Couch to 5 K Its not about Speed (5!)

[addictedtosugar]

So, we seem to have filled up the 4th thread. Anyone want to join me here?

Well done glow wine!!! thats brilliant news :) I have been a bit slack as have found it difficult to be regular with my runs wiht the holidays, working crap weird hours, and DP training too. I am managing 5k but in all honesty, im not sure it counts as i am running so slowly, i swear i could walk faster

Hi all,
Tea welcome and well done on your week one runs.
I just did a consecutive day run because I felt better after a dodgy tum over the weekend. It was ok, but I am repeating week six because I ddint feel well enough to do the first week seven run yesterday.
If you do runs back to back, you could always pause the app and do a walk in between when you get to the longer runs. Might help?
Well done Glowwine! You rock! I know it's frustrating to get across busy roads, bit don't shout banzai and run across with your eyes shut, better to be safe! ????
Thanks for the input about running in the dark everyone. It could even be an incentive to keep going to escape the dodgy drunks making their way home after a hard night, or going out for a hard night.
Just did week six run two again was ok. Hopefully back o. Track for week seven next week

Thanks for the advice. The consecutive days would have to be Sat afternoon/Sun morning.. I am going to try it this weekend and see how I go. Doing my first week 2 run tomorrow.

Well done to everyone who has reached 5k, that seems like an impossibility for me at the moment!
Stupid question, but - what is difference between running shoes and trainers?

Congratulations Glow, that's great work! And good jobs too LEM and rowing - rowing I think repeating if you've been ill is totally sensible, it's never a good idea to push too hard while you're recovering, as you're more likely to undo progress than make it.

W8R2 for me today - eugh. For some reason each half of 28 minutes feels SO much longer than half of 25 did - the app has me going on to 30 for W8R3 but I am doubtful - might redo r2 again first. My distance/pace are holding steady at around 3.8km in 28 minutes, so I guess I'll have to just get to 30 mins and then slowly increase until I hit 5k, then adjust the pace, as it doesn't seem like it'll do itself!

MrTCakes I'm not an expert but I think running shoes are basically trainers with different soles, to give you more cushioning for all the impacts? So, mine (cheap, not gait analysed, but good for now) have 'gel inserts' in the soles which basically means they take more of the shock of hitting the ground away, and a layer of air between the inner sole and outer too, for similar purposes. They're also a lot lighter than the trainers I started out in, although that might be because I was originally running in very old, nasty trainers.

Everyone's doing brilliantly! I've had a few days off thanks to a virus and am hoping to be up to running again tomorrow.

I'm feeling a bit down about it all. A few days ago I finished the NHS C25K program (again!) and was really pleased. Running for half an hour, no probs. So yesterday I tried the first NHS C25K+ podcast. Started off OK though I found it very hard to match my pace to the suggested ones, I kept settling into my own pace which was either faster or slower! But about halfway round I was crossing a road, caught my foot on the kerb and pancaked . Had a very grazed knee, big scrapes on my hand and a strained thumb, and a bruised shoulder. After sitting on the pavement for several minutes I did actually finish the run, apart from anything else it would have taken forever to walk back. But I do feel sore now. I've had occasional falls before (had a fall on holiday, still got the other sore thumb and a graze from that one!) though not while running. I think I will ignore Laura's advice to look ahead of me and keep my eyes on where I am putting my feet!

Hope everyone else is having better luck.

Hi all just a quickie. Just wanted to send don'tdoit a virtual hug. Poor you! I hope it wasn't beside a bus stop with a huge queue? Take it easy!

Poor you - sorry to hear about that Don'tDoIt - but really well done for picking yourself up and finishing the run! I had a somewhat ridiculous fall about 6 months after I started running, where I tripped, went sideways, and nearly managed to fall into the river in the process, on a busy Sunday afternoon. I caused a great deal of alarm all round! I don't think I managed to keep going, I was too embarrassed, so you did a lot better than me. Do take it easy for a few days if you've bashed yourself - there's no rush.

Adjusting your pace is so hard I think - have you tried some of the suggestions like just doing every other minute a bit quicker for now? Or an upbeat playlist maybe? It's always tricky to try and up the speed but still establish a comfortable rhythm for yourself so you're not feeling off-balance, but I do think if you're finding your natural paces are not matching the podcast ones then maybe just try doing a faster pace which suits you instead?

Thank you for the sympathy and encouragement rowingboat and Deianira I was out very early so no-one much about and I didn’t have to feel too embarrassed. Glad you didn’t land in the wet Deianira.

After a rest day yesterday I went out again this morning. My knee is grazed but it doesn’t hurt to run, at least I haven’t bruised or twisted the bits I need for running! And I the 30 minutes were fine, I did about the usual distance.

