Any c25k newbies?

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  • granturismo
    granturismo Posts: 232 Member
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    I had a mental block after about 14 minutes several weeks ago, I changed my route and dropped back two weeks in the program. I just ran my first 30 minutes today (4.7 Km) and am delighted.

    I strained a muscle or something in my calf last week so compressed, rested and iced it. I ran for 7 minutes at the weekend and was going for 14 minutes today but decided to keep going and made 30 minutes.

    I guess I'm at about week 14 of a 9 week programme.
  • kendragetshealthy
    kendragetshealthy Posts: 87
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    As of yesterday I am officially a C25K graduate! It's weird- I don't feel like I am ready though. Anyone else have that feeling? I signed up for my first 5k on November 1st. I am really looking forward to it. Family is coming to watch since I NEVER ran in my life and they are all proud.

    Oh and one thing in case you all weren't aware already-- I did all 8 weeks until yesterday (w8d3) inside on the treadmill, and yesterday was a beautiful morning so I did that day outside... OMG (at least to me) outside is SO much harder! Made me aware that going forward I need to do a lot of running outside!
  • gabbo34
    gabbo34 Posts: 289 Member
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    As of yesterday I am officially a C25K graduate! It's weird- I don't feel like I am ready though. Anyone else have that feeling? I signed up for my first 5k on November 1st. I am really looking forward to it. Family is coming to watch since I NEVER ran in my life and they are all proud.

    Oh and one thing in case you all weren't aware already-- I did all 8 weeks until yesterday (w8d3) inside on the treadmill, and yesterday was a beautiful morning so I did that day outside... OMG (at least to me) outside is SO much harder! Made me aware that going forward I need to do a lot of running outside!

    Congrats on finishing! I'm a recent grad myself. I finished the program about in late August and had my first race a couple of weeks ago. You're right...you get to the end and expect this 'ta da' moment where you feel 'ready.' I felt very unsure. I'd just keep running the last program a few times a week and possibly adding 5 minutes more to keep building endurance.

    And yes, you definitely need to take it outside. :-) The belt helps push you along. Plus temperature, humidity, wind and elevation all impact your run. Even if you do 'inclines' on the treadmill, it's psychologically different than being at the base of a hill 20 minutes in and know you're gonna have to dig deep the next 5 minutes.

    Good luck on race day! The best advice I got (and didn't listen to) was to run at your own speed. With so many people, it's natural to get out of the gate faster than your normal pace. You just want to run the speed your comfortable running. You'll pass some people, you'll get passed...don't worry about 'racing' your first time out, you just want to finish. Halfway through I just settled in and treated it like a normal run.

    (That and I was a total newbie at grabbing a cup of water, slamming it and tossing it while running past the water stations! I dropped it each time.)

    It's a great feeling of accomplishment and it's great you'll have your family there to share it with you.
  • kendragetshealthy
    kendragetshealthy Posts: 87
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    As of yesterday I am officially a C25K graduate! It's weird- I don't feel like I am ready though. Anyone else have that feeling? I signed up for my first 5k on November 1st. I am really looking forward to it. Family is coming to watch since I NEVER ran in my life and they are all proud.

    Oh and one thing in case you all weren't aware already-- I did all 8 weeks until yesterday (w8d3) inside on the treadmill, and yesterday was a beautiful morning so I did that day outside... OMG (at least to me) outside is SO much harder! Made me aware that going forward I need to do a lot of running outside!

    Congrats on finishing! I'm a recent grad myself. I finished the program about in late August and had my first race a couple of weeks ago. You're right...you get to the end and expect this 'ta da' moment where you feel 'ready.' I felt very unsure. I'd just keep running the last program a few times a week and possibly adding 5 minutes more to keep building endurance.

    And yes, you definitely need to take it outside. :-) The belt helps push you along. Plus temperature, humidity, wind and elevation all impact your run. Even if you do 'inclines' on the treadmill, it's psychologically different than being at the base of a hill 20 minutes in and know you're gonna have to dig deep the next 5 minutes.

    Good luck on race day! The best advice I got (and didn't listen to) was to run at your own speed. With so many people, it's natural to get out of the gate faster than your normal pace. You just want to run the speed your comfortable running. You'll pass some people, you'll get passed...don't worry about 'racing' your first time out, you just want to finish. Halfway through I just settled in and treated it like a normal run.

