As someone (50 & slightly overweight) who went home after W1R1 thinking I was going to have a cardiac arrest, I have been amazed that I have managed to get this far on the programme.
If I'm honest, although my recovery times are much quicker, it still feels as if after every run my mind is telling me 'well done but you have probably peaked now'.
Week 6 R1 & R2 were probably a humble helpful reminder that just because I ran for 20 minutes the previous week, going back to intervals again was going to be challenging. However, I did them.
Yesterday, I was laid up all day in bed with who knows what. Sweating, coughing and generally feeling sorry for myself.
I was really anxious about this morning. My body was telling me 'stay in bed' but stubbornness was kicking in convincing me that I really didn't want to skip the routine I had established with the programme. I convinced myself that if I could at least do W6R2 again, I could do W6R3 before the weekend.
60 seconds into my run and the gremlins were telling me 'you're not well, give up' but I kept going. 10 minutes later I was feeling comfortable with my pace so extended my run to take in a new area of the park. 20 minutes in and Laura's reassuring voice convinced me I could actually do this. I resisted the urge to increase my pace in the last minute as she suggested - to be honest, just completing the run was the biggest achievement for me!
Today was 4.2km so 5km in 30 minutes is definitely achievable.
Apparently, I'm a runner now - and it feels good!