Just completed week2 this morning but I very nearly didn't go out. I struggle getting out of bed and getting dressed to run... it's easier just to stay in bed I know if I didn't go out though li would be kicking myself. What motivated everyone to get their trainers on and get out the door?
I had to log on this morning and I know some posts on hear would make me feel like i can do it.
I might have to do week 2 again. I really struggles with doing 90 seconds and the 5th and 6th run never mind doing 3 minutes it seems like a very big jump!
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I'm a morning runner. I get my kit ready the night before and just get up and go without thinking. With brighter mornings it gets easier. The post run feeling is great. 🌻🌻
I agree with the post run feeling. This morning after I'd left for was I was in such a good mood. I know I feel good after I've done it but I love my bed!! Lol
Go to bed in your running clothes ! That way you'll be ready to run straight away plus it will be so uncomfortable you won't want to lie around in bed.......
I set a run time and stick with it. I generally run first thing but like to mix it up a bit, i dont want to feel I can only run at certain times of the day. By setting my run time I can eat and hydrate accordingly. Once i get my kit on there is no going back, game on😎
I know what you mean, and it can be hard at times to motivate yourself. The ones that work for me are:
Thinking how I have progressed from Day 1 and going out for another run will help me keep progressing and improving whether it's a good or bad run - not easy to get fit but very easy to lose fitness if you don't keep on top of it. Don't waste your hard work that you've already put in!
Read posts on here before a run if I feel like I am talking myself out of it.
Put together a great playlist or podcast to listen to when I run.
Visualise myself when I have had good runs and recall how I felt after running.
I hope any of the above can be of help but ultimately, run because you can and do it for you!
You have to keep reminding yourself the reason you embarked on the programme in the first place
You have to be s self-starter! We can only do so much. The impetus has to come from you. If you like to lie-in then run later in the day. It doesn't matter when you run.
Running is hard. If it was easy then everyone would do it but the benefits are huge and only you can decide whether it's worth it. The more you run the stronger and fitter you become and so it feels easier but you have to put in the hard graft first.
You've done the hardest bit in starting so a big well done for that, but you need to carry on. Nothing worthwhile is ever claimed easily. The rule of life.
Thanks for your words of wisdom and very true they are too x I need to keep having a word with myself and to remind me why I wanted to start in the first place
Learning to run is way more than just moving your legs quickly. Developing the habit of regular exercise, self motivation and bloody-minded determination is all part of the process that turns you from a couch potato into a runner.
C25K provides a progressive structure that will move you along nicely in the habit creation so long as you put in the effort. The rewards of this programme are wonderful but not gained without that effort and only you can provide that.
Only You can make you do this and only You will stop you from doing this. Keep running, keep smiling.
This is really helpful for me, a complete newbie. I hadn't thought of it this way - that I'm also learning how to motivate myself and developing a new habit. It's empowering to think of motivation as something I can learn, not just something I've either got or I haven't got.
I get up and put my trainers on when the alarm goes off, regardless how much my muscles are screaming at me not because:
- I can. I can run and jump and lift and many people can't and one day I may not be able to so I'm sure as hell going to do it now.
- I want to be the best me I can be, and even if I am not there yet I can at least act like the person I want to be.
- I have learned that the only sure route to succss is consistency. It may take me longer to get there, it may seem like a long slog, but if I am consistent and persevere I will succeed. If I switch the alarm off and roll over, I will not.
- It's a beautiful day and I am a beautiful person and it's time to go do beautiful stuff.
I run in the mornings too as it fits in better with me, and there are less distractions, or likely excuses. It is hard getting up. The alternative to exercise is always much easier.
But I get out, do my time and when I get to work that morning I feel great, like it doesn't matter what the day holds as I've done my run for the day. If I could bottle that feeling I would, but the only way I get that feeling is to get up and run.
