W5R3 My story.....

[StatusBaby]

After a night of intermittent sleep due to indigestion, my early morning run didn't happen. Overnight stomach aches got worse and I stayed in bed most of the morning drinking water.

Still not feeling great at 2pm I set off - what's the worse that can happen I thought? I don't do it and I have to try again - no biggie. After the 5min warm-up walk I set off at a jogging pace barely faster than my walk. I run a quad path round the outside of a local park - well not really a park - Skunk Dog park it's know as during daylight hours the place stinks of skunk and dog shit - hence my preference for running early in the morning.

It is not then a great park - but the path around the outside is, up until now, equal to exactly 5 minutes of my shuffle-jog. Lap 1 - the first 5 minutes was no problem. By the time Sarah had praised me for doing 10 minutes I realised I was well off my usual pace - but I felt OK. A couple of stomach twinges from last nights indigestion - and I suddenly noticed that I had laced my right trainer far too tightly. But overall - I was dreading this run, and I wasn't feeling too good - but I'd made the halfway stage - I knew then I had it.

The pain in my right foot from the too tight lace grew - but the stomach cramps diminished. When Sarah told me I had two minutes left I upped the tempo, and finished about - 60m short of my usual pace - I didn't care - W5R3 was in the bag.

Many thanks to the dozens of people who took the time to post here about their own experiences with W5R3 - you were inspirational. It is true what people say - if you've done all the other runs, you are ready for this physically - you just need to overcome that mental hurdle.

That said I would advise paying a bit more attention to your kit - make sure everything is laced up properly and comfortable - because you'll probably notice every little thing on this run that perhaps you wouldn't before.

Good Luck - and as Sarah says "Ga'an flower - you can do it!"

[steviej99 Graduate]

Nice one StatusBaby you nailed that one. You're ready for w6 now, keep it slow and steady, you'll smash it!

[Razouski]

Well done. W5R3 can seem like a complete challenge, but you only went and did it. Fab.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

Great run... in fact perfect... slightly slower as you up the duration is the way to go. Obviously the pacing and indigestion could have been better, and the run was tough... giving you a chance to show how far you’ve come on the mental side of running... good job.

Slow and steady into week 6, the intervals look easy and there’s a temptation to speed up is strong, catching a lot of people out. Enjoy.