Any c25k Graduates out there?

futurerunner

I am starting week 2 day 1 today of C25K and was wanting some advice. I was reading on the c25k website that only 10% of people who start this program actually finish it. That most people quit around the 4th week.

Has anyone finished this program? and if so what got you through the tough weeks? Also how much weight did you lose from the time you began to the time you finished the program?

Also do you have any just plain old advice for this program??

ChubbieTubbie

I have a question too for any graduates--does it ever get easier? I've been doing the program for almost a month now and am still struggling on week 2!

jillybeanruns

I did C25K from February - April and since then, I've run 5 5Ks, had a long run of 8.3 miles and have a 10K race this weekend.

My competitive drive is what gets me through most rough things. Once I schedule it (very important to treat this like any obligation) it's as good as done for me. If it's tough, I suck it up and keep going. Never ever quit

The weight question is lost on me because I was in the healthy range when I started the program and was hitting the gym at the same time.

Advice? Stick with it. Plan your runs in advance and don't let the cold, rain or darkness stop you!

DanOhh

I finished it and still run 2-3 times a week. It wasn't until around the forth week that I started feeling confident w/ being able to complete it. Good Luck!

nopeekiepeekie

I just finished it on Monday. I think the weakness of the program is they tell you it can be completed in 9 weeks. Yes, it can be completed in 9 weeks, but most people cannot. Unfortunately, they forget they are human and that if they fail one week they just give up. 9 weeks is not a hard and fast rule for this program, it's just a guideline. I had to re-do many many weeks and it took me 16 weeks to complete it. Each week was tough in it's own way. I can't recall how I got through the tougher parts. I know when I got to the 8 minute run I thought to myself, there's no way I'm going to be able to do this.... and when my program told me "You've just completed an 8 minute run" I thought, "That's it? I did it!" After that, the longer runs seemed to come easy, though jogging (because I don't run very fast) is still tough for me at 30 mins.

My advice. Don't give up. Re-do as many weeks as you need to and see it through to the end. It's do-able. I was never a long distance runner (I was actually a sprinter in High School). I lost about 12lbs on the program, but my bum & my thighs got considerably smaller and I was also doing resistance training at the same time.

anvy0530

I graduated the C25K program over the summer and am now in the middle of the Bridge to 10k program. I loved it. There were definitely some tough weeks in the middle and the way I got through them was to not make myself do all 3 workouts in a week if I wasn't feeling it. There were a couple of weeks when I would do the run twice and do something else on the 3rd day so it took me a bit longer to complete it but I wanted to still like running when I was done and that wasn't happening if I slogged through workouts when I wasn't feeling like running. I also did the entire program outside as running on the treadmill made me so bored I wanted to kill myself (despite having TV & music options). I'm not exactly sure how much weight I lost doing the program but it was somewhere around 10 pounds, maybe. The biggest "pro" I got from the program was increased stamina. I started the program 4 months after having surgery to remove a tumor from my thymus (the surgery involved cutting through my chest like open-heart surgery) and went from not being able to run a minute to running for 45 minutes straight. Now I am running about 5 miles, 3 days a week and it was soooo worth it. I don't think I would have gotten into running if I hadn't done C25K. Now I love running!

Good luck to you!!!

futurerunner

I'm really going to stick with it because just like my username I have always wanted to be a runner. I'm always so envious of people when I see them running. I just don't know how to start. I start to run but it hurts so I just give up. Then I found c25k and I started that. I'm hoping that it will help me become a runner. I'm very determined to finish it so I can be a future runner.

Mindful_Trent

I finished it!! I found that I LOVE walking/jogging outside - I tried doing it in the gym a few times and I hate it - I never would've finished it that way. For me it's much more enjoyable outside. I'm a very goal-oriented individual, so the though of accomplishing the goal of finishing the program (and improving my fitness) is what kept me going. I'm now doing a Bridge-to-10k program. I love challenging myself - and C25K was certainly a challenge!

I lost about 15 lbs from the time I started to when I finished, but I attribute most of that to a healthy diet. I didn't do the C25K to lose weight. Exercise helps, but truthfully you can lose weight without the exercise - it just makes it easier. I exercise because it makes me feel good and I know it's good for my overall health.

I blogged about my C25K experience - feel free to check it out (the link is in my signature) - I started in July and finished at the beginning of this month.

As far as plain old advice... don't try to run too quickly - I never went "all-out" on the running portions - I jog pretty slowly. Many people quit because they exhaust themselves by running too quickly and they can't complete the weeks. Right now I'm jogging an 11-12 minute mile. Not that fast, but not horrible either. I decided to complete the program jogging at a speed that was doable for me, and I figure that the fitter I get, the more I can work on improving my speed.

Also, don't be afraid to repeat weeks if you need to. Many people have an "all or nothing" mentality, but it's perfectly acceptable to repeat a week if you're struggling with it. Don't move on until you can complete the program for that week.

