C25K graduates

5ladybugs

At the end are you actually running 5 kms? I know it'll vary from person to person because of speed. So I'm curious. Also did it include the walk up and cool downs? Are did you actually RUN 5 KM?

taramaureen

No. The furthest I ran on C25k was a single mile. It was several months later that I was able to actually run a full 3.1

cannie55

Yes I did, by the end I was running just a hair over 3.1 miles in 30 minutes. I didn't keep track of the distance I did in my warm up and cool down walk, so I'm not sure how much ground I covered in that section of the workout.

hbrittingham

Yes, with warm up and cool down I was running 3.5 miles.

riskiestlavonn

I'm on week one o(-_-)o of the program! I hope to be like you ladies in another 8 weeks. :-)

hesn92

Well I sure hope so.... I am signed up for a 5k a few weeks after I finish the program lol. (starting week 3 tomorrow)

vegamy

I think it took me around 45 min to run my first 5K, so when I was actually doing C25K I was running 2 miles or so in half an hour. I found that I COULD definitely run the full 5K without a problem, but it just took longer :-P. I did C25K during summer 2011 and stuck with the running - I'm proud to say that I can easily run 3-4 miles most mornings, can do a weekly long run (up to 10 miles) and have done several 5Ks, have a 10K coming up in April, and a half marathon in June! Woo! All this from barely being able to run for a few seconds! So stick with it!

5ladybugs

I think it took me around 45 min to run my first 5K, so when I was actually doing C25K I was running 2 miles or so in half an hour. I found that I COULD definitely run the full 5K without a problem, but it just took longer :-P. I did C25K during summer 2011 and stuck with the running - I'm proud to say that I can easily run 3-4 miles most mornings, can do a weekly long run (up to 10 miles) and have done several 5Ks, have a 10K coming up in April, and a half marathon in June! Woo! All this from barely being able to run for a few seconds! So stick with it!

Did you just continue to run farther every run?
How many days a week do you run now?

taramaureen

Well I sure hope so.... I am signed up for a 5k a few weeks after I finish the program lol. (starting week 3 tomorrow)

You'll definitly be able to COMPLETE a 5k after this program. You may not run the whole way but you'll go the distance! My first 5k I "ran" in 40 mins. It was a lot of fast walking. In fact my last mile was done in 15 mins. My next 5k I did in about 45 mins, so much slower but sitll covered the distance. Now my lat 5k, which happend about 9 months later I ran it in 35 mins. So stick with the program, you'll go the distance and after you can definitly work on your times!

christinehetz80

I was able to run over 3.5 miles upon graduating not including warm up and cool down, but not in the allotted 30 min timeframe....more like 36 for the 5k. My 5k race speed was 32:38, but thats far from my everyday speed.

You will be fine and you will LOVE your race day!!!!!!!!!!! btw...I was beat in my 5k, by someone doing the run/walk method...my personal goal was to run it in its entirety without stopping.....she obviously had a pr record she wanted to attain..so if you have to walk no biggie!!!

TexasNana41

I couldn't do it until a couple of weeks after I completed C25K and still can't do it in 30 minutes. My best time is 34 minutes for 5K. I finished C25K in December. I can now run over 70 minutes on a good day, but that doesn't equal 10K either. I finally stopped worrying too much about it. Everyone tells me the time drop will come eventually.

vegamy

Did you just continue to run farther every run?
How many days a week do you run now?

'

It was actually pretty gradual. I started just being able to run 3 miles and gradually increased to 4. I ran 3-4 miles three times a week for a few months until that distance became easy for me. Then I started running 3 miles a few times and week and also doing one long run per week - increasing by 1/2 or 1 mile increments every 1 or 2 weeks - this isn't set and depends on how you feel (there was one week where my knees were just completely swollen and I didn't increase for a couple of weeks after that until my body got used to it). And I just got up to 10 miles after a couple months.

