Slowness really does build stamina

[Ant50]

For the last few weeks of consolidation running i have been trying to follow the advice on here and slow down. I now aim for 6’30” a km but this morning I slowed down even further to an average pace of 6’49” which felt good, so good I decided to push on beyond my previous maximum distance of 7.5km and managed 8km in 54:39. I didn’t set out to do anything more than 5k this morning, but it was such a nice morning I just kept going and going....

For those just starting C25K, rest assured less than a year ago I struggled to run for 1 min non stop, now I am running for almost an hour non stop, so it really is possible, if you stick to the plan and take your time and then continue to run once you graduate. Next step for me is the 10k plan with Jo-Jo.

[Hareshaw-Granny Graduate]

Great run and amazing speeds and that’s you slowing down!!! I would really need to knock minutes off my speed to try to match that - don’t think that’s do-able for me at all 😱. Good luck with your future running.

[Ant50 Graduate in reply to Hareshaw-Granny]

Thanks. I keep telling myself to “really” slow down and it’s starting to work, but still need to slow it down further. Good luck with your running also.

[Pinkpig20 Graduate]

I can't manage that speed when I'm going faster, so well done!

[Ant50 Graduate]

Thanks. I just put the speed down to having long legs !!!

[nowster Graduate]

Great run! I see you started faster and slowed until you found a nice steady 7min/km pace.

BTW, 8 km is just short (by 40 yards) of 5 miles.

[Ant50 Graduate in reply to nowster]

Yes, that first KM is what I would call my normal pace, so I made myself slow down to about 6’30”, then I slowed down again to about the 7 min/km mark when I realised I was going to run for 7 or so km, think it was this slower pace which allowed me to reach the 8km distance. Amazing that it’s almost 5 miles. If someone had told me a year ago I would be running 5 miles non stop I would have laughed at them. It’s incredible how C25K improves your fitness.