Couch to 5k Week 6

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i thought i'd feel stupid running outside especially at the beginning of the C25K where you're stopping and starting all the time but it turns out no one seems to pay any attention to me and even if they do it's only for a second and then i'm gone

more often then not i'm too busy in my own little world and end up forgetting about other people completely

is it that you are struggling with running for 25 minutes or is it more you're getting bored and mentally giving up because you can't be bothered? i remember when i did week 6 i thought it'd be a piece of cake, i'd already done 20 minutes what was 25 in comparison but i really struggled to keep out of my head while i was running, the voice that had been saying you can do it was very much saying '25 minutes! are you crazy, we can't do that, just go home and have a pie instead' my body felt fine but my mind was pretty against the idea, i think if i'd been on a treadmill i would have jacked it in about 10 minutes in but because i knew i was miles from my house stopping and walking wasn't going to make it stop any quicker

Hi there!! I will be doing week 6 day 2 a little later today and I am really enjoying the program. I have found the continued running is so much easier for me than the stop and start intervals. Once I get past that first 5 minutes and into a groove I can keep going much easier than the on and off again. This week I started the program on my off days with my daughter at her request and yesterday doing week one with 8 one minute intervals seemed like torture!

I second everyone else's advice to get outside. It makes a world of difference. I know how you feel about not wanting to run where people can see you but try to get over that and make it work because you will enjoy your runs so much more. In the 6 1/2 weeks I've been doing this I think I only did treadmill 2 or 3 times and it was horrible. So boring!!

My friend and I started this program just recently also. We are also on week 6, our long run is this Saturday. We also run outside, but I run on the treadmill quite regularly also. I will tell you that treadmill running is nothing like outside running. I can do half hour + on the treadmill easily but outside.. not so much.

The secret to doing this program if you have never done any running before is to go S.L.O.W.. I honestly walk faster than my running speed. It seems counterproductive but seriously..slow down and you will have no problem doing it. Speed comes over time. Run a little quicker when you do the 'short' runs and slow right down for the long ones.

We have not had to repeat a week yet, we do the program every second day and I also lift off days and do a much longer walk/jog in the morning of my C25k days.

I don't have much advice but I agree with Kold that outdoors will be harder. And I totally sympathize but have never found anything for me that makes it easier including speed changes.

Thanks again guys! I'm just about to do a 25 minute run now on the treadmill again and see how I do at a much slower speed as I think the problem may be that I'm running too fast from the sounds of things! Also it's taken me 6 weeks to get this this point, I have my rest days (ocassionaly more than one if I'm particularly tired) but apart from that I've just been following the programme as instructed. I think on my next run I'll give outside a try as I've heard it's more of a physical challenge to run outdoors. Thanks again for all your helpful comments :-)

I hope it goes well for you. One trick if you can't get outside is to set the incline on the treadmill at 1%. That will help to simulate the resistance difference between running on a belt that's moving backwards and running on non-moving pavement.