Couch to 5K Programs - Your Experience

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  • amberecochran
    amberecochran Posts: 124 Member
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    How much weight/inches have people lost doing the Couch to 5K? How long does it take to complete your daily session? What else, if anything did you do for excercise while doing this? Sorry to ask a bunch of questions - but want to try this - but am very intimidated. Thanks :)

    I am on week 2 and I have only lost 4lbs, however, I have gone down a dress size. I think the running is building muscle which is keeping the scale from going down. Week 1 takes 30 minutes, week 2 takes 31 minutes to complete. I will sometimes do TurboFire on the days between my c25k days. So far, it's the best thing I've done so far. Be sure to get fitted for running shoes, though. This is very important and keeps you from having shin splins or getting an injury.
  • amberecochran
    amberecochran Posts: 124 Member
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    I would really like to hear success stories related to this program...especially those that might have been smokers in the past. I am 57 and have been attending a bootcamp exercise class for the last 3 years and I am most definitley stronger than most but fall to the bottom of the heap when it comes to running/jogging. I am determined to be a better runner but also have a huge fears that I will fail because of all the years of smoking. Anyway, I am on Week 1 and would like any input or suggestions, etc.

    I quit smoking in March of this year, I have asthma, and I'm overweight. I started the c25k three weeks ago but I repeated week 1 to make sure I was ready to move on, so I currently on week 2. I love this program! I make sure I take my inhaler 30 minutes before I head out and that seems to work. The program works on time, not distance, so what I do is when it's time to cool down, I continue with the reps untill I have hit 3 miles. When I hit 3 miles, I begin my cool down. I also wear a HRM just be sure my HR doesn't get too high. Also, you want to make sure to go and get fitted for running shoes. this is very important because you do not want to run with just any old shoe you buy off the shelf (unless you want shin splints or some other type of injury).

    If I can do this program, anyone can do this program. Good luck to you!
  • rbcca19
    rbcca19 Posts: 91
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    I was not a smoker, but I did the C25K program and started it in April of this year. It is a FANTASTIC program! I love it. I was not a runner before, I wasn't even working out consistently. However, I am now able to run for 120 minutes (I don't do that often, though, trust me, but I am able to). A 5K is now my minimum running distance and it's comfortable. I can't say enough good things about this program.

    Good luck to you! My advice is to stick with it. You CAN do it. You will probably be surprised at what your body can do.
  • Krys_140
    Krys_140 Posts: 648 Member
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    I'm 37, started the C25k program a couple months ago, at around 45 lbs overweight. I'm a non-smoker, but I'm also a non-runner. When I started, I could barely finish the 60 second runs they start you off with. On Sunday this week, I ran without stopping for 22 minutes, and completed 2 full miles during that time.

    I am signed up for a 5k on November 4th, and am looking forward to it - I believe I'll be able to finish the full 5k running (slowly).

    You can do it!!!
  • joanthemom8
    joanthemom8 Posts: 375 Member
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    I loved (hated) it! I never liked running before - but decided to try the program..... it took me 12 weeks to finish - I had to do a couple of weeks more than once. BUT, I finished it! I'm 46, and had never been a runner. After finishing, I focused on increasing my speed and endurance. I completed my first 5K a couple of weeks ago..... I ran (jogged) the whole way, didn't walk once! I beat my own goal for time - I finished in 36 min 35 seconds! I was 136 out of 491 participants - which was 27%. Considering a good 1/2 of the participants were younger than me, not too shabby!
    I think you will like the program.... just go at your own pace - if you need to repeat days/weeks, don't sweat it!
    Good luck to you!:flowerforyou:
  • MelissaG915
    MelissaG915 Posts: 7 Member
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    Did the Fifth Third River Bank run and instead of a couch to 5k, followed their recommended run calendar. The first year it was a strain on my knees, but the second year was easier.

