in a loop - weeks 5 to 7

I went on holiday in August being in the middle of week 7 and feeling great. a week off running (I was in Edinburgh and far too hilly for me to run!) and I thought I should drip back to week 6 and pick it up again from there. since then, I seem to be having such a mental and physical battle. I just did not seem to get close to running more than 10 mins.

so...I've had another weeks break (work pressures and dark nights) and realised I need to do something different. I have a local restaurant that is 2.4km away from my house, all flat, ideal as a return route, and it took me 55 minutes as a return walking trip yesterday.

I put on some heavy metal rock music, and set out without Laura, and a decision to jog for as long as I felt I could, aiming for distance rather than time. I completely surprised myself by jogging all the way to the pub, and a little part of the return route too, 17.5 mins in total. I also added in a little jogging close to the end.

the plan now is to extend the jogging time until I can do the full return trip, and also to reduce how long it takes me, so that increases my pace. total time today was 50 mins, so there's my next challenge.

does anyone else have any other ideas of how I can get past this week 7 barrier please?

[Millsie-J Graduate]

why not use the same route, pick up W5 r3.........just 3 mins longer than you ran this time round, and then get back on the programme?

[Hidden in reply to Millsie-J]

Thanks will give it a go

[SleepySloth Graduate]

I found Week 7 really hard. What you're planning on doing was what helped me - increasing the distance with each run until I could do 25 mins. Personally, I'm not worrying about my speed, I plan to work on that once I've graduated! Keep at it and you'll there sooner than you think!

[lightweightkate Graduate]

I found W7 difficult and had a practise run or two 😂 Why not try going to W6 R3 and then move onto W7 - I didn't give up on laura until W8 and I've gone back to her now - maybe try her again - she does seem to know when to kick in with some encouragement - Good luck and keep posting 😀

[Hidden in reply to lightweightkate]

Thanks, that's what I tried but will give it another go. I like Laura as a companion and will pick up with her again when I get to week 8 😊