Week 7 done...dreading week 8

[CDay83]

Now I know what everyone will say as I say it to others who doubt themselves - trust the program... BUT... I’ve found the 25 min runs so incredibly hard that I genuinely don’t think I have it in me to get to 28 mins on my run tomorrow. Does anyone have any tips? My husband has offered an idea but I’m not mad keen on it as it involves me imagining one of my kids in peril and I have to run the extra 3 mins to save them. Only problem being I have a very active imagination and would most likely look like a mad woman if I did that so...any other tips?

[misswobble Graduate]

It’ll be fine. Nothing to dread 🙂. You’re nearly there now, so perhaps as you jog nice and slowly along, you can imagine what it will be like to graduate 😃👍💪🏃‍♀️🏅🤗🥂🍾🥳

You’ve done week 6. Nothing to fear now 💪🙂

[DrEdFullyunfit]

Funnily enough I’ve done the children in peril thing in my head to get me through. Not a good idea for me for the same reason you mention so I quickly changed it to all my children waiting for me just around the corner and I didn’t want to disappoint them by walking to the finish. That worked....just 🤣

Also I try ‘just three more minutes, that’s hardly anything now’ and I think back to earlier weeks and how far I’ve come.

Or maybe plan a really good song on your playlist so that it comes on just as you reach 24 / 25 mins, that helps me lots.

Also, watch your pace - you can always slow down.

I thought I’d struggle, but I did it three times! I’m now mildly panicking about 30 mins today!

We’re nearly there - woohoo 🥳

[diahug Graduate]

Oh no! What a terrible idea, this is supposed to be fun not traumatic 😂😂 my trick for that jump in time was ‘it’s just 1 more song’

[Hidden]

What would your bucket list dream be? Imagine something that you would love to have and it’s there waiting for you when you reach the end of your 28 mins. Yippee! You did it! Try that or something like that and you’ll get there. Just relax and enjoy it.

Spring is just here, birds are singing and the bluebells, daffy etc are appearing . What a lovely image.🤗🤗

Good luck!🤗

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Just relax and enjoy it.

If you are dreading a run then you will not perform at an optimal level.

It is impossible to fail this programme unless you retire permanently to the couch, so what are you dreading.

this post on mental approach may help healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

Believe in yourself.

[SueAppleRun Graduate]

I know everyone says slowdown but it works, every time we started a new week i did the lecture of we have to start really slow or we won’t get to the end of the time and nearly every time Willow went off in front of me and i caught him up later as he was taking a few walking steps to catch his breath.

At this point i really think it doesn’t matter if you don’t make the last minute or two, due to work and weather we ended up taking a few more days between runs and that made a difference to how fresh we felt, this isn’t a race and even though it took a lot longer than 9 weeks by the end we could run for 30 minutes and now a few months later i can run for an hour, not very fast and not very often but this time last year neither of us could run for one minute

[Elfe5 Graduate]

Hi CDay83, I really struggled on W7 - I think, for me, it was partly the psychological shock of continuous running! (Brain: What ARE we doing??! Time to stop! - which kicked in & shouted loudly after about 10mins!😂) Also, I eased off my already slow pace to even slower & that made a huge difference. I find it helpful to do “I could go faster, but am choosing not to” & just potter along gently.

I found W8 much better than W7, I hope you do too. 😄

[CDay83 in reply to Elfe5]

I’ve not tried slowing down yet so maybe now is time! Yep, mines minute 14 and my brain is shouting “enough woman!!!”. Thank you x

[pete1212 Graduate]

Well done CDay83 you be fine slow down and slow down again if need be trust the plan and relax you smash it I am sure 👏👍

[steviej99 Graduate]

Trust the plan!!! - no really... trust the plan!!!! Youve had great replies to your post so just follow those and you'll smash it. Remember that you are training not racing and most of our training should be at 60% of our racing speed. Thats how you build strength and stamina. Plenty of time after graduating to get quicker if you want to. Good luck and enjoy your running

[Speedy60 Graduate]

Don't dread it, relax and enjoy! Remember: the day you go out for your next run, you're actually fitter than the day you got back from the last one.

Good luck! 👍

[CDay83]

Slowed my pace and listened to a podcast and the 28 mins flew by! Smashed it! Thanks so much everyone xxx

[JulieM72 Graduate]

I count the number of songs I have listened to... I find I push harder if I run to the end of the song... time wise it doesn’t always work but most of the time it’s good ... good luck x