Accelerated c25k - what do you think?

[austenozzy]

Hello again

So, I decided to start running again after a year off. I did the c25k before and was improving my times for it. However, previous knee surgery means I often have trouble with road running - both the hardness of the surface and the camber - so I can only really run with confidence on footpaths and bridleways near me. That means come winter, it's too easy to not bother...

So anyway, I've done a couple of runs this week and was pleasantly surprised at how easy, relatively, it was to run a mile (Tues) and 1.5 miles (today) with no stops or discomfort. I'd like to get to doing comfy 5ks again, and see where I might go from there. But I obviously don't need the 2 min walk/jog bit at the beginning. So I've put together a 4 week plan to get up to 5km level. Could you have a look and see what you think?

bwwtesting.co.uk/running/short-c25k.pdf

TIA.

Oz

If you're feeling good so far I'd do 10, 15, 20, 25 increments. There seems little point just doing 2 extra mins one week and then jumping 8 mins the next. And given that you have a history of injury problems I'd also ditch your optional session 4 - you must give yourself a clear 2 day recovery period at least once a week. Recovery is equally as important as training in gaining and maintaining fitness.

Thanks Sparkle. Yes, I think you're right. I went for smaller increments at first to give myself (or rather my knee) a chance to get into it a bit. I recall the larger increments being surprisingly easy to handle last time, towards the end of the c25k cycle. I'll just do some 2 mile runs with a walk in the middle for a week or so, and then step it up.

Thanks for taking the time to look.