W5R2

Hiya,

Had my W5R2 run an hour ago and oh my, I had no idea how long 8 minutes are. The previous run went very well, but this one I was almost crawling. The minutes passed by like hours. How on earth am I going to run 20 minutes? Should I redo this run first until it feels more comfortable before tackling the 20 minutes?

Cheers, Evy

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Well done.Have you read this breakdown of W5? healthunlocked.com/couchto5... which explains that W5R3 is actually your shortest workout since W3.

Relax and enjoy it.

[John_W Graduate Ambassador]

How on earth did you manage 16 (SIXTEEN) minutes today?

Let me try to answer:

Week 4.1 - you ran for 16 mins

Week 4.2 - you ran for 16 mins

Week 4.3 - you ran for 16 mins

Week 5.1 - you ran for 15 mins

Week 5.2 - you ran for 16 mins

Up to now, you've been out 14 times and have 157 minutes of running in your legs - that's over 2.5 hours. The ACCUMULATED FITNESS and stamina are part of the plan. It's that accumulation that builds your fitness and allows you to progress and complete whatever is next on the plan.

Mantra #1: every run you've done prepares you for the next one (i.e. your body is ready)

Mantra #2: your body is prepared but the mind less so (ie ignore the gremlins)

Another thing - this is a 9 week program designed to take you from the couch to running (JOGGING!) 30 minutes continuously, 3 times in Week 9. If you work backwards from Week 9, what point would YOU ditch the walking breaks and switch to continuous running? Week 8, 7, 6 , 5 or 4 etc?

Have a look at this:

healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

and this:

healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

[CI578 Graduate]

I would try the 20 and see how it feels. You will probably surprise yourself and do well 👍

[swissfish Graduate]

Go for it Evy! You did 3 mins and 5 mins, so 8 mins is just those together with no break 😀Then 20 mins is just 8 mins twice, with a bit more at the end...

You'll never know if you can do it if you don't try it

🏃‍♀️

[Hidden in reply to swissfish]

I will try it..

After W5R1 I thought I would be able to do the 20 minutes no problemo, W5R1 went so well. But after this W5R2 I am doubting myself very hard. It is so easy to start doubting yourself when a run didn't go as hoped. Plus being unable to take a walking break seems so hard. Oh well, I'll see what happens!