Couch25K Week 6 Run 3

On Saturday morning I was keen to get Run 3 done. This consisted of 25 mins non-stop running. My only target is to do the time and not concern myself with distance. I've got into the habit of running in Bedford Park. Nice environment and not as busy as the streets. Just after 6 am, the park is quiet bar the occasional visitor. Most noise comes from the squirrels who I discovered are accomplished scavengers. They scramble out of bins disturbed by my approach. My pace is slow and Claire's voice (Get Running Android app) is there to give me encouragement. The 1st 5 mins is reasonable. I concentrate on breathing naturally, in through the nose and out through the mouth. With all the warnings from my brother and brother-in-law about the risk of running at my age and weight (which was circa 248lbs at the start of the programme) I opt to mostly run on the grass at the side of the tar path. It's a little uneven and probably worse for me, in hindsight. Each 5 minute notification from Claire urges me on but this was a bit harder that Week 5 Run 3. From the start of that run I felt tremendous and after 5 mins I felt this was easy. Not so this time around, I don't feel as comfortable, it's hard work. I keep control of the breathing and keep to the pace. My worry is that there is no room to slow the pace if push come to shove, I am at the slowest pace I can go without stopping. Thankfully the 20 minute marker comes and I gain encouragement to keep going. I actually think about mindful meditation and if it's possible to meditate whilst running ... like walking meditation. I'm still contemplating that. Then the final minute comes ... 24 minutes done. I can actually increase my pace, not by much but enough to feel I am coming to the finish line. Yes, it's great to meet the target. I didn't feel as elated as on Week 5 Run 3, that 1st 20 mins complete was a major breakthrough... but I do feel good! 5 mins walking and then I do a bit of stretching. I need to spend some time learning what stretches I should do. I use the stretches from the Insanity programme, good old Sean T! I must start and finish that insane programme, one thing at a time, though! On Tuesday I'll start Week 7 Run 1. C'mon!