Week 6

Wow. That was a struggle. It seems that lots of people hit a bit of a wall with this week but ouch! I feel like I’m back to square one, week one and my calves are so painful, despite me focusing on stretching them leading up to and after my runs.

I didn’t make the full 25 mins on run 3 this week as I stopped to ease the pain for little tiny intervals of max 5 seconds x3 during the whole run. I don’t know if that means I wasn’t successful and should repeat the week or whether I should just repeat it anyway to make it easier?!

I may be over thinking things...?

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Welcome to the forum and well done on your progress.Repeat any run you do not fully complete.

Stretching immediately after every run, while muscles are still warm and supple, pulls out contractions, avoiding carrying tensions into the next run and also improves recovery by improving blood flow, as recommended in the guide to the plan.

Many people do not hold their stretches for long enough or put enough effort in. Hold post run stretches for 30 seconds and make sure the pull is strong enough to be on the verge of discomfort.

This guide to the plan is essential reading healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

and includes advice on minimising impact, stretching after every run, hydration and strengthening exercises, all of which will help.

Enjoy your journey.

[Helm108 Graduate]

How about just repeating run 3 and seeing how it feels a second time round? It could be that something was off - maybe hydration, rest, the weather?

Ultimately it's your call, there are no rules about repeating weeks, or runs - remember it's your goal, in the end!

[Acheylegs]

Well done you didn’t stop that much. I felt like this and just re done week 6 run3 before moving to week 7, this 2nd attempt was much better and positive, started slower as knew had to sustain for longer!

I just stopped when crossing roads!

You can do it !!