C25K really works

I’ve done it all on a treadmill so far. There are far too many hills around here for my liking. Plus no one sees me in the gym! I’m visiting somewhere flat later this week and I’m half tempted to take my running gear with me then, but it partly depends on the weather, and partly what else I need to get done there. The thought of having to find a shower somewhere is slightly stressful, as is having to carry water etc with me!

I run outside. But then I live in the fens. Hills aren't a problem! I think I'd struggle inside

I'm contemplating getting a motorised tread mill as it's very hilly and off putting here. Trouble is I love the changing scenery and the fresh air when I run outdoors.

Anybody else have a preference when starting off?

Finished W2 and doing W3R1 tomorrow!

I completed it 8 years ago and went on to run a couple of 10k. I know it works but phew it's hard!

I use endomondo. That has animas if you drill down into each km. I have tortoises too!!

I've started this too with the local running club, finished w2r3 this morning :)

thing which app gives you the animals? I've tried several apps so far and haven't found one I love yet...

W8r3 28 mins was painful today. It's windy and raining. But I did it. Phew

Well done, ephemeralfairy! You sound the same as me, memories of running from my school days include the bleep test, 1500m and the dreaded cross-country, none of which were at all fun for this overweight asthmatic! Luckily C25K is a totally different kettle of fish!

Hi all! Did my first run today, it was ok! Not as hideous as I was expecting. I go to the gym regularly but have had a hang-up about running since the misery of the 'bleep test' in PE at school in the 90s
Planning run 2 for Saturday....reading positive stories here is very encouraging!

Well I decided that another 30 (or even 25) min run today wouldn't be a good idea so I decided to go back to week 1 and try it faster. When I did it for the first time my walk was at 3.8mph, the walk 4.4. (Yesterday's 30 mins was at 4.6 - I really am very slow!).

Today I was planning on doing the 5 min walks at 3.8, the 90 sec walks at 4.6 and the runs at 5.0. That almost worked, but I had to slow down two of the 90 sec walks to 3.8 as it was knackering me.

The result was that I went a whole 300m further than the first time I did it, but used 25% more calories (not that I believe the figures to be exact, but it's interesting how much it went up even so).

So I'm going to stick to doing Weeks 8 and 9 on Monday and Wednesday long runs, and continuing from Week 1 on Thursdays.

I’ve been running for over a year and can’t do a sub-30min 5k it really does depend on other factors like age, height, weight. (I’m short curvy & still overweight..but now run up to 20k a go). It’s more about seeing yourself improve and running for 30mins any distance /time is lapping everyone still sitting on the couch. Gd luck.

Brassica - if you look at the website it does say, somewhere, that it’s 30 mins rather than 5 k. And don't knock you 3.73km, that’s 20m further than I got and I’m well chuffed with how I did! I doubt I’ll ever count myself a runner, but today I ran further than I ever ran before.

Why why why have I only now just done the maths 5k/30 mins is 6 mins/k!!

I hope you are right Time My current pace is 7.43. Tonight I switched off the gps tracking for the 5 mins warm up/down and only achieved 3.73k.....

BrassicaBabe - don't stress, the aim of the plan is to get you running for 30 minutes, not 5k. I think they thought "Couch to 5K" sounded better than "Couch to 30 Minutes": it's more catchy and less offputting, maybe (if you think you 'only' have to get to 5, rather than 30).

Because I'm doing anything on the treadmill, and love a good spreadsheet, I've been recording my runs exactly. My 30 minute run today covered 4.73 km in total of which 3.71 were run. It's going to take me about 40 mins to run the full 5k, which is why I'm not bothered about not sticking to the plan strictly. If I can manage to get another 10 mins on by the end of week 9 I'll be ecstatic! If I don't I'll still be thrilled that I actually managed to achieve the goal of keeping going for a whole 30 minutes. I really wasn't sure that would be possible when I started this!

ToEarly - don't you get really hot? What do you do about stripping off if you're outside?

Up to now all my runs have been on a treadmill inside (too many steep hills near me to contemplate going on the road). It's not the warmest place, so I start off with sports bra, top and running jacket, but I throw the jacket off after my warm-up walk, and then today I threw off my top at some point so I was just in my bra (but nobody else in the gym to terrify with the look of me!). I worry that if I were to run outside I'd leave a trail of clothing behind me which I'd have to retrieve on my way back. So what do you do?

And water, too? I'm not sure I'd want to carry a bottle with me, but I'd have to. Any easy solutions?

athing Certificates are available from the official C25K forum. This month's thread is here.

I love your dog! I threatened two of my rabbits with the gym this morning, but they took off under my bed!

Due to do w8r2 today. The rain is horizontal and the wind is very strong! Waiting and hoping that the wind in particular sorts itself out!

I don't think 30 mins is going to equal 5k for me I ran for 28 mins on. Monday and my total distance was 4.82 including the 5 min walk for warm/cool up. Today I'm going to try not to turn on the gps tracking app until after the 5 min walk to see how far off I am....

on top a sports bra, long sleeve base layer......... a cycling jacket. Finally a neck warmer. I don't like to be cold

Hell yeah !

I wear black leggings, a sports bra and a long sleeve top. I wear a yellow reflective sports/cycling jacket. Day-glo yellow hat, day-glo yellow gloves (both bought at pound shop prices from the co-op.) Then a day-glo reflective neck warmer. I WILL be seen. Yeah, love, from space !

Just re-started after having a cold over Christmas/New Year. I started week five on Monday, part one of three parts. So I downloaded all three parts and will do part 2 today.

It's great.

Well done everyone else and keep going. I repeated week four for a month. I will keep doing week five until I am comfortable about moving on to week 6.

athing - how's Week 8 going? I did W7R3 today so will start Wk8 on Monday, all going well (really don't think I should do another 30 mins tomorrow!).

We are nearly there! Did you know you can print off a certificate when you're done? I'm definitely getting mine printed, and laminated. Think I'll be prouder of completing C25K than anything else in my life!!!

It’s a great program that does work. I did it last year and then spent another 6mths moving up to 10k and now I’m HM training eek..
someone up the thread asked about speed v distance there is a NHS podcast for speed and one for stamina. I found both really good once I’d finished C25k. Good luck on your running journeys it’s a great way to shoehorn in exercise when you have young kids