Week 9 run 1 tonight, I’ve completed every single run so far without stopping or repeating any, tonight I started week 9 run 1 - got probably 10 minutes in and had to stop. Tried to get going again but couldn’t manage it and just walked all the way home. My legs felt so heavy like I couldn’t get them off the ground, I couldn’t get into a decent rhythm. My breathing was ok I didn’t feel physically tired I just couldn’t keep my legs going. Sitting here now feeling really upset, like I’ve just gone all the way back to feeling rubbish about myself like I did before I started this and now I’m worried I’ll never be able to finish it.
Sorry for the rant, just feel so upset
Written by
Rainn1
Graduate
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Never use the failure word here on C25K, sorry that you couldn't complete your run today, remember that you can repeat any runs or week's for any reason including not completing a run, take a extra day off running, rerun run 1 of week 9 again, drink plenty of water the day before you run and some just before and run a little slower than you did today, good luck. 👍 🏃🏾
We all have runs like that, when it happens to us we call it a short run which is longer than if we sat on the couch, 10 minutes? all in one go? wow that’s longer than you could do a few weeks ago, be proud you are amazing, drink plenty of water have a rest day or two, go out and go slow and you will smash it next time
Might be worth removing the s word too as we don’t have swearing on here 😀
That’s ok I’ve done that 😀 if you looked at some posts from someone who has been here years you would see that everyone has tough runs boring g runs hard runs and also fantastic runs
It could be hormonal, have felt up and down in general the last few days and more hungry than usual too! 3 runs feels like so few but after last night it doesn’t feel achievable at all I’ll try again though! Thank you
Do you know what? There are good runs and there are bad runs today was one of the latter.
Rest and prepare for week9 run 1 on Thursday. As you are going to sleep tomorrow night picture your run in your head. See yourself running your route without stopping. Follow all the advice regarding drinking water etc.
Then on Thursday come back here and share with me and everyone else how you did it at the second time of asking.
Remember you have been running for 28 minutes on Thursday you have another 28 minute run you just won’t stop. Think back to week 3 4 and 5 those weeks seemed near impossible but you did it.
I’ll definitely be back to update! Priority today is drinking lots and resting lots 😊 I like your suggestion too of visualising my run, I’ve never been one for positive thinking but maybe this is where I need to change my mindset to support my new hobby. Thank you
The visualisation just helps reaffirm to yourself all the runs you have completed up to this point seeing yourself or remembering those moments over the previous weeks just helps me to be in the “I know I can do this” attitude that is needed on this tough run days.
I am really sorry to hear that your run tonight didn't go as expected and I understand how frustrating this is for you. I am not sure if you will deem it helpful or rather annoying to read some positive views on that, however, as you shared this with the community I hope you are open for some more "the glass is half full" stuff. So here we go:
About two months ago you decided to do something for yourself and your health and to enroll in this plan. In just 8 weeks you completed 24 (!) runs and went from running for a single minute to running 28 minutes nonstop. That's amazing! 24 times your body did exactly what you wanted, you never had to stop or to repeat as you wrote. That's pretty good, isn't it? If my calculation is correct, this means that 96% of runs were successful in a sense that you ran the full time. I think that these 4% tonight will be at least as important as the remaining 96%. Like there are good days and not so good days there are amazing runs and less amazing runs and we can surely learn from all of them.
Tonight your body didn't exactly do what you wanted but it asked you for whatever reasons to give it a break. And instead of continuing running at all costs and risking an injury which might have stopped you from running for several weeks or even months you listened to it and walked home. That was a great act of self-awareness and something to be proud of, no need to beat yourself up (actually I don't think beating oneself up is ever helpful but that's another story).
I struggled in week 7 and decided to take 3 rest days in between runs which was a game changer for me and enabled me to continue as usual with 1 - 2 rest days in week 8 again.
Whatever your answer to tonight's run is, be it extra rest days, more water, additional stretches, a muscle relax bath or whatever your body tells you: Please be kind to yourself, you have done amazingly over the last two months and there are many more runs to come over the next few years. And once you have run about 100 times, the 3, 4, or 5 runs which ended earlier than expected will no longer seem to be as devastating as they look now.
All the best for your next run and the remaining C25k journey - nearly there now, woohoo!
