Week 8 Hate

[Swanseajen]

Well week 8 has been horrible. I don’t know why but I’ve lost the mojo and the love has gone this week. I say week, it’s taken nearly two to get through week 8 now. Every run is physically tough but that’s expected. It’s just my Will has gone! Will! Come back, all is forgiven! Anyone else feel like this? It’s a pain given I’m so damn close to the end. Any advice or tips?

[Bloomsbury22 Graduate]

Ooof! I think we have all had a week or weeks that have hit us harder, for one reason or another. For me it has been my continuos battle with hayfever/asthma, and then slipping in the bathroom, which knocked my schedule out of whack and just made everything harder. By this point, having built up the fitness, it is really about what is going on in your head. For me the hardest bit of any run is the first half. Once that halfway bell rings something clicks over in my brain and I realise that with every step I am running, I am that much closer to the finish line. Which is daft, as I am one step closer to the finish line from the second I step out but, we all know brains don't work in a logical manner.

What I have noticed with a lot of people nearing the finish (I'm on W8R3), is that there is a lot of "What next?" that is playing on our minds. So far there has been a plan, and scheduled improvement, which is in itself very motivating as we achieve each of these milestones. But without another goal in front of us, what motivates us? I know myself, that I definitely need some sort of goal to work towards, so is that that I now move on to a reaching that 5k distance, running faster, adding ankle weights (this is definitely not going to happen!)? Sometimes the journey is the most rewarding part of an new venture, and the end can be rather deflating, if don't have a new journey planned? Even I am cringing that just wrote that! Hope that makes sense though.

[liz163 in reply to Bloomsbury22]

I’m laughing at the ankle weights and the ‘this is definitely not gonna happen ‘ 😂 did make me chuckle 😊

[JeanneMary Graduate in reply to Bloomsbury22]

I'm with you on the goal and motivation thing. I would really like to run 5k in a park run one day, if and when they start up again. My 30 minutes takes me just under 4K at the moment, so I'll need to speed up or keep going for longer, or both. I guess all that info will come after graduation...

[Bloomsbury22 Graduate in reply to JeanneMary]

Yup, right now just more than thrilled that am running 30 minutes without stopping! Once I have done that over and over again I will start working on times. Hopefully the pollen will have come down by then too so I can run more comfortably. Well done us though!

[liz163]

This was by far been my hardest week.. try changing your route and maybe listen to a podcast or something different? Like Bloomsbury said I find the first half the hardest and after that I’m yippee nearly home 😂 none of it has ever come easy to me but someone put earlier if we did w1 again we’d be shocked at how far we’ve come! Be proud of yourself and just try and change things a little.. maybe a different view will help.. even driving out to somewhere different. Good look with your next runs and see you on the other side 🏃🏼‍♀️🏃🏼‍♀️🏃🏼‍♀️

[Bloomsbury22 Graduate in reply to liz163]

Totally agree with you too! I listened to a podcast for the first time, instead of music on my last run. I'd been afraid to change anything up too much as did not want to do anything that would make my run harder, instead of easier. It was amazing how distracting something new is, and I very much lost track of time (well, sort of, I more so no longer had any idea where I was time-wise on my run). That said, I did miss the oomph benefit of a really fast song when I hit a couple of walls on my run. But yes, a couple of changes can really help.

[Swanseajen Graduate in reply to Bloomsbury22]

I’ve thought about podcasts but I was worried that I wouldn’t get the same motivation. I will try it I think. And changing my route as it is getting really dull. Thanks! Really helpful!!

[Krazycatlady Graduate in reply to liz163]

Yep I have just done W8R1 this morning

And I found it blooming hard !!! And it’s only 3 minutes extra

I am going to try a different route and I had to cross 2 roads and had to slow down so think threw my mojo out x

[Swanseajen Graduate in reply to Krazycatlady]

It’s deffo getting harder to do the same route the whole time. Changing it up might help. Thanks. X

[Deetermined Graduate]

Hi Swanseajean,

Well done for completing week 8, especially considering that it was such a tough one! 🎉 I hope you are proud of yourself and of what you have accomplished in these past 8 weeks.

Your week 8 sounds very much like my week 7 which took longer than a week and just felt like a lot of work. The good news is: It got better afterwards, and motivation and will returned with graduation in sight and with a new goal to work towards to which in my case is to run 5k at some point. I think Bloomsbury22 got a point with uncertainty about future goals. For two months there has been this lovely programme which gave us a goal and also some structure in the current challenging circumstances. And now you know that the goal is absolutely achievable for you and you might wonder what's next.

Maybe you like the idea of changing your route? It works for me to slightly vary my route regularly, and with my first consolidation run I also started to make the route a bit longer than I can actually run to keep myself from stopping early. This works for me because I absolutely hate walking alone, so every step walked (apart from the warm up and cool down walk which make sense to me as they serve a purpose) which I need to walk instead of running feels like wasted time for me so I naturally will try to run for some more metres. 😁 I also tried to listen to an audiobook which works better for me than music as it doesn't interfere with my breathing pattern. And same as Bloomsbury22, once I am about halfway through I just look forward to getting home and to that great sense of achievement after a run. 😊

So maybe think about why you enrolled in the plan in first place and where you would like to go with your new ability. Maybe registering for a 5k run and/ or attend Parkrun (they do them virtually right now but will return at dome point)? Maybe training towards running for an hour? Or maybe doing some other sports once you graduated which requires a lot of running or just requires a level of endurance you didn't have prior to C25k? You could also think about rewarding yourself for milestones reached e.g. with a new pair of running shoes after x miles, or some new running shirt or something completely different. For now have some wonderful rest day(s) and be proud of all the way you have come! 👍

[Swanseajen Graduate in reply to Deetermined]

Thanks! Good ideas. Always love a pressie reward!

[Issywhizz Graduate]

I’ve been experiencing similar since the runs have progressed to not include any intervals and I agree with liz163, changing the route and listening to something different does help. During the initial weeks, I kept running the same route, through the park and eventually got bored of it. I’ve started running different routes each time I run, which really helps. Equally, I’ve been listening to podcasts instead of music which helps me find a better pace and occupies my mind more when running. If anyone has little kids, then listen to rob Beckett and Josh Widdecombe lockdown parenting, it’s very funny. Also I read a post I had written when I first started out on this running journey, whereby I found it difficult to run 3 minutes!! It amazed me how now I can actually run for 25 minutes. As others before have said, if you think back to when you first started out, struggling with those small runs, just look how far you have actually come, it’s inspiring really 😊🌈🏃‍♀️

[Swanseajen Graduate in reply to Issywhizz]

Love that podcast! Makes me feel so much better about all my parenting disasters during lockdown. Thanks for your support and encouragement. It means a lot.

[Issywhizz Graduate in reply to Swanseajen]

Ha it’s brilliant isn’t it! Very funny

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Why did you start in the first place?

Write down all those reasons so that you can look at them when you falter and cross them off your list as they no longer apply.

Slowing down to the recommended easy conversational pace makes it more achievable and for most, more enjoyable.

Don't look on this as being nearly over, or it really is just a short term thing that will have very little impact on your long term health. C25k will hopefully kick start exercise as a major feature in your life, which will take you to places you would never have been, as a non runner.