Advice needed

[Henrietta2156]

Never run in my life so finding it quite hard , I’ve just finished W2 and struggled running 90 seconds how do you do 3 minutes???????

[Hidden]

Slowly 😂 if you’ve followed the plan this far you WILL be able to do it, I think we all think the same at the end of a week before the next but believe in yourself, you can do it 👊

[MartinKH Graduate]

Great advice from run fish run above, slow and steady is the way to go.

The programme works great, it prepares your body so that it’s ready for what awaits. As you progress, you’ll notice that your faith in the programme and confidence in yourself will increase week by week.

[Hidden]

Every week I think I am never going to be able to do the next week, then somehow you do! Stick with it and just go slowly even if your jog is not much faster than a walk! You can do it

[Alast]

When I read your question, I already knew what I was going to say, and guessed that I wasn't going to be the only one. Yes, the advice is to slow down! I was the same when I started, I was obsessed with thinking that running means moving quickly, but it doesn't. All it means is that whilst you are moving, there is a point where both feet are off the ground at the same time, the speed is not important. For a better explanation of this, search for the Japanese Slow running video's. When I've found I can't complete a run (so re-christen it as a practice) I've found that next time, when I run more slowly, I usually can. I stopped last year at the beginning of W4, then started again from scratch. So far I've only had 1 practice run, tat was W4 R1 last Saturday, but on Monday & Wednesday I completed it. In the early stages of C25K it is also misleading (but totally understandable) that we focus on the time we have to run without having to slow to a walk, but if you look at the overall running time, in W2 you ran for 9 minutes, and it's the same for W3. (In W1 you ran a total of 8 minutes). Having had this explained to me really helped me to understand that I should be able to do this, but I just need to adjust my running pace accordingly. hearty congratulations for completing W2, that is a mighty achievement after doing noting only a few weeks ago. You should be fine in W3, just take your time, trust the programme and (most importantly) enjoy it and let us know all about it.

[John_W Graduate Ambassador in reply to Alast]

YAY!

[Alast in reply to John_W]

Yes, it has finally sunk in! Thanks for (all of) your explanation(s).

[John_W Graduate Ambassador in reply to Alast]

You're welcome and good luck for the rest of the program!

[Henrietta2156 in reply to Alast]

I did it who hoo thankyou everyone xx

[SofaJockey]

I can relate. I'm only on my 3rd 'Week 1' run. I only managed one of the 8 full minutes on the first, but managed 4 full minutes (out of 8) today. I assume you keep on keeping on and each run you can get a little better. I don't plan to move to 'week 2' until I've managed all 8 full minutes of running. Then if it's 90 seconds, I'm not holding myself to doing all the 90 seconds at the first attempt, but I'll keep working at it.

[John_W Graduate Ambassador]

Henrietta2156 how does your breathing feel at the end of your last run? Are out of breath? How is your effort level on scale of 1-10 where 1 is a gentle walk and 10 is sprinting for a train ?

[Henrietta2156 in reply to John_W]

I’m out of breath , effort level 4

[John_W Graduate Ambassador in reply to Henrietta2156]

ok, so that's your main problem - being out of breath means you're going waaayyyy too fast. You need to get rid of "run" from your head and think "JOG" instead - nice and slowly! You need to S L O W right down to a pace that may be slower than your fastest walk - there's no problem with that. The pace (effort level) should be one where your breathing is comfortable and the effort level is nice and easy. Sounds like your effort level is not 4 but around 8!

Aim to finish feeling like you could carry on. if you do that, you're doing it right.

Have a look at this:

youtube.com/watch?v=9L2b2kh...(Not working as expected?)

and also search for "Quick steps: the running shuffle" on YouTube

Good luck!

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

This plan is great, it works, it’s been tested by many thousands of runners over a long period of time... one thing I think all those runners would agree on is that it’s “quite hard”. Try to just trust the plan and believe in yourself... you’re in a position that many of us remember well “OMG the runs are twice as long!” Yes, but there’s less of them and the brisk walks are also cardio exercise... looking at the full workout, there’s very little difference. You are doing great... and you can take down week 3... slow and steady as you go... you’ll feel awesome when it’s done.

[Henrietta2156 in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Will try x

[AU510 Graduate]

If you feel uncomfortable moving up to the 3 min runs, just repeat W2. You'll be fine. I've repeated runs in different weeks until I felt comfortable/confident to give a longer run a go. All it means is that you'll take longer than 9 weeks but I'm sure that that's OK. (I'm planning to do W7 R1 tomorrow and I started the plan in December.)

Also, try not to underestimate yourself; you've come this far, you may surprise yourself with actually getting the 3 mins running in (as I did).

[Henrietta2156 in reply to AU510]

I’m going to give it a try , really don’t want to go back x

[AU510 Graduate in reply to Henrietta2156]

Go you! Rooting for you 👍🏼

[layzellm Graduate]

I found it helped when I realized that the 'walk' times between the runs in the early weeks are as important as the 'run' parts. If you imagine that your body is fairly slow to react to changes - the blooming 5 minute warm up walk for example. When you have run for 1.5 minutes, then start walking for 2 minutes, your body (think lungs and heart) keep going at an elevated rate, and take a while to slow down. To them, they might have been operating at an elevated rate for almost 3 minutes each time, all through week 2.... When you start to consider this slow reaction to change that your body is completing each day, you can see how the plan builds up your body's ability to progress through the combination or running and walking.....

It helped me rationalize it anyway....

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

In W3 you run for exactly the same duration as you did in W2, it is just the length of intervals that alters.

Don't look for problems.

This post may help you healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

You can do this.