Wish there was a week 3.5!!

[The_Mighty_Webb]

Wow week four is tricky. I was doing week 4 before Christmas with no problem but then hurt my knee. I repeated week 3 last week after a couple of weeks rest and have just done the first run of week 4 again. Really struggled with the last run and had to walk the last minute of it. It won't stop me but it is annoying that I seem to have lost some fitness. Keep up the good work everyone

[McFitty Graduate]

Week 4 can be a bu**er! I repeated week 3 before moving onto it and think I did 4 x run4 to complete the week. It's frustrating when you feel you have lost some of what you gained but every run is a run and all the benefits are being banked. You'll be back on track before you know it. Maybe we could petition Laura for a 'week 3.5', 😊 Good luck with the next one...

[RainbowC Graduate]

I found the step up from week 3 to 4 to be too much for my knee, and it got very painful. So after a few weeks off, I went back to the start, did each of the first three weeks twice, then did two or three intermediate weeks before moving on to 4 properly. The first 'Week 3+' I ran an extra 30 seconds at the end of each run interval, so shortened the walks. Then 'Week 4-' I ran most of each run interval, but walked a bit before the end of each. When I finally got to the real Week 4 it all went fine, and my knee held up without any problem. So I'd say dont' be afraid to have several goes through of the week, building up more gradually if you need to.

[melly4012 Graduate]

Everyone worries about W5R3 but the jump between Week 3 and 4 is actually the biggest in the programme! Perhaps do one or two more W3 runs first just to build your fitness and confidence up again? If you hadn't had a injury break I'd say just keep pushing at W4R1 until you manage it but injury (plus Christmas) can throw everything out a little bit. Also, not managing a run can sometimes let those gremlins in where they're not welcome. Just think - once you have managed this jump you'll have completed the biggest running increase from one week to the next in the programme! Your fitness will recover faster than it it took to build it in the first place so just take a few runs more to remind yourself and your body of the whole running thing and I'm sure you'll be fine.

[The_Mighty_Webb Graduate in reply to melly4012]

Thanks. I have done the w3 runs a couple of times and breezed through them and I was at the end of w4 when I hurt my knee. I guess the most annoying thing is that I am now struggling to do what I could do only a few weeks ago. I'll keep at it and hopefully it wont take long to re-establish my level of fitness

[melly4012 Graduate in reply to The_Mighty_Webb]

Ahhh even better, you've done it once before so you know you can do it again! Go easy on yourself seeing as you're only just recovering. The fitness will build again and you'll be at Week 4 and beyond before you know it.

[runswithdogs Graduate in reply to The_Mighty_Webb]

It won't take long at all to rebuild fitness. Just a bump in the road, many of us have had to return to the program's early weeks a few times due to injury, a break in running, etc.