so i've just done W4R2 and after every run i finish thinking "i hate this, why would anyone do this?!?!"
Of course i know why i'm doing it, i want to get fitter and this was a way i could do it which fit into my busy schedule.
but people do it for fun! and in my current post run, sweaty overheating and tired state i have no idea why.
So from other peoples experiences - did you used to feel like I do and then at some point you started enjoying it? or does it just remain a necessary evil and a means to an end?
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Pud24
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Once you start pushing yourself on the longer runs there is almost certainly a feeling of accomplishment that goes with it. You're on week 4 and it's tough as it was for most of us but in a few weeks time you will look back on week 4 and wonder why you complained about it being so hard. It's called progression and as your body gets fitter it will get easier
" sweaty overheating and tired state " in Week 4??
Very simply, try S L O W I N G D O W N And *then* you might start enjoying it. Think JOG not run, go at a pace where your breathing is comfortable enough to hold a conversation at ("conversational pace") and aim to finish each session feeling like you could carry on.
If i slow down any more I'll be walking! I always feel like i COULD continue its more just asking myself why i would ever want to.... and i guess thats where my question around enjoyment comes in
and only you will be able to answer that question eventually. It could be that you end up NOT liking running - it's not for everyone, we're all different.
This has made me chuckle. The first 3 weeks I hated the actual run but the euphoria at the end of feeling like I’ve done of overtook it.
Today I did my first continuous run (W5R3) and I actually enjoyed it. It was hard but I’m beginning to enjoy the actual “doing part” a bit more now. I’ve even run a few times on my rest days. My pre runner days self is in shock!
The leap to continuous running has to happen at some point, otherwise, how else to get to 3x 30 mins in Week 9? Besides, 3x 5min, 2x 8min, 1x 20 min - they are not *that* different. All in the head!
I enjoyed it from W1! BUT it wasn't really the running I enjoyed, it was the sense of achievement after completing each run. Saturday I start W6 and for me it really feels like an accomplishment as I never stick at anything for more than a couple of weeks.
If you don't enjoy the running try and take joy in another aspect of it, like accomplishment, or knowing it's good for your health or even just the fact you have 30 mins to yourself to enjoy your favourite music, podcast or just to let your mind wander.
I think my problem is i've never been big on feeling any sense of achievement from physical activity - even in my fitter days it was just something i did.
i've tried to improve my fitness a few times and this is the first time i've actually stuck at it for any period of time and that is due to a decent motivator (i'm a scuba diver and my lack of fitness has finally got to the point where it affects that). So i'm motivated but just hoping that eventually i will actually enjoy running a bit more.....i'd settle for just hating it a bit less
I’ve read some of the replies you have already had. The biggest issue is that you are currently finishing sweaty overheating and tired... that’s how pro athletes tend to finish Olympic finals... it’s not fun, it’s bloody hard work. The issue during the early weeks, maybe months, of running is you have one run type, let’s call it what it is, slow. When your are an established runner, you’ll have several run types with fancy names... let’s call them what they are too, slow, fast and race. You may or may not ever do the latter. So right now you got slow, and that is also your fast, and your race... which makes every run hard work... which most of us don’t enjoy, at least until it’s over.
As you progress, that hard work level you are used to will make you gradually speed up without really noticing, as your fitness improves... without realising you will now have “fast”. You still have slow, you just don’t use it, and at this point you can slow down... and finish a run with a lot more energy and it’s easier to cover the distance, and at that point you can enjoy your surroundings, you can think about other things, you’ve discovered your headspace... and that’s the bit that people love. Over time your slow gets faster and your fast does too... but slow will be the one you love doing, fast will be the one where you set some PBs and love when they’re done.
I can’t predict when this will happen on your journey... I can tell you that I now run 5k and I can do it over a range of +/-2 minutes per mile from my fast. I am following a race plan, and around 75% of my runs are currently slow, and I love those runs. When I go above fast, it hurts and it’s not fun, I don’t love it, I finish knackered, and only then, when I look at my stats, do I love the fact that I just did that. So there’s two different loves going on, and they are unrelated.
Hope this helps, sorry it’s so long. You’re progressing and you’re doing great... keep it up.
I found that interesting and helpful too thanks. You have described what was just starting to happen to me before an injury got in the way & set me back. 😀
I am back to running for 30 mins thanks, but SO slow! 🙄 I’m not really bothered about being slow- just aware that the natural speeding up that you described and happened to me a few months ago, is yet to re-happen! Ah well, presumably it will eventually. Frustratingly, I’ve just had to take over a week off with a viral infection, but hoping for a “see how it goes” trot this weekend. 😀
You know it will come again though... and if you’ve recently lost the symptoms of a virus, chances are your immune system is still finishing it off... good time to be out running again, that helps the fight, but expectations for the run shouldn’t be much. Get out there at weekend and just love that you’re back running... relax and smile.
