Wk 5 - Run 2

[drl212]

Well, I was very nervous about jumping from 5 minutes to 8 minutes. I usually go out by 7:30 or 8:00 AM. Today, I kept putting it off until around 8:30.

I needn't have worried. Totally doable. I was surprised in the first 8 minutes when Steve came up to tell me it was half-way, already. In the second run, I felt that I could actually go a bit farther. A beautiful sunny day helped, too.

So I've got a little confidence for the 20 minute run later this week.

I agree with folks who say this one is more mental than physical. When running, I kept thinking ok, this is just a five minute run that we did all last week along with a three minute run tacked on. We've been doing those for some time. It helped.

Hope that helps anyone facing Wk 5.

[MissUnderstanding Administrator Graduate]

That’s a great update! Often new things are a bit scary but once we get going, they show us we’re capable of so much more than we think we can do. It’s ok to be nervous-that doesn’t mean we can’t finish those runs.

Enjoy your week 5 run 3…best run of the whole programme! Just a minor word of warning to not let that wonderful confidence boost make you set off a bit quickly. That often happens to me. Keep it steady and under control at the start and have a fantastic time!

[Cmoi Graduate]

Well done on your progress drl212 ! Though I assume you're referring to week 5, not week 4, if you're doing the UK NHS C25K plan that is.

[Mummycav Administrator Graduate]

well done you! That’s sometimes the best way to think of a run…break it into chunks…a run that you’ve already done and then a little bit more on the end, that works for me too!

[John_W Graduate Ambassador]

Well done and good to hear of the confidence boost ahead of W5R3, which, as you've correctly identified, is more a mental test than a physical one. I'd say that of the whole program in fact - and of any progressive exercise program!

Anyway, this is probably a bit after the fact , but an alternative and I think more useful way to look at the required running times is to focus on the TOTAL running time - because it is that total which builds your fitness, not the length of any particular segment, e.g. 3, 5 or 8 mins.

So...

In Week 1, you ran for a total of 8x 1 min (8 mins per session), 3 times = 24 mins

Week 2, 6x 1.5 mins (9 mins per session), 3 times = 27 mins

Week 3, 3x 3 mins (9 mins), 3 times = 27 mins

Things then stepped up quite a bit in Week 4:

4.1 - 3, 5, 3, 5 mins = 16 mins per session (an increase of 75%!)

4.2 - another 16 mins

4.3 - another 16 mins

Week 5

5.1 - 5, 5, 5 mins - 15 mins (1 minute less than last week!)

5.2 - 8 and 8 mins - 16 mins (you're getting used to this now)

5.3 - 20 mins

By the time you get to W5R3, you'll have run for 157 mins in total - over 2,5 hours - and it's THAT accumulated fitness - it builds with each and every session - that enables you to do 20 mins continuously, provided you pace it correctly.

And the same applies to Weeks 6, 7, 8 and 9.

Enjoy!