If you’re a runner…..

[Hamsterwheel21]

I’ve recently lost 3 stone slowly and steadily. Still have 4-5 stone to lose though 😳 I’ve been doing 10k daily steps for about 6 months.

Today I downloaded Couch to 5K app and did Run 1 week 1. I really want a longer term goal of doing a 10k - there is one locally on my birthday in 20 weeks. I know it’s not a huge achievement as thousands of people do 10k’s but to me it’s would be the best birthday present I could give to myself (after seriously neglecting my physical and mental health for a whole host of reasons)

would it be realistic to do it the 9 week C25K programme and get up to 10k in the following 11 weeks if I followed the plan (and didn’t get injured)

YABU - no this isn’t doable
YANBU - yes you could do 10k in 20 weeks

100% doable - good luck and congrats on your weight loss!

I've lost a lot of weight 9 stone in total and I find the lighter I got the easier it is to run. I literally zoom now at 57kg weight makes a huge impact on how easy it is to run. I would say do low impact exercises while overweight so cross trainer and swimming. When I ran while overweight I was much more prone to injury because of the extra strain on the joints.

Absolutely possible! And I would hugely recommend parkrun, even after only a few weeks of couch 2 5k because you can still walk and if you do the session then the 5 minute walk you’ll be practically at the end of parkrun. We have loads of walker at ours, often finishing in over an hour.
I started running age 30 with C25K and now at nearly 40 have done half marathons with a few breaks for pregnancy. Coming back after pregnancy from point zero couch to 5k has been great. I’m 1.5 stone overweight but still get round. Have to say closest I’ve got to 30 minute 5k is 31 minutes pre babies!
enjoy! It’s a great hobby and I love getting out with a podcast, music or just birdsong and getting some headspace.

I'm in a very similar position, I'm on run 3 of week 6 and have agreed to a 10K in about 20 weeks too (October) I am aiming to be marathon ready in 3 years which is great length of time for someone at my stage.

Do you mind if you walk some of your 10K? If you don't then it's definitely doable. Keep going, don't listen to that voice in your head that says you can't do it. That voice in mine is slowly getting quieter and I'm beginning to feel less like I'm dying every single minute.

Definitely achievable, and definitely ok to walk some of it if you need to. I am an informal runner (like, as a hobby, not a sport) and was able to work up to 10k in a few months after having long Covid. If you mix with walking and go at your own pace it's not a big deal. It is, however, a big achievement!

You sound like me a few years ago.

I lost the baby weight (when the baby went to secondary school, and I couldn't pretend any more). Then realised I needed to tone up, and started running (and hated it for ages, but kept going rather sullenly as I knew it was good for me). And came to enjoy it.

You're already way ahead of me as you actually want to do it!

C25K is fantastic (or if you want a livelier one try the training version of Zombies!Run). Agree with others - start parkrun asap - walk most of it in the early weeks, and ten just watch your progress. It's hard to describe how elated I was when I ran every single step for the first time!

9 weeks to 5k, then a week or two consolidation, then start extending towards 10k. If you can run 8k, then the excitement of Race Day will carry you around the 10.

BTW, going from 0-5k is harder than going from 5-10k. So just get going!

Good luck, OP! Great to have a goal. I am in my early 60s and ten years ago couldn't run at all, but now I can do a bit of run/walking and do parkrun most weeks. I love it.

When it comes to picking a 10k to do, you can usually see the results from last year's race and that might reassure you that not everybody taking part is fast. I've just looked at one I did and I see that some people last year took over 2 hours to get round but still got an official result.

You can see parkrun results online. I checked before I did my first one that I wouldn't be significantly behind everyone else and I do that before visiting another parkrun too. Some very flat courses attract a lot of very fast runners and not many slow people like me, and I would be a bit self-conscious to be minutes behind everyone else except the tailwalkers (volunteers whose job is to finish last). However, parkrun is usually a very welcoming place for slower runners/walkers.

LittleLegsKeepGoing makes a good point about 30 mins running not necessarily being 5k:- I am a very slow runner and I found that training programmes based on time didn’t work for me for that reason. Hal Higdon has very good training programmes online which give the distance to run for each session which means you can be sure that you can actually cover the required distance:- just Google his name

Oooh OP this is very exciting. You've had loads of good advice here.

I absolutely recommend trying it - I wanted to run a half marathon for my 40th (I was a regular 10k runner) and crossed the line feeling knackered but fulfilled & the fittest I had ever been. It was a wonderful experience.

If you are prepared to put the consistent work in, even on the rainy days, hot days (go early) and bad days , I think it's a very achievable task. Get a few local 5ks in before the big event as training runs to get used to what a race day involves.

Very best of luck! Do report back!

I'm very unfit, and overweight. I started in the gym in February just doing 11 mins of cardio and some weights to start. I'm now doing half an hour of cardio, weights and then a few weeks ago I started c25k again to finish with.

Last time I did it, I was running outside and nowhere near 5k in half an hour, this time I have repeated week 1 about 3 times in the gym, starting ridiculously slowly, but increasing my speed incrementally each time. Today I started week 2, knowing that I will run 5k in under 30mins at that pace. I also completed each run (thank you Michael Jordan) before walking again.