I didn’t know what to expect from the C25K+ podcast and I didn’t know it would be about pacing. I thought it would just be a half-hour maintenance run with some running tips. But now I am definitely confused! The idea is to run at 150 paces per minute for 10 minutes, then 155 for 15 minutes, then 160 for the final 5 minutes. Every now and again Laura counts 1-2-3-4 and you’re supposed to step in time. But I can’t at all! So this time I counted how many steps I do and even on the first run I only do about 3 steps (3 right-foot steps) to her four counts. And there’s no way my legs will go fast enough to do four! Then I wondered if the four beats were meant to be right-left-right-left but I can’t run that slowly, my feet just thump. I might try the other two podcasts and see if I get along better. Or I might just run with the music and ignore the counts. (The music's quite good for running at three steps to four beats!)

Woah deinera that fall would have been very dirty den (too long ago?).
Dontdoit that sounds very confusing, I'm not surprised you fell over. I would probably be bowling people over as I ran along counting.
Are there any other aps recommended, which would do the same thing, but be easier to follow?
I start week seven tomorrow. Eek!
Which songs make you run faster?
I have run a bit faster when Ed Sheeran 'sing' plays on my running music.

Great to hear you're still going, Don'tDoIt - and that the fall hasn't slowed you down at all. That pacing stuff does sound really confusing to me too, surely they can help you can run faster without doing the step-in-time counting stuff?! Probably a good idea to try with just the music, or even your own playlist of 'runfaster' songs, and keep things comfortable?

Hope W7 went/goes well for you today rowing - I think it was one of my favourite weeks actually as I enjoyed the longer runs, so hope you find the same thing!

For myself, today I am very excited, because I've just run 4km!!!. As previously mentioned, I repeated w8r2 since I wasn't feeling great at 28 minutes, so felt it'd be a good time to try and speed up a tiny bit. I'm currently staying for a weekend with family by the coast and it's very windy along the top path, so I figured as it was a repeated run I'd take advantage of the fact that bad weather always makes me start faster, and just keep my pace up as long as I could. And, clearly, I did keep it up, since I've jumped from 3.6km (Weds) to 4km today! Although my legs are somewhat uncomfortable now. Still, it makes me excited for next week - I'll do the 30min run on Monday at a slower pace to start with I think, as it's a new longer time, but then hopefully be able to speed it up again by the end of the week!

Hi all,
Just did wk3 run6 for the second time. I think I was a bit faster than 22 minutes. I will be starting week 7 on Monday.
It was a bit mad tonight where I run. I think some people were stealing stuff from a building site, but wasn't sure. I tried to be clever and video them as I was doing my cool down, but my phone video is a nightmare and I can never tell if it is recording, so I didn't catch them. So annoyed, I wanted to be a Miss Marple (but a couple of years younger)
Deianira well done on the faster run! Sounds bracing up on that hill top. Be careful though don't want you running in a plaster cast. Eek!

Hello,

Glad to see everyone is still progressing well. I had a really bumpy few weeks, so have stayed away from the thread so as not to be the voice of doom! I kept plodding on through to week 7 and got halfway through before I realised I hadn't really got to the end of a run for a while so went back and redid some of the earlier ones, not in any order but just to get myself in a bit more of a positive mindset by knowing I had actually got to the end of a session properly again so redid the run (can't remember now which weeks they are) where it was 8:5:8 for a whole week then did a week of 10:3:10 and am now going to do a week of w5r3 after that was where I lost the plot before so I'm hoping to just go straight on to a week of 22 min runs after that before rejoining the plan properly. I know I'm not really following it now but going back to the intervals after that 20 min run in week 5 really threw me and I really want to be able to complete the programme so have had to adjust it a bit. Fingers crossed it works!

Welcome back teaspoons! Really glad to hear you've kept going, even if it's meant some adjustments as you go - I think it's totally reasonable to change things if you think a different plan will suit you better. There's not necessarily a 'right' way to do it, it's more important to keep doing it at all! I do think actually that doing the 20 minute run (or repeating it) and then straight to 22 minutes is a good idea tbh - I got really thrown by being back to intervals in week 6, and I know a few others did too, so that seems to be a major sticking point.

Bracing was absolutely the word rowing - but I do quite like running in bad weather (it's motivating!), so enjoyed it a lot. Sunnier weather though for W8r3/W9r1 for me today (my app isn't the NHS one, and seems to have got a bit weird at the end) - i.e. my first 30 minute run. Embarrassed to say that I didn't actually complete it, and only managed 29 minutes, 40 seconds. My quicker run has totally thrown my pace off - I couldn't get back down to my 'slow' speed today, even though I was very conscious of trying to, and ended up running even quicker and getting to 4.2km before I collapsed and died, which at least is a nice distance to be proud of! I think I'll spend this week repeating the 30 minutes and trying to get my pace a bit consistent again, before I increase the time slowly until I'm at 5km, then try and lower the time again while keeping the distance the same. That's the plan, anyway - who knows how it will actually go!

