Going into wk 5 of Couch to 5K

[melmothx]

Hi, 3rd time around to Couch to 5k - and not at all happy with the 20 mins looming! But pleased to be among all you triers out there - so important to know that others suffer too and survive! Looking forward to benefitting from this site!

[Downhillcol Graduate]

Well done for making it this far again, I’m on my 4th try this time 🙈 I hope you get to complete it 👍

[QuadroVEINia Graduate]

Well done for being resilient. You can do it. Don’t think about it. Just keep to a slow comfortable pace, stay calm during the run, don’t dwell on minutes left, have a playlist that motivates you... you can definitely do this!

[LolaBobs Graduate]

The 20 min run is much more a mental battle than a physical one. Break it down into chunks, I count it in songs on my playlist (20 mins is around 7 songs), if you have some great tunes the time will fly! The training you have done so far has you well prepared physically, you just need to believe you can do it - and you can!

[melmothx in reply to LolaBobs]

Thanks Lola and everyone - I guess I'll bite the bullet and just do it. One problem I have is I don't like being told I'm half way through etc. I find it a bit depressing - especially when I think I must have a minute to go. I'd rather just try to listen to music and zone out. But the C25K has the voice - maybe I'll just turn it off and run without it - unless there's an option to stop the voice during the 20 mins and still be on the app to hear when it's done.

[Shuffling_Saturdays Graduate]

You’ll be fine. Mentally break it down into chunks. If you can do 8 minutes, you can definitely do 10 minutes. Then you’re half way. Brilliant. Another 5 minutes is definitely doable because you’ll be in ‘the flow’ by then with a nice rhythm and steady cadence. By then you’ll have done 15 minutes so you’ll be damned if you’re stopping because you’ve got this far, you might as well carry on and finish. Once you do, you’ll have the biggest smile on your face and you’ll be so proud of yourself. It’ll be the turning point in your running and you’ll feel invincible. You just ran 20 minutes, how amazing is that considering 60 seconds felt like a lobotomy just a few weeks ago.

You’ve got this!