My advice is to take it slowly, build it up, and don't be afraid to repeat a week. I haven't run beyond 5k though so can't offer advice on that.

I'm going to be the pessimist (sorry) and suggest that given you have 4-5 stone to lose, it's going to be somewhat of a challenge to achieve 10K in 20 weeks. Ideally you don't want to.be overweight at all, running and training for those kind of distances. You'll be much more injury prone and you'll be giving your joints quite a lot of wear and tear. Maybe see how quickly the weight comes off as you do the C25K and adjust your goals accordingly.

I think it depends really. I started C25K in January, I stuck with it and can now do 5k. However I am struggling to get up to 10k and am finding my improvement has really plateaued now. I’m still running twice a week, but not really seeing any improvement.

Only thing I’d add is that c25k doesn’t aim to have you running 5k at the end of week 9. It aims to get to to run for 30 minutes at the end of week 9. For some people, that will be 5k, but everyone I’ve spoken to who has done c25k took 35-40 minutes’ continuous running to cover the 5k distance.

I did it last year and didn’t get beyond week 8 as we went on holiday and then I couldn’t be arsed 😂

Good luck OP.

RunDouble have a great C25k app but they also do a 5 to 10k follow on which is 6 weeks long so might be worth looking at that for when you've completed the 5k
The good thing about this app is that they do timed vs distance settings for each plan so you can choose between the two

This is what I think low impact is better on the body. Running is really really hard when you are heavy it's a piece of piss when you are lighter. I got so many injuries while i was overweight so I moved to low impact then resumed running when all the weight came off. I'm injury free now at bmi 20.8.

I did c25k in the first lockdown and ran 12k quite soon after. Couldn't do it now lol but when I was doing it regularly it was quite easy to up it

Definitely doable.

The c-2-5k app is actually about getting to the point of running for 30 mins at a time. Depending on your running speed it may be that this is actually 4km for you. That's totally ok.

Do the c-2-5k initially up to about the point when you are running 15 mins at a time, but then instead of stretching to 30 mins as the next step, work out how long it will take you to do 10km at that pace and custom-build your own programme to build gradually to that duration.

Eg you might do

2x 15 min runs with 2 mins walking between (total 30 mins)

4x 10 min runs with 2 mins walking between (total 40 mins)

3 x 17 min runs with 2 mins walking between (total 51 mins)

3 × 23 min runs with 2 mins walking between (total 69 mins)

2 x 38 min runs with 2 mins walking between (total 76 mins)

• obviously vary this according to your target time and repeat each stage as many times as you want before building up but 20 weeks is plenty of time.

Running shoes are a must

I hated running. It was hugely mental for me, I would always stop after 100 yards or so. Any inkling of discomfort I would stop. I just equated discomfort with inability to run.

I did my first 3k non stop with a friend, around a park. 500m uphill but then getting the pay off of the next 500m downhill. My mindset changed. I knew I’d feel better in a minute or two once I reached the downhill section.

then I did 3k on my own, always stopping just before a big incline. That incline became a target to overcome. Mentally.

I did it once knowing it had a lovely decline on the other side.

then I got to 5k. Then 7k. Then 10k

My longest run so far has been 17k, no stops. I can now do 5k no problem at all. The only thing that has held me back is niggling injuries. Which quite frankly are infuriating but now I always listen to my body and stop whenever I feel a niggle, no matter what distance I am at when it happens.

Im 52. I started last year and now I’m running on average around 40k each week.

and I’m doing it all for myself. No races or park runs, no targets to reach by a certain time. Just take (and enjoy) each run as it comes. It’s worked wonders for my overall health.

I did a 10k before I finished the C25K so it's definitely possible

Definitely. As pp have said, 0-5k is the hardest. Anything after that is psychological. I got to 5, then tried a bit further, then further, then further. Been running 3 years.

Sometimes I have a great run and it's all going well. I could run all day. Other days, I barely get to 1k before I need a breather. Doesn't mean I can't run anymore, I might be tired/dehydrated/wrong headspace/low iron.

Currently have a knee I'm worrying about, but too scared to get looked at, but it's an old, old injury.

definitely doable.

once you finished 5k running the step up to 10 is actually not that big.

don't forget to do exercises for your core and make sure your shoes are up to the job.

good luck

I've been "running" since doing athletics in school, and have been asked for advice from friends/family many times for those who wanted to start from close to zero.

A few comments, that others have already touched on:

• Make sure you have comfortable runners, and keep these for running. It's a very good investment!
• Be careful with respect to niggles and injuries. It is so easy to pick something up, when you have not been using the same muscle groups to the same extent. If you fell something is wrong, then don't push it.
• It's nice to have an aggressive goal like you have, but don't get too tied to up on follow exactly the plan. If you feel you need to repeat a week, or repeat it twice, then do!! You'll get there in the end.

Good luck!!

Don't forget a decent sports bra!

Thank you all so much for taking the time to reply with so much positivity! Have read all your comments 😃I’ll definitely report back and update on my progress

wrt bra - decathlon have a simple pull-over type (or contortionist type as I call them) for around 15£ they are better than any expensive one I had previously. but not sure about their sizing.

their own brand running shoes are also decent for a start. once you know you like running you can upgrade.