W5R1 done - plus a bit!

[dottiemay]

After the excitement of my final Wk 4 run last week - being attacked by a rather large dog who fortunately didn't succeed in trying to take a chunk out of my head (the owner said he was just playing....) - which meant I had to stop while she brought it under control, and then having a rather tight calf muscle today, I did my first Wk5 run this morning.

I'm really surprised that I'm not finding this as impossibly difficult as I thought I would. It's not easy, but I can definitely see the improvements I'm making each time. If I feel that I can, I extend my final run by as much as I feel comfortable doing. Last week it was an extra 3 minutes on top of the 5 and today I managed to run 10 minutes instead of 5!! TEN minutes!! Three weeks ago, I nearly collapsed after a third session of less than 90 seconds!

I take huge encouragement from the blogs I read on here. I know that it can be done because you are doing it or have done it.

If I can stay on track, I should graduate just before Christmas - that's got to be worth an extra glass of ale on Christmas Eve surely!

[Beads Graduate]

Well done, keep it up and have the glass of ale after the run, not before!

[Saruma Graduate]

well done dottiemay - so pleased you are making such fantastic progress. Just a word of caution about extending your final run, especially if you have a tight calf muscle. By W6R3 I thought there was no point in just adding a couple of minutes a week onto to my running time, so, instead of the 25 mins, I went for the 30. I already had a niggling calf injury and ended up making this significantly worse. After resting for two weeks, I went back to week 3 to build myself up gradually again, and am just about to start week 5. Just bear in mind that the programme is designed the way it is for a reason!

[expat Graduate]

I am at the same stage and just completed run one of week 5 today which was great even though it was raining! Aiming for graduation by Christmas ...what a gift that would be! let's go!!