W6R3 First post

[Steve8791]

Been reading the posts and thought it was time to get involved. Started the plan, as many others, puffing my way to a 90 second jog and now unbelievably up to 25 mins but still some niggling doubts.

All was going well until W6R3...followed the plan, no problems with the previous runs even the last 20-minute run was hard but doable. Then 25 minutes.....tried on Friday and somehow it was just a mental thing, couldn't concentrate and after about 15 minutes started to struggle and eventually didn't make it to the end. Had another go this morning with some loud music to help the motivation and got through. Not physically wrecked but still found it really hard to keep it going. I see that next week has 3 of these. It seems that the mental ability to stick at it is as important as the physical...any tips, does it just click at some point?

[Bluebirdrunner Graduate]

Hi Steve and welcome to the forum.😊

You have got this far, so Im wondering if what you are experiencing is the toxic ten effect. When you start to run your body has to take on more oxygen to deal with the exertion and this takes about 10 mins to get around your bloodstream. Your heart beats faster, you breath heavily and your legs feel heavy...Then suddenly it all feels better and you relax and your breathing settles.

You can make this easier for yourself by starting the run really gently and slowly,then relaxing into it. It won't affect your overall pace but you won't feel like you need to stop.

There are articles written about this, and I found knowing this and slowing down and pushing through it works every time.

I hope this helps.,, and good luck. You can do that 25 min run just start it slowly.😊x