Couch to 5km newbies

[MistySkiesAfterRain]

I'm redoing the NHS Couch to 5km. Last did 5km in 2016 and most recently have got to Week 4 before losing interest! Not this time. I am going on holiday in 5 weeks and would love to get to week five by then.

Week 1 Run 1 (W1R1) done today. I ran really slowly but it did get easier.

Here is the link for anyone new:
www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/running-and-aerobic-exercises/get-running-with-couch-to-5k/

Recommend the app (my favourite is Jo Whiley).

I've been to parkrun this morning with a run/ walk strategy. I did feel my injury mildly with about 5 mins to go so kept my pace steady and didn't put on any sprints to add unnecessary impact.
34 mins 😎

I've done 11.8 miles this week!
That's 19km

I've felt pretty good and this was the first twinge. I've also done a lot of cold water swimming which I think has helped keep my muscles fresh. It does seem to help recovery, and more fun than a foam roller 😂

It felt great fishing week 8 @milkfromthesleepycow , but I felt even better this morning, I graduated!!! I finished the program in 9 weeks which it was surprising. I can now run for 30 mins, but still work to do to reach 5k. I downloaded an app (Running and Jogging by Zeopoxa) and tracked my last 2 runs. Assuming the tracking is accurate, both times I ran about 3.4K in 30 mins. @BogRollBOGOF well done for your parkrun in 34 mins!
And amazing job for the Race For Life runners!

Brilliant time!

I'm on week 9 this week as I had a week off when I was away on holiday. Then I think i think I might use the Garmin coach to do the 4k plan again and help me consolidate. Apparently it adapts to your performance. Not sure how, yet. Found it much harder to run in the warmer weather last week too.

Heat makes it so much harder.

Yesterday was a nice temperature, but humid and polleny. My heart rate felt high for pace. One woman with a similar pace was sneezing constantly from the pollen.

30 minute run 4.1km- woo hoo!!!!
Much easier now the heats dropped
To all those working through the weeks - keep going, you're doing great and it is possible 😁

I moved up to week 2 today. I had a gap of a week between runs 2 and 3 in the first week, due to both my low mood and the heat (however I did do a spin class, so wasn't inactive).

Definitely felt the increase of run time, and the heat today but hopefully the next one will be easier!

My ultimate aim is to do a parkrun 😊

I did week four, run one today. It was more of a plod towards the end but I ran five minutes without stopping! In week one I thought I was dying at the end of 60 seconds of running.

It's amazing how rapid the progress is!

I think I'll try week 8 (28 mins) this week. My parkrun was 4 mins running/ 1 min walking so I have already run 28 mins interspresed with 1min walking breaks. If it is a bit much, I can also drop back. I've done 2 25min runs which were comfortable, plus 2x week 2 which is further, so while not being true to the plan feels appropriate to where my body's at.

@BogRollBOGOF that sounds like a good idea- if you're comfortable with it then go for it! Are you sticking with a 5k distance total after your parkrun? Maybe make sure your cool down takes you to that distance after the 28mins so it's easier to build on?

I've been very lazy and haven't been stretching out afterwards so going to try and concentrate on that this week

Ultimately I'm building up for a marathon in April that I had to defer...

So I'll keep building one run a week using the 2x C25k strategy which should build towards 10k sensibly. Beyond that, it's do I need to continue a run/ walk approach or is my body strong enough to keep accepting running... I'm not planning that bit yet!

There's a 10 mile race I normally do in November so that's a likely medium term target. I'm not rushing to commit to an autumn half this year and may give that a miss- I normally do those in October after maintaining a good 10k base in the summer. The 10k base is my next realistic goal.

When you're comfortable at 5k, it's comparatively much easier to go 5-10k than it was to get to 5 in the first place. If you increase by the common 10% a week, those gains grow more easily. A HM plan often increases about a mile a week (10-15 mins) for a long run.

I've been sabotaged today by a child off school though.

