Why so hard?

[Mboutin]

Am I alone?

I haven’t seen any posts about the step up from week 7 to week 8 so the struggle for w8r1 came as a surprise

I guess the 30mph winds and squalls didn’t help but I seriously thought about stopping before half way as it was taking Laura an age to tell me I was there.

Luckily a dog Walker came in to the field and started throwing a ball for her dog, which distracted me.

The extra 3 minutes sounded like nothing Pre-run but it is a 12% increase over wk7, so perhaps I should have been better prepared mentally.

Still, at least I know now that I can run for 28 minutes, and managed 3.57km, so I know I won’t be near 5k next week, but as wk9 is only 7% longer that should be a breeze...

[nowster Graduate]

When exactly in the run did you decide that the extra three minutes were hard?

[Mboutin Graduate in reply to nowster]

Around 10 minutes in I guess, before the half time bell

[nowster Graduate in reply to Mboutin]

But... you hadn't even run half as far as the Week 7 run by that point?

You need to have a stern word with those gremlins.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Well done, you did it.

Everything going on in our lives can impact on our performance as a runner. Restedness, hydration and nutrition are at the top of my list of variables that need to be optimised to enable enjoyable running.

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

[Mboutin Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Lol thanks, 7.51 mins/km not sure I could be much slower without sitting down.

[Elfe5 Graduate in reply to Mboutin]

Well I’m a good bit slower & certainly not sitting!! 😀

[IannodaTruffe Mentor in reply to Mboutin]

An easy conversational pace equates to approximately 75% of your maximum heart rate, which is the perfect zone to build the solid aerobic base required to run faster and further, which is why it is the pace at which elite athletes spend up to 80% of their training time.

[John_W Graduate Ambassador]

How did you get on with the 75% increase (SEVENTY FIVE) in Week 4?

And the 25% increase in Week 5?

[Mboutin Graduate in reply to John_W]

I know, no logic to it I suspect having bossed week 7 I mentally switched off! Wont make that mistake again

[Elfe5 Graduate]

I think you may have had an “off run”, (as do all the rest of us). - Either that or your “toxic 10” was a “ toxic 12”!!

Distraction is often my best friend if I’m finding a run hard going - Radio 4 podcasts & music both help me a lot. 😀

[Rennur Graduate]

You did it though - do you calculate these as you go along to take your mind off it?

Also W5.3 to W6.3 is 30 mins to 25mins (25%)

Keep on going. You almost made me worried about moving up to W8 myself but I feel like I can do those extra 3 minutes now

[Buddhagal Graduate]

Just read someone else's post about a real slog of a run....good days/bad days I guess. More importantly...you're out there and you're running 😁😁👏👏. Even in the squalls and 30 mph winds!!!! Did you think you'd be doing that W1R1??? Keep on keeping on....😁😁👍👍🙋