W6R3: officially a runner but...😕

[Nottooold]

I had a bad run this morning in term of motivation, so I need to share my feelings...

in the first weeks of the program I felt much more motivated, while now I go out to run driven by the sense of duty and I get little joy.

Today during my 25 min run (eternity!!) I was wondering if I would ever feel satisfaction in the future🤔

Everything around me was beautiful and I should have enjoyed it, but I felt no pleasure, just so much effort

Is this a normal step or am I just ready to give up?

I hope I won’t...

[Letty111 Graduate]

No don’t give up. I’ve just done w7r1 yesterday but I hadn’t run since Sunday. It took me 3 hrs to convince myself to go as I was full of self doubt and could have very easily not gone. You have good run and bad run days. You are doing so well to get this far. See how far you have come. You have done too much to stop. Perhaps have a few days rest instead of just one. Keep going.

[Mrun1 Graduate]

You're not alone in feeling this. To be honest for me the enjoyment comes from the sense of achievement, and also knowing that I'm doing good by my health. I also use it as a way of having half an hour of time where I'm not focused on anything, which is a nice mental break.

I find some runs go quickly and other drag and are boring.

I listen to podcasts while running and that helps pass the time.

Giving up now will be such a loss, you'll lose the sense of achievement and the health benefits. Keep pushing forward and it will become part of your routine, something that you may find as the weeks pass you enjoy.

[Whatnog]

Hi Nottooold! Sorry to hear you are not enjoying it so much right now. I believe we all get our good and bad runs, and sometimes if we have a couple of the bad ones next to each other we doubt ourselves.

It is really great that you are pushing through it, it will get better, I am sure! I also struggled for a couple of runs when they began to get longer, I think it is our gremlins having more time to mess up with us!

Perhaps it can be useful to find something to distract you as a podcast or music that is fun and you enjoy. Get your mind focused on sth else and let your legs do their thing. Good luck with the next ones!

[juliet2018]

No don’t give up. I felt exactly the same. I remember when Laura said ‘ you have run for 5 mins...’ I thought ‘is that all?!!! 😱’

But I just ran wk7r3 and I loved the fact that my body could run fairly easily for 20mins (the last 5 was challenging but doable)

So keep going.. it won’t be hard forever and the benefits are definitely worth the crap runs.

[Elfe5 Graduate]

I had a wobble at about your stage. I remember not enjoying W7 - my brain was in complete shock at the idea of running continuously for 25 minutes and kept telling me that it wanted to stop - it was like some sort of war between brain and legs! By W8 I felt much better. Keep your pace really slow & gentle, relax your shoulders & use distraction- music, radio 4 podcasts- whatever works for you. Exercising is not just about how we feel, inevitably there is a discipline element to it too. I don’t always feel like running or cycling, but I am always glad that I have made the effort because I value good health & feeling well. 😄

[Hidden]

I just looked at your previous post (only a week or so ago) and you were feeling great! When you start with this running lark it is easy to get caught up in the run- you have a good one and you feel on top of the world, a bad one can knock you for six. However as time goes on you will develop confidence and come to know that a bad run (or couple of runs) does not mean that it will be bad forever (the same is true for the good runs too however!).

Remind yourself too, why did you start this? Could you run for 25 minutes 6 weeks ago?

There is a good deal of discipline involved in establishing a habit, but it will become easier over time.

Maybe find some distractions as your runs get longer. I like audiobooks and sometimes it's a good book that gets me out of the door; if I want to listen to the next chapter, I have to go running!

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

It’s normal. You just ran 25 minutes straight and that probably took a lot of mental effort, it certainly did for me, so you don’t have the brain free to enjoy the surroundings and the lack of walk break didn’t free it up at all. When 25 minutes becomes easy, which it will, you’ll enjoy it more for sure.

Great running... week 7 is about consolidation of what you just did, you could find yourself loving it by run 3.

[Nottooold Graduate]

Dear friends, thank you for your support!

I found all your replies very helpful and I will follow your tips... this community is the real strength of the whole program🏃🏻‍♂️🏃‍♀️🏃🏻‍♂️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏼‍♂️...

[Girl_getting_fit]

Your not much further ahead of me im doing week 6 run2 tomorrow. Dont give up you have put too much into it to give up now. Definitely get some tunes going you like. I ended up making my own spotify play list with about 60 songs so i never hear the same song twice on the one run. Make some goals like a distamce goal somewhere on your route you want to reach. Maybe your getting a bit run down so rest and always always remember that one bad run doesnt mean they all are and no run is a bad run because you actually got up went out and had a run when you probably didnt feel like it. You have come too far your now running 25 minutes remember all the way back to week 1 ans you werent even running half of that do not give up on all the progress you have made and a massive well done for getting this far

[Nottooold Graduate in reply to Girl_getting_fit]

Thank you for your words...listening to all your tips I convinced myself to go out for a run this morning...if you read my new post I am much more motivated now!