    (That and I was a total newbie at grabbing a cup of water, slamming it and tossing it while running past the water stations! I dropped it each time.)

    It's a great feeling of accomplishment and it's great you'll have your family there to share it with you.

    Thanks so much! You're so right- there was no AHA moment at all haha. I am sure I'll drop the water too :)
  • kendragetshealthy
    kendragetshealthy Posts: 87
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    I had a mental block after about 14 minutes several weeks ago, I changed my route and dropped back two weeks in the program. I just ran my first 30 minutes today (4.7 Km) and am delighted.

    I strained a muscle or something in my calf last week so compressed, rested and iced it. I ran for 7 minutes at the weekend and was going for 14 minutes today but decided to keep going and made 30 minutes.

    I guess I'm at about week 14 of a 9 week programme.

    This is great! I am sure that you are much better off going at your own pace, no matter how long it takes :)
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
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    msf74 - well viral infections happen, just keep that chomping at the bit feeling going. Redo the start of week 5 and see how that goes when you feel up to it and take it from there. You will get to do 20 minutes after this small delay. It does get addictive, I even went for a 4 mile run in the dark and in the rain this morning. I would have mocked you if you said I would be doing that on June 15 when I started C25k.:bigsmile:

    Have fun

    Cheers dude.

    Well my viral infection is well and truly dust now. I redid the start of week 5 to be on the safe side and yesterday night in the pitch black UK evening time I did Week 5 Day 3.

    I'm still trying to figure out my "all day" pace as I sway between sprinting and jogging backwards in time but the session didn't prove to be a problem. On to Week 6!
  • StizzyP
    StizzyP Posts: 16 Member
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    I'm still a running n00b, but completed C25K just now. It really does work if you make yourself run every other day and allow zero excuses. Now that it's done I switched to Run Keeper for more accurate tracking of my 5K time and just run a 5K every other day.
  • nmcrosier
    nmcrosier Posts: 268 Member
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    On C25K hiatus... hoping by BEFORE December to be given the green light to resume. Started in April 2014, by June I was easily jogging 5k. Broke ankle end of June...walking Color Me Rad 5k this weekend!
  • OKfarmgal
    OKfarmgal Posts: 160 Member
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    Did day 1 week 1 yesterday and I liked it. I hope my arthritic knee let's me finish because I enjoyed it!! I didn't exactly jog, more like a shuffle but I DID IT!! :wink:
  • wendyking1979
    wendyking1979 Posts: 71 Member
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    I gave up and did my own pace and distance after week 7. In the last 2 weeks, I have jogged an average of 25 minutes at a time. BUT on Friday, I did 30 minutes, Saturday I did a run/walk mix, Sunday I did 2-20 minute runs with a 5 minute walk between, and last night I did 28 minutes jogging. I don't think I have ever actually jogged a whole 5K without stopping, but I have done several 5Ks before, and it sure seems less daunting now that I have actually finished the program. Next stop- an actual 5K race, and then onto C210K. :happy:
  • kjenks123
    kjenks123 Posts: 16 Member
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    Pretty cool to read about all the success stories! I've had a hard time running for years now and although I am getting better, I'm no where near to running for 5k at one time. I did my first 15k on the weekend but it ended up being a lot more walking than running. I have the app.... guess I should use it.
  • NYC2NCgirl
    NYC2NCgirl Posts: 3 Member
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    Newbie over here!

    Did week1day1 yesterday and it felt good to be back at the gym after 2 years and a baby!

    Quick question, does anyone run on an incline? I used the treadmill's preset jog, walk, run setting. Walk was 2km, jog 4km and run 6km. I did find the 2km did not give me that "brisk" walk but for now, the 4km jog was ok. I did an incline of .05%.

    I think tomorrow when I start day 2, I will walk at 3km and maybe inclrease the jog to 4.5km. I did read on-line for a novice runner, 4km jog is fine, while this may be a "brisk" walk for a runner warming up.

