I will be starting on week 9 next week. But as I've attempted this many time before, I consider myelf to be somewhat of an expert. In my other attemps I'm gotten stuck on certain weeks and the futhest I've made it before this time was week 6.

But this time I went at it with a whole new plan. I decided I would stick with my Mon, Wed, and Fri schedule because before I would switch around days and then sometimes not get to one within a certain week and feel like I needed to just repeat the whole week. Also, I said I would NOT repeat a week. I thought that if I am physically able to complete a run, even if I didn't feel great about it, I would move on. This time I actually had to not run for a week due to illness and I almost did repeat a week. But with advice from MFPals, I just moved on to the next week and did just fine. For me, the repeating of weeks would make me feel very discouraged because I wasn't making an progress.

You're doing great by paying close attention to your breathing. You really need to slow down to a pace that you can keep up for awhile. I think it was during week 4 that I really learned that. As for the conversation thing, I read that you want to need a breath after every 2 or 3 words, but if your taking a breath after every word you would need to slow down. For me, that last thing I want to do while running is have to talk to someone!

One more thing, I find that it's not really easy. I have some runs that are better than others but thoughout this process it hasn't been, what I would call, easy. But I have noticed it's made a difference in that I have more energy thoughout the day and my legs are getting more tone and my butt is getting much smaller (that's my favorite thing :laugh: ) So, it's definitly worth doing. I really hope you don't give up. Good luck to you. I would love to hear how you progress!