Good Luck! :flowerforyou:

Chenoachem

I finished the couch to 5k program in June 2009. It took me almost 6 months since.my lungs are in such bad shape. At some point I had to make up my own program because I couldn't do the leaps they were making. However if you first do not suceed: try, try again. My stunbormess got me through. During the time I was doing it I lost about 20 lbs.

futurerunner

I just finished it on Monday. I think the weakness of the program is they tell you it can be completed in 9 weeks. Yes, it can be completed in 9 weeks, but most people cannot. Unfortunately, they forget they are human and that if they fail one week they just give up. 9 weeks is not a hard and fast rule for this program, it's just a guideline. I had to re-do many many weeks and it took me 16 weeks to complete it. Each week was tough in it's own way. I can't recall how I got through the tougher parts. I know when I got to the 8 minute run I thought to myself, there's no way I'm going to be able to do this.... and when my program told me "You've just completed an 8 minute run" I thought, "That's it? I did it!" After that, the longer runs seemed to come easy, though jogging (because I don't run very fast) is still tough for me at 30 mins.

My advice. Don't give up. Re-do as many weeks as you need to and see it through to the end. It's do-able. I was never a long distance runner (I was actually a sprinter in High School). I lost about 12lbs on the program, but my bum & my thighs got considerably smaller and I was also doing resistance training at the same time.

Yeah, that's the thing I have to remember...I can redo weeks. It doesn't have to be exactly 9 weeks! thanks!!

futurerunner

I graduated the C25K program over the summer and am now in the middle of the Bridge to 10k program. I loved it. There were definitely some tough weeks in the middle and the way I got through them was to not make myself do all 3 workouts in a week if I wasn't feeling it. There were a couple of weeks when I would do the run twice and do something else on the 3rd day so it took me a bit longer to complete it but I wanted to still like running when I was done and that wasn't happening if I slogged through workouts when I wasn't feeling like running. I also did the entire program outside as running on the treadmill made me so bored I wanted to kill myself (despite having TV & music options). I'm not exactly sure how much weight I lost doing the program but it was somewhere around 10 pounds, maybe. The biggest "pro" I got from the program was increased stamina. I started the program 4 months after having surgery to remove a tumor from my thymus (the surgery involved cutting through my chest like open-heart surgery) and went from not being able to run a minute to running for 45 minutes straight. Now I am running about 5 miles, 3 days a week and it was soooo worth it. I don't think I would have gotten into running if I hadn't done C25K. Now I love running!

Good luck to you!!!

That's exactly what I want to get out of this program...the stamina to run for longer than a minute. Wow...I can't even imagine running for 45 minutes straight. That would be awesome! This gives me motivation to stay with it. Thanks!

sarahliftsUP

I finished it just last week and ran my first official 5k on Sunday. I pushed through it because I wanted to get better. Stopping wasn't an option.

I actually just wrote a blog post about finishing C25k. It's my latest entry here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/asteroidvsmars

futurerunner

I finished it!! I found that I LOVE walking/jogging outside - I tried doing it in the gym a few times and I hate it - I never would've finished it that way. For me it's much more enjoyable outside. I'm a very goal-oriented individual, so the though of accomplishing the goal of finishing the program (and improving my fitness) is what kept me going. I'm now doing a Bridge-to-10k program. I love challenging myself - and C25K was certainly a challenge!

I lost about 15 lbs from the time I started to when I finished, but I attribute most of that to a healthy diet. I didn't do the C25K to lose weight. Exercise helps, but truthfully you can lose weight without the exercise - it just makes it easier. I exercise because it makes me feel good and I know it's good for my overall health.

I blogged about my C25K experience - feel free to check it out (the link is in my signature) - I started in July and finished at the beginning of this month.

As far as plain old advice... don't try to run too quickly - I never went "all-out" on the running portions - I jog pretty slowly. Many people quit because they exhaust themselves by running too quickly and they can't complete the weeks. Right now I'm jogging an 11-12 minute mile. Not that fast, but not horrible either. I decided to complete the program jogging at a speed that was doable for me, and I figure that the fitter I get, the more I can work on improving my speed.

Also, don't be afraid to repeat weeks if you need to. Many people have an "all or nothing" mentality, but it's perfectly acceptable to repeat a week if you're struggling with it. Don't move on until you can complete the program for that week.

Good Luck! :flowerforyou:

You hit the nail on the head! I am one of those people that think it's all or nothing. I should be able to just run 30 minutes straight and ta-da...I'm a runner. But that one minute mark comes and I'm dying. So I think "well that's it, I can't run." and give up. Thanks for the encouragement. Especially about the speed of the run. I was always curious about that. I'm not very fast when it comes to the running part (4.5 mph on treadmill) but it is as fast as I can go right now. I'm hoping to pick up the speed the further I get in my training. Thanks for the reply!!!

BrattyLori

I started and got thru the first 3 weeks and then my knees were hurting so bad that i decided to go back to my tried-and-true elliptical trainer. For me, I dont want to do stuff that makes me hurt. I want to exercise to feel good. Altho, when I lose more weight, I will definitely try again! I'm positive my knees were hurting because I am heavy.