Hello all. I've recently started c25k and am looking forward to (!)w5r3 tomorrow (the 20 min one). I've literally never run for 20 minutes non stop in my whole life so if I manage it I will be absolutely chuffed. And puffed.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone could recommend running clothes. I'm currently a size 18 (hoping this may come down soon!!) and have lots of m&s stuff but looking to branch out a bit. Thanks ????

Welcome knowler and good luck! You CAN do it!

Regarding clothes: I am a cheapskate so most of my clothes come from TKmax when I spot something, or Aldi, only my bras come from John Lewis...

Hi everyone, well done teaspoons sounds like you're well on your way now. Dontdoit glad to hear that you are on the mend!

Brr it's getting colder now, out came the full leggings, gloves, headband (I get very sore ears if they get cold). This morning after my 6am run, stretching out, I was steaming gently... Not a good look but DD watching from the kitchen had a good giggle! I have now completed four 30minute runs without any walking. It's still hard at times but hopefully I've broken the bad habits.
I found a way to increase my speed is to consciously take larger strides. I just need to take bigger 'steps', not in an exaggerated way either, and it really helps without adding and outrageous amount of effort. On the other hand I think the cold slows me down...

Have a good week running, everyone!

I really recommend Sweatshop for running kit - they have a lot of very good sales throughout the year, so it's possible to get decent stuff for fairly low prices.

Hi

Today I completed Wk1r1!!!

It was quite upliftng and we all have to start somewhere right?

Hi all
Raggy well done. I did my first run at the start of the summer holidays and I'm runnung for 25 minutes now (week 7). Can hardly believe it because I struggled with running for 90 seconds and then 3 minutes.
Which app are you using?
Hi all everyone is doing so well.
My second run of week 7 went well today. I start work late on weds so it was daytime. Do you ever wave at other joggers?

Ha ha rowing any runners I meet at the moment are a gazillion times fitter than me (training for the same race as me no doubt) so no waving. They're also usually on the other side of the road. I used to pass (opposite direction) the same middle aged man and we'd say good morning as there is never anyone else about in the fields at that time in the morning! And once upon a time I overtook someone (on the other side of the road)

Raggydoll well done for starting! Have you been out for the second time yet? Good luck, the programme is very achievable, if I can do it, anyone can!

Finally, as I mentioned ages ago, I'm running a charity race next week. I know I can't link to our fundraising page, but if you can spare a pound or two for EACH (East Anglian Childrens Hospice) you could search for Team 'Mixed Pace' running Chariots of Fire on Justgiving.com. And then you can guess which one I am and you know where I work! I'd be very grateful . Well be finishing in the middle of the Veterans class !

I'm keeping up my 5k every run now, but my legs ache! it's the lower calves, the slightest elevation and they start aching. I'm fine from a cardiovascular point of view, it's my legs holding me back at the moment.

Just dropped by here to say hi to everyone! Still doing half an hour, still doing 4.5 K. I dunno if I'll make the parkrun this year, pressure at work has ramped up from now til Christmas and I don't really want to run for longer to get up to 5K. It would mean getting up even earlier and the mornings are getting darker. Something to look forward to next year anyway!

I'm not bothering about trying to change my pace, I think that's for more experienced/faster runners than me anyway.

Welcome raggydoll, it's great that you're getting started. Did my W1R1 in the spring so not long ago!

Hey DomtDoItDi that sounds like a perfectly sensible approach. Great to keep it up for 30 mins. The time factor is definitely one reason why I never pushed on much further.

Hi all
Finally got on to say that I have completed week. 7. Yay! Now high fiving all runners I pass (not really), but do recognise one lady who does jogging and frog jumps in between. Not sure what the frog jumps are, but she looks very fit.
so week 8 starts on Monday and then it's almost finished! Eek!
How's everyone else getting on?

Ok did week 8 run 1 in the pouring rain. My ear was full of rain and made my headphone earpiece fall out. It wasn't until I got home I realised mascara was running down my face. Sexy! If you are Marilyn Manson.
28 minutes was ok, pretty close to 25 so no big step up, like previous weeks.
So running in the rain, any tips?
Think I need to wear a raincoat or hat to keep the rain off my headphones and out of my ears. Possibly waterproof mascara? I was smiling away at people who hurriedly looked away. Durrr!

Have any of you done all the weeks straight through?

I'm on week four and looking at the next few weeks it seems impossible.