    I recommend if you are doing indoor only training (track, treadmill, etc.) you do a training run outside. Running on pavement in the elements is a shock to your system. My first training run outside included catcalls, dog doo, broken glass, and a foggy mist that turned my hair into a halo of cotton candy frizz. At least there were free bagels...
  • rudegyal_b
    rudegyal_b Posts: 593 Member
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    i completed it a year ago and am now running 10ks

    no complaints, only have good things to say about it
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    Never been a smoker or a runner, but c25k turned me into a runner last spring! Still running 3 days a week and enjoying it, both the activity and the benefits. :bigsmile:
  • bluefox9er
    bluefox9er Posts: 2,917 Member
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    understand this..I'm not supposed to be a runner. anyone who knows me would think you were on drugs or drunk ( or both) if you told them I am a runner..

    but the c25k app by bluefin at the 4th time of trying got me to a 5k and up to half marathon before injury stopped me dead in my tracks.

    I loved that app so much, I got the 'ease into 10k' app, too but didnt need it as I was running 10k's a couple of weeks after running 5k.

    this app has changed my life. I'd have never become a runner without it.
  • wednesdaystar
    wednesdaystar Posts: 6
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    I'm currently part way through the program and couldn't recommend it enough, I've never had the patience to run for more than a minute or so but because the time you're running for goes up gradually it really eases you in. I wouldn't count the weeks as something you have to stick to, just go through each of the steps until you feel like you want to try to progress through the next one. For me, the first two weeks worth didn't take long at all but things are getting trickier in the middle. I feel so much fitter already though!
  • Carfoodel
    Carfoodel Posts: 481 Member
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    I have never been a runner & I am an ex-smoker and stopped when I got atypical pneumonia and my lung capacity has been poor since that - even though that was a long time ago. I am ok with my weedy lungs as long as I am consistent and all my exercise has had to be built up slowly and it drops quickly if I fall off from the gym.

    I am on my 2nd attempt of the c25k - I tried a couple of months ago and got up to week 8 - but I kept on having to drop the speed. My knees give me problems so I had to stop as I could hardly walk after the sessions. I worked on other machines to build up my capacity so I could do 30 min interval training on the cycle machine and elliptical.

    I have just started back to it now and am about to go into week 4. The previous time I was running at 6.5k with a rare push to 7k - and this time I am able to do the jogging bits at 8.5/9 and sometimes 10kpm so building up on other machines has allowed my knees to get stronger without losing the lung capacity I have built up.
  • czmmom
    czmmom Posts: 236 Member
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    I finished c25k about 18 months ago and tomorrow I am running my first half marathon. It worked well for me!!
  • Ntoriousydc
    Ntoriousydc Posts: 31 Member
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    I'm not a smoker but I started the C25K programme at 235lbs and ran my first ever race - a 5K two weeks ago in a personal best of 35 minutes. In all honesty I never actually completed the C25K as by week 6 I was already running for 30 minutes (in preparation for my scheduled 5k race), so I worked off my own programme after that.

    However I'll always be grateful to C25K for turning me into a runner, I found it incredibly difficult to even run for 90 seconds the first week and now I'm regularly running 3 days a week, and have increased my distance to 4 miles (working on training for a 10K). I'm now 30lbs lighter than when I started, which makes it a little easier though. To get started running, personally I can't recommend C25K enough, never did I feel like there was too big a jump in the weekly runs and it gave me a schedule to keep to, which was great motivation, as I knew 'oh this is the week 4 day two run today' and that spurred me on.

    Three months ago I couldn't run if i was being chased by an axe murderer, after C25K, I'm pretty confident that I'd out run him ;-)

    was the 30lb loss entirely due to running (plus a healthy balanced diet/calorie limit?
  • RunWinterGarden
    RunWinterGarden Posts: 428 Member
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    Not a smoker, but I'm currently on week 6 of the program. I'm repeating one of the days over and over again right now because I don't really like how quickly it jumps in to the long runs (plus my social schedule has made it hard to run consistently enough these last two weekends to plow through). Currently I'm at the point where I do a 10 minute run with a 3 minute walk and a 10 minute run. My next day is a 22 minute run and I plan on conquering that next week. I don't like how it goes from intervals to long stretches of running as quickly as it does and I doubt that I'll use the Couch to 10k program after this to help with my half marathon training, but we will see how I feel in a week or two!

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