C25K - What next?

[IsolaPribby]

I am on week 9 of C25K. Sarah Millican is telling me well done, I've done it. Well, I can run (jog, lurch) continually for 30 minutes. But I am only covering about 3.5k, may be 4k on a good day, and that is including the warm up and down walks. So how do I progress to actually running for 5k? If you have done it please can you tell me how you got there?

You keep running 3-4 times a week; some shorter and faster runs, some longer slower runs.

Within a few weeks you'll find you're easily running 5k in half an hour. You'll sign up for a 10k race and then find yourself running 4-5 miles in your longer runs instead of 4-5k. You'll do the 10k and feel great. You keep running.

Then a couple of years later you discover you're accidentally running every day, you can run 5k in little more than 20 minutes, and you run marathons for fun. A long run in your mind is somehow now 15 miles or more. But you're the same person who once struggled to run for 5 minutes non stop.

It's strange. It never gets easy, but it takes longer for it to feel hard...

I'm not sure if that is encouraging or scary! I genuinely can't see myself running a marathon, I just want to run at a respectable speed!

Do you still do the 5 minute walk to warm up and down, or stretching exercises?

I have really enjoyed the app, but it's a bit frustrating that it's called Couch to 5K, but actually delivers Couch to 30 minutes.

I’ve done a half marathon but I’ve still never run 5K in half an hour - let alone 20 minutes! My record is 32 & I’m fine with that.

As I got further on into the C25K I started ignoring the timing & just running further each week. Yes to carrying on with the warm-ups.

Intervals help to build speed. Either repeat earlier runs or just do it yourself but do fast run, slow run instead of jog and walk.

Eg do one of the week 1 runs and really push yourself fast for the run then slow your pace but still run for the walk. Or when out just run hard to next lamppost, jog to that tree, hard again to the crossing etc.

Agree that interval training is key to building speed. Sounds obvious, but unless you run fast, you'll never run fast! So yes, as a pp said, you can start off keeping it v simple and just run to one lamppost hard, then jog two, then sprint one, jog two, etc.
As you get more experienced you can then start doing "proper" speed sessions of 1k reps, 400m reps, or whatever l. I try and do one speed session and one hill session a week. Then one long run, one tempo run, and the rest are steady or recovery runs.

I still warm up and down if I'm doing a hard session, but this will be a slow run rather than a walk. I won't warm up for long runs as they're steady anyway. And I don't stretch any more either (tbh the science isn't clear on stretching and some people say it does more harm than good) though I do foam roll, and I try and do yoga once a week.

Hi @IsolaPribby! I finished a few weeks ago. I’ve just kept going out for now. I also don’t yet cover 5k in the time (inc both walks). I’ve found some podcasts on the NHSwebsite which say they encourage you to go faster and some others are trying a Couch to 10K app. I was finding I was trying too hard and would struggle to finish by starting too fast and so for now I’m just going to keep going out, keep listening to the last podcast and I’ve been taking my kids on their scooters which actually takes my mind off the running and has ended up with a faster overall speed (although I think I go faster some bits and then jog in spot on others!).

This is all so useful, thanks to everyone! The interval training sounds great, I had already considered redoing the app but upping the pace. I think I may have to change from Sarah Millican though!

Can anyone recommend any other apps which are good for this stage!

I once did the the plan again but the walks became slow jogs and the runs became faster jogs. Repeated week 3 for about three weeks and it really upped my pace then extended distances a bit more.

I would plan my route so it's 5k (after warm up) and then use my own music instead of the app?

I did c25k the NHS one years ago (thinking about starting this again as I haven't run except the odd ten minutes on treadmill at gym for years).

I did the plan for a few weeks and once I got into my stride a bit just went freestyle running as long as I could with stopping to walk for a bit as and when.

I was doing 5k three times a week without stopping after an while and was amazed!! I can't do this now hence starting again.

@IsolaPribby if you decide to redo it but with slow jog/run I’d be happy to try that alongside you!

@MrsHerculePoirot I may be up for that! I still have two runs left on Wk9. Which week would you go from?

Not sure! Maybe the start but then keep the slow jog bit going at end to keep the 30 minutes in between walks?

I think I may do WK9 again at least once if not twice, to build up my endurance. I put the Strava app on this morning for the running bit only, and it was 2.7km. I'm not too impressed with that!

Also, my Samsung Galaxy health app recognized my activity as walking not running . I think I have some work to do!

I think you and I might be similar in pace then possibly! I can now cover 4.56 km but that includes the walks. I tried doing week 1 today with slow jog and fast runs for the minutes but had the kids on scooters and I ended up walking in between and only did I think 6 sprints. It was hot and I’m not fit but I think maybe it will work in the future! Think I’m going to go back to the last run and do some faster bits between certain points eg there’s a path I could do a fast bit on So might start with three faster ‘sprints’ then add in more later!!!

So I decided just to try going back to the start, and doing it at a faster pace. It was hard! Doable, but hard. In fact, as hard as it was first time. So I hope I can make the same progress.
My Samsung app still thinks that I spent the whole time walking, I think it must be defective!

The c25kplus podcasts are good keep doing them one run shorter. Try to go Faster. One normal maybe the stamina one. One going a bit longer nd further each time. Repeat weekly.

@IsolaPribby how fast did yummy go on the fast bits - like did you really sprint or just fun a bit faster and did you go really slow jog, slower than usual or same usual speed on slow bits?

@MrsHerculePoirot it's all relative! I ran fast for me, but probably not fast for someone else. On the slow bits I did my usual jog. Towards the end of the session it all slowed down. I think it's just about taking your own personal pace up. I'm going again tomorrow morning!

Ok I’m going to try that tomorrow too!!! How did it compare distance wise to the week 9 distances. Just wondering if I’ll need to shorten my route at all...

As others have said, you’ve got to run faster in order to go faster. There are plenty of plans on the internet for improving 5k pace, just make sure you have a variety of runs each week, some faster, some slower and some mixed.

I have run half marathons and 10ks, but even at my “best” I find a sub-30 minute 5k a challenge. My PB is something like 27:30. I think I’m just not built for running and/or not determined enough to train as hard as I’d need to to get much faster.

But you’ve done the really hard bit and that is getting going - well done!

You could try the Strava app on your phone to record your runs, might not think you are walking?

I didn't measure distance, but it was a lot less than running for a full 30 minutes.

After finishing c25k l started park run - my PB is 34 mins which l am very happy with. I did a 5 miler once which took an hour and l was pleased with that too . Now l do park run whenever l can and just get pleasure knowing l can run 5km without any trouble.

Evening! Just popping in to say a quick hi. Can i join? Started 'running' in Jan. Managing a regular 3.5k route. Looking to share some inspo / tips. About to drop off so hope to catch up tomorrow.

Hello Blue lovely for you to join us! I've just done WK1R2, and found it actually harder than before. Though this could be down to the wine I drank last night
The last 90sec walk I had to actually walk rather than jog.

I still can’t do 5k in less than 30 mins (ran my first 10 last week). I do Recommend run tracker for distance tracking rather than your phone (free unless you want complicated stats)...just keep going! I did force myself to run 5k after I finished C25K - took 45 mins the first time!!!