C25K rest days?

jillyt85

I'm on my second week of C25K and I'm doing it Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with walking on the in between days and resting completely one day a week. Today is a walk day, but I'm kind of feeling the want to run a little. Is it bad to run some on the rest days? Is that going to hurt my training or could it cause injury since I'm just getting into running? I wasn't planning on running on all my rest days, but I figure if I'm actually in the mood to run, I should probably do it.

TheKitsune6

No way, if you're feeling the run go for it! Sometimes I would do extra days too just because I wanted to. As long as you are getting SOME rest and you're not hurting yourself, then go for it!

CaptainGordo

My first injury doing C25K was when I felt on top of the world and decided to skip a rest day.

I would focus on another form of exercise on those days -- perhaps just walking or strength training.

By the way, a public group (no invite needed) has been created for C25K support: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/30-couch-to-5k-running-program-c25k Join us! :drinker:

Tobi1013

I would strongly recommend against the extra running if you are just starting out. There is no quicker route to injury than doing too much too soon. Rest. Your body will thank you for it!

BifDiehl

As a grad of the program, I concur that you should not run more than the three days/week the program recommends. Huge changes going on in your body and you don't want to rush it. Let your strength an endurance build slowly!

nborsh22

I'm starting week 8 today. I have done it all on the treadmill so it may be a little easier on my knees, but I used to get shin splints a lot when I would try walking on the treadmill too much/fast, too soon. So I told myself with this program that I would just do the 3 days for a few weeks Then I added an extra day of just walking fast to get extra cardio in but only about 20 minutes. These last couple weeks I have added an extra day of running, I do a 5 min warm up and cool down with a 10 min run in between. I make sure I run until I hit a mile (that distance includes the 5 min warmup, so probably only run 3/4 mile) so if that takes 11 minutes I do it, but then walk for 5 to cool down. I have been injury free so far so I am glad I didn't push myself early on. But I know what you mean.....if it feels good you want to do more. Just listen to your body and if you have any soreness definitely take the day off so on your "run day" you can have a good run. You don't want to be sore from the non run day and feel bad that you can't finish a program run.

This is a good program. It has really helped my endurance. From reading other posts the main goal is to get your endurance up then work on speed and distance. So I really just try to complete each run time without over doing it with speed. So far I've been able to get the runs in.......today starts the 28 min runs so we'll see how that goes. :-)

jillyt85

That's what I figured everyone would say. I'll just walk tonight then. Thank you for all the replies. I'll check out that c25k group, thanks!

kennethmgreen

I would strongly recommend against the extra running if you are just starting out. There is no quicker route to injury than doing too much too soon. Rest. Your body will thank you for it!

Agree strongly with this. It's so easy to get a minor injury from overuse - especially if you are just starting out.

jillyt85

I wound up just resting completely yesterday and got up this morning to run. I also noticed another decrease on the scale, so I guess I'm doing fine with taking the rest days...don't want to screw it up by injuring myself. Thanks for all the advise!

MamaEggs

My first injury doing C25K was when I felt on top of the world and decided to skip a rest day.

I would focus on another form of exercise on those days -- perhaps just walking or strength training.

By the way, a public group (no invite needed) has been created for C25K support: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/30-couch-to-5k-running-program-c25k Join us! :drinker:

Thanks so much for posting this! I was just about to go searching for a group!


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