Oh, I know - it was just a throwaway comment. I do actually eat quite a lot of the kinds of veg which are stuffed full of iron (mmmm.....spinach - just call me Popeye )).

Karen - it's funny. I found it much easier to run on the treadmill to start with, but now I actually find it easier to run outside. It's possibly because I've managed to get my pace right when I'm free to adjust it more easily than on the treadmill, but am still focussing more on the numbers on the treadmill. I do run with my head up - as per Cheriton. I'd already worked that out for myself, though I hadn't really got to the stage of understanding consciously how/why it made a difference.

Anyway, I've decided that I'm going to the gym today (with a colleague which should make it a bit less dull) and just try to run for as long as I can without a walk break. Then I'm going to do some cycling for the rest of the time, to add some variety. It'll be interesting just to see how long I can keep going for without a break.

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Good luck in the gym today BPC. I did that, just got on the treadmill and thought I would see how long I could run for, it was 28 minutes before I felt that I needed a walk break, so thought may as well carry on and do another 2 minutes and make it 30. I can feel it in my calf muscles today, but no pain no gain. Let us know how you get on today

If you can overcome the tedium of the treadmill then it should be easier to run for longer, two main reason contribute to this in my opinion...

One - The treadmill running surface is perfectly flat and more forgiving (softer) than the pavement/road. So there's less shock on the legs, and (assuming you don't adjust it yourself) there's no incline. When you run outside there may be a tiny incline that you barely even notice, but it will make a difference to your times/efforts.

Two - The motion of running on a treadmill is slightly different to running on the road; the difference being that outdoors, you have to propel yourself along, if you stop putting the effort in you slow down and stop. On a treadmill the ground is being pulled along underneath you so you just need to keep moving your legs enough to stay put, which I would imagine takes slightly less energy than propelling yourself. Also there's the fact that you can't stop. If you slow down, you fall off!

That said though, Karen, it just proves that your body is able to do it! Were you running at the same pace or slower than you do outside? If you can replicate the pace you were doing on the treadmill, you should be able to push yourself to do the 30mins. It may seem a bit harder, but if you can do it on the treadmill, you can do it outside!

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RF Winter Social @ Castle Combe - Judgement day has arrived
www.richardsimkiss.co.uk - 'Lady Godiva Half Marathon' Race Report Added 27/10/08

Oh no, I was all happy that I'd managed 10 minutes non stop and then I saw that you'd managed 30

I could have done a few more minutes after a couple of minutes walk, but I decided to leave it there and just do 10 minutes on the bike and some stretching.

There's no way I could have managed 10 minutes non stop last Friday, though, so something's definitely got better since then

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Lol, don't go getting competitive So many things play into each of your runs including so many seemingly minor things such as fatigue from last training session, amount of sleep last night, what you had for dinner, what you ate before your run etc etc... not to mention the obvious things like what speed the treadmill was set at

Keep on runnin'

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RF Winter Social @ Castle Combe - Judgement day has arrived
www.richardsimkiss.co.uk - 'Lady Godiva Half Marathon' Race Report Added 27/10/08

I know, it was just one of those bubble-bursting reality-hitting moments

I keep reminding myself that I'm actually asking an awful lot of my poor legs, being so overweight, and I should start giving them some credit for what they are achieving. It's just that that May 11th deadline is looming, and I simply can't see how I'll be able to run the whole 5km. I managed barely more than a quarter of that today. Then I remember that 10 weeks ago I could do hardly more than a 10th of that at once, so maybe it is possible after all

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You'll be able to do it BPC! I say it with great confidence because I'm sure it's true. That's not to say it's easy of course! But if you carry on with your training as you have, then that combined with the race atmosphere and adrenaline should pull you along steadily

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RF Winter Social @ Castle Combe - Judgement day has arrived
www.richardsimkiss.co.uk - 'Lady Godiva Half Marathon' Race Report Added 27/10/08

BPC I am sure you will do it, and ten minutes running is really good. I was only running at 5 mph so maybe you were running faster than me. I can't run any faster than that without getting pain in my shins. Anyway another time I may try and only be able to do ten minutes, like Richard said it all depends on how you feel on the day, and there are so many factors that will affect your run. You did really good, and I am sure that you will manage the 5k, even if you have to walk some and run some. It doesn't have to be all running. I am doing the 5k race for life in July and I am not sure if i will be able to run the whole thing, or if it will be a run/walk but at least I will be takng part

Richard, thanks for your comments, I run at 5mph on the treadmill, and it feels even slower outside, that said like you said outside there is probably an incline where as the treadmill if a flat surface. I run along through the park by the river and it is not all flat but I do find it so hard after three minutes running that Is why I am so surprised that I managed 30 mins on thr treadmill

Thanks for the support - it all helps

The thing is - I have sponsorship money riding on me running the whole lot, so I really want to be able to come back to work the next day and tell my CEO in all honesty that I ran every step (except for the bits I had to walk because of the crowds of course, but that doesn't count )

I just wish my RfL was later - why oh why does it have to be one of the earliest ones?

Anyway, I'm going to take a leaf out of Tortoise's book - positive mental attitude all the way from now.

Time to change my signature... 100m? That's nothing!

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Thats the spirit you will do it I am sure!!