Sudden running time increase

Heat does me in. I can do three nine-minute-miles in 80 degrees and moderate humidity. Increase that to 90, in the sun, and higher humidity, and I can do two 11-minute-miles.

Wow, I can barely get one 9 min mile in right now... but I can run up to 13 miles at a 12:30 pace.

Yeah that time last week on the 20m run that I ran my first mile, my pace was in the 13-14 minute range. Very slow IMHO, but still running nonetheless.

lizzie, with 2 years of running i get passed by walkers going uphill. it sucks but i just keep plugging away. then i fly by them on the downhill. well, if my hrm will allow me to.

And I couldn't even approach 13 miles.

I'm a C25k grad (2009) and I remember the intimidating prospect of that jump from 8 to 20 minutes. There's no harm in holding off a week or two, sticking on W4D2 until you feel more mentally ready for the jump. But here's the thing: it's not really a jump for 8 to 20. It's a case of eliminating a walk break between the two 8-minute runs you're already doing, and then adding just 4 minutes. Or you could think of it as converting the middle 5 minutes of walking into 4 minutes of slow running, and otherwise keeping the same workout. Looking at it that way makes it seem like a much smaller increment. And in my case, once I got my head wrapped around that from a mental standpoint, I found that I was physically up to the task -- the program had prepared me for it.

Trust your training!

Miranda

Miranda, thanks for that! That certainly makes it (somewhat) less intimidating! I'm doing week 4's workout one more time just because I doubt myself, but then I'm going to plunge into week 5 on Sunday or Monday.

Finally did the 20m run today! It was super slow at over 15 min/mile (1.29 miles in 20 minutes) but it was still running! On to Week 6 Day 3 and then just 2 more weeks left after that!

Well done Patrick, you survived.

I did my first 20 minute run this morning! Was probably about 1.2, 1.3 miles - I was crawling, LOL. But it was honestly easier than I thought it would be. Sometimes we have to have faith in our our body's capabilities.

Congrats, Patrick and Liz. Keep it up!

Awesome work, both of you!