Hoorah!
I graduated two and a half weeks ago - amazed that I could run for 30 minutes, but nowhere near 5K of course.
On my third consolidation run I drove to the nearest Parkrun route. I walked for the first 5 minutes, ran 30, then walked to the end. Total time - 40.54.
Last week (sixth consolidation run), I walked the first 5 minutes again, tried to run the rest of the route, but had to walk for a couple of minutes. Total time - 38.51.
Today I was determined to try to run the whole way, so didn’t start the route until after the 5 minute warm up walk. I knew I had to run slowly if I was to have any chance, so I reverted back to snail pace. I realised half way round the route that running that slow meant I wasn’t so puffed out and that I could probably keep going the whole way. What a wonderful feeling!! I did just that. I was amazed to find that I had knocked 29 seconds off last week’s time. I was convinced that I was running slower than my fast walking pace!
I can hardly believe that I have just run 5K with no stops or walking in 38.22. I realise that it’s still a really slow time, but it feels like a miracle to me.