W5R3 done!!

[WellbeingMyself]

Wow! I did it!! I actually actually did it!!! As everyone has said, trust the plan! It's more mind than body! I found my mind saying prayers, lyrics, numbers etc in my head, anything to distract me! It seemed to fly by. And I was a bit disappointed by the end when Laura said it was time to stop! I was ready for more by that point!

I have no idea how I have got here, but I'm so proud I have! It's made me realise so much is possible! I honestly think if I can do it, more or less anyone here can! Having M.E it's all about pacing for me. But with incremental steps I know I can stretch and stretch my capacity. I can't wait for week 6!! Eeeeek!!

A lovely lady in the gym afterwards said "well done for your run" which blew me away! How did she know! What solidarity. Amazing.

Thank you so much for all your excellent advice and motivating talk and giving me faith in the programme. Exactly what I needed for some self belief! This place is amazing!! 💜🤗

[Buddy34 Graduate]

20 minutes non stop it really is amazing when you think back to wk1 of 60 seconds . Amazing what you can achieve with the right plan and great effort . Well done you 😊

[WellbeingMyself in reply to Buddy34]

It's incredible. What a clever programme!! I'm so amazed.

[Zebadee1 Graduate]

Congratulations! We knew you would do it...enjoy the feeling of accomplishment. You did great.......w6 will feel a bit strange, don't feel disheartened if running in intervals feels hard again. It's a very odd feeling after making it to 20 mins. Anyway, that's next week, for now enjoy your amazing achievement 👏👏👏

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate]

Congratulations on completing run 3 of week 5, that is a milestone run with C25K, onwards and upwards to week 6 run 1 but be careful about that run as it catches out some people with the interval walks and runs after the non stop 20 minutes of W5R3 which you have just ran 🏃 😊

[AdverseTangent]

Well done. I remember looking ahead to W5R3 in my early stages and convincing myself that I would give up well before doing 20 mins!

I'm in week 8 now (28 mins runs), and I am really pushing myself. I've lost count of the number of sums I've done in my head, endlessly working out how long I've run, and how long I've got to go to various milestones (even though it's right there in my face on the app). Those first five minutes are the toughest for me, once I'm beyond that it seems to be okay and my determination to finish the run takes over. I'm relieved when the half time bell goes though.

I hope to finish next week, and then keep up the 30 minute runs. I don't really have any ambition to do longer at this stage, for me it was all about being a bit fitter and losing some weight (which I've managed to do by cutting back on the calories a bit, rather than a formal diet).