Completed Run 2 today, wow it's a hard first 10 minutes! Ran the other way around my loop which meant the welcome downward slopes became the incredibly hard hills (they're not really... just gentle inclines) but they seemed tough. 14 minutes in and I was slugging my way up the second one, sun came out just to spite me and I thought about giving up going over the bridge. Then I thought, what's the worst that can happen? You could collapse but there's plenty of cars passing on the next side to take you to hospital! I get some strange thoughts to keep myself from stopping lol. Safe in that knowledge I continued on for the next few minutes puffing and sounding like ..well I don't know what as I tried to gasp for breath. There didn't seem to be enough oxygen on the entire planet to get me through. Laura was strangely silent and I was willing her to tell me I'd run for 20 minutes when I had a surprise to hear her say there was only 5 minutes left. That really gave me a boost and I managed to finish the run with quite an easy pace as my breathing settled. In hindsight if she had told me I had to run for 30 minutes I think I could have done it. My time is still 8 minutes 20 ish seconds per km but that's 20 seconds less than a week ago. Bring it on Run 3 
Week 8 arrghh mental challenge: Completed Run... - Couch to 5K
Week 8 arrghh mental challenge
Well done! Just keep plugging away and you'll get there. Go slower if you're finding it hard going and are puffing and panting a lot.
You've not got far to go now. Week 6 was the hardest and you got through that. You can do it!
Thank you :))
Don't worry about the speed. How fast you are/km doesn't need to bother you until you have graduated (and even then I wouldn't worry about it too much!). If you need to, slow down to make sure you complete the time. You're doing great!
Thank you :))
Do not underestimate those gentle inclines.. they are sneaky!!!
Well done you! Well on the way!
Try maybe not to focus on speed too much at this point. You have time after Graduation, to focus on that and distance, if you choose. Just travel this part of the journey in a slow and steady way.. you are still challenging yourself
PS
Made me giggle about the reference to hospital aid... i think loads of us have those thoughts...
We both are at the same point I finished my week 8 run 2 today. Not too far from graduation... Let's do it
Congrats :)) Aiming to get my grad run done on 5th May. Let me know how you get on! We'll cheer each other 
6th May it is aiming to get the 5k in 30 minutes. Let's see how that goes
Me too. I did W8R1 yesterday. Went through the same mental sticky bit that OP did but also didn't give up
We'll just grit our teeth and get there! :))
Great stuff Xyreina..☺ you have probably read on this forum that the first 10 mins of ANY run is when your body is getting the signal that you need to take more oxygen into your whole bloodstream to cope with the exertion. This is the tough bit of a run, so be kind to yourself and take it very steady. Once you are oxygenated your breathing should settle and the rest of the run feel more comfortable..
Once you realise that you can push through that tricky bit and accept you are not going to ' conk out'... you may even find the running 'zone'..😊
Keep going...graduation week soon.
Keep smiling.x
Thank you. Glad to know it's normal that first 10 mins! That really helps
Whole new perspective when you reverse your route
Definitely!
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Week 8
Bye Bye week 5 HELLO week 6!
Week 8 Run 2
Week 8 run 3 completed
Bring on Week 8 !!!
Week 8 Gremlins
Week 5 Run 3 - done and dusted!
I ran 8 minutes TWICE (!!!) 
