Discovering Damascus!

[Dups]

After the most exhausting and disastrous W7R1, I have just completed R2 ! I was nervous about this run, but the weather was beautiful and my aches legs and demoralised mental had disappeared this morning.

I followed John’s (ambassador) advice, slowed my pace and relaxed. I even had petrol in the tank to ramp up the pace for the last 60 seconds!

I really can’t believe the difference. I’m elated🤣🤣

I’ve found the road to Damascus !!!😃

Would like to thank everyone who gave me advice encouragement and words of wisdom.

Can’t wait for R3 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[John_W Graduate]

*waves*

Hello Dups ! (You can tag user by typing '@' then their username - you'll see a dropdown box appear at the bottom of your post - select the user and off you go)

Congratulation on your Damascene conversion!

(en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Dama...

[Instructor57 Graduate]

Well done , the difference is amazing once the slow down message gets through 😁👍

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Epiphany comes to those who seek.............and those who listen to advice.

[Dups Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Yep I certainly have had a epiphany! I haven’t enjoyed a run so much , I can’t stop smiling 😁👏👏👏

[IannodaTruffe Mentor in reply to Dups]

Apart from it being more enjoyable it is also the most efficient pace to build your aerobic base........win, win.

[John_W Graduate]

Something for SloopJonB ...

[SloopJonB Graduate in reply to John_W]

Well, run 3 wen't better than expected. I concentrated on a slow (it felt very slow) start and I did feel that I sped up a bit during the run (jog!). During the run, my breathing was easier and I managed to get to the end with energy left over - in fact enough to give it an extra push as Jo Wiley suggested. For this slower run the distance was 340m shorter and 0.5kph slower so overall, not too much slower. And more importantly, at the moment, I enjoyed it much more. I think I've also found my road to Damascus

[John_W Graduate in reply to SloopJonB]

That's great to hear Jon (?) - nice one! That's *EXACTLY* how C25K should be and now you've experienced *that* pace, you can use that as a reference for future runs if you continue.

But 340m shorter, 0.5kph slower? Now, I'm a numbers guy (us blokes tend to be don't we?) but please tell me you're just curious and not actually tracking this with any seriousness? Waaaayyyy too early for that ...

[SloopJonB Graduate in reply to John_W]

Hi John - yep, like you I'm a numbers guy. It was partly curiosity that drove me to record it but on the other hand, I did want to make sure that it was a slower run to start. I work in a highly technical industry - which has died a death due to Covid 19 - so the use of it is not difficult for me. The Adidas app is a good one to use and I check it with Strava - now that is a bit anal I confess but I have found that the accuracy of these apps is suspect. I'm now on week 8 and that run will happen Saturday so an extra 3 minutes to do! Thanks for the support John and you are correct - I'm a Jon too.

[John_W Graduate in reply to SloopJonB]

Not many things rile me, but folks assuming I'm a 'Jon' or 'Jonathan' does. It's a completely different name !

Sorry to hear of your work. I count myself very fortunate .

Apps: running apps for phones tend to be less accurate than dedicated GPS running watches, This seems at odds with phones having more expensive chipsets than watches (allegedly).

If in doubt, always cross-check/calibrate against Google Maps - my gold standard. Navigate to an athletics track, measure out 400m and it gives you 401m. Not bad at all.

[Ruby69 Graduate]

@Dups well done that’s brilliant news and gives me hope!

[Dups Graduate in reply to Ruby69]

Hahaha, I can definitely say that after today there is definitely hope! I felt like a runner this morning. Happy relaxed paced running. I’ve followed the advice , and it WORKS 😂

Where are you in the programme?

[Ruby69 Graduate]

Dups I know. Did W8R1 yesterday morning and was hard. And my Strava stopped working after 4 mins. So disappointed. I’m not sure I should try to run any faster when Jo suggests tho! it does me in. But I did it and looking fwd to feeling of euphoria again - I have had it once or twice 😂😂mainly around 5W runs.

[Dups Graduate in reply to Ruby69]

Wow, W8!

Exactly , you did it. I think we all have experienced disappointment at some point, but there’s still that drive in us that makes us carry on.

Keep going , won’t be long before you graduate. Besides it’s worth it to get that euphoric feeling. Indescribable 😀

I think it’s going to get addictive 😂

Good luck with your next run😃

[Ruby69 Graduate]

Thanks 🤞🏼Hope so 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼 You too 💃🏻

[VPOLLIE67 Graduate]

Brilliant. Well done 👏🏻