Week 5 solidarity!

[EmilyReads]

Anyone else on week 5? I reckon we could do with a mutual encouragement thread to keep us all going towards and through that scary 20 minutes!

[Oaktree2]

Yep! Am doing my r1 of w5 either this evening or tomorrow! 😱😂😂

[EmilyReads Graduate in reply to Oaktree2]

Woooo! You're going to smash this one - I did it yesterday and the familiar 5 minutes with longer walk intervals made it feel like a (sweaty, relative) walk in the park. Not looking forward to not having any rest intervals later in the week though! It's going to be mind over matter I think...

[Oaktree2 in reply to EmilyReads]

I hope so! I can also see R3 looming closer and closer!!!! 👀

[sallenson Graduate]

That is a brilliant idea. We did that back around the time of Royal Wedding and everyone had a blast. If you're lucky you'll get hundreds of replies.

Good luck. Sheer enthusiasm will get you through this

[EmilyReads Graduate in reply to sallenson]

Thanks Sallenson, you were kind of my inspiration, I think you mentioned that mega thread when you were revisiting week 5 and I thought it sounded like fun solidarity/accountability feel like the extra magic ingredient needed for this big milestone!

[sallenson Graduate in reply to EmilyReads]

Go for it!! Drum up that support network. But be warned, you'll spend a lot of time on here cheering at people!! xx

[EmilyReads Graduate in reply to sallenson]

It's a hard job but someone's got to do it

[Oldlady57]

20minutes? Week 5, ahhhhhhhh. I’m on W4. Oh dear lord what have l let myself in for? 20 minutes your gonna kill my inner snail 😱

[EmilyReads Graduate in reply to Oldlady57]

To channel Douglas Adams, DON'T PANIC. Trust the plan, it knows what it's doing and it is building you up to be where you need to be to do it. (plus always know where your towel is, obviously). And check back in here for us to cheer you on along the way!

[Oldlady57 in reply to EmilyReads]

I don't usually look ahead to see what's next re runs, but after reading your post l did😳😱l now know 20mins isn't until the 3rd run on w5 so have time to get my head around it 😜Good luck on your journey 👍🏻

[1HHi Graduate]

I'm doing wk5r2 today so if all goes I'll be tackling the big 20 on Thursday. Though I must admit I am a bit worried about the 8 minutes today!

[EmilyReads Graduate in reply to 1HHi]

You can do it - it's just one more song than the 5 mins you've been doing already (crossing my fingers it's a good one for you!) I'll hopefully be following in your footsteps tomorrow

[1HHi Graduate]

Ha ha I also think in songs when running.

[Hidden]

That's one thing I keep meaning to do - sort out my songs. It's rubbish when you're tootling along and 10cc comes on with a slow, melancholy track that totally puts you off. I need more Ibiza dance tunes. 😆

[EmilyReads Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Completely agree! I'm sure there is some theory of how to pick songs with the right beat but I haven't got my head round it yet - for the moment I just have a playlist of upbeat songs I really love so that I can get into singing them in my head and not notice the time go by. Dance music not my genre but I really like Clean Bandit, they feature heavily on my running play list

[Paul_Kent Graduate]

I have the first run of week 5 tonight, I think I found my pace last week and found week 4 relatively comfortable. That said, I am definitely daunted by a solid 20 minutes later in the week. I usually do my third run at Parkrun which has a nice hill I'll have to get my head around.

My partner is a week ahead of me and said that the 20 minutes is ok as long as you keep it slow and steady. Let's hope so!

[EmilyReads Graduate in reply to Paul_Kent]

Yeah, I think we just have to trust that if the plan has got us this far it knows what it is doing!! Good for you going on parkruns already, I am a bit nervous about the idea of running with other people, so thinking about trying one maybe as a little milestone post graduation. Though maybe it helps to keep running when you are surrounded by other people?

[1HHi Graduate]

Did wk5r2 yesterday and it was good. I thought I'd be dying to hear Laura tell me I had 60 seconds left but I wasn't. The key is definitely slow and steady which means I should crzck wk5r3 tomorrow. Wish me luck!!

[EmilyReads Graduate in reply to 1HHi]

Woooo well done! I just got back from doing it too--I expected the 8 minutes to feel so much longer than it did. Good luck for tomorrow, hope you smash it (in a slow and steady fashion obv :p)

[Hidden]

I've done it and never thought I would. 😁

Encouragement is one thing you'll always get. 👏👏👏👏👏👏

[EmilyReads Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Gaz! It's reading stories from you successful graduates that makes it all feel possible 😁

[Pete1w Graduate]

It's easier than you think. I thought it was a typo when I saw 20 minutes continuous running. Get in a steady comfortable pace and you'll crack it. A word of warning though DO NOT wait for your trainer to tell you how long is left. Just keep going. It's a real breakthrough when you finish this run and you can almost see your graduation medal. Good luck everyone....