I graduated just under two weeks ago and from reading other posts on here am probably amongst the slowest runners as I was only running at 3mph which by my calculations is just under half the speed I need to achieve to reach 5k in 30 minutes. But I don't care - it is still a minor miracle to me that I ever got as far as running for 30 minutes
So my new goal became to work my way up to the magical 5k but have been wondering how to do it.
I took the advice of some of the lovely people on here and tried the stepping stones podcast - well I'm guessing that is probably aimed at much more proficient runners than me. Once I eventually managed to match the pace of the podcast I knew that it was going to be way too much. I managed to make it to about 2 minutes before I had to give up.
I stopped and started my way through the whole podcast and turned my brain to how I was going to make any progress - and then it struck me! I felt the same as I did early in the programme, I knew I could make it for a couple of minutes so why not turn the clock back to an earlier stage of the programme and start to build up again but this time at a faster pace?
So on tonights trip to the gym I dug out the W3 podcast again but this time ran it at 4mph instead - it is still a long way off where I need to be, but with a bit of panting and gasping I made it to the end of the podcast and felt the same sense of elation that I have every time I have achieved something new.
So what's the point of my rambling? Probably just to share my experiences, but also to say that if you are struggling with the programme in some way then maybe it is okay to find a way to make the programme work to your abilities