On week 3!

Hi everyone. I finished week 3 but I don't feel ready to start week 4 yet. Anyone kept repeating stages?

[splodgybum64]

Absolutely. I repeated week 4 for about 4 weeks and then run 2 on week 5 for 2 weeks. Just go at your own pace and think of all the positives you gain by just moving! The milestones are personal so don’t feel that you have to move on if you don’t feel ready, equally don’t procrastinate too long as you will be amazed at what you can achieve. Good luck 🏃‍♀️ 😉

[Minsy]

Hi. Yes, I have repeated loads of the weeks, especially 4 & 5. I also had a break at beginning of lockdown as I preferred to use exercise walking or cycling. So restarted at week 4. Do it at your pace. You are out running, no matter how long it takes you 👍😀

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

What is it about it that makes you not feel ready? It’s more than ok to repeat any week/run that you choose to, this is your journey... but if it’s purely out of fear that you won’t complete the next one then there’s a couple of things to consider. Firstly, you need to ensure that you don’t build a mental wall for yourself... they can be hard to break through. Also, every run makes you fitter and stronger for the next, even runs that aren’t fully completed, so if the worst happened and you didn’t fully complete the 5 minute intervals, you’d be running longer than repeating, adding more to your fitness.

In general, I’d only repeat a run that I didn’t fully complete, and I’d repeat every one of those.

Hope this helps.

[Hidden in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Good point. I can see where are you coming from and make sense. Maybe I should move on to week 4 and just treat those days I couldn't compete. It was a bit of a struggle on week 3 but I left way to big gaps between the days. Didn't manage my time with work properly and the weather kept me inside.

So I will move onto week 4 and see how it goes. I would like to bild the stamina back so I have to push rather then get comfortable.

Thank you for your encouraging words xxx

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to Hidden]

I followed a half marathon plan last year... there were a couple of runs that I just couldn’t fully complete... and that was ok, I was running far longer than I’d ever gone before. I used two mental “tricks” to both get me through the plan, and get over the incomplete runs. The first is pretty well known, the power of positive thinking, I went to every start line relaxed and believing that I could do it, and embracing the fact that it might get tough out there. The second was purely looking back at my journey... I had an 8 mile run where at 7 I was dead on my feet... by 7.1 I was done. For a few seconds I was upset... then I looked at it again... it wasn’t that long ago that the mile I couldn’t run would have been mile one... and those 7 that I had run were once not only impossible, but unthinkable... I took my shoes off grinning, and so very proud of myself... the week later I ran 8.5!

Believe in yourself, trust your plan, and go easy on yourself if it doesn’t quite work out... then you’re invincible.

Have a wonderful run.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Just saw your picture... you’ve been on a similar journey before... congratulations on that weightloss, but I bet you got on the scales some weeks and hadn’t hit the number you wanted... this is just the same, it’s about the journey, not one day.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Welcome to the forum and well done on your progress.

This guide to the plan is essential reading healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

and includes advice on minimising impact, stretching after every run, hydration and strengthening exercises, all of which will help.

There is nothing wrong with repeating......each run makes you stronger.......but it is worth questioning your reasons why you are not tackling the next run, which this post may help clarify healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

Enjoy your journey.