W4R1 - made it (just barely)!

[RainRunner33]

Well, after a week off from posting my progress on here (it isn't really that interesting to go "woop, did W3R2 again!") I progressed to week 4 today.

I have to admit I was a bit nervous about this run, after having read how it's one of the programme's biggest jumps in difficulty - and seeing how long the intervals were, as well as the short walking breaks between the 3 minutes and 5 minutes. However, I'm pleased to say I (just barely) made it! On the last interval, I was the closest I've been to actually giving up - I was zipping open my running belt to take out my phone and check how much time was left, thinking "if it's more than a few seconds I'm going to stop" when I got the blessed "Cool yourself down!"

It feels almost silly to think of managing 5 minute running intervals as a big achievement - 5 minutes doesn't sound very long - but 7 weeks ago I was wheezing my way through 1 minute, after all!

Disclaimer: I'm doing every week twice at the advice of a trainer because I have bad knees, hence the having run for 7 weeks but only being on week 4. Weird to think that if I was doing normal progression I'd be running for 25 minutes at this point 😅

[Elfe5 Graduate]

Very well done! 😄

It sounds like you might need to go slower, ( have you looked on YouTube at the ‘Japanese slow running’ video clips? - it’s very helpful to see just how “slow “slow can really be.)

Forget about counting weeks differently- everybody makes their own journey and that is absolutely right. ( I have had so many delays caused by illness /injury (not running related) that I did C25K 3 &1/2 times!! I’m really glad I persevered because now I can run for an hour and feel so much the better for it. )😄

You have been given good advice for you, go gently and enjoy your journey. 😄