W3R1

[KatBell]

Hi All

Just reading all your posts about week 3. I did my first round last night and found the worst thing about it was the mental worry beforehand of upping running time by double (I am a serious over thinker!) - that said it wasn't too bad...I have to learn not to be scared about being out of breath...does anyone out there have any mental encouragement they give themselves when you start to feel really out of breath (apart from the motivation of lovely Laura urging you on!) - otherwise my head starts to play tricks on me and tries to defeat me! Well done to everyone who has completed week 3 and good luck to everyone else who is progressing through it

[misswobble Graduate]

Don't overthink it. It's simple. One foot in front of the other and do what Laura says. Go home. Job done. Go slow and you'll have enough puff to get round

Just run the run immediately in front of you. Keep it simple

Good luck. You'll be fine. Enjoy yourself. This is fun!

[Shivani05 Graduate]

I don't have any tricks for when you start to get out of breath, but I do have one for BEFORE you start running. I started doing this in week 5, sometimes for a full day before the run: instead of thinking "how will I run x minutes today/tomorrow", I tell myself "I'm going to run for x minutes today/tomorrow". I'm a serious overthinker too, and let me tell you, it worked wonders in W5. Runs 1 and 2 were so good for me, and even though Run 3 was a little harder I never once thought I'd need to give up.

Other than that, just the basic principle of the program: slow and steady. Good luck!

[hannah141 Graduate]

Another vote for slow and steady! If you're really struggling, just take it down a notch. I'm at a similar stage to you and also have the mind gremlins at play. Don't let them win! Another thing I've found interesting is how I sometimes confuse the concept of effort, which is doable, hard work, but manageable, with ohmygoodnessImoutofbreathandrunningIcan'tdothis! I find that when I really think about it, I'm not REALLY struggling, just putting in a lot of effort. Which is no bad thing. Good luck for your next run and let us know how you get on!