W5R3

[Feliiicia]

I somehow made it through the entire 20 minutes!! There were several times when I put my arms down and prepared to stop but somehow kept going until eventually I stopped mentally bargaining with myself with 'just a little further and I can stop' and focused instead on what was for dinner.

Before I knew it Laura was announcing 15 minutes. To my surprise my lungs and legs were still intact and the surprise of it all carried me through the final 5. Many thanks to the folks who voiced their encouragement after my disheartening week 5 run 2. I think it definitely helped!

[simonwilliamstutor Graduate]

Brilliant! Well done!

You're training your mind to believe you can do it as well as training your body!

[Ullyrunner Graduate]

Hooray! Well done - it's a great feeling isn't it!

[JoolieB1 Graduate]

U r an athlete! Fantastic run, so pleased for u, u will be able to do week 6 too now and then beyond? Relaxing your arms and shoulders allows u to breathe more deeply - top tip from a running club coach - so you did the right thing dropping ur arms LOL. WEEK 6, still challenging so hold back getting super confident, just keep plodding and you will do it, exciting times!

[Hidden]

Aha ! See, you can do it...very well done

[ViaM Graduate]

Thinking what's for dinner got me through the whole program so that's an amazing distraction technique, you have cracked this running malarkey

[Hidden]

Well done l knew you could do it

[Viraniparvez Graduate]

GREAT TO HEAR THAT

keep going

pv

[AvatheGardener Graduate]

Wonderful , wonderful feeling and a great achievement- well done 😀

Watch out for W6R1, which should be much easier- but for a lot of people, is not 😀

[ashishkulkarni Graduate]

W5R3 is a turning point. Until then, you only do a maximum of 8 minutes.

And then BAM - 20 minutes!

It is as much a mental battle as it is a physical one. And it is there for a reason as subsequent long runs will seem like you are only adding 2 minutes here and 3 minutes there.

Well done on getting past it. This is a huge step for subsequent long runs!

I had to repeat week 5 due to W5R3. I was going too fast - if you can call 6.2 km/h fast. I slowed down to just beyond my walking pace to 5.3 km/h. I did all my runs on treadmill so such fine tuning was possible.

Before you know it, you will be now doing W9R3!

Just remember what worked. And keep doing that.

Good luck!