W3R3: Post cold! Does it matter if my legs aren’t lifting a lot behind me?

[bluepanda]

So I finished W3R2 last Monday. I brought some running socks and new shoes as a reward so I was kind of excited to try week 4. I then caught a cold the next day 😂 My whole body ached so I ended up on the couch for a week to recover 😒. It took some will power to drag myself out the door today to finish week 3. It was tough to get my legs moving again. Those 3 minutes are still a killer. Annoyingly, the app paused itself when I had a minute left of the run so I think I ran a little longer than I should on the last interval. Also, this has bothering me for a little while. It might be a silly question but does it matter if legs don’t lift as much off the ground/at the back? Currently, I’m ‘jogging’ slow enough that it is basically like hopping on each foot and falling forward at the same time. Not much leg lifting off the ground. It is hard to judge as my only examples of running to compare to are experienced runners and Olympic athletes! I am definitely not walking so that’s something.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

Welcome back. Good job.

Hopping 30 minutes would hurt I think, don’t intend to find out how much.

You’re running and you’re doing great. Those high lift athletes you’re talking about have been running a good while, and they also run slow and steady on a lot of their runs. We’re building fitness here, not hoping to go sub 20 at parkrun next month. If you’re near a parkrun one Saturday, go have a look, you’ll see that you’re actually doing what a lot of them do.

Keep up he great work.

[misswobble Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

You’re doing fine. Picking your feet up and running with a cycling motion is hard so we do a shuffle As you get stronger you’ll be able to do it but it takes a while I was very tired on my recent long run and I shuffled Don’t worry about it 🙂👍

[bluepanda Graduate in reply to misswobble]

Ah cycling and shuffling were words I were looking for to describe what I’m doing. That is reassuring, thank you. My plan is to volunteer at park run soon to make it seem less scary and see different runners.

[Jogunlikely Graduate]

No leg lifting happening here. More of an energetic shuffle 😁 but if it's not walking I'm counting it as running.

Glad the cold is passing, just make sure you feel properly recovered x

[bluepanda Graduate in reply to Jogunlikely]

Cold mostly gone, thanks. A bit tired but should be okay soon. Still some sniffles in the morning but goes away by the time I run in evening. Shuffling is what I meant. Couldn’t remember the word so I went the long winded vague description of my running. Good to hear, soothed my running insecurities! A good tip there - I will think of it as if it is different than the brisk walks in between, it’s running.

[MarkyD Graduate]

We had a little chat about this on the B210k forum a week ago:

healthunlocked.com/bridgeto...

No, it does not matter (yet).

Concentrate on the C25K runs, and then work on your running form once you've graduated.

[bluepanda Graduate in reply to MarkyD]

Thanks for the link. Okay I will focus on finishing C25K before I work on form.