I always find the first 5 mins tricky and once I’ve done that I keep telling myself I can do it to get me through it! The last 5 mins were tough this week but got to the end (last 3 mins at a snails pace though 🐌😜)
I feel such a sense of achievement at the end of each run!
Can’t believe how far I’ve come and yet sometimes I doubt myself if I’ll be able to complete the programme.
I’ve not lost any weight but am beginning to feel fitter and slightly more confident about myself.
Looking forward to w6r2 tomorrow.
Written by
Vish-runs
Graduate
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Have no doubts. The programme works. You're doing the right thing by slowing the pace bit to ensue you finish. My actual running pace at week 9 was much slower than in the earlier weeks.
Well done! Yes, the first 5-10 mins is always harder for me too. There are some discussions about the "Toxic 10" mins effect on this forum which explain it could be our bodies paying back oxygen debt until we reach an equilibrium through increased metabolism. I also find I am slowing down as the run time gets closer to 30mins. I think I was kinda hurrying to get runs over with early on but now each run is much longer I am settling back into a more sustainable pace. I have slowed by 0.5 min per km between W1 and W7, but this current pace seems better for me (lower heart rate and no mega puffing n panting).
Thanks for your reply! I have no idea of what pace I’m running at. I’m just winging it each week and just going with what my body can manage. The challenge for me is to complete each run at a pace faster than walking. But I suppose as I progress further will start looking at pace and distance too. I have the Nike run app by haven’t used it with the runs yet to measure time and distance as just concentrating on the c25k at present otherwise I may get overwhelmed!
Good to know about the toxic 10. Had no idea. Thanks 😊
Here's a tip that helps me get over that first five or 10 minutes of running. During the warm-up walk, I breathe deeply. I really fill the lungs with oxygen - much more than I need for the walk. I can even get a bit light headed. I assume that the blood gets enriched with oxygen that then helps get over that hump of oxygen depletion that I have when I start running.
"The Toxic 10. It sounds pretty drastic, but in fact it is just the process everyone’s body goes through (even elite athletes!) at the start of aerobic exercise. When you start exercising, your muscles need more oxygen, but your body isn’t ready to up the supply right away. So you develop what’s called an oxygen debt, as you use up more than your aerobic systems can supply.
Once oxygen in the blood becomes particularly low, your brain takes action to remedy this, making your breathing more heavy and your heart pump stronger. This is the point at which you sometimes wonder why you hadn’t stayed at home in front of the TV, with a bowl of snacks!
It takes a little while to pay off your oxygen debt and clear any accumulated lactic acid, and so this is why the first 10 minutes can be so hard. "
Snails are us. I'm continually trying to come up with strategies to run more slowly. The body doesn't get it--if we're not in a hurry, why are we running at all? Why don't we sit down?
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