Beat the Couch training hit its six-week milestone this week and I celebrated by accidentally breaking the rules.

It was not intentional, in my defence, or to my benefit. Far from it, in fact — I lost half of my increasingly valuable break time, all because I was not paying attention.

It happened after I tried to make my runs more interesting.

Since starting training last month, evening practices at Bull’s Head parking lot became my go-to time and place. It was the best time for my schedule, plus the view from the top floor was gorgeous and the rhythm from the gombey drummers practising on the ground floor was a good running pace.

However, since daylight saving time, the space has lost a bit of its evening charm. The pinks and purples of a sunset melting over West Pembroke were replaced by a wall of black, which doesn’t give the same motivational push.

So, come Tuesday, my plan was simple — switch up the route.

That day’s training involved three runs at a five, eight and five-minute interval, with a three-minute walk in between them. I figured this would be plenty of time to run two or three laps on the top floor and two on the floor below before finishing at the top floor again.

The plan worked for the most part. Each lap around the floors offered something new and helped me hit a comfortable stride without feeling bored.

I found the energy to keep a good stride going as I reached the garage roof, despite some tiredness, and took what I thought was a well-earned rest when I heard the whistle.

However, after about seven seconds, that night’s trainer, Catherine Burns, walked over and asked: “Why are you walking?”

“You blew the whistle.”

“I did,” she said. “That’s the whistle to start the eight-minute run.”

Turns out, while I was busy enjoying my foolproof plan, I forgot to listen out for Ms Burns’ whistle signalling for us to stop. So, instead of running for five minutes and walking for three, I ran for a full eight minutes and would now have to run for yet another eight minutes.

Ms Burns said something about taking a quick break whenever I needed it, but to be honest, I couldn’t really hear her.

It might have been because of my heavy breathing, or the sharp sound of feet slapping pavement, or, perhaps, because I’m just not that good at listening.

In any case, I finished training without taking that three-minute rest, which I should be proud of, even if I was walking like a newborn deer by the end.

For what it’s worth, the halfway point seems to be the time where we start to fiddle with the training structure.

The first half of training, aside from the weekend runs, involved consistent terrain, even elevation and an equal mix of running and walking.

However, once we reached week five, we started doing lengthier runs at uneven intervals and introduced elevation when training at Bull’s Head.

This means that, ironically, Tuesday wasn’t my first time running between floors, just the first time when it became a problem.

In retrospect, this was probably what made me confident I’d hear a whistle when it was time to stop.

I suppose the lesson here is, while it’s important to work hard and persevere, listen to your trainer so you don’t do more than you need to.