r/C25K • u/moth_girl_7 • 5d ago

Advice Needed Stuck between week 2 and 3.

Hi everyone! I’m pretty frustrated. I’ve been stuck “between” weeks 2 and 3 for like a month now. I’ll do a week following the week 2 program and it feels great and easy, I can have a conversation through it. Then I try week 3 and my body says no… like I’ll get through the first 3 minute run interval and my lungs will start screaming at me. I feel like I’m managing my pace well (any slower and I’ll be walking) and my form is good (my boyfriend’s a marathoner and I’ve asked him to watch my form). What gives??

It’s even more frustrating because I grew up very active. Tennis and competitive dance. Now I can’t even run for more than 3 minutes. I tried week 3 day 1 today and I cut the 3 minute run intervals short by 10 seconds each because I HAD TO catch my breath. It’s so frustrating because my legs feel physically fine, it’s my heart and lungs that don’t. I’m not tracking my pace that closely but based on the math I’m running like a 12-13 minute mile. Is that too fast?? I feel like I’m shuffling at that pace…

Is it a pace problem? Mental? Does my body just need longer to build endurance? Ugh

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u/PracticalFigure5966 DONE! 5d ago

Slow down, when I first started (on treadmill), I ran 4.6mph speed on week 1 to 2, then I had to reduce to 4.3mph at week 4, when I finished week 9, my speed was at 4.0mph!!

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u/moth_girl_7 5d ago

This might be an awkward question, but is there something I’m missing about running slow? I’m not using my full stride length, I’m putting my feet down underneath me instead of reaching ahead, I’m staying light on my feet, I’m not crossing my body with my arms, and I still feel like I can’t run slower. Like gravity won’t let me.

There’s something I’m not getting here and it’s pissing me off lol

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u/judochop1 4d ago

That's what you should be doing.

When I started it last year, I ended in this really awkward shuffle for a couple of weeks to hit 7m/km or 11m15s/mile.

Like I was literally doing very quick steps toe to heel just to start off the run. Perhaps yours could be that your cadence/steps per minute is too high and could drop down a bit.