    Any tips will be greatly received.
  • bdgfn
    bdgfn Posts: 7,719 Member
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    Hi! Yes, I am most definitely a c25k newbie. Until I started reading the posts about beginning running on here I had never even heard of C25K. It seems like a good program, and I downloaded the app on Friday, 9/26. On Saturday, 9/27, I did a half-century bike ride for a local charity, and took Sunday off to rest. I wanted to start C25K on Monday, and actually did get out and almost halfway through the Week 1 Day 1 workout when a line of thunderstorms rolled in. I took shelter under the grandstands - I was using the high school track a couple of blocks from my house - but it got worse, so I called it a day and walked home. That was yesterday. Today, I went back out and restarted the Week 1 Day 1 workout, and completed it. I am not going to say it was easy by any means, but I finished, and felt good at the end. In fact, I had miscounted the number of times I had jogged and thought I had one more to go, so when I heard the last chime, I started to job only to hear the voice say "start your cool down". That was a nice surprise! I know from experience that whenever starting something new like this, the hardest step to take is the first one. The next hardest, of course, is doing it again.
  • MamaGab92
    MamaGab92 Posts: 77 Member
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    I started this thing in June and have had interruptions and many repeated weeks so I am still not a "graduate". Last night I did Week 6, Day 1 which was run 10 minutes, walk 5 minutes, run 10 minutes (I'm using the 5K Runner app). It was a challenge and I really had to push myself during the last two minutes of the last run.

    My goal with doing this all summer has been to run the complete 5K that my company holds each fall. Well, they announced that our 5K is going to be on October 9. :-( There is no way I'll be able to run the entire 5K by October 9. But if I'm lucky I'll be able to run about 2/3 of it. Considering that the last 5K I participated in, I walked the whole thing, took an entire hour, and came in last for the whole company, this time will be an improvement regardless.

    I am also signing up for a 5K on December 21 called the Santa Hustle. It sounds like a lot of fun and a friend and I are signing up to do it together. I should definitely be able to do a complete 5K by December. Now I have to look into running in the cold!

    Even though I am behind where I'd like to be, I am in better shape than I have been in at least 20 years so I am happy!
  • nola70115
    nola70115 Posts: 3 Member
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    Hi! I made it most of the way through C25K last winter, then got diagnosed with breast cancer in the spring. I was off for a couple of months doing surgery and chemo, and now I'm back at the beginning. It's harder this time around than it was the first time! This is not surprising really, I'm just about a month out from my last chemo treatment, and I put on weight during those months.

    So I'm going REALLY SLOW this time around. I'm going to repeat each workout a couple of times, and not worry about finishing the program in any specific number of weeks. I did W1D1 for the second time today, and I still had to skip one of the running segments. Next time I should be able to do it, then I'll probably repeat the workout once or twice more until I can run it comfortably.

    My doctors have emphasized the role of exercise in recovery and in avoiding a recurrence, so I'm motivated. It's still hard though.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
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    I am due to do Week 6 Day 1 tonight and I have noticed that the programme goes back to doing intervals again rather than building on the 20 minutes continuous running of the last session.

    That seems a little strange but I guess I will stick with the programme as it is working well so far.
  • racnsdd
    racnsdd Posts: 31 Member
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    I have started but never finished . I will get through it this time!!
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    I am due to do Week 6 Day 1 tonight and I have noticed that the programme goes back to doing intervals again rather than building on the 20 minutes continuous running of the last session.

    That seems a little strange but I guess I will stick with the programme as it is working well so far.

    Periodisation :)
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
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    I am due to do Week 6 Day 1 tonight and I have noticed that the programme goes back to doing intervals again rather than building on the 20 minutes continuous running of the last session.

    That seems a little strange but I guess I will stick with the programme as it is working well so far.

    Periodisation :)

    Aha! That makes sense...
  • ftrobbie
    ftrobbie Posts: 1,017 Member
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    The key is to do more running, regardless of the breaks. The walking engages different motor muscles and stresses the body differently. Therefore you feel as though you are making progress, without overstressing the body. You do not work the muscles to exhaustion by putting in the walk segments. Before I completed C210k I did a HM using 5 min run, 1 min walk intervals, despite having done 5k as the longest single run session. Other than a stiffening later in the morning resolved by a 2 mile walk, I had no ill effects. I could never have run it. Trust with the programmes they do work.

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