20 Minutes Done (finally!) and another question for you all

[VictoriaRuns]

Hello everyone,

So I've had some health problems recently which have delayed my progress, but I finally completed the 20 minute run this morning, in part thanks to the people who run my gym who put on Labi Siffre's (Something Inside) So Strong which prompted a spontaneous sing along at 7am this morning with nearly everyone in the gym who then all immediately went back to wearing headphones and ignoring each other 😂

youtube.com/watch?v=7B-4Lsr...(Not working as expected?)

Anyway, it came as no surprise to me that physically, I was able to do this, because despite a couple of detours, I have trusted the program and know how many people have achieved it before me.

Mentally, however, was still a struggle. Which is probably why the weird early morning stranger sing along was such a welcome distraction.

When I first started this program I asked, when does it get easier?

I think I was talking about it physically getting easier. When do your legs and lungs get stronger.

But now I want to know, does it ever stop being a mental struggle?

I enjoy running, but it's those pesky gremlins I guess.

[misswobble Graduate]

Labbi Siffre! I have seen him several times! He once sang a song specially for me. pretty Little Girl in a blue dress. He is an accomplished choral singer too 🙂

Anyway. You can let your head rule your feet or you forget about gremlins. They don’t exist so forget em. You are stronger than you give yourself credit for. We all are.

You just have to be stoic and do the work. Do each session. Tick it off and move on. Music helps as you can just lose yourself in it and forget you’re running. Just go slowly - it does make life easier. As you kee ,running you get physically stronger. Do some other exercise on your On non run days to help with that 💪🙂👍🏃‍♀️

[VictoriaRuns Graduate in reply to misswobble]

Amazing! And yes I either swim or use the cross trainer on non run days. Thank you =)

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Well done on the milestone run.

I will be honest with you, each week towards the end of the plan provided mental challenges. W5R3 is a breakthrough for many, after which personal belief grows, but it can still be a slog. W9R2 was my favourite run of the plan, when everything clicked and I felt like a runner, only to be followed by a diabolical graduation run.

Your singalong experience highlights the value of distraction. Anything that engages your brain is going to help, if it stops you watching the clock. On a two hour run, I will rarely play music, but just put into words my experience and environment, a sort of commentary, composing the perfect description........but I don't run on a treadmill. Twenty minutes of that would kill me, I am sure.

Podcasts, audio books or your very favourite music might do the job. Start positive and look to enjoy the run.

Good luck.

[mrrun Graduate]

Sometimes one of the origins of struggle is being unsure whether you are doing the right thing. Or not. If you are determined and have targets and goals they would then raise your motivation and diminish mental struggle.

Personally, I would mentally struggle like hell if I were in the gym. Tried and it was terrible. People were nice, nobody spoke to anyone, lol, the news were on TV and the music was defo not to my liking. I actually left irritated. And had to pay for the privilege of being there.

Running outside, on my own, in any weather, crushes any mental struggle in its origin.

But, that's something that works for me, and we are all very different.

Good luck!

[HeleneCorsa Graduate]

I love the idea of everyone engaging in a spontaneous singalong at the gym! That's what the gym should be like.

Please try not to fret about the gremlins. I would certainly struggle to run for anything more than a few minutes on the treadmill, as boredom would get the better of me and I would probably subconsciously start looking for reasons to quit. Do you normally run outdoors? That might shake things up a bit, or as suggested, music or audiobooks. It does sound very much as if you need to be fighting this particular battle on the mental rather than physical front. But you are doing really well to get where you are, especially after health problems (also the 20 minute run is a game changer I think). Keep going!

[VictoriaRuns Graduate in reply to HeleneCorsa]

It was marvelous.

[VictoriaRuns Graduate]

Thanks everyone, I cant run outside as it is not safe to do so around where I live but I quite like running on the treadmill. I dont think that's the source of my mental struggle! Music definitely helps though. =)

[icklegui Graduate]

Singalong sounds amazing, and as the others have said you have singled out the idea of distraction there. I think about week 5 I hit upon the idea of listening to comedy - couldn't help laughing. Distraction and amusement achieved. And - I don't seem to *need* it now, 8 or so runs post-graduation, but I still like to listen to something - what I'm saying is that for me the mental struggle has slowly got easier. It's not linear though, some run days are tougher than others!

[VictoriaRuns Graduate in reply to icklegui]

That's good advice, thank you =D