W5 R2 - I'm surprising myself!

[Fraz73]

When you look at the plan on paper, week 5 is daunting - there's no two ways about it. The huge jumps in minutes and intervals don't seem to tally at all with what you've previously been doing. I found R1 on Friday pretty good going but there's a huge difference mentally between three 5 minute runs and two 8's. Only a minute more but soooo much more endurance needed surely?

So out I went this morning hoping, rather than believing, that I could complete the run. Again I set out at a very conservative pace and the first 8 just felt really nice and easy. It flew by! I recovered quickly and was raring to go for the second 8 minute stretch. Definitely harder than the first but the pacing paid off and I wasn't gasping and rolling the last minute as I did at the beginning of week 4.

So I guess it really is all mind over matter at this point. I'm really looking forward to R3 and those 20 minutes!! Now watching the Great North Run for added inspiration!

[Chewy]

That's great Fraz, well done, you're fair flying along now. I have the same trepidation about week 5, it does seem like a huge step up from week 4 but, like yourself, I'm just going to trust that it must work.

[Fraz73 Graduate in reply to Chewy]

Thanks Chewy! It's going well but I'm not flying that's for sure I'm enjoying week 5 much more than week 4 which I found really hard so don't worry. Trust the work and the miles you've already put in. To think it was just a few short weeks ago when we were scared of running for 60 seconds!!!

[Beads Graduate]

Well done!

I'm sure most of this is the mental thing, that we've got the stamina and ability to do it from the previous weeks and it's only really the mental struggle that we need to overcome.

[Fraz73 Graduate in reply to Beads]

Definitely mental. The programme really does the job but the right attitude is definitely up to us. I'm not necessarily a positive person in every day life, so this is teaching me to look at things differently and actually have some faith in my own abilities! I hope I can keep it up

[Soozz Graduate]

Well done Fraz, you are ready to do W5R3! As Laura says, it's a mental thing as much as a physical challenge, so believe in yourself and you will be fine. "I think I can, I KNOW I can"!