W6R2 - Phew!

[yamiskoi]

I'm not going to lie - this run was hard.

I felt fairly confident as I left the house this morning and heard I'd be running 2x10 minutes, with a 3 minute rest in-between. "I've done 20 minutes with no break," I thought to myself.

Mercifully, I had no interruptions during this run. I felt that the first run was fine, although I was flagging a little bit towards the end. Then the final 3-4 minutes of the final run was Hellish. I had a stitch, my legs were refusing to cooperate, and the wind was doing its utmost to drive me back.

Slowing to a walk crossed my mind more than once. The thought kept creeping into my mind. I managed to fight it off by repeating "I can do this, I can do this..." in my head. When Laura told me I only had 1 minute left, my stitch became a big issue. I kept going, hand clutching the affected side in the hopes it would ease off a little. It didn't, but in what felt like no time at all I was instructed to slow down to a walk, which I did.

I've so far tracked 2 runs using Runkeeper, and like others it's really nice to see what distance I covered and my average speed. I'm not really bothered how slowly or how quickly I do a run - I can worry about speeding up once I'm comfortable running constantly for 30 minutes! - but it's just nice to see.

Speaking of running constantly for long periods of time, I've gone and signed myself up to two 5K runs in the UK. One is for the British Heart Foundation on 26th March in Regent's Park, and the other is the Race for Life in Southend on 8th May. I'm excited for both of them of course, but the BHF run will be shortly after graduation. Although it probably won't be the first run after graduation, I think it ought to count as my graduation run, as it will be somewhere different as well as raising money for a good cause.

Anyway, despite week 6 throwing it's fair share of problems my way, I'm looking forward to the 25-minuter which I'll be running on Tuesday in the woods at Keele University. Again, it'll be something different and quite fun.

Has anyone else signed up to either of these runs? =] Hope you're all having wonderful Sundays!

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Sounds pretty hectic...well done you!

You have certainly got your running future mapped out for a while.. and, you won't be too far away from me on Tuesday!

I will be doing the Race for Life in June at the Trentham Estate, and although I do not worry at all about speed, I hope I am moving a tad faster than I am currently

Did my first Stamina this morning.. it was different! Post follows

[yamiskoi Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

Oooh, I can't wait for your post!! =] I'm actually originally from 'that neck of the woods, duck'. It's so nice knowing that there's a little network of runners out there =] I bet running around the Trentham Estate will be lovely, it's so beautiful! A far cry from how it used to be, of course, but the gardens are nice.

[Sandraj39 Graduate]

Sounds like you are doing really well! If it's any consolation, I remember that I found it hard going back to run/walk intervals after the 20min run! Stick with it, you are now moving towards building that solid running up to 30mins! Think your 5K runs sound great and wish you loads of luck for them🙂

[yamiskoi Graduate in reply to Sandraj39]

Thanks, Sandra! It's really interesting how this does seem to be a commonly 'difficult' week. Thinking back to the first few weeks of the programme though, I would be so irritated having those pesky brisk walk interruptions all the time, and hopefully I'll feel the same about the runs to come from now on =]

[no-excuse Graduate]

You are doing really well and how exciting to have your 5K runs to look forward to. Enjoy! x

[PumpKim Graduate]

Well done on completing it. It's tough with a stitch. I found Laura's tip of having water before a run seems to have helped. I only have a very small glass of water though. Don't want it to be sloshing about in my tummy!

Good luck with run 3. Looking forward to the report x

[yamiskoi Graduate in reply to PumpKim]

I know what you mean, that sloshy feeling is awful!! It may be self-caused as I had eaten breakfast before I went out for the run, I can't function on an empty stomach. I'd only had some toast and an avocado, but maybe that was enough to give me a stitch? Ehh, I don't know, there's a reason I'm not a scientist =]

[Bluebirdrunner Graduate]

Great perseverance (sic?) today.

Hope your next run goes well, sounds like it will be a lovely route.

Good luck. 🏃

[Hidden]

Well Done you week 6 can catch you out after the euphoria of week 5 and the 20 min run , glad you completed it

The BHF sounds a great way to graduate :)a great goal to aim for

[f1roro]

Well done! You dug in and got it done - bet you felt great when you finished

I'm signed up for a 5K on 20 March (Warwick Castle) which is also close on the heels of graduation - hoping I don't hit any blips in the programme that delay my progress!

Have also just started tracking my runs (so far only the two long ones) and find it very satisfying knowing my 'stats', even though I'm not that bothered what they actually are for now.

Onwards

[yamiskoi Graduate in reply to f1roro]

Yeah, to be honest, I still feel ao new to this that I don't mind what my stats are, as I don't feel experienced enough to know what 'good stats' would look like! But I imagine I'll enjoy seeing the numbers change as the weeks go by

[CMisk]

Its a funny thing this isn't it? You would think two ten minute runs with a break would be easier than 20 minutes without. But we do seem to differ from one day to the next. I've downloaded Runkeeper but not used it yet. My daughter-in-law uses Map my run - I don't know if one is any better than the other. Good luck with your 25 minutes!!! Enjoy your half term. I used to teach - now retired - eternal holiday!!!

[yamiskoi Graduate in reply to CMisk]

Ahh, so many teachers seem to be in this forum!! I hope you're enjoying your retirement away from observations and such. Anyway I quite like runkeeper but haven't tried any others, for now I'll just stick with it