Thanks for that insight - it should be pinned. I have just completed week 6 and love the achievement but still hate running. I still want to quit after 3 minutes lol. Can't wait to discover the next gear. Pud24, good luck.
I stop hating it the moment I stop, everytime 🤣🤣🤣. No, but seriously, I can't remember ever hating it - this is my second time around with Cto5k after a break, but I do remember the first time I realised how much I loved it and it was one time I was running up ( killer) hill, years ago, and I realised I was running with my whole body rather than my legs. Can't really describe it any better than that but perhaps if you get to that point you might start enjoying yourself.
I don't like running on the treadmill though, never have and probably never will.
Counter intuitively, stamina is built by slow running.
Are you slogging around streets?
Get off the road and enjoy your environment. Run somewhere beautiful.
Without a change of attitude, you are unlikely to continue running if you hate it. You may not develop the masochistic pleasure and some people just do not enjoy strenuous physical activity, but by slowing down, you give yourself the best chance.
I found that I grew into ‘tolerating’ the running- which is not quite the same as ‘enjoying’.
I find slowing down and plenty of good things to listen to really helpful. I need the distraction of music, or radio 4 podcasts to stop me thinking about how I feel, wanting to stop etc. Gradually after 10 mins or so, I settle into plodding along listening to my music/ program & discover that it feels ok. I do have short bursts of enjoyment & am looking forward to that happening more. 😄
Maybe try distraction in a positive way to flatten those “ hate it” feelings? Good luck. 😃
Hi, I graduated last week and still find the runs hard work and can't honestly say I've got to 'enjoyment' yet but, for me, the satisfaction really kicked in around week 6 when I suddenly realised that I could keep going. By that stage I was able to get through the first 5 mins (always the worst) and then settle into a rhythm and know that I could keep going. Yes, I will be hot at the end but I'd stopped feeling out of breath whilst I was running, I was just breathing steadily and coping. That was the stage when I really started to realise that so much of the challenge is in your head. Your body fitness improves as the programme goes along and the rest of it is just trusting the programme and telling yourself you can do it. That does feel good.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still a beginner and I know it! I still haven't reached 5k so I'm not fast either but I'm doing abt 4.2k in the 30 min runs and that fine with me. Stamina and building fitness is much more important. The other thing I've noticed in the last couple of weeks especially is how important hydration is. I'm drinking much more water, etc on run days and rest days and it really helps.
I hear you pud24 and I feel the same. Don’t enjoy the run but do enjoy the sense of achievement but I put a lot of pressure on myself that I must not stop regardless of how I feel that I end up being scared of each run . Mind you I haven’t stopped yet and am at wk 8 run 3 so I guess you have to push yourself mentally but do I enjoy it .... not yet x
I think it’s difficult at this stage to know if you hate running, or hate the process of having to learn to run. We tend to be good at the things we do regularly and when we start something new, we feel all the awkwardness of not being very good (maybe that’s just me?).
I started enjoying it more when I got the Strava app and could see improvement. I also like the Relive app where you can see back the routes you have taken.
And I started enjoying the actual running more when I realised I could change pace every now and then, made it more engaging for me.
But as others here have said, you might just find that you tried it and didn’t like it. I went to Spanish lessons for a while then realised I hated every minute of them and was paying for the privilege too - I stopped and I know that was the right decision for me.
I really hated it until week 5, run 1. I have a chronic illness and had a bad spell when I was doing week 4 so I repeated it many, many times, didn't feel well enough to move on as I was always completely exhausted afterwards. Then I started getting better and the runs got easier - now that I've found this forum I know I was trying to go too fast as well. When I did w5r1 I found it way easier than I expected and I actually sort of enjoyed it - that was when I started looking forward to my runs instead of dreading them, and while I still wouldn't say I enjoy it while I'm running I definitely enjoy the feeling of finishing it enough to keep on going. I still have setbacks with my health all the time but I'm off for my first run of week 9 today so I'm getting there.
I honestly felt the same for a very long time but it did quite suddenly for me change from dread and loathing to actually enjoying it. Everyone here told me it would happen and I didn't believe them but they were right! Hang in there and see, at least if you finish the program you can say you can run for 30 minutes, even if you don't want to make it a habit.
Hi hated the first few weeks just used to hurt and sweat!!! Now much to my own amazement I run for fun and I don’t look at the speed - I just go out for an hour a do what I feel like! Calmer, so much fitter and incidentally lost a stone in weight and a dress size
Keep it up and you might be surprised too - there comes a point where the running becomes like walking and you can just do it without thinkung🙂
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And *then* you might start enjoying it. Think JOG not run, go at a pace where your breathing is comfortable enough to hold a conversation at ("conversational pace") and aim to finish each session feeling like you could carry on.
What would you do?
What do you eat on your running days?
Update to W5R3 and W6R1 *At what point do I begin to enjoy this?
What are we running for? Why do we run?
How do you structure your running week?
