Did I really just run for 25 minutes? YES I DID! I might even have smashed it! Well, only if you can smash something really slowly 😀. Pulled into the car park at Hughenden Park to find a notice saying that it was closed for repair. The gates were open and no-one there, so I parked and off I went! (Such a rebel!) I have to confess I was just a teeny bit anxious about this run, so gave myself a good talking to about how ready for it I was! Glanced around the park and I couldn’t believe it! There were even more slopes than on Monday, when I last ran! Decided to stick by the stream. Right. Music ON 🎶 (ELO Alone in the Universe). Morning Michael! And off I go. First 5 minutes settling into my pace. Slight panic as I realise I’ve got to negotiate a gate! It was one of those swing gates where you just kind of shimmy round it, so I did did a weird running on the spot kind of thing and carried on. Obviously didn’t do my time much good! The rest of the run was happily uneventful. Michael chipped in now and again, of course. I was running and listening to the music, enjoying the early morning. It felt that I was a bit slow. (Stats showed afterwards that indeed I was!) When Michael suggested that I could speed up for the last 60 seconds, I actually did, although it almost finished me off!
Friends, I am officially a runner! How good does that feel! 6 weeks ago I almost collapsed after running 1 minute, and here I am having run 25 minutes without stopping. So proud of myself! Could definitely not have done this without the encouragement of my forum buddies, so thank you so much.
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Jools2020
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Amazing! You absolutely smashed it. Well done runner, you should be very proud of yourself! Yet again, the scenery is beautiful, I'm going to take some tips from you and take a photo of my run route on Friday haha! Doesn't matter necessarily that you were slightly slower for this run, you can go faster in the other 25 minutes run - might as well run slow and know you can tuck a 25 min run under the belt than push yourself too much and you are unable to do it!
Onto week 7 now, not long to go at all until the final stretch!
Than you! That was my feeling exactly. Go slowly, and if I had anything left close to the end, which I did, push in the last 60 seconds, which I did! I’m amazed. I even did a couple of excited twirls at the end! Although I did put my hands on my hips, which means I’m pretty tired. On a high, now, busy congratulating myself! I think I’ll take a 2 day break now. Yes, take a photo - it’s always nice to see where people are running. It adds that personal touch.
Hahaha I definitely punched the air with excitement once I had finished mine today, I bet cars which were passing me looked at me like I was mental! I do that too hahaha so I know I need to slow down a bit when I do that! Yeah good idea, you deserve it!
Thank you! No, sadly never seen them live. I’ve always loved their music, and when Alone in the Universe was released it seemed such a nostalgic album and I really like it. Good to run to as well.
I actually feel like a runner now; I’ve earned that title by the sweat on my brow 😀 🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️
Jools that fab well done great news. You rebel you. This is my next run as well. I must say I get daunted if there’s a slight slope ahead to slow me down but usually I’m ok. I do have a busy traffic island to negotiate on my run but usually the drivers see I’m on a mission and wave me across. I too listen to Michael so Ive got faith in myself and him we will do it. Congratulations have a great day.
Thank you! Yes, I think I have rebel tendencies 😂. Good luck on your run. It’s sounds like you trust the program; you are ready and Michael will see you through 🙂.
I did it. 25 minutes and surprisingly easier than I expected. When Michael said that’s 5 minutes I though oh no Is that all but then the time went quicker than I thought. Amazing. Every run/ jog now like this.
Thanks! I am enjoying it, sitting here drinking my coffee. Great feeling. You’ll be fine tomorrow, don’t overthink it ( I started to do that this morning and almost didn’t go). You’ll be fine, you are definitely ready!
Thanks. I see you are way ahead of me. I’ll be there soon! I plan to speed up when I’m more comfortable running without walking breaks. My pace for this run was around 10.5 mins/km which I need to improve on at some stage. Just wasn’t going to be today 😀
Yeah, funny how it's possible to smash things slowly isn't it? Who knew? Respect to you for speeding up for the last minute too, every time Jo Whiley has said that to me, my response has been "you must be [expletive deleted] joking!"
Oh heck! I’ve just realised in the middle of celebrating my new ‘runner’ status that this means my next run will be W7 R1. Week 7!!! How did that happen?!?! 🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️🐌🐌🐌
I thought when you posted the other day it looked like Hughenden, I’m just around the corner, good to hear that car park is finally being repaired, it’s terrible!!
Well done on completing week 6, isn’t this an amazing program to follow? Keep up the good work, not long to go now until you reach the magical 30mins, you’ve got this 🏃♀️
Thank you and pleased to meet you! Amazing program! Yes, dreadful potholes in that car park. Where do you run if you don’t mind me asking? I’m staying in Downley for a while and don’t want to go too far. Tried just running around the village, but not used to running on a hard surface and my shin started to ache.
I’ve been running around the village & have created a route that is about as flat as you can get around here! There are still a few slight slopes but nothing compared to the major hills!
Hughenden Park is lovely, I tend to walk there a couple of times a week. If you wanted to try somewhere else there is The Rye on the other side of town which is fairly flat.
I always wave at other runners, maybe we will see each other one day!
spooky lol! I enjoyed running round Downley, but my shin didn’t. Yes, I remember the Rye, but didn’t want to go that far. I’ll stick with Hughenden for now! Thanks.
Thank you 😀 I tried to run where it looked flat! It kind of worked, as there was only 2m elevation, but my route didn’t look very pretty on the map 😂. On my previous run there was a 15m elevation so no wonder my legs complained!
I got to the end of week 5 but had to stop for 5 weeks because of a knee injury. Fully recovered, I started again on week 4 and will be facing w5r3 for the second time on Friday. I’ve been fairly lazy about exercise all my adult life but was totally gutted when I couldn’t run because of my knee. I don’t care about speed - I just want to be able to casually go for a 30 minute run a few times a week. I didn’t think I could ever be that person a few months ago - I won’t think about another goal until I achieve that...
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Week 6 Run 3!
Yes
YES!! Week 6 run 3 in the bag.
Week 7 run 3, under a waterfall