Now I still do a short run (3 miles on average) 2-3 times per week and do a long run on Sundays. Getting ready for my half marathon in June :-).

drblythe

When I first finished I could run 5k over the whole run (including warm up and cool down)
then as I kept doing the 30min run, I got to 5k by the end of the run, and the cool down was extra.

I'm almost finished the B210K program now, and am running for 60mins straight, which is meant to be 10K but I'm only at 8K i'm not too fussed though, I assume i'll get up to 10 eventually.

cassondraragan

The first time I graduated, i could NOT run 5k. I did it according to time because I just couldn't manage a 10/min mile (that's like a sprint for me!) Now I am re-doing it at 10/min mile. Just restarting though even though I graduated in September. My original goal was just to run for 30 min.

cassondraragan

I wouldn't stress about it. Your weight has a LOT to do with how fast you can run it. When I started C25K, I was over 200 lbs. So, of course I was slow. As I lost weight, I sped up. Right now, I'm 185. So the way I look at it is that I'm a 140lb girl exercising with a 45lb backpack on! Imagine how much harder it would be to run a fast 5k if you were wearing an extra 45lbs on your back. I figure as the weight comes off my speed will increase as well. Especially since I'm starting to run a 10 min mile at this weight already.

5ladybugs

It so interesting to hear the differences from everyone! I'm so excited to be soon graduated!

inemtcarrico

I finished about a week ago, surprised myself when I did it, I had stuck with it and went from never running a mile in my entire 28 years to running about 2.25 mi by the completion of the program. I rarely did the warm up I ran so slow at first and the cool down didnt add much at all

millieb73

I've just finished week 8 and there is no way I'll be running the full 5k by next week. I'm doing about 2.5 in the half hour, about 3.4k including warm up and cool down. My plan is to gradually increase both running time and speed, with the initial goal of 5k in 45minutes. When I started I had not run since high school, and only very reluctantly then. For me, this is a huge achievement and I'm very proud. I think this is an awesome program and I've seen results I could never have dreamed about. This is only the beginning!

osteral

When I finished the C25k last year I ran my first 5k the next week and got a time of 32 minutes (and change) and that was with a little bit of walking still. Like you said it all depends on how fast you are running/walking. After slacking off all winter I have restarted and now on week 5 I have to do the program almost two times to reach the 5k. But since I am working on endurance more than speed I am not to worried about the time, yet.

dad106

I'm not a graduate yet, but I did Week 8 day 2 today and with warm up/run I covered 2.71 miles in 28 minutes.. and with my cool down walk I believe my total was 2.8 miles. The distance goal for week 8 is 2.75 miles.

The cool running site tells you time/distance that you should be covering each week.. and you pick either one depending on what your goals are.

I expect I'll be running 3 miles or close to it by the end of the program... and if not, then I keep going until I do.

mbajrami

Not a graduate yet, I did week 8 day 2 today and ran 2.36 miles in 28 minutes with a pace of 11:53.

I'm working on distance/endurance first, then speed. The program assumes you run a 10 min/mi. I do not.

I plan on starting the bridge to 10k (5k to 10k trainer) after I finish c25k.

mattiol4

Yeah! I finished the C25K about a month ago and I was able to run a full 5K with no issue at all. I easily progressed to be able to do a 10K and now I am training for a half marathon. I think It really has to do with your mindset as well as your physical activity level when you started the program.

FrugalMomsRock75

I stopped just before W6 because I went on vacation. I was gone for a little over 2 weeks. I came home, and I was sick... so I took yet another week. Then I wanted to assess where I was. I took off and ran for 25 minutes straight. Next day, 30 minutes straight. Today, I ran 35 minutes (just around 3.5 miles) straight. No stopping to walk at all!!!!! And I LOVE every minute of it! I am officially a runner!

Gerhardt1969

I started out the first time though in the winter and was doing it on the treadmill. I finished the program and when the weather was warm I started to run outside. I was disappointed at my speed. So I started the program over running outside. I finished the program and my speed had improved.