Am I ready for W8?

[Heti]

Having just finished W7R1,R2&R3 (x3), am I ready for W8? My stamina and fitness are good on the whole. I’m incorporating Yoga classes now as well to aid flexibility and strengthen core. Have a good week everyone 😘🏃‍♀️

[Annieapple Administrator Graduate]

🍏 Yes Heti you are more than ready!! Every run strengthens you for the next little challenge! Go ahead and enjoy it! You are a runner now!! That needs to go from your head to heart! Well done on getting through those early weeks. All that hard work will pay off now! Slow & steady with a smile & on you go towards that finish line! Take one run at a time with us cheering you on!!

[Heti Graduate in reply to Annieapple]

Thank you darling 🙏

[John_W Graduate Ambassador]

Why would you not be? 😎

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

I know that was a rhetorical question... with that back up support... of course you are, and all you need to do, is believe it !

We believe it x

[Heti Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

Thank you 🙏

[nowster Graduate]

You've done four runs of 25 minutes already. Adding another three minutes isn't as huge an increase as you did in the earlier weeks of the programme.

Many have had technical problems that meant they actually did 30 minutes by mistake a week or so early. Although you probably could do 30 minutes at this point it definitely isn't advised. Your body's been through a lot in the last seven weeks and it's still adapting. Muscles adapt quickly but the other tissues have much less of a blood supply and take months to adapt.

There's a little rule that applies when increasing distance/time for regular runners: no more than 10% increase compared with the previous week.

You've had a week and a bit at 25 minutes, so a 3 minutes increase is approximately 10%. The final week's increase (28 to 30) is less than 10%.

It's all very carefully planned through.

Some Couch to 5K plans require you to do 5km as the final run, but the NHS variant recognises that everyone's different and many (if not most) will not be doing anywhere near 5km in their final week's runs.

Best of luck!

[Heti Graduate in reply to nowster]

Thank you for believing in my ability! 🙏