Just got back from this run....I'm starting to feel like a bit of a fraud...yes I've done the run but I am absolutely cream crackered...surely, by now, I should be running like a proper runner? And I ought to actually look like a runner??? Feeling bewildered....
W8r2 : Just got back from this run....I'm... - Couch to 5K
W8r2
MummycavAdministratorGraduate
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Mummycav
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davelinksGraduate
Stop knocking yourself! You are a new runner and will remain so for a while yet, you've done so well getting to w8r2! btw, what is a proper runner?😊
Thanks davelinks, some days I think I'm doing well & then other days, like today I doubt myself.....my definition of a proper runner is one who can run & run without looking like their face & lungs are going to explode....& that's not me!!!
Erm that sounds like a robot you're describing there! Perhaps the duracell* bunny! We are amazing machines, but not robots (or Mo-bots, there's just one of him). You're a runner!
*other brands are available
Also I thought running was supposed to tire you out...otherwise it'd be easy and nothing special. You ran and your lungs did not, in fact, explode, neither did your face I'm sure!
Thanks icklegui...I feel better already!! Perspective...I need to put things into perspective!!! 🙄
But getting to this stage is how you know you're pushing yourself enough to improve right? Staying comfortable means not getting better! So keep at it and don't worry about being knackerd 👍
That's what it's like for a lot of new runners! I was the same, you have to be patient! All though it may feel like it, your not going to explode! but when you feel this try slowing down and breathe well..
You are not only a runner, you are the runner!
We all look different during exercises. I remember very long time ago (before my knee injury) when I was on the course for professional dancer, we had a teacher. He was an excellent dancer, things he could do were beyond my imagination. Yet, even after 10 min of dancing he was red, and soooo sweaty that during every break he was wiping the floor. And he is a short bloke. Still he performed on stage in oneof the biggest (if not the biggest) dance performance of a decade (excluding ballet performances). Looking at him you would say, but he doesn't look like a dancer. But how the dancer (o rrunner) should look like?
So cheer up! You are the runner, you look like a runner (at least during running 
).
You are a proper runner keep going mate you'll crack this 😀
Kimchoc08Graduate
Oh, is there a thing as a proper runner?! God, I hope not as I don't think I'll ever find it!! You're doing marvellously well and should take a huge pat on the back for getting this far!
You sound like a proper runner to me!!
reluctantrunner76Graduate
You are a proper runner. Stop being so silly. I think when it stops hurting is when we stop trying:)!!!
It's all very new still. Give yourself a break and a pat on the back. You just ran for28 minutes; of course you are tired! Come on, where is your usual positivity 🏃♀️💪👟
SC1472Graduate
Getting to graduation is really just the beginning of your running career, and you are doing fantastic to get where you are. Does it get easier? Sometimes it does but sometimes not although if you look at the stats for the runs that were a struggle you may find that you were running faster/longer. Don't feel a fraud and enjoy the last few pre-grad runs you fellow runner!
lardofaleGraduate
You're a proper runner the moment you pull the strides up and do the laces up on the trainers! The feeling knackered, puffing, sweaty, what the hell am I doing this for, I must be mad etc stuff is all part of the fun! Keep going, you're almost there, fantastic stuff ;0)
You are being too hard on yourself. This idea of a "proper runner" I think will trip you up. You are just someone who runs. We all are. And you have good days and rough days like everyone else. I'm sure the seasoned runners would tell you there are many factors that go into a great or difficult run: your pace (ie: too hard a pace and you will burn out early), how much sleep you had, the temp outdoors that day etc., etc. You have progressed and you will continue to progress. 'Slow and steady' as Floss says. And be kind to yourself! 😀
OldflossAdministratorGraduate
As davelinks says...you are a new runner... and although our running legs are getting there, sometimes the rest of us lags behind a bit... do NOT despair..because... you are a runner
You are a proper runner too... many, many of us, much further along this running path get red faces, tired legs, achy bit and we puff and pant!!
" If you run with us... do we not sweat ?"
Juts, be kind to yourself...know how far you have come, and relax... rest up...then when you head out and just enjoy the next run.. slow and steady... and take time to look around as ou get closer and closer to the podium.
