Week 4 day 2

[liv]

Completed the workout, by means of running the final long section verrry slowly (6.5kph). Which gives me a total distance of 3 km for the first time, and an average pace of 9 min/km.

I think 6.5 kph is probably too slow, it felt almost easy even for 5 mins. But I probably wouldn't be going much faster if I were running outside and setting my own pace, if I were already puffed by the end of the workout. But I think it's better for me, and more in the spirit, to run for the full period but slowly, rather than trying to go fast and giving up before the end. So day 3 I will try 7 kph for the last section, and decide whether I feel ready to move up to week 5 next week or if I want to keep improving my week 4 pace.

Comments

[rmc28]

Yay, completion!

I am definitely leaning towards running as slowly as I have to in order to complete. What I feel I'm learning is how to set a pace that will "last" a long time, what that feels like, in the way I already know for walking.

I am off out tonight after work. In the (well-streetlit) dark, boo hiss.

Reposted so it's actually a reply to your comment

[liv]

Yay, thank you! I think you're right that it's better to run slowly and complete, I've been following your good example in this. And yeah, learning to set the right pace; at the moment I'm finding the exercises hard enough that "as slowly as possible" is not far off right. But by mixing setting my own pace with using the treadmill I am hoping to learn how my lungs and muscles work.

Good luck running in the dark. I don't feel confident to do that, and I'm trying to minimize running on hard surfaces anyway. So I think I may be stuck in the gym until the clocks go forward again, though sometimes I can run during my lunchbreak.

[ewt]

I think slowly and going for the entire time is probably best, too. I suspect that if you keep running regularly, once you're at a point where you can run X minutes comfortably you'll naturally start to run a little faster anyway. I found this with cycling: the same journey started to take less time and also felt easier, because I was getting better at cycling.

[liv]

Thank you, that sounds like good advice. When it was warm enough for me to run outside, which may not happen again this side of spring, I was doing exactly that, naturally getting marginally faster as I improved my fitness and technique. On the treadmill it's a bit harder, because I have to set a pace and stick to it, really. So I'm just incrementing what that pace is at a rate that seems gradual enough to be reasonable, until I reach a limit again.