Not annoying at all I really really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts and insight in such a positive way, this forum has been invaluable and the kindness in your reply to me is really touching thank you 😊
Oh my goodness you nearly made me cry to read this! I was feeling just that way after failing to complete W7R3 twice, but I decided to persevere, and today I have run W8R1 slowly - really slowly, but it felt so much better because I finished without feeling terrible by the end! You can do this - we just need to be kind to ourselves. X
Sorry! It’s so horrible isn’t it when you just want something so much and it’s almost like your body lets you down - although from all the responses I’m reading today maybe I should look at it like my body telling my it just needed an extra days rest. Well done you for completing run 1 of week 8 - I bet that must have felt even sweeter because you’d persevered! Good luck for the rest of your runs x
Look how far you’ve come... 10 minutes was impossible not so long ago... you’ve raised your threshold for “success” a lot. Push that bar back down... relax... a run is a run, and that run like all the others adds to your fitness. There’s no failure once you’ve crossed that startline. Maybe hydration was off, maybe something else, many factors can affect our run. Sometimes runs are just tough... I’ve had a few incomplete runs since C25K... I choose to laugh at the fact that the bit I ran used to be impossible, and that if I can’t run the last mile, it was only a couple of years ago that I couldn’t run the first one! One run will never define you... and there’s always another day.
When you put it that way! I think I just got it in my head that that was it now I’m back to square one - square one had me begging for mercy after the first 60 second run 😂
Square one tried to kill me 8 times 🤣. Let’s not go back there... it doesn’t matter how soon we get to our finish lines... especially as they’re really another start line.
Have a good rest day or two, I found that helps. I’m (almost) raring to go after a few days off. Do a couple of shorter runs, then go for it again. Getting to week 9 is a major achievement be proud and know you will do it.
Everything going on in our lives can impact on our performance as a runner. Restedness, hydration and nutrition are at the top of my list of variables that need to be optimised to enable enjoyable running.
10 minutes running is still a real achievement from when you started. I'm finding that I'm having to take longer breaks in-between the longer runs - 3 or 4 days! Even though I want to crack on and complete week 9 I think building up endurance takes time as leg muscles become fatigued and need more time to recover. Weight lifters take time out between resistance training sessions for this same reason - muscles need time to repair - it's all perfectly natural. Be easy on yourself - you are a winner because you tried!
I think I just had this vision of runners that go out every morning or evening without a rest day so the thought of leaving more than one day between each run makes me feel like I’m going to lose all my fitness and have to start again!
I know what you mean. I was like that in the beginning and concerned about losing fitness but I think it's ok and even necessary to take rest days. You'll be stronger in the end if you run when you're well rested and your muscles have a chance to repair. My personal trainer told me that even professional runners and trainers take rest periods for one to two weeks every now and then. Experienced and professional runners will be running everyday while they are training however they have built up muscle strength and endurance over years not a few weeks. You are doing so well to get this far. You will get there - this is your own personal journey - do what's best for you and your body.
I had the exact same e experience, I'm onto my final run but have felt pretty exhausted the last week ( I think it's hormonal for me). I had a 3 day rest whilst I wasn't quite feeling up to it but then forced myself out yesterday. It felt very hard from the start and I managed 15 mins....before just walking the rest. Really disappointing but I'm trying to be kind to myself and will try again tomorrow going very slowly.... Not sure what it is but my body just feels very heavy and sluggish.... But I'm enjoying all the advise above. Its true we've stuck with it for 9 weeks and this is the only one I've not completed yet ( well I have completed it twice just not my final third time). Tomorrow's another day x
Could be hormonal for me too someone else has mentioned that further up. I’m going to try again tomorrow - keep me updated with how you get on with your ‘re run’? The advice has been great I’m so glad I found this forum it really has spurred me on so much and the support here has got me this far so hopefully it’ll push me along to the end!
Well done on making it to week 9 by the way, let’s hope we’re graduates soon!
I’ve lost count of rest days 😂 I know I haven’t done two runs back to back though. I walked about 15 miles on Saturday but that was a rest day although don’t suppose that’s an actual rest really!! I’ll take your advice on board thank you!
Just imagine its week 8 run 3 again, with an extra 2 minutes at the end! You 100% can do this. Imagine 9 weeks ago saying you'd run for 10 minutes and considering it a failure! It's just one of those things! Definitely rest on rest days, I've done some super long walks on "rest" days and really regretted it when I come to run the following day! Let us know when you have done it, cause you will!!!! 💪🏼 also, you've not "failed" ANY runs so far! Look how many people have to repeat weeks. Imagine if someone else had written your post and what you'd say to them...say that to yourself! 💪🏼🧡
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I’ll try again though! Thank you 
Graduation 👩🏼🎓🏆🏃🏼♀️🤪❤️🙌🏼
Mental wall?
First failed run- Wk6 Run 3
Beginner
W7R1 failure
