C25K: Body is willing, but fitness is shite!

Yey!! Well done Team, it's an immense achievement.

What are you planning for after C25K?

Whoop whoop!!!!! Well done, there'll be no stopping you now

Hi Team, I seem to be at the same point as you. I started on the 18th of June. Have had breaks due to holidays and family visits etc.
I did wk8 run 2 yesterday and it was slow. Am hoping to do run 3 tomorrow and see if I can start wk9 at the weekend.
I’m doing some runs outside and some on a treadmill. Finding the treadmill runs much easier. So much so that I get a bit upset with myself when I go back outside and find it so tough.
How did this morning’s run go?

Chin up TeamEponine.

Have a long soak in the bath and enjoy the bank holiday. You'll be fine.

I run. Also started with C25K....
You'll be ready to run again in a couple of days and remember, ALL runners fall at some point. I remember my first fall....tripped on a water hydrant cover...the tiniest bumpy ridge! Grazed what seemed like everything and extracted umpteen bits of grit in the bath. I felt just as you did...really irked and irritated and also a bit sorry for myself.
Focus on the road ahead of you and try to stay aware of where your feet are going. You won't fall often, but this probably won't be the last time either!
Good luck in finishing next week....you will!!

Oh no! Picturing you covered in Mr Bump plasters... Get well soon and don't feel bad. I stumble a lot, it's frankly only a matter of time before I get an ankle stuck down a rabbit hole or something the reason I always tell someone pretty exactly where I'm going in case I need a rescue

The stated aim if the C25K programe is to teach you to run for 30 minutes non-stop, not to teach you to run for 5k. It's just "Couch to 30 Minutes" doesn't have the same ring to it.

The program deliberately doesn't mention pace, speed or distance. The only focus is how long you run for. The first time speed and pace is specifically worked on is in the C25K graduates program, called C25K Plus (which I'd recommend once you graduate). So you don't look at your pace, therefore your distance covered, until after you can run for 30 minutes.

For what it's worth, when I finished C25K I was covering around about 5K in the whole podcast - I generally covered 0.5K in the 5min warm up, 4K in the 30 min run and 0.5K in the cool down.

I then did the C25K+ Stepping Stone podcast (which introduces the idea of monitoring your pace) and C25K+ Stamina podcast to increase me run to 35 minutes.

My first 5K all done at a running pace took me 42 minutes. That was down to 40 within 3 runs and was down to 35 minutes within a month. Two months on and my PB is 31m01s for 5K, so still working on a sub-30 time. My usual runs are around 32-33 minutes for 5K.

Once you graduate, I'd suggest the C25K+ podcasts firstly, then swap from tracking how long you run for and instead track how far you run. So now, instead of me thinking "I'll run for 30/35/40 minutes", I think "I'm going to do a 5K/8K/10K run" and run for however long that takes me.

For most of the programme chose not to measure distance as I didn't feel ready to know! I finished the prog in June and have kept going, and recently measured - I cover about 2.5 miles in the 30 minutes, so if I could continue at the same pace it would take another 6 minutes to reach 3miles/5km. So I've stopped measuring distance again, and am working on increasing time up to 35-40 minutes, and when I can do that comfortably (ha!) I will re-measure distance, if that makes sense?

Shite*

Onwards and upwards, great progress! Only "proper running" now. You're fitness clearly isn't suite!

Wow that was an early morning run yesterday! I was still in the land of nod when you'd finished.

Congratulations though. I'd say you are now a proper runner. No more walk intervals anymore - go for it!

I remember seeing runners out for their half hour run, when I was doing the 90 second or 3 minute intervals of the first few weeks. I looked at them and thought "they are real runners, they know how to do this". Now you are that "real runner "

The next 3 weeks shouldn't be too challenging to you once you're out there. The challenge is just making sure you put your running gear on and get out in the first place. Especially in this heat.

I ran while it was chucking it down with rain and thundering this morning. Absolute bliss to do a run in when it's cool.

I run 5/6 times a week as well. As long as at least 3 of them are just "everyday" runs (which for me is a 10k bimble round the country park) I am fine. Then one fast shorter run, and a long Saturday morning run, usually half marathon length.

I started with C25k a couple of years ago, lost 4 stone since then and properly have the running bug!

I would probably restart week 6 if it was me. And don't have too longer break or you'll lose your momentum completely.

For what it's worth - I ran C25K every day. Indeed in the early, easier week I sometime ran twice a day.

I continued running daily upon finishing C25K, progressing to 35 min runs, 40 minute runs, then a daily 5k run and even through to 10k runs. I run every day.

Since the beginning of April, so coming up to 4 months, there have been only 3 or 4 days I've not run.

I have a school friend (Facebook friend) who runs a gym with her husband and they are both personal trainers. Therefore uber fit. They think nothing of a 5k run. Indeed they often use a 5k run as a warmup to exercise. ie not even the actual exercise, just preparing the body for proper exercise to do afterwards.

I take this mindset in my running. Fit and healthy people can run 5Ks as though it's just an everyday part of their day, not even exercise. I suppose the same way I used to view the 1.5k walk to school and back twice a had - healthy but not actually exercise.

This mindset in itself makes me think that as long as you're not constantly pushing yourself faster and faster and are not increasing up to frequent high (10k +) distances, that a daily 5k run (ie every day) is a healthy and very good thing to add to your day if you have the time.

So I respectfully disagree with your husband. I'm sure the NHS advises 30 minutes of high heart-rate exercise every day. A 5K run takes me 32-34 minutes, so I think unless I'm doing other cardiovascular exercise in the day, that a 5K run every day is a good thing.

The only important thing, I think, is good training on things like foot placement when running to avoid foot/leg aches. Shoulder, arm and head positioning without tension to avoid upper body aches. Well fitting shoes and adequate warm up and cool down. All that in place and not pushing yourself to go fast and I think daily running isn't a problem if you have the time.

It does feel very hard to begin with, I remember I was really struggling after the first two weeks. Doing it in this heat must be twice as hard too. Keep going with it and trust that it works, it doesn’t matter how long each run takes you as long as you keep going. The fitness will come, it just takes a while to build up you almost don’t notice that suddenly it feels easier.

Keep going it’s worth it.