Am starting week 9 tomorrow! Still finding it hard to keep my head in the run. I start and two mins in I want to stop, not because I am tired but rather because my head doesnโt want to do it. So I am amazed when I see I have done the 28mins in the end!! Every time at the 2 or 5 min mark I think I will stop!!! My pace is still slow at around 4.3km including the warmups but that will improve over time. But the head?!! Every time?!!! Does anyone else have head slog? ๐
Does anyone get head slog?!!!๐: Am starting... - Couch to 5K
Does anyone get head slog?!!!๐
Totally, I find the longer you go the better it gets, and good music helps too, but my brain is still mostly resistant
Good to hear although I was also hoping it would go away!! I thought I was supposed to get addicted to a running high!!! Perhaps when I run faster?!! Itโs definitely easier running for longer I agree.
Apart from those runners whoโve run since early childhood, most runners find thereโs a phenomenon known out there as either the โfatal fiveโ or the โtoxic 10โ where the voices in your head are likely to want you to stop... itโs the toughest part of the run, and itโs because it takes your body going into oxygen deficit to realise whatโs going on and start work on supplying more oxygen to the muscles. It sounds to me that you may be experiencing this... in which case be happy when itโs only two minutes! Once the oxygen delivery is on track it gets easier.
Jeez the fatal five! Thatโs me so! Thanks unfitnomore! So as long as I can through that period it should go away..,
I'm so glad it's not just me. I'm all up and motivated until I've been running for a few minutes and then it's like, ok we've done it let's go have a cuppa cos I'm fed up now. I feel great at the end of the run when I'm cooling down and so thrilled that I've done it. Trying different playlists now to see if that helps.
Totally get that and Iโm only at week 6 but thinking of going back a week as running continuously is so hard mentally.
How do you know your speed?? Iโm shuffling rather than running so knowing my speed would interest me
I find that in the same way your brain can sabotage your run it is also really easy to trick. When I feel I really want to stop I tell myself I only need to run to a certain place fairly nearby. When I get there I set myself another short distance. I end up going much further. I fall for my own tricks every time!
Totally agree. We need to beat our brains. I tell myself one more minute and then another... and another.........
Oooh yes, nearly always. Throughout the run I'm constantly having to tell myself I can do it and not to give up. There's a constant internal dialogue for and against practically to the end!! But the feeling is so good when I finish, the pro side always wins, thankfully! ๐
Yep! I find that first five minutes the hardest. Once I'm past 5 mins it does seem easier - but those first five are hard work and I could quite happily stop and meander my way back home!! No
I thought that was just me! Mine is at about 5 and if I am running with my husband he gets all sorts of grumbly "what am I doing, I can't run 30 minutes like this etc etc". Especially when Laura says that I have done five and not to go so fast so EARLY in the run! I literally want to stop right there ha ha! But then after half way I am comfortable (ish!) and happy!
So good to hear its actually a thing.....will keep tricking my brain to keep going as its such a good feeling after I have finished. I am on week 9 run 2 tomorrow now so graduation is in sight for both of us!
Thanks for the post Blueintheface and all the replies everyone and happy running (with the odd grumpy 2 minute bits)
Hi Blueintheface,
Yes I get it every time and just like you I always finish the run. Iv just done week 9 day 1 wanted to stop after 5 mins but ended up running 35 mins 5.1k
Brilliant. I feel loads better now that itโs a thing and itโs not just me and my weak brain. Thanks everyone for their posts. I will beat the fatal fives if itโs the last thing I do (which it might well be!)๐ฆธ๐ผโโ๏ธ๐ฆธ๐ผโโ๏ธ
I can totally relate! My body feels OK so it's not physical exhaustion it's my head willing me to stop. In week 7 at the moment so doing 25 min runs and my current trick is telling my brain that I need to run through about 7 songs, then when each song ends it feels like a little milestone. Usually Jo kicks in midway through the final song too so it ends a little earlier than I've told myself it will. Not sure how long the trick will work but it's making it much more manageable, especially as I'm in the gym on a treadmill so no visual milestones for me!
Absolutely. The first KM in I always want to stop. When you go through it, you realise it's more psychological than anything. I feel because I have not run more than a km in years! So makes sense my brain telling me to stop.
Also just make sure you are setting a good pace, not too fast or slow. I use my Fitbit to track my KM pace
What I have recently discovered is that if I really concentrate on slowing down for the first couple of kms, that " I'm stopping now" gremlin doesn't appear as often, in fact not at all for the last 4 runs๐บ.๐
I think the head controls our walking and running, just as the brain controls all our limbs
You could try telling your mind 'it's ok my friend, I got this. You're in good hands'. Your mind is trying to protect you from something in case you don't do it and become upset. So, rather than criticising your protective mind, reassure it that you've got its back. All is ok. Well done too!!
Btw - most if not all people to some degree have head slog (fluency). When I started all sorts of things were going through my mind. Yet, I changed my approach and my head began telling me 'keep going you've got this'. I repeated the first two weeks and I also slowed my pace. I removed all imaginary competition. I was doing this for me. This weekend I'm running W9 R2 and have passed 5km in my runs. Yet I needed to go much slower in the beginning to build motion memory and endurance. Well done!
Thanks for this post. It clearly touched a nerve for lots of us, and reading through the responses should be helpful for anyone else suffering from head slog! ๐ Iโm now delighted that I only get the Fatal Five and even that is diminishing as I learn how it all works for me. ๐๐ผ
This has been so helpful for me..thanks everyone for your tips.
Running week5 R2 tomorrow so I'll take them onboard and trick my brain !!
Iโm the same, always complete the run but spend most of the run thinking about stopping even though not because of tired etc. I tried a bit of military cadence today so I can just switch my brain off and just run to the rhythm. Iโm W9 R3 on Sunday so will try it again then
I used to have toxic 10, but as time has gone on it has become fatal 5. Must be because my body is more used to the metabolic switch. But I think the head thing is somehow different. I find Iโm really looking forward to a run, set off and after about a hundred yards could cheerfully take up table tennis instead! Persevere and after a couple of minutes all is well! Odd isnโt it. Running I mean. ๐
I find the first 5 the worst. I have not failed a run apart from when I had to pull up with injury. I have however given up on 2 occasions. It was at the gym where I do most of my running both times in the first few mins. I went to the changing room and gave myself a bit of a talking to and went back and did it. I think having something to listen to helps. Podcasts are good (Try My dad wrote a porno it really is the funniest thing ever and very popular) radio stations and of course music. I am in my 50s so would not dare to suggest anything musically!