Week 6 Run 3 - Completed with bells on!

[Dodgylungs]

So my app paused this morning and by the time I realised what happened, I had run for 17 minutes. Then Laura told me I was half way through and my heart sank. But being a completionist I wouldn’t allow myself to stop until I heard Laura say ‘You are now officially a runner.’ Those words felt good.

I went out at 9.30am having had a bit of a lie in by my standards and while my legs were still a bit achy, I never felt I wasn’t going to make it. I listened to my classic punk album and had Iggy Pop, Violent Femmes, Gang Of Four and The Buzzcocks for company.

I started slowly and changed my route so that the biggest incline came early when I knew I’d have the strength to weather it. Sure enough having negotiated a steepish incline it was then all downhill for the next 8 minutes or so. When I realised that I had paused Laura, I started to calculate how I was going to finish the run. Would I simply stop when I thought I had done 25 minutes or would I carry on until Laura told me it was over?

I decided to keep going until I had run what I thought was 25 minutes and see how I felt. Unfortunately my FitBit isn’t working at the moment and so I didn’t have a back up time keeper. When Laura told me I’d got to 12 1/2 minutes I asked myself if I had the strength to run that all over again as I knew at that point I’d run around 5 minutes more. But I wanted to be certain that I had run the distance.

I took a downhill section and ran in a loop fretting about whether I was going to make it but determined to keep on until the app stopped if I could. I was relatively comfortable until three minutes to go and the route took me uphill again. I kept going until I had 90 seconds left and turned around and ran the rest of it downhill thus guaranteeing I would make the end.

The walk to the cafe for my skinny latte and Laura’s post run pep talk was all the sweeter for knowing that I had run more like 30 mins than 25. I ran the whole thing as slow as I could which is clearly the key to improving stamina. I wouldn’t have believed it was possible to run 30mins today, I was worried enough about 25. I don’t recommend doing what I did but I can say without any doubt that I have completed Week 6 with bells on! Yay!!!!

[carolinestanford Graduate]

yay! go you - well done

[Dodgylungs Graduate in reply to carolinestanford]

Thank you!

[Instructor57 Graduate]

Very well done 😁👍👏👏👏

And you now know you can run the 30 required for week 9 😬

[Dodgylungs Graduate in reply to Instructor57]

Thank you! Absolutely, no fear of my lungs anymore. Today was one of the easier runs too. Seems odd to me that I couldn’t do the 20 minute run first time around. I think slowing down and telling myself I can do it has made all the difference.

[Instructor57 Graduate in reply to Dodgylungs]

It's surprising how long the slowing down message takes to click 😁

Well done 👍

[Dodgylungs Graduate in reply to Instructor57]

You are absolutely right about that. I didn’t start on this forum and I think had I read about slow running sooner I’d have been much more comfortable. That has made all the difference. My runs next week will be about running up the inclines at slightly faster pace but nothing too dramatic. Clearly my stamina and fitness are improving and today’s slow run felt very comfortable.

[Instructor57 Graduate in reply to Dodgylungs]

It's great to see this improvement and enthusiasm 👍

[Dodgylungs Graduate in reply to Instructor57]

I’m just relieved I’ve got to a point of relative comfort. Running slowly and enjoying it are the keys.

[Instructor57 Graduate in reply to Dodgylungs]

Absolutely 👍

[John_W Graduate Ambassador]

Blimey... after all that fuss over W5R3.

Now look at you!

[Dodgylungs Graduate in reply to John_W]

I know. Seems weird doesn’t it?

[Instructor57 Graduate in reply to John_W]

😂

[SueAppleRun Graduate]

Yay!! 👍 that’s great

[Dodgylungs Graduate in reply to SueAppleRun]

Thank you!

[Maxi80]

Iggy Pop giving you a lust for life 🥁

[Dodgylungs Graduate in reply to Maxi80]

Absolutely! And I’m definitely no longer a passenger...

[Maxi80 in reply to Dodgylungs]

You’re a real wild child! I was going to say I wanna be your dog but that just sounded weird 😂

[Dodgylungs Graduate in reply to Maxi80]

😂 stay out of the death car!

[mgrds Graduate]

great a real confidence booster.

[JulesL69 Graduate]

Well done 👍🏻 especially with tech issues. I agree going slow does improve your stamina, however, I don’t think I could run any faster 😂.

You will smash the next few weeks with 30 mins in the bag already ... 😃

[Dodgylungs Graduate in reply to JulesL69]

Thank you! It’s given me confidence to work on pace and not shy away so much from the inclines now.

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate]

That is a very detailed post from you Dodgylungs, congratulations on completing run 3 of week 6, as Laura told you at the very end "you are now OFFICIALLY a RUNNER" well done 😀 🏃🏾

Onwards and upwards to week 7 which are all 3 /25 minute runs, not long now until you graduate 😁 🏃🏾 👍

[Dodgylungs Graduate in reply to AlMorr]

Thank you very much! I think my future posts may be less detailed but I think this and Week 5 Run 3 were the crucial ones!

[moshpitmolly]

Violent Femmes - excellent choice 🤘

[Dodgylungs Graduate in reply to moshpitmolly]

Thank you! Love them.

[moshpitmolly in reply to Dodgylungs]

Me too 👍

[VPOLLIE67 Graduate]

Wooop wooop Dodgylungs!!! Well done! Next week will be a breeze after this run lol.

[Dodgylungs Graduate in reply to VPOLLIE67]

Thank you. Yes, I’m definitely ok on the 30 minute run now. What I need to do now is actually be able to run 5K

[VPOLLIE67 Graduate in reply to Dodgylungs]

One bit at a time lol. It’ll be like a walk in the park next week ❤️❤️

[CazzaW Graduate]

Fantastic, great post to read 😊 You’ll breeze through next week now 👍

[Dodgylungs Graduate in reply to CazzaW]

Thanks so much!