Slow down and breathe

[Carolinemcd]

I'm not sure that can be said enough really!

Hi everyone, I'm new and this is my first post, having lurked for a little while. I tackled W4R1 last night and won, having thought that there was NO WAY I would manage 5 minutes of running in one stretch. The thought of only having little walk breaks was pretty frightening too.

I was stuck on week 2 for about 3 months having this awful self doubt hanging over my head like a black cloud. That was until I found this little forum Such amazing advise that I really wanted to just confirm that it works, and I know first hand cause it worked for me last night.

[misswobble Graduate]

Hello 🙂 It's true. Slower the better. We keep saying it but i think sometimes folks don't believe us 😀

Give up on the self doubt, leave it at home next time you run 🙂 Enjoy the sessions! The exhilaration from conquering a session is fantastic. Keep going! You can tell us all about it when you get back 😀

[Carolinemcd Graduate in reply to misswobble]

I must confess that I did shed a tear or two when I got the end of the second 5 minute stint. But they were happy tears!

[misswobble Graduate in reply to Carolinemcd]

I bet they were! It's such a flamin relief to get to the end 😀 It used to make me giggle. I think it was hysteria 😁

[AnneDroid Graduate in reply to misswobble]

Me too!

[Tomas Graduate]

Oh it's wonderful to hear that you overcame your fear. It's a wonderful feeling, isn't it? And now that you know you could do this, that'll give you the gumption to carry on and on and on... ain't no holding you back now

And yes. Slow keeps you running for longer, and running for longer gets you to the finish line faster. So slow and steady is good.

[Carolinemcd Graduate in reply to Tomas]

Thank you! I was so focused on the speed and not getting to the end of the time that I got into a real hole, but thankfully I got out of that by reading the forum and advise

[melly4012 Graduate]

Welcome and well done for getting to Week 4! You're doing all the right things so stick with it and it'll be Week 9 before you know it! Completely agree, this forum is amazing. Keep us informed with how you're getting on.

[Carolinemcd Graduate in reply to melly4012]

Thank you!

[Bluebirdrunner Graduate]

Hi Caroline..yes it works😊 and its amazing how your confidence grows...

Slow and steady..Well done on your first Week 4 run...you can do this..

Good luck with R2 😊x

[Carolinemcd Graduate in reply to Bluebirdrunner]

Thank you. I'm looking forward to it

[JojoButter Graduate]

Good on you for getting through your run. 😊 I could walk faster than I sometimes run.

Sending good, slow vibes for the rest of your runs.

[Carolinemcd Graduate in reply to JojoButter]

Yes I did laugh at how slow I was going but letting go of the speed really did feel liberating

[Bigfatsal Graduate]

Yay! Go you. I am at exactly the same point as you, and I was terrified I wouldn't manage week 4. All the lovely people on here who answered my post said I could do it if I kept it slow, I did and it worked, such a thrill! Well done to you too

[Carolinemcd Graduate in reply to Bigfatsal]

And well done to you too! It's such a thrill to move on to the next stage. I'm loving it