C25K anyone had to repeat weeks and still done it

[IAmTheWhoreOfBabylon]

i am useless at jogging and asthmatic
I am on w3 r3
I repeated the earlier weeks. I can't imagine running for 5 Minutes but then when I was doing 90sec I couldn't imagine doing 3 minutes
I'm on my last legs on the second 3 minutes
Afterwards I feel great and my breathing is much better
I plan to repeat it another 3x
Has anyone had to repeat but still succeeded in doing 5k
I am feeling disheartened

[annandale]

yes it took me 16 weeks to complete the 9 weeks... a few months later I ran ok jogged extremely slowly a 7K event. And I didn't quite finish last.

But then I knew from the start it would take me as long as it took. I just looked at it as a way of getting going. Right now you are taking more exercise than you took before you started, it's all positive.

[IAmTheWhoreOfBabylon]

Thanks anna
Did you find the jump to 5 mins tough
Then there are bigger jumps to follow
I am very impressed that you completed a 7k event, well done

[annandale]

Don't look too far ahead

i do remember some weeks seeming like a bigger jump than others but tbh all you ever have to do is one step at a time - it really is a series of mental barriers, much more than physical. as long as you run slowly enough to feel ok (and believe me, in my case that is very, very slowly) you will be physically able to keep going, barring actual injury.

after the c25k weeks i moved on to listening to podcasts - not sure that was a great idea as they were much more verbal than musical so there was no beat - then i moved to spotify and made myself some playlists of music i only listened to when i ran, so that i looked forward to listening to the music even if not the running!

[MrsMook]

I repeated runs a few times. It is designed so that the next stage is attainable, even if it is hard to believe it! I did repeat a few times when my body really hadn't felt in the mood, and that it would be beneficial to crack that run properly before moving on. I was particularly cautious about injury as I was having a slow recovery from pregnancy (SPD).

It looks like the time running jumps, but it's within a similar percentage of progress. I actually found it easier once I mastered 8 minutes as your body gets into flow. That was a big milestone as I had never run that far without walking!

7 months after my first 5k, I did a half marathon!

[chutneypig]

Oh yes, it took me nearly a year in end, between holidays, a non running injury and bad weather. Week five and six got the most repeats. Looking back I wished I'd been more structured on the repeats, that I'd said I'll do this week three times and then move on, not Ill move on when I feel ready, if that makes sense. I signed up for a charity 5k to give me a final target which was a great help.

I did it on my own but I've heard many people like the support of a club programme for C25k.

I'm never going to be fast but I do parkrun most weekends and the odd longer distance race now. I'd never have gotten to this without the repeated weeks.

[Tanfastic]

I've been doing c25k since end December and I've been stuck on week 5/6 for a few weeks now due to a combination of weather, no childcare and having the most horrendous cold.

I've repeated week 5 twice, moved on to week 6 last week, failed on week 6/run2 yesterday, I just couldn't do it (I think because I had eaten not long beforehand) but I did the first ten minutes and half of the second ten minutes and then just couldn't go on.

Going out again tomorrow to repeat week 6 run 2....

Have found it pretty plain sailing up until now, feel disappointed that I'm struggling at this stage. Can't imagine ever being able to run for 30 minutes without stopping .

[Cherryminx]

Don't feel disheartened. I am 45+, hadn't done any exercise for years and did it last year as a New Year resolution. I repeated several weeks, pulled a muscle in week 3 and had to rest for 2 weeks, finally finished about end of April.

Then I did Race for Life, Parkrun, a 10k race and am now training for a half marathon. Looking back it seems hard to believe that every week seemed so much harder than the previous one but they did. I could hardly run for a minute when I started and the cold weather and dark evenings made it harder.

But its really worth it.

I really recommend entering a fun run like Race for Life. I did mine last July, teamed up with a few friends in the month before hand to do some training and felt fantastic when I crossed that line on a warm summers evening.

The combination of excitement and fear that I'd let my sponsers down kept me going. Its great to have a goal to aim for.