What app after C25K?

[TickledOnion]

I’ve finished C25K 🎉
Can anyone recommend an app that will give me 5 minute alerts whilst I’m listening to music? I was thinking of just increasing my time very slowly but I really need the alerts. Or should I be trying to get faster? I only managed 4.2k in 30 mins.

Why do you want the 5 minute alerts -, what are they for?
When I finished c25k I kept to 3 runs a week but just gradually made one of them longer. One was usually a Parkrun and the other something slower and hillier. Then I signed up to a 10k race to give me something new to aim for!

Congratulations on finishing C25k, it's such a great achievement.

There's a nice little app called interval timer which will beep at you at specified intervals or read out text you type in. Or if you want to carry on with guided runs you could try the Nike Run Club App which has loads of them for free.

On what to do next, I suggest spending a few weeks settling into a regular running habit and enjoying it rather than trying to push yourself faster at this stage. It's worth knowing that most people (I think about 90%) don't manage 5k in week 9 but you should be able to do 5k if you add a bit more time to your runs. Do you have a local parkrun? Once you've consolidated a bit, there are lots of 5k to 10k plans which might give you a new goal to aim for.

healthunlocked.com/couchto5k/posts/137240571/faq-post-c25k-completed%E2%80%A6%E2%80%A6.what-next has some useful tips (and is generally a great forum!)

Map my run is ok, the free version speaks every km and tells you your pace for that km and your average pace over them run. It also records your time and distance.

There are tracking apps like Strava and Map My Run which record what you do.
A simple interval timer can just help you keep tabs on time.
There are C210k apps but don't seem to be quite the standard of C25k.
An interesting one is Zombies Run! That had training/ tracking/ podcasts built in. There is a basic, limited version avaliable free, but subscription for full avaliability.

Well done! I use the Adidas running app which can give time updates and distance updates (I have both on, as I like to know when I’ve done another km). It’s free, but obviously they try to flog Adidas stuff to me (I’ve never bought any). I like it, especially as I can see my speed gradually (veeery gradually!) increasing.

Gymboss

Well done on completing C25K!

If you liked the structured podcast coaching format then another (free) way to approach this might be the NHS coach to 5k graduate podcasts also ft Laura, which give 3 extension workouts focussing on speed and stamina, and which include time stamps.

www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/couch-to-5k-plus-running-podcasts/

Going on from there, the soundtracks to the graduate podcasts are from Audiofuel. If you like their approach, they have a whole range of coaching products which include time stamps. So some to run faster, some to run longer etc. You can find them on the audiofuel website, though I have also managed to find them cheaper on amazon.

I also use strava and and map my run, but when you're starting out it can be helpful to have someone tell you what to do and when, as well as recording what you do.

Strava will give you updates at 0.5km etc

I love the Nike Run Club app - it’s free and you can choose between lots of guided runs, with friendly American coaches chatting to you every few minutes telling you you’re wonderful, or just one which speaks every Km to tell you your time and average speed. I’ve been using it for a year and it is lovely to see my average speed increasing over time.