I had a break is it best to start from the beginning?

Claire8614

I started the couch to 5k challenge using the app on my phone, i did not complete the challenge, and have not run for 6/8 weeks. It is best to start again from the beginning?

taeliesyn

It really depends on how far you got, and how much you feel your capable of.
If you're unsure, you can do what some other returning runners have done, and simply done the first routine for week 1, if that felt too easy, next run, they did W2D1, and kept going up a week until they felt like they were at the right place.

mbaker566

taeliesyn wrote: »

It really depends on how far you got, and how much you feel your capable of.
If you're unsure, you can do what some other returning runners have done, and simply done the first routine for week 1, if that felt too easy, next run, they did W2D1, and kept going up a week until they felt like they were at the right place.

this is what I was going to suggest

ftrobbie

I might start at the opposite end, back off a week from how far you got in theprogramme and either go from there if it was ok, or step back a week if it was difficult. Same approach just starting from the more optimistic end. Good luck with whatever approach you try.

SarahHarz

I agree with PP. I am in the same boat as you. I went about the same amount of time with no running. When I got off track, i think I was on week 6 or 7. I started out with week 1, but I found it frustrated to track time in such short increments. I decided to jump ahead to week 3 tonight and did well. I'm not going to push myself too hard and I'll probably gradually move up from here.

MimiOfTheLusciousLawn

ftrobbie wrote: »

I might start at the opposite end, back off a week from how far you got in theprogramme and either go from there if it was ok, or step back a week if it was difficult. Same approach just starting from the more optimistic end. Good luck with whatever approach you try.

Thank you for this, @ftrobbie. I'd had 10 days off after w4d2, with a failed w4d3 attempt 7 dsys prior. I decided to take the optimistic approach and do w4d3 when I restarted. Lo and behold, it was actually easier than d2 had been! Today I finished w5d1 without a problem. Definitely, if you've had some time off, start where you left off. If it isn't feasible, go back a day or two. Just don't lose hope thinking you're a failure. You are so awesome, just keep your feet under you!

GillianLF

Fair play for going back and trying it again. I took a break like that too and I did start again from scratch but I found that I was faster. I haven't used it in 9 days due to a knee injury and really hope that I can just pick up where I left off when I go back to it.

kickstandup

Completed it and ran a couple of 5Ks but fell off the wagon. No harm in starting over, and if you feel you can run through some of the walking periods during the earlier workouts, then so be it.