Polly2810Graduate
We can't expect to be running like experts just yet mummycav..I think those gremlins are talking not you!!! Doing so well don't knock yourself x
BluebirdrunnerGraduate
You certainly are a proper runner Mummycav😊..you have had an amazing journey so far.. and come through it all with flying colours (mainly red😆) you have even taken part in a Parkrun....and you only have one kneecap as well!😊
Of course its still tough, you are still breaking ground but getting stronger every run. Yes, take extra rest days now but be proud of yourself for what you are acheiving. Go you, Runner😊xx
I must admit that when I read back over my posts, I have come a long way...my friend has started C25k...AGAIN...and she's struggling on Week 1...I really feel for her but also remember how hard it was at the time & cant quite believe now that it was ever hard x
Tp36Graduate
I started on c25k in April and now training for a half marathon, every single time I go running for the first mile I feel exhausted and I look like a sweaty beetroot, but I keep on and it gets better when you find your own rhythm. If I can do it so can anyone.
ChristeneGraduate
There are a lot of us here that just aspire to getting to the next week, week four for me, so you are doing brill.
So what if you are out of breath and blowing like a hurricane, it puts colour (color) in your cheeks ... well done you ... keep going ...
The "proper runners" you talk about compete at 5k but train at 20k, that's how you build up stamina and endurance ... just like you are doing .. go girl, go do it ... 😘
GillmaGraduate
Was watching the round-the-world cyclist on the newswho said he now finds walking upstairs really painful!! Talking to a friend yesterday and moaning about weak legs then jointly remembered we'd both spent decades sitting at computers. The message for me is that we get good at what we concentrate on OVER TIME. (My sitting is still Olympian even after 2.5y of computer freedom.) I'm slowly, with this rich seam of forum learning, realising that this is such a long game we're playing here; running (and thereby gradually learning to listen to our upright moving bodies) is a core skill in the game. Thanks, as ever, Mummycav for telling it like it is - onward and uprightward!
womblejoggerGraduate
we all doubt ourselves about our ability to do something ... as others have said you are a runner from the moment you decided to do the c25k, celebrate the good, learn from the bad and enjoy all the moments in between ... welcome to the party 
ejvcrunsGraduate
I think --- if you can fake it, you're a runner I mean, you did IN FACT run 28 minutes, when a mere month ago you were shaking in your boots at the thought of running 5 much less 8 minutes, right?
It's easy to forget how far we've come in such a short time. Play the long game
HeleneCorsaGraduate
Of course you're a runner! And you did the run, so own it and be proud of it!
I thought I was doing fine and had it all in the bag until I went for that ill-starred hobble around the lumpy bumpy cursed Circus Maximus in the heat and felt like I was about to breathe my last. I think there will be moments like that when we feel a bit grotty for whatever reason but then there are also those wonderful runs when it all comes together (and it seems difficult to predict at the outset how a particular run will turn out).
I imagine that when it starts becoming all super-easy (if it ever does) it is a sign we need to up our game a bit.
Also I think there is a world of difference between how we imagine ourselves and how we actually are - and we can often be hard on ourselves. Even when we think we are hauling ourselves along like uncoordinated sweaty crazed zombies I am sure other people think we are lean mean running machines (or at least, let's try to believe that!!)
IgaTGraduate
You are doing amazing progress, and you are already further in the programme than I am, so huge congratulations!!!
AJ2804Graduate
I have my graduation run tomorrow (eek!), and know exactly how you feel. I can run for 30 mins, but my legs are like jelly afterwards! Yesterday, a 'proper' runner lapped us 3 times on a course that is 2.3km 😂😂 So I feel there's a long way to go. But, before I started C25k I was a complete couch potato - so being able to run for 30 mins is a miracle to me. I'm only at 3k in 30 mins, so a way off a park run, so my plan is to try and get to 5k in 30 mins, which I expect to take at least another 9 weeks. (Not least because I'm not sure how to go about it!!) You are doing brilliantly - hopefully we will both keep going and find it gets easier on the legs/lungs !
don't worry about the 3k in 30 mins, at a park run you can be as quick or as long as you like it's about taking part and improving that matters most with them, not that i've done one yet (am at 5k in roughly 42 mins)
Thanks - am a bit scared I wouldn't be able to keep going long enough to get to 5k (also have that thing about not wanting to be last!) All in my head I Know
you would never be last they have someone who walks the back of the course to ensure no one comes in last, that's how good the park runs are ... also it doesn't matter if you run or walk it its about taking part and building your confidence
thanks AJ....I did 3.7kms this morning in 28 mins so I am way off 5k, but when I graduate that will be my goal so that I can run the park run without stopping
That's my goal too - graduated this morning, now need to get a bit faster. You're a bit speedier than me. (My other goal is to run for 30 mins without my legs aching for the rest of the day!)
