Does couch 25k actually work?

[JizzPigeon22]

I’ve just finished week one and can’t imagine for a second being able to run for half an hour after just 9 weeks!
Aibu to think this is a big con and I’m going to be disappointed? Currently doing it with my 5 year old and having a lot of fun but worrying ahead of time
Has anyone done it and want to share their running success stories?

Am mid week 7 and can run 25 mins! Could barely waddle pre starting

You only have to look at the many C25K forums and websites to see that it does work. I'm mid 60s and have just done it myself and am now running 5k 3 times a week until I'm ready to move on to 10K.

Yes it does work! I did it a few months ago, it gets harder but it is doable!

I started on it years ago, after Dc2 was born. Last year I ran two 50k races. I was overweight and unfit when I started. Never looked back!

Yes, week 7 here and managed 25 mins just fine. Some weeks/days are tougher than others. A lot of it is just going out there and doing it.

I’m so unfit. I really puffed round today! I was debating repeating this week but maybe I should just push harder

Yes, if you stick at it (repeating weeks if necessary) and take the runs slowly it really does work. The healthunlocked couch25k forum has lots of good advice and success stories (I love reading old "struggling with week1" posts and seeing they're graduates). Before lockdown I would have sworn I hated running, did my second 28 min run yesterday and really enjoy it.

I did it two years ago, started in January and ran The Great North Run (a half marathon) that September.

I struggled so much initially that I had to keep redoing weeks at the start but it definitely worked eventually!

Don't push, take it slowly enough that you could have a conversation as you go. Soeed is absolutely not the point.

Honestly, yes. I'm very overweight, have avoided exercise for years and years, and have a heart problem, but even I managed to complete the course. It's amazing :)

You may need to repeat some runs if you can't quite manage them. Week 5 and Week 6 seems like a big jump, but you WILL get there.

Its about finding your pace. Once you do and that's usually when you can run quite comfortably for 15mns, getting to 30 mns is not a huge step, nor is going from 30 to to 1 hour.

Every week I thought I would never be able to do the next week. Every week I managed it. (With a couple of cock up runs which I did again).

I'm 3 and a half stone overweight. I went from feeling like I'm going to throw up after a 60 second run to running solidly for 37 minutes. Still overweight but I've changed shape and look less blobby.

C25K works.

If you're struggling then definitely repeat a week. I saw it as the way to get me to keep going - I'd rather do week 2 twice than stop doing it all together halfway through week 3.

I finished it in June and now go running three times a week 5-7 km at a time. I'd recommend doing walking between your runs too. I also found doing a longer walk after the run helped me to recover especially at the start when I felt really unfit!

It took me 11 weeks. I had to do Week 6 three times as I struggled with the first 25 minute run, but I did get there in the end.

Some hints. I found it much better once I started doing the pre run & post run 7 minute yoga workouts on the Yoga by Adrienne you tube channel. It also helped me to listen to a podcast while running. I would never normally listen to podcasts so it became me time and I actually started to look forward to it.

There are times when your legs feel like lead but I found that I would hit a point when I didn't get anymore tired. I would trick my brain into thinking of other things and then I found I could keep running. If I thought about running I would have believed I couldn't do it and would have stopped.

Good luck. It is a good feeling when you succeed.

Yes, it is incredible! If you stick with it and follow the programme, it's truly amazing how quickly you improve.

Yes! I HATED running, thought I was going to die running 90 seconds. I stuck to it, it took about 15 weeks as I wasn't very committed in the beginning and had to redo the middle weeks, but from about week 6 it clicked and I've ran 3 times a week since. I finished it last week, and now trying to build up to 5km (as running for 30 mins gets me nowhere near 5k yet lol). Ran 35 mins today

I’ve taken it slow and done it over longer than 9 weeks - doing most runs twice in the early weeks and repeating week 5 & 6 several times but I am now on week 7 and running 25 minutes fairly comfortably three times a week. I started in April struggling to run for 60 seconds - now I sprint for the last 60 seconds of my 25 minute runs

Yes, stick with it, I did it 5 years ago and then didn't bother once I'd hit the 5k but I've since done it in lockdown and go out frequently now. I'm not fast or pretty but I enjoy the time to myself! Keep going week 2 is hard.

I started in nearly a year ago, and can now do 10k. What really helped, and I didn't really get this at the start, is learning to run slowly. It's so much easier and something you need to learn if you're going to run longer distances anyway. I think the 5k is a bit misleading. 30 mins for 5k is slightly too fast for a beginner, in my opinion.

Yes, it definitely works. I did it with my daughter so repeated a week and I run a 5k once or twice a week. Was never a runner before that. I am quite proud of myself actually! Don't worry about repeating weeks or even just one extra go for that week. You will make it!

It deffo works!!!! Maybe not 5k in 30 minutes, but you can run for half an hour by the end of it.

I was 15st 5lb when I started it before lockdown.

As you can tell by my username, it's all gone out the window, but I absolutely loved doing it. Even though I thought I'd hate it.

By the end I was regularly running 5k. Not in 30 minutes, but somewhere between 35-45 minutes

I need to start it again.

I did it a few years ago when I was overweight, wobbly and hideously unfit. Started in January, so unfit I could barely make it through the first week, but I persevered and managed 5k in just over half an hour at the end of the programme.

I then did my first 10k that May (very slowly!!) and my first half marathon the following year. I caught the running bug and kept going.

Fast forward a few years and two DC later, and I regularly run marathons for "fun." I've also got faster too; my 5k time is down to 20 mins and my 10k time is down from 65 mins to 42 mins. I'm sometimes 1st lady in parkrun and at local races , which I would never have thought possible when I was overweight and struggling to even run for 2 mins. If I can do it, anyone can

Oh and I meant to add, I was 12st 12lb by the time I got to the end.

I was eating healthy too and the running combined with it was amazing.

It absolutely does. I started at age 50, having never done any formal exercise before. Now working up to 10k. Honestly, just keep going. It doesn't matter if you have to repeat a week or how fast or slow you run or how long it takes to finish the program.

I'm not built for speed! I look at it as any running, however slow I do is better than the nothing at all I was doing before.