Week 8 - finding the groove

[Firehorse1]

I have just completed w8r3 (woo hoo!) and have run for 30 or 31 minutes for each of the week 8 runs. I always feel stronger at the end and if there’s gas in the tank why not use it, eh?

My tough points in the run tend to be at 12 minutes and 19-22 minutes and then I feel fine and hit a nice groove at about 24 minutes, which is why I want to keep going for a bit at the end.

It would be nice to find the groove earlier in the run. Does anyone else experience this, or have any suggestions of how I can “settle” earlier? Thank you!

[linda9389 Graduate]

Well done! At this stage two main things probably contribute to your settled feeling - warming up and getting close to the end!

You could spend more time warming up pre-run (think walk, dynamic stretches, really brisk walk), your joints will be looser and your body will already be producing oxygen levels closer to what you will need when running. That improves the first 10+ minutes when your body is in catch up. Also, run the first part of your run at an easier, more comfortable pace and build gradually to your settled stride.

The expectation of the end increases confidence that you can do it and so you relax into it. A regular mental bodyscan to make sure you aren't holding any tension may help, as will mind games focusing on what you have already comfortably achieved or distractions to stop you counting the minutes. The strongest mind game is self belief. You've got this, all that remains is to enjoy it 😊

[Firehorse1 Graduate in reply to linda9389]

Thank you, Linda. You are right about getting closer to the end contributes to the feel-good factor, and I am very motivated to "beat" the set length of time for the run, mainly so that there is no way that I an under-doing the time and inadvertently cheating myself! My warm-up walk is a good 10 minutes to my start point, some of it uphill. The mental side of it is difficult, though - what to think about during the run as a distraction. I have recently changed my route which will help for a while. Unfortunately I am not good with earbuds and don't want to carry my phone with me, so podcasts and music can't help. IannodaTruffe suggested giving a running commentary of the surroundings as you go, which I have tried and will keep trying. I really, really want to enjoy my running and for it not to become a chore. Thanks again for your help!

[linda9389 Graduate in reply to Firehorse1]

Is it just ear buds that are the problem? Would bone conducting headphones work? or over ear headphones?

Besides that there are all sorts of counting and observational games you can play for distraction: from the mundane but tricky 'count backwards in threes from 1000' to find something on my run for every colour in the rainbow/every letter in the alphabet etc.

Mixing up your routes is very good - maybe hop in the car or on a bus and try somewhere different. Once you graduate, mixing up the length of your runs and the pace of your runs helps ring the changes too. There should be lots of ideas in the monthly consolidation post which you will find in the pinned posts. There is no need at all for it to become a chore 🙂

[Firehorse1 Graduate in reply to linda9389]

I don't want to run with any sort of headphones - the less paraphernalia the better works for me, and I want to be able to hear ambient noise (which is mostly lovely birdsong). I will try the observational/counting stuff and check the pinned posts - thanks again x