W5R1 Lost without Laura😮

[Bonkersbrit]

Well I'm just in from W5R1 and even though I never thought I'd say this, the running was the least of my worries this morning. It was the first time I have really battled with the weather, it's 2 degrees here and forecast to stay same all day so I couldn't pick a better time to go, drizzly wet but not exactly raining and a bitterly cold northerly wind bringing air straight from the icebergs north of me. So, my first problem was temperature, to be warm during first five minutes I dressed up but knew I'd be too hot once I was running. It was all going ok, still not sure if you would call it enjoying but certainly enduring the run segments. During walk before last run, podcast suddenly went silent 😮Retrieved phone, pressed play and it restarted at beginning 😮, Fast forward it to about right place, starting to panic as I am cooling down really fast with the weather, still walking but not as fast while I try to sort out podcast. Laura says ok time for your last run, huge relief, I'm off again. Sixty seconds later she says that's it you are done, in total you have run for 8 mins!! In my panic to get back at it, I put on W1! You would not believe how I felt, like kid who's lost their parent, absolutely clueless! Luckily Laura then instructed the W1 runners to walk for five minutes to cool down, so I ran for that time instead. I had turned around half way through so I was then positioned to just walk home. Talk about traumatic, but I will say, that when my mind was on other things, I worried less about whether I could finish the run.

Don't intend to repeat this though!

Forecast for wed is much better so I will be out again then, still see Friday ( 20 mins) as a huge milestone which I would rather have behind me than in front!

[Hidden]

Poor You! Technology often seems to be the biggest problem for me . Now I'm on set lengths of time for runs, I'm just setting my stopwatch and put a music or audiobook on. I don't get lots of fancy stats but at least I know that I wont get 'dropped'. Well done for carrying on despite it all

I might get myself a running watch when I graduate

[Joy57 Graduate]

You will be fine for w5r3, believe me. Lots of us on here dreaded it but the programme really does work, and you will do it. Let us know how you get on.

[SavageMyrtle Graduate]

Yes, I had a couple of those panicky moments, when the podcast glitched out because my poor phone couldn't handle a podcast and Runkeeper at the same time. Once I even got a phone call -- through my new bluetooth earphones -- and I was thrown into a stew. Needless to say I had no intention of answering the call, even if I knew how to (still don't know how to adjust the volume on the earbuds), but the podcast just stopped and I didn't want to stop running and fiddle with it. And that is why I bought myself a running watch. So now my phone is for music or podcasts (and I try to remember to turn on "do not disturb"), and the watch handles the gps and tracking and all that malarkey.

And, on a slightly different note, that "Lost without Laura" feeling will disappear once you've got 30 minutes under your belt and you become more confident in your abilities.

[runswithdogs Graduate]

It's pretty common to overdress when it's chilly. Warm-up walks might be miserable and cold, but most people seem to get cooking once the running starts. Gear with zippered pockets for extra clothing is key, particularly in the winter.