Why so hard?

[Pegix]

Morning all. Sorry to keep posting, but it's so great to have everyone's encouragement! I have just done my W6R1, which a lot of posts warned could be harder than W5R3. I must admit I thought, how can it be, they're shorter runs. But it IS harder. Why though? They're shorter runs, you get more recovery time, yet it seems harder. The first 5 minutes are always hard, I know that, but all the runs this morning seemed interminable, and when Laura said I was (only) half way through, I was convinced my app wasn't working right! How ever am I going to run 25 mins at the end of this week!!

[MissUnderstanding Administrator Graduate]

You ran for 18 minutes today. That’s still 90% of the total from week 5 run 3. That’s not nothing! Could you have accidentally sped up?

Running is not just a physical game-a lot of it is mental too. Were you expecting it to be really easy after the triumph of w5r3? Walking breaks can throw off your flow.

The key thing is you finished the run. Not all of them will feel easy. You’re getting fitter, learning a new skill and challenging yourself so it’s totally normal to find that hard sometimes. It’s not always logical-sometines I’ve found fifteen minute runs harder than ten miles!

Think back about how you’ve felt going into some of the other runs. Everyone has doubts. Take every run one at a time and don’t worry about what’s next. Keep to that lovely conversational pace and one steady step at a time will get you there.

[Pegix Graduate in reply to MissUnderstanding]

As always, you have something very wise to say! I promise I won't expect every run to be easy now! I shall remember your words every time I want the run to end!!

[MissUnderstanding Administrator Graduate in reply to Pegix]

The more you run, the more strategies you’ll have for making harder runs feel better-whether that’s preparing well through hydration, nutrition, rest etc or slowing down/changing route/cutting short during the run. My absolute worst was a long run I needed to do as preparation for an event and I just didn’t warm up or settle for the whole thing. It was vile. I look back fondly on how dreadful it was and how proud I was to get to the end of it! Most runs are really enjoyable but if you occasionally have a duffer, that doesn’t make you any less of a runner. There’s always something positive to find, even if it was just that the run eventually ended!

Hopefully you’ll have a lovely time on your next run-it often goes like that! Enjoy your rest day(s) and before you know it you’ll be done with the intervals. Good luck!

[JeremiahObadiah Graduate]

The lovely people here have heard and felt all these things before.

I did that first 25min run on Saturday and you do get to the end and if you are going slowly enough, you can see how it will be possible by week8 to get another few minutes under your belt.

For me it is the mental hurdle of an upcoming long run before I start that is the real challenge, not the slow steady plod. I find myself with a list of urgent jobs to achieve!

However, I also find with, my getting-agèd bladder, that I spend the second half of each run desperate for a pee, the feeling of which ceases immediately the run ends. More mind games?! Is it usual for old bladders to dislike running motion?? It makes the keeping hydrated thing a balancing act.

Somewhat irritated with self that I didn’t do this running malarkey 10 years ago!!!

[Pegix Graduate in reply to JeremiahObadiah]

Oh I know about the hurdle of an upcoming run.... I lie in bed thinking do I really want to do this! Knowing full well that once I'm out of the door I shall feel fine. I'm looking forward to the spring when it will be a lot easier than it is now to get out there. And as for the weak bladder, I'm with you, and it's not just the bladder either!!!

[SkiMonday Graduate in reply to JeremiahObadiah]

I aim to rehydrate at least two hours before I head out for a run. That allows time to get rid of any excess fluid before I head out.

When heading out for a long run, I just tell myself to take it at an easy pace which is enough for me to calm any anxiety.

[CarverD in reply to JeremiahObadiah]

If you are running for less than an hour you shouldn't need to hydrate during the run which will calm the urge to pee. It you are drinking because of a dry mouth try "rinse and spit". SkiMonday gives great advice that you should hydrate with plenty of time to "go" before heading out the door. Enjoy!

[JeremiahObadiah Graduate in reply to CarverD]

Thank you. I don’t take water with me and in fact I just have an extra glass of water at breakfast and then run at about 10.30 /11 am so about 2hours after, to try to get least icy and quieter lanes. I think it’s in my head!! Hopefully as I get used to the longer runs I’ll conquer that issue. My Week7 Run1 was better than 6/3.

[Cmoi Graduate]

You're going to run 25 minutes at the end of this week because you'll be prepared for it Pegix , that's how.

Generally the first few minutes of a run feel tough because of the "Toxic 10": healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

Many of us go into W6R1 feeling super-powerful after W5R3, inadvertently speed up, forget about the Toxic Ten, then wonder why we're not feeling great at the end of the first running section. And even if we are feeling good at that point, we have to stop running and walk, which can feel like a downer.

Then we have to remotivate ourselves to start the next running section, quite possibly with gremlins taunting us that we nailed 20 minutes last time, so why can't we do shorter runs easily? And then we have to do it yet again!

Personally I hate stop-start running like this, but being able to get running again after a walking interval is a very useful lesson to learn.

Don't forget, either, that the overall length of W6R1 is longer than W5R3, and you only run for two minutes less.

Keep things comfortable, stay positive, and you'll be fine!

[Pegix Graduate in reply to Cmoi]

Thanks for your encouragement. Your words express perfectly how I felt. I don't know that I was running any faster, if anything I thought I was going even slower, but maybe subconsciously I was. In a way I found the 20mins easy, just got into it and kept going....but this morning was just hard. Anyway, Weds is another day!

[nowster Graduate]

The programme is subtle. It gets you to run 20 minutes, then hits you with your longest session (34 minutes including walks).

The next one is a little shorter but still contains 20 minutes of running.

And then the big one: 25 minutes of continuous running.

From that point on it's consolidation and gradual increases.

[Leuna]

i remember that one too - I had to walk off from around half-way. I am pretty sure I was going faster than I should - I think we do it quite unconsciously. I have had several runs that I have walked off to finish. My one rule has been to complete the ‘run’ - either running or walking. That switch in mind helped me a lot. I was getting in a run whether it was 10 mins or 25, it adds to my fitness goals. Hope that heaps you too.