W5R2 Complete but at a slower pace

[The_Real_BFG]

I must admit I've put this run off twice as last week I was still stiff from run 1 and then a full bank holiday 3 days of DIY in the garden mean I was even stiffer. Finally decided I had to do it yesterday but I was still worried as my calves have been giving me trouble all the way so far. I made the decision to run at 7kph rather than the 8kph I have been running before on the tradmill and it worked a treat I had less pain than any of the previous runs. I still want to be running more like 12kph in the end but lets hope I can build from here.

[Bluemoon1958 Graduate]

Well done. I run at 6.3km ph and have bad knees so am taking it slowly. Am sure we will all get there one way or the other 👌🏿

[DiscoRunner Graduate]

I think you’ll be able to build to that speed if you want but as each week with c25k you’re doing more, slowing down really helps. This is really about learning to run for 30 minutes - speed or distance can follow, at this stage it’s hitting the duration. When we’ve completed c25k we’ve run for a little over 8 hours - which is both great and also not that much! But it puts things into perspective about where we are in our training. Too much too soon and it’s to the Injury Couch, a place to be avoided! So slowing down for a bit while you build to 30 is good. After you’ve consolidated that 30 & got comfortable running it at the slower pace, then you can work on improving your time/pace/distance.

[Bluemoon1958 Graduate]

Yes I dropped my pace slight so that I could hopefully and ultimately get the 30 minutes non stop running in and then maybe go faster but not sure I want to go faster. I think the minutes under your belt focus is perhaps more important than speed ?

[DiscoRunner Graduate in reply to Bluemoon1958]

Definitely at this stage - the focus on duration is key. On our rest days we’re building muscle, bone cells, and extra micro capillaries (and all sorts of other amazing things) that will make us stronger runners. So think of this, and your consolidation runs as your foundation. Depending on your age (how fast it is to build all this extra stuff!) you can then work on pace if that’s what you want. Another runner here, Tartencat, had worked on pace but found they didn’t enjoy the running so much, started to lose motivation, then rediscovered the joys of slow running. So pace can be flexible, and goals changed as we settle in to our life as runners!! You are doing so well, and if slowing down helps you, do that. I’m a huge fan of the Japanese slow jogging technique - so I’ll always be a bit of slow runner pusher 🤣🤣🤣!