Advice regarding 5k training.

[ILoveGreekCats]

I started a couple of months ago and am aiming for my first 5k in April. I started C25k on Endomondo .I'm reasonably fit but find it really difficult to run for over 5 minutes without stopping. I can complete 5k in 40 minutes running and walking. Ideally I'd like to run the whole race. How can increase the amount of time I can actually run? Do I just keep training 3 times a week and push myself a bit more each time?

I started running this time last year by doing the run/walk thing. Took me a good 2/3 months to run the full 5k. I just kept increasing the amount of time I ran, normally by chanting 'you can do this you can do this' and by concentrating on my breathing. I found it easier once I had set run days too.

Once I had run the full 5k I didn't stop running it and started to concentrate on time.

I also found that logging my times with MFP or online helped massively.

You should note I was massively overweight at the time as well though, so I was also using MFP to calorie count to help me lose weight.

Thanks wizard for replying so quickly. I'm really not so bothered about the time but I'm just so frustrated at how hard it is not to stop! It's usually the first few minutes that are the hardest. Even though I tell myself to keep going it's such a struggle! Every time I go I'll try and do a bit longer before I stop.I run on set days three times a week but should some of them be shorter runs distance wise?

You don't need to make every run equal length, so it might be worth getting one longer, even if it has walking breaks, and keeping the others within your running zone.

Thanks for your advice MrsMook I'll try that although my running zone isn't very big at the moment!

When I first started I thought I would never be able to improve but after 2.5 months I managed to run a whole 5k. It seemed like I wasn't improving and then all of a sudden I could run that little bit further. I always find the first section to be the hardest so I would force myself to run a little further the I did last time even if just 20 sec because quite often I would actually do an extra 40 sec or aminute and the achievement I felt each time was great.

I find that if you can, sometimes running through the horrible bit can really help and after a while the physical things pass.

I recently trained for a half marathon but to start out I couldn't run down the road! You do need to push yourself a little bit further each time but I found I had one 'good' run after weeks of feeling like I would never improve and that was my breakthrough!

Even now though I hate the first mile... My breathing is all over, I have a stitch, legs ache... Keep with it and my body seems to surrender! Good luck, you're doing great just by perservering in this freezing weather!

Come and join us at a parkrun...the company of others will take your mind off things especially at the start of a run and helps to pull you along.

We are all very friendly :)

I'd love to do parkrun but is 40 minutes too slow? Would it matter if I had to walk at some point?

Absolutely not greekcats our last person comes in at about 55 minutes at my local one. Fine to do run/walk combo.

We would make you very welcome both at parkrun and on the parkrun thread here :)

Try music. Something really uplifting with a strong beat. Focus on running to the beat. Run for a whole song. Then another one. The beat will keep you going. If you're running in streets, put one earphone in your ear and tuck the other one away so you can still hear traffic et. Through your empty ear.

Parkrun.

Keep going with the c25k , it will get you there in 8 weeks

Join a c25 k short thread on Mumsnet

Assuming your 5k is a road race, you need to train outside and not just on a treadmill

I train in a playing field and I do listen to music. This evening I actually did it on the treadmill cos it was pouring down but I prefer it outside. I did it in 40 mins and I walked less than last time. Thanks everyone for your advice. I won't give up!

Do you think that you may be running the first bit slightly too fast? It takes a while for my weary muscles to warm up and once they are, I feel comfortable - I've found a rhythm to my breathing and my steps. Could you do 2 mins fast walk then start?
Best of luck!

Occasional treadmill isn't a problem . It's just some people think they can do ALL their training for a road race indoors and then are suprised that it's so much harder outside . So I just thought I'd mention it . .

Glad you feel your times and stamina are improving . What week are you on in c25k ?

I completed c25 in about 12 weeks. I just repeated weeks if I couldn't do them properly or found them hard. I do the parkrun weekly now; I run - slowly - all the way and finish around 35 mins. There are always sbout 50 people slower than me.

YY, my Dh runs it really REALLY slowly ( just slightly faster than my walking pace ) and it takes him just under 40 mins . But he's getting faster. And, as they say, he's lapping all the people on the sofa .

I was doing a training plan on Endomondo but it disappeared a few days ago because now I've got to subscribe if I want to continue. I think it was about 16 weeks in total and I was on week 12. It suddenly got more difficult with 20 minute runs! I thought I would just continue on my own cos I've still got 12 weeks until the actual race.

One other possibility is to have your phone set to intervals, say three minutes run, 30 seconds walk on repeat, then adjust to longer runs still alternating. I did this for 10k training in the end and will actually overall be faster than if I don't walk at all. You can see your overall average pace and if it's improving.

I'd second what standing said about parkrun. I was very much in your position this time last year. Took me ages to run the whole 5k, for a long time I'd run the first section then run/walk but lots of people do. It's a great time to get out and try it now, lots of people starting out this month.

The programme I started with was interval training chutney and the first time I completed 5k was 3mins running 1 minute walking. I was actually faster than when I've tried to run more! To improve my time should I run a bit faster at the beginning or save it for the end? Unfortunately I won't be able to do parkrun for a while cos I don't live in the UK but I'll try and do it when I visit in the summer. At least by then I might have improved!

I tried to keep a fairly even pace with the training and when I could see I was getting faster then I'd up the time I was running in relation to walking, until I got a bit faster and so on. When it came to the race I'd run for as long as I could then switch to walk/run after that.

For me I find starting off too fast has the worst impact on my time. Sometimes it's easy to get swept along in a race. When it actually came to running the full 5k I went for a' Ill just keep running to the next corner/bush/post etc' then find another target and eventually I was so close to the end I kept going.

There's a guy called Jeff Galloway who actually teaches people to do 2-3 minutes running followed by 1 minute walking, the whole way, even including marathons done that way.

I was thinking of this thread today while out doing intervals (pain...). I have a heart monitor now & trying to do long slow runs is another type of pain. My meandering point is to suspect OP is going too fast, and tell OP not to be afraid to get a heart monitor and to go real slow. Slow is supposed to be the best way to build up stamina. Monitor is the only way I can make sure I go at steady pace, too.

The first few mins is always awful for me, and always has been. So set yourself a definite time targer regime - eg run 7 mins, then walking 3 mins, 3 times... increase from there. Make it a difficult but manageable time to run for, so you get used to just gritting your teeth and doing it without it being unbearable long time.