20 mins was tough.

[Hexslug]

When Laura said you have now done 5 minutes my mind filled with negativity - I can't do this - why am I doing this - I'm going to die. Fortunately, I stuck with it but got a stitch at around 12 mins, tried to concentrate on deep breathing and it did eventually clear. Think the stitch took my mind off the running and actually helped me finish the 20 mins. Have done W6R1 since and it was ok, almost enjoyed it, but 25 mins is just over the horizon.

[MickGJ Graduate]

After 20 minutes 25 minutes is no biggie but you might want to slow down a bit so you don't run out of steam early on.

[Hexslug Graduate in reply to MickGJ]

Got a little uphill bit in the first five minutes of my route, if doing shorter runs get a walking bit after to recover and the rest of my course pretty flat. Find it harder to recover from that hill on longer runs, but am certainly not running fast.

[Elfe5 Graduate]

Well done, that's a great achievement. 😄

I quite often get a stitch inspite of following all advice about being hydrated, not running after food etc. The only thing that helps me is to go slower and breathe deeply.

[Hexslug Graduate in reply to Elfe5]

Thanks for stitch advice. That was my first one while doing C25K, have read a bit online since so a few things to try for my next one.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

This might help healthunlocked.com/couchto5... but don't worry, each run is preparing you for the next one.

[Hexslug Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Seems that all my issue have been covered many times before. The run we are talking about is a real jump in continuous running time, especially when you can still remember finding the jump to 3 minutes challenging.

[DeterminedBear Graduate]

Very, very well done!