Need some advice

[Charly01]

I failed to complete wk6 r2 a few days ago - since then my right thigh and knee have been niggly. I tried to repeat the run again today but I couldn’t even run for 5 minutes non stop - just didn’t have the stamina to keep going so I just gave up and went home. Now my right leg is aching A LOT 😢 I feel really disappointed and annoyed with myself. Do you think I should leave it a couple of days for my leg to feel better and then restart on week 5 instead? Or should I just try wk6 again? Really not sure what to do for the best and I’m becoming really disheartened seeing my friends doing 7k plus and running at 5 or 6 km/h my fastest time is about 7:30 km/h and the furthest I’ve run is 3k and that’s with a 3 minute walk and that almost kills me 😣

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate]

I think you should not run for a few days until the injury heals, you can do some other exercises like stretching, yoga and going walks, I hope it won't be long before you can get running again.

It's up to you what run or week that you want to restart running, if you are not off long resume at week 6.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

Assuming you mean minutes/km (otherwise you’d be faster than your friends)

Comparison is never good... I’m trying to break 2 hours for half marathon and apparently some chap called Eliud has been there, done that, and ran twice the distance... I could get really down thinking about that huh? Maybe one day I’ll get to be 60% as fast as him... for now I’ll settle for 50%.

What’s my point? If it’s almost killing you, it’s too fast for your current fitness level... maybe try running at 8mins/km, it’ll feel better... and if you can’t talk that that pace, try 8:30... etc.

I took 15 minutes off my 10k PB (and smashed my 5k PB on the same run) last year by doing plenty of slower running. This year I had to build up again after illness and I’m setting similar times again after spending lockdown running easy every single run. To get faster... slow down. Have a read of this mensrunninguk.co.uk/top-fea...

Rest a couple of days, and if you’re feeling good, go see how slowly you can go while still running... it’s fun, and you’ll get through that pesky run 2.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Can you speak aloud, clear, ungasping sentences as you run?.........if not, you are going too fast.

Slowing down to the recommended easy conversational pace makes it more achievable and for most, more enjoyable and far less than likely to result in injury.

Rest up and follow the PRICE principles linked to in the guide.

As stated in the guide to the plan, healthunlocked.com/couchto5... you lose no significant condition in the first two weeks of non running.

After that loss of condition is gradual.

All any of us can do after a lay off is to go out and see what we can comfortably manage, then build back up gently, using C25k or something similar as a guide to weekly increase.

[Charly01 Graduate]

Thank you all for replying - I am going to take a couple of days off and hopefully my leg will feel better and I’ll try slowing down when I start back up as I definitely cannot speak while running as I’m too out of breath.

I will also try to stop comparing myself to others as it’s definitely not good for my mental wellbeing. I know I am getting fitter slowly I think I just need to focus on this 👍