W3R1

[EmmaDoesRunning]

Completed last night! I am around 4 days behind schedule which is unfortunate. Been feeling a bit run down (if you excuse the phrasing) and it's been a busy week, but I didn't want to derail myself and get out of the habit.

I ran my first day of week 3 last night and I was daunted to start it given the 3 minute running sections. Though I completed it and ran when I was supposed to etc I can't help but feel a little disappointed that I wasn't running as fast as I have been. I know at the moment it's not really about the distance or the speed I should be looking at but it just felt like a little bit of a step back. Still, slow and steady wins the race I suppose.

Knees quite sore today (but that's nothing new for me!)

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

Great run. It’s a step forward... slow running builds endurance, and that’s what we are doing here... finding your slow and using it will condition you better and make your fast faster! We don’t need to go faster, we have no distance based runs, and we can’t run the clock down faster!

[Cherrybubble Graduate]

When I was worried about being behind schedule someone on the forum reassured me that it’s best not to look at the programme in weeks, but 9 sets of 3 runs which may or may not be completed in 9 weeks. That really helped me when I couldn’t keep to the 3 runs in 7 days. You’re on week 3 so that’s great. Well done!

[Ceri1969 Graduate in reply to Cherrybubble]

What fab advice x

[Cherrybubble Graduate]

It totally transformed my view of the programme as you’re not ‘falling behind’ just that the gap between runs is a bit longer. I tried the programme a few years ago and as soon as I fell behind I gave up, so fingers crossed this time I can keep this up, just finished week 4 (or run 12) today. 15 runs to go!

[EmmaDoesRunning in reply to Cherrybubble]

That's great advice - my gaps between the runs are remaining pretty much the same but the gaps between weeks seem to be getting longer unfortunately. Busy time of year!

[steviej99 Graduate]

Welcome Emma. If you complete the programme it will set you up for life so don't worry about a few days. One days rest is the minimum don't worry if you take two or sometimes three. Don't worry at all about speed or distance, as the workload increases it gets harder so you may need to go slower! So slow and steady is the key, it's about time running only. Good luck and enjoy the journey

[EmmaDoesRunning in reply to steviej99]

Thank you! I'm already seeing an improvement with my stamina (the 90 second run sandwiched between 3 minutes feels like a breeze now!)

[Runningr]

I’ve just completed week three and had to go very slowly to manage the three minutes. It’s funny how long three minutes seems when you’re running!

[EmmaDoesRunning in reply to Runningr]

Congratulations! I'm running on a treadmill at home so I can distract myself with the television so when I'm feeling that 'oh no I've still got 2 minutes left' I just focus all I can on the programme I'm watching and it seems to help.