C25K: Week 5 Day 3!

purpleprose

Help!

I need some reassurance from people who have done Couch to 5K that Week 5 Day 3 is doable. I've done Week 5 Days 1 and 2 a couple of times now, and the second 8-minute run is not getting much easier, so I really can't imagine jogging for the full 20 minutes!!

Success stories and tips please...It seems so daunting right now.

00trayn

I've been loosely following C25K, and yet for some reason I can't seem to jog more than 17 or so minutes. However, I've realized the importance of talking a walk break. Even if it's for just 2 minutes to bring your heart rate and breathing down and have a sip of water. I've been able to run 25 out of 30 minutes by taking two walk breaks of 2-3 minutes each. I feel much better during the run when I'm not gasping for air trying to hit the 20 minute mark. My tip is to go at your own pace, if you need to walk for a minute, let your body have the break.

maxx750

Just recently completed the whole program and survived so it can be done lol

It actually gets easier (or it did for me and my wife) once we reached the long runs. For us, it was harder doing the starting and stopping than just running the whole time. Once we hit the 20-30 minute runs, we felt much more comfortable.

That being said, don't skip ahead. Go back and do a week twice if you feel you need to. But don't give up!

daved71

Yes it is doable. I was like you and kept putting it off. Then one day I just said to myslef that I was going to do this. I started running and kept on going. You could always stop when it gets to hard and try it again later. I am now trying to do week 7, I have done one run on the treadmill but did not finish the second run outside yesterday. 18 minutes was as far as I got before I started getting a muscle cramp and stopped. I will try it again tomorrow.

Good luck with it

balfonso

Well I've been struggling with Week 6 Day 1. I just did today for a second time. Was ill with a cold for last week so have been slacking on it. It's been tough.

I've been doing it at the gym on a treadmill. I tried running outside in the park once and that killed me! So sticking to the treadmill for now.

I've found that if I'm starting to get out of breath I slow down the speed a little but I don't stop running, instead I'll just lightly jog which gets me through it. I just can't sprint like others.....but I do wonder myself if I can complete it too, especially with my high blood pressure.

But there's no rush, take it easy. Slow down if you need to.

Good luck!

purpleprose

Thanks for the encouragement....maybe I'll just try going for it (I did week 4 twice and the first 2 days of week 5 a few times) and see how far I can get. Maybe I'll surprise myself!