Just done my final run of week 9! Can't believe I can now run for 30 minutes! Can't recommend the app enough :) I can actually see myself being able to run for an hour one day...never thought I'd ever say that!!

That’s amazing @JalapenoLover ! I am struggling with week four. I did the second run yesterday but it was far too hot, and my knee hurt. I might need to repeat this week. Or redo week three?

The heat has really affected me too. You might need to slow down or take more rest days. Maybe they the run again once you have recovered well and its cooler. If you are still finding it too tough, you could repeat. There's some very experienced runners on here so hopefully they will be along soon with advice for you. I literally only started running 9 weeks ago so I'm still finding my way too.

My first time round, I repeated runs if I'd had a really tough one. Heat definitely makes it harder as your body struggles more to get rid of the surplus heat so just going on a cooler day/time will feel better.

For a sore knee, make sure you have rest between runs, although gentle activity is usually good. Make sure you warm up well; although C25k has a warm-up walk built in, it might be worth doing "dynamic stretching" first, basically larger movements to prepare the body. If I'm being good, I'll put on a 5-10 minute youtube warm-up/ areobics video first.
There can be joint issues, but most likely at this stage of running is that you're activating different muscle groups that are a bit out of synch and good warm-ups, cool downs (I do my stretches on the doorstep) and rest goes a long way to sorting niggles. If it is something more stubborn or acutely painful, osteopaths or physios can be really helpful and usually better than a GP.

No progress this week in Camp Bogroll 😂

I've had a child doing the school absence hokey cokey, so it's been hard to plan and get out. I'm planing parkrun for the morning so decided that it wasn't worth running today. I'll go for a run/ walk strategy again. Hopefully having had a stack of rest days I should feel more fresh than last week. DS1 is making positive noises about joining me. He's now old enough to run it at his own pace. It'll be interesting to see how he paces himself as he's not done 5k for ages, but is doing 12-13 min 2k juniors.

I went out on a run this morning.

I'm really struggling with my asthma at the moment, and cant seem to get my treatment and lung capacity to improve.

So no chance of a decent long run. I decided to do a 10 min run, 3 min walk and a 10 min run. That last run nearly killed me.

I now sound like I smoke 100 a day, as I wheeze and cough up crap. Maybe I'm a spring/autumn runner as hayfever makes my asthma horrific.

Sorry to hear that. Hayfever does seem to be affecting many people badly this year. It must be very difficult to run with it.

Aw I love this! Well done I'm on week 4, I hope I'm like you one day!

I did the third run of week four today with a three day gap from run two. I think I might repeat this week as I have found five minutes feels like a lot whereas three minutes is fine. (That probably sounds pathetic but I struggled with 60 seconds straight on week one!)

I did my first 5k today! I'm still taking it easy at conversational pace to help build stamina and reduce chance of injury. I find it much more enjoyable running at a slow pace and then speeding up in the last km. Never thought I'd run 5k from no running at all in 10 weeks. I can actually run for 45 mins now! It's amazing...

👏👏👏@JalapenoLover
well done! You must be so pleased. 5k is a great achievement

I'm still only doing 30min runs but got some intervals scheduled in for Saturday (which I hate!) and 35 mins next week.
Still slowly building up...

What do you do for intervals? I'm finding it much easier to build up the time now than it was in the first half of c25k. I think the longer you are running, you kind of get into a zone and time passes quicker.

It does. When I'm on form, 5k is the hard warm-up phase and the sweet spot tends to be miles 4-7 😂

However in the here and now, life is still disrupted by school hokey cokey and I'm aware of the existance of my tendon. I'm wanting to get on to week 8 (28 mins) but yesterday went and did an easier week 6 interval run to test my ankle.

I've got my 5 mile race on Saturday... it will not be a run-all! I've set up a gentle play list and I'll set my interval timer for fairly even running walking. I've also got a sports massage tomorrow which might help ease the rest of my body.

Hi Jo