C25K Question

cassi82

Hello all! I just finished Week 6 of C25K the other day and am scheduled to start Week 7 today. I have been sticking to the program pretty well (I repeated Days 1 and 2 of Week 5 to prepare for the first 20 minute run) and have noticed a huge improvement in my running. I barely could run the 60 seconds the first day and two days ago I ran for 22 without stopping (albeit at a pretty slow pace).

However, I have noticed that after my 20 and 22 minute runs, I get a sharp pain in the groin area of my right leg. It is worse when bending my knee and usually goes away within two days. It does not hurt while actually running, but starts after I begin my cool down walk. I do not have this problem when doing a run/walk interval, even if it's running for 10 with a three minute walking break.

My question is whether I should just stick to the walk/run intervals even though the program has moved on to all long runs with no walking intervals, or if I should just push through and keep trying the longer intervals in the hopes that my body will become strong enough to handle them. I am a complete running newbie and have read so many conflicting things on the internet that I am just pretty unsure of what to do. Thank you all ahead of time for any advice!