I did W3R1 on Sunday. I was also apprehensive, but I have to say I found it less tiring than the W2 runs. The whole run seemed to be over so much sooner.
Just remember that whilst there are less intervals, essentially you are running for the same amount of time (9 minutes) overall.
I am just starting Week 6 and never thought I would get this far. I struggled to run for 1 minute in week 1. It does get easier if you stick to the programme. I usually run in the morning and the motivation has come from knowing how much better I feel emotionally and physically. I am now really looking forward to my next run (and never thought I would say that). It's still tough some days but the support here is great and I talk to myself when out running too :-). Good luck. You will do it x
Thank you. Its good to know we were all in this position at the beginning. I had to start walking before my 60 seconds were up in week 1 now I am managing 90 seconds just about lol so there is improvement there.
"When you feel like quitting, remember why you started". Every time I feel like shirking I imagine explaining to my W1R1 self that I can't be bothered, and know that she would scream her head off at me and chase me down the road in my jammies with a very big stick. You have made the first step, you have done the first two weeks. Once you've got your gear on and gone outside, the battle is usually over - the most difficult part of any run is getting out of the door. Then promise yourself that you 'just' have to do "THIS" run. And do that for each run. Buy yourself some stars or hearts and stick them on your C25K plan that you put on the fridge door - I motivate myself that way (mental age of 3 but hey, it works). Each run down is one closer to the end - and telling your W1R1 self that you did it. Now put your trainers on and go for it.
Part of my motivation was and still is trying to loose weight. I have a particularly awful photo of me in a dress on holiday looking like a tangerine eek! When I was working through the programme if I felt like I couldn't be bothered or if I wanted to stop or give up I'd try to visualise that photo and tell myself that I wasn't going to be that girl again and I got the determination to push through. As the weeks went by and I felt stronger and leaner and fitter that itself then became the motivation plus focusing on how I would feel at the end of a run having achieved something new! Go on you can do it!
Don't give up hun, keep persevering, you have done so well to get here. I have to say though I have felt like you many a time before as we all have at some point but you just have to say to yourself " come on, get my butt out of bed and get out there, it's a beautiful day". I too get home from work and get changed straight away, even if I don't go out straight away. For me it's easier to run in the morning, I suspect because I haven't been using my legs all day! Just keep on going and if it seems to get harder on any particular run, slow down. Tell yourself you can do it - all of us can do it if we put our minds to it - as others have already said, just be bloody minded. Whenever you need any inspiration, do come back on here - I find everyone so lovely and supportive it really spurs me on and there is so much sage advice from these amazing people. Good luck hun, we're behind you all the way x
All of us have felt exactly the same, in fact I had to push myself out of bed this morning to go for my run. It does get easier but there will still be days where you have to really convince yourself it is a good idea to go out. You will definitely be able to run for 3 minutes. Don't look at upcoming runs as our minds can convince we can't do it & remember to take it slowly. You CAN do this , after all you have just completed 6 runs. Go you! 😁
I struggled with motivation as well BUT when I started the program in mid November I picked a 5K that was 9 weeks away. So I knew I had to get out there or I would never finish the 5k. I never actually ran the 5K bc my husband never had a Saturday off and we have 4 kids BUT I did graduate and I still run. Just last week I ran 3.5 miles and that is the farthest I've ever run in my life.
I can remember very early in the program we had to run 3 minutes and I swore my husband had selected the wrong week and made us go 5. I was dying. Now I can run 52 minutes uninterrupted.
My experience is the longer runs do get easier. The weeks where you walk and run so many times over and over tired me out.
And lastly I HATE running. The actually running part is hard. But the after feeling is unbeatable. I like to go in the morning bc I feel proud and accomplished all day and it's not hanging over my head.
You got this. You will NEVER regret it and you will simply AMAZE yourself. .
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I know if I didn't go out though li would be kicking myself. What motivated everyone to get their trainers on and get out the door? 
it seems like a very big jump!
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