Wk8 run2: wow! Fantastic run!

[CrimsonMama]

Firstly... I am estatic that the forecast rain and snow held off so I could do this run!

Secondly wow wow wow! The last run I did mapmyfitness logged me as 9.23 mins per km and I did 3.05km in 28.37 minutes and burned 258 calories which I was happy with. I started recording from my run not the walking parts.

Today TODAY somehow my stats have come up as 8.21 mins per km with a total of 3.80 I'm covered over 31.46 minutes. However I started the map before my run so there's a few minutes walking in there too. And my calorie burn has come up as 360!!! Which I am over the moon with! (I know these things may not be accurate with calorie burn but whatever the number it's BIGGER than my last run!)

The run itself was a bit of a slog for the first ten minutes but then I did try to push myself harder on the way back. Part of me is worried about week 9 coming up but then... It's only a minute more each way! I'm sure I got this!

One question though... Does it ever get "easy"? Or do you always run pushing yourself so it always feels like this? (Great but challenging...)

[DiscoRunner Graduate]

Well done indeed! One thing you seem to be experiencing is the ‘toxic 10’ that first part of the run being very hard. This is your body warming up and getting oxygen pumping through to feed your running. So I think that will always be a bit hard, but when you understand, and you can start quite slowly while you warm up, and it’s not so hard.

You know your fitness levels but this course is already pushing you, you don’t necessarily have to work even harder to prep for the next step. But I’m with the go slow crowd here. This is about duration not speed or even distance (even though it’s called C25K 🤣), it’s about running for 30 minutes. Pace & distance can be worked on after graduation, and after you’ve consolidated all this hard work. Just take care you don’t push yourself too hard and get an injury.

Sounds like you’ve really got the running bug, so I’m sure in time, you’ll be breaking PBs on a weekly basis!

[CrimsonMama in reply to DiscoRunner]

I never heard of the "toxic ten". Usually it's the first five mins that's hard but I've been skipping my warm up exercises to try to save time. Usually I do five mins of jogging on spot, leg lifts etc and then the 5 mins walk and then the running.

It does seem to make a difference in how quickly I get into a comfy rhythm but then again... My time was too shabby without the extra warm up? Lol

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

Great run. Calorie estimate won’t be far out... 100 per mile is the average, heavier people use more.

It gets easier! Not long after graduation, during my six consolidation runs, I decided to see how dropping my speed worked out and I ran 5k with no loss of breath, no beads of sweat, and the feeling that I needed to check the tracker map to prove to myself I’d done it. It was an amazing run and I felt like I could have set off again straight away, but I was a good boy! That kind of pace should do 80+ percent of your runs after the plan.. the other 15-20% are short and fast or intervals, and they feel like weeks 1-6 on the plan to be honest. So you will have both... soon... in a couple of weeks or so! Consolidation is all about making 30 minutes comfortable or even easy.... you’ll love it.

[CrimsonMama in reply to UnfitNoMore]

That's great to hear! I actually felt like I was 'running' instead of jogging in the second half of today's run! And my legs no longer feel like jelly when I come back down to walking.

The speed of progress on this program is amazing!

I am not too concerned with time/distance. I'm just happy to get out there for 30 mins. But I still like to watch my progress improving 😊

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to CrimsonMama]

“If you can consistently find success in your running that does not solely rely on numbers... you’ll consistently find success in your running and you’ll consistently run.”

That was Coach Bennett from Nike a couple of days ago... sounds like you think that way, and he’s a great runner and coach.