[ashishkulkarni Graduate in reply to gary_bart]

Thanks Gary.

Yes, I am a bit instrument mad. I use mywellness.com to manage my C25K programmes which then feed into my gym treadmill.

I take on board your advise.

[PastorT2 Graduate]

well done Ash,

I also use mywellness.com which post my results to Facebook.

I really do think the nHS couch to 5K is the best beginners training programme in the world. stick with it and in just a few more weeks you will be running 30mins straight.

[ashishkulkarni Graduate in reply to PastorT2]

Thanks PastorT2

[rich_wolves Graduate]

Hey, I remember it well. Only a few weeks ago for me . You'll be amazed how quickly you build up fitness but you might actually think you aren't progressing at all, but you definitely will be!

[ashishkulkarni Graduate in reply to rich_wolves]

Thanks Rich

[JennieHolden]

Nice one Ash xx

[ashishkulkarni Graduate in reply to JennieHolden]

Thanks Jennie xx

[Hidden]

Well done. I am a big fan of Lauras hedge analogy. Helps me to keep pace and not run too fast. Slow and steadyx

[simonwilliamstutor Graduate]

I did W3R1 this morning and the 2nd 3-minute run was a bit lung busting! I don't seem to feel any tiredness in my legs... it all seems to be in my lungs!

I was obviously quite a bit slower than week 2 as I didn't do anything like the distance that I was doing in week 2 (I ran virtually the same route).

But I managed it and didn't feel shattered afterwards so hopefully I can speed up the first 3 runs and get a bit further in W3R2 and W3R3.

[ashishkulkarni Graduate in reply to simonwilliamstutor]

Well done on getting to week 3.

Yes, I did feel that lung busting feeling. I felt that my heart was going to explode out of my chest. However, the legs were fine.

I would recommend keeping the speed low. That will give those lungs and that heart time to adjust.

I have a FitBit Surge which helps me keep track of individual sessions. And reducing speed helped lower the overall heart rate for the session.

Ideally you want no peaks and troughs of heart rate. But until your heart and lungs can get there, it's best to keep the speed down.

You should run at a speed where you are able to hold a conversation. I did. I was trying to talk to myself