Oh wow, well done, bet you feel fantastic?! Yes, 5k in 30 mins is my aim & also non-achy legs!!!
Really pleased - when I started couldn't run for one minute never mind thirty!
Me neither, when I think back at weeks 1 & 2...I now cant believe hard hard I thought they were...lots of surprises along the way
J9_54Graduate
Lol stop that right now. You've made it through 8 weeks. Mo Farah that will not make you but Couch Potato you no longer are. Huge achievement, just keep going, dig in and smile, that's what I do. Makes my teeth look ultra brite white apparantly my beetroot shade.
Langley-LoperGraduate
I start week 8 tonight after work. My last run of week 7 was exhausting. It was the closest I've ever come to stopping and walking (since run 1 week 1!). I have the tail end of a cold hanging around like a bad smell. My head as well as my lungs were pounding. I forced myself to continue as I couldn't let Michael down. The uphill slope in the last minute felt like the side of the Matterhorn. I definitely didn't feel like a runner.
When I got home and checked Strava I was totally amazed to see it was my fastest average pace and 5k split so far. That would explain things! I am planning on setting off a bit slower tonight in the interests of avoiding another near death experience.
We are all runners, we just come in different shapes and speeds!
That's brilliant Langley-Loper....Youll crack week 8
mrrunGraduate
How does a proper runner run? A long while ago I ran briefly and wanted to run like Carl Lewis. Some minor details such as talent and genes put a stop to that.
Now I feel like a runner as I run like me, dishevelled style. I don’t care, I am running that park like I’ve never run before. During week 8 I was still learning the chops, I was getting tired more easily, I would deplete at 20 odd minutes and would have to slow down.
I didn’t think that after a period of time, after running persistently 3 times per week, every week, I would hit 5K at 30 minutes or below as a norm, or that I could stretch myself to 10K without begging for mercy.
It will come, you will do the same, run like you and look like you. I bet Carl Lewis would at times want to look like me, for entertainment factor at least
AAARRRGGGHHHH - JCR is screaming at you.... Nicely of course, you are a runner of course you are a runner, no you're not Mo, but you're still building - I can't recall who said it it may have been Irishprincess that it can take up to a year to build your running legs. so this is week 8 of 52. But in that time you've moved from a nice comfy sofa to running in the rain, park runs, running through stress and frustration etc, etc, etc.
So give yourself a break... mentally of course. Each run is still building your stamina, and putting kms in the bank. You're still climbing your own personal slope of hope...
I am now 4 weeks graduated (still can't believe the g word) and I come home utterly cream crackered..., but I know I am a runner who has lots of development still to do. Doesn't mean I am not a runner though.
And it's the same for you mummycav, you are a runner, but you're developing your craft. Even Olympians get tired and puffed, even magical Mo takes quite a breather before he does his interviews.
Repeat after me ' I am a runner. I am a good runner, I am a runner who still has much to learn oh and about 30000 people on the C25K programme believe I am a runner...'
Yes, it sounds like something I'd say 🙂
Mummycav you are a runner. The day you laced up your shoes and took that first painful step made you a runner. Graduation beckons. How exciting is that?
I'm not sure what a runner looks like. I've been running for four years and still come home looking a red, sweaty mess. Am I a runner? Too bloody right I am 💪💪💪
Of course you are...
Wannabefit19Graduate
No fraud you are doing amazing ..... you are an inspiration and we are doing this journey together . Some days so much easier than others for me - who knows why ????
I pray for it to get slightly easier but I know if we put in the runs it will in time . 🕰⏰⏱🎉🎉🎉
Its been quite a journey...& I'm sure we'll be on that podium in no time...but yes, some days are harder than others for no other reason but theyre just another day....We will carry on when we graduate on our parallel runs & who knows where it may take us?!!
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