Much to my surprise I have made it to the final week and am really quite chuffed at getting to the 28 minute mark now just an extra 2 mins and the 5k to crack!
Decided to tag an extra 2 minutes on at the end of the last 2 runs of week 8 to make it up to the half hour, the first run went well enough until the last 30 seconds when I hit a horrible set of steps and could not get an even stride going which was just enough to knock my rhythm. So when Laura said stop I just did I as was told. Total of 4.67k. Bit annoyed with myself for stopping but run done so all good.
Off I toddle on R3 a few days later; with a couple of minutes to go realise I am going to hit the same steps again (does this running lark kill brain cells?) and once again run out of juice at the top and stop after the 28 minutes! Arrgh! A bit further this time 4.75k, pleased at completing W8 but doubts starting to creep in as not made the 30 minutes or 5k.
Changed my route again for W9 to variant of my W5 route which has been my favourite so far, little traffic, nice and straight and best of all no steps. When Laura was telling me 60 seconds to go MapMyRun decided it was time for an update, 4.8k covered. Not enough for the magic 5k. So set off like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are after me with what little I have left and what is my reward? 4.97K. Soooooo close (literally). Never mind 2 more runs to go. I know I should not get hung up on the 5k as the 30 minutes is a massive achievement but it would be a really nice box to tick. Hopefully have better luck tomorrow.
Happy running everyone.