Can i (should i) run every day? C25k Question

In your case I'd probably opt for adding strength/resistance training. Are you a cyclist? I'm a runner and yes running requires a rest day but I do know people who can run 7 days a week, but they are a minority.

I was/am doing the C25k right now and am a newb runner. I had to take about a week off due to a new dog in the house and a slight knee injury, but when I was doing it steadily, I was only doing it every other day or so-Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning. If I pushed it too hard, I'd end up injuring myself or just exhausting myself. This was on top of hiking on weekends, running around doing errands on weekdays and walks with my husband. I honestly think this is what caused my forced lag in the start of week 5, but I'm hoping to get back to it tomorrow.

My advice would be to just stick to your schedule until you're all done. Then you can either keep going with it by adding more days or working on your speed or work up to the 10k. Think of it this way; if you get hurt, you'll end up losing a lot more time than you would have if you'd just taken it slowly!

C25K is meant to be done with a day of rest between each of the cycles... you could accelerate it to M-W-F-Su-T-Th-Sa (repeat) and still have your day of rest between and you'd be on a 4 3 4 cycle instead of 3 3 3 and still be following the program. You could also extend your runs a bit and work on further endurance or try adding non-flat ground to your running (hills) as that greatly increases the difficulty.

I also don't think your idea of swimming or even weight lifting are bad. Just be sure you're listening to your body and don't hurt yourself unnecessarily... hard work doesn't hurt, but tearing something will set you way back.

Listen to your body and if you feel like doing extra, then why not?

First time I did c25k, I had been doing other exercise for a few months including ChaLean extreme so I felt I was pretty fit. Like you, towards the 2nd half of the program I no longer felt challenged. Because I knew I was going on to start bridge to 10k afterwards, I started doubling up the c25k workouts. That seemed ok for me, just like doing a long run 3x a week.

This time round, I have had a couple of weeks where I have run 5x a week, I'm currently on week 7, on my program (actually ease into 5k) it is 26 min, 27 min and 28 min running intervals over the week, I'd like to see if I can do them 5 x! But I do take care to be aware how my legs feel, especially my knees as they can be troublesome for me.

Fwiw I think these programs are great, but they are guides aimed at meeting the needs of as many as possible rather than the individual....if you feel you can run more, then why not? :-)

I run 6x a week. I enjoy it and pull up without injuries. I have been doing this for 3 years. But I usually only run 5-6kms per day. I do a 20km run every 3 to 4 weeks but then I rest the next day. If I am sore I rest more. I did a 30km muddy trail run a few weeks ago, oh man I was sore after that and didn't run for 4 days after. You really need to listen to your body. People in my runners group run 2x a day and have for many, many years while others only run 3-4 times a week.

I had done c25k before and a few years ago I was doing the c210k ...I figured I could cheat since I had only bee off running for a few months over the winter, and go 5-6 times a week. I tore my plantar fascia and developed severe plantar fascists resulting in beign in a cast for 4-6 weeks and an 18+ month recovery

lesson learned!!

do not over do it, cross train with the running ,swimming and cycling but do not run every day till you have a solid base.

I think it's really good to get some balanced responses to this question.

These running programs are great, and are obviously planned by people with expertise and experience. However, they are pitched at meeting the needs of as many people as possible, which means they have to take a 'one size fits all' approach to their structure.

Some people find they can run more than the program prescribes, some people find they need to run less, some people need to repeat runs to complete them to their satisfaction, other people find they can miss runs out....

I'll take listening to my body over listening to an app any day! (and hopefully keep running 4-5 times a week!). Will defo take on board petewholikestorun (great name)'s advice - will be looking to restart my strength training, I KNOW I run better when I do strength!

I would say run every other day until you finish the program and add two or three strength days a week. Add an extra running day after your running a full 5k. But if c25k is too easy for you, you may want to switch it up and change the intervals. Have you tried just going and running at an easy pace once to see how long you can go?

I tried c25k when I first started running. I got to about week 5 and repeatedlty got strep throat and had to take a week off. Eventually it started to get cold and I was still sick all the time so I decided to try again in spring. I started at the beginning of the program, it was too easy. Went to where I left off from, that was too easy. Realized I could run 20 minutes without stopping, so I just added 5 minutes to my runs per week until I got to 30 mminutes and then only added the time to my Sunday run after that.

Anyway for strength training I do body weight strength using the you are your own gym ap. Workouts are about 30 minutes and you can do them anywhere. Since I have the ap that times everything for me and tells me what excercises to do, I watch tv while doing it. Considering it my tv time instead of my workout time helps with bordem. And who doesn't want to see how many one armed pushups they can do with their feet elevated on a chair? (The program is progressive, you start out with incline pushups and build from there.)

It all depends how your body responds. I was doing running plus other exercises (insanity, weight lifting, etc) and it was working fine about a month and a half and then I crashed. Now I workout 6 days a week but only run 4 days at most. I've only been running for 7 months and have had lots of issues with tight calves so I'm not where I want to be distance-wise. Strength training has helped a lot with running and endurance.

That's my experience with being a new runner. Hope you find a schedule that is good for you!

Anyway for strength training I do body weight strength using the you are your own gym ap. Workouts are about 30 minutes and you can do them anywhere. Since I have the ap that times everything for me and tells me what excercises to do, I watch tv while doing it. Considering it my tv time instead of my workout time helps with bordem. And who doesn't want to see how many one armed pushups they can do with their feet elevated on a chair? (The program is progressive, you start out with incline pushups and build from there.)

Ooh, thanks for that tip - I just downloaded it! (and I'm glad I don't start with one-armed push ups, with or without my feet being elevated on a chair - that sounds a recipe for disaster for me!).