Who has done the couch to 5K program?

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jnv7594
jnv7594 Posts: 983 Member
edited February 2015 in Introduce Yourself
I love going for brisk walks and am wanting to transition into running. Has anyone else tried this app with good success? I was looking at it, and in week one it starts out with a 60 second jog after a 5 minute warm up walk. I don't know. Maybe I don't have enough faith in myself, but I'm not sure I could jog for 60 seconds, lol. I'm wondering if I can take a step back and start at 30 seconds and alternate between a 30 second jog and 90 second walk? Or is it best to just throw myself in there and shoot for 60 seconds? Thoughts or tips? I should mention that I have never run before, so I'm new to it. It's been a goal of mine since I started this, and now that my weight is down quite a bit, I'd like to start.

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  • jnv7594
    jnv7594 Posts: 983 Member
    edited February 2015
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    Whoops...wrong section. Just noticed I posted this in introductions. *sigh* Sorry.
  • kaetmarie
    kaetmarie Posts: 668 Member
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    I'll answer here :smile: I did the C25K program a few years ago -- then stopped when I got pregnant with my son. I'm doing it again to get back into running now that he's one (yikes!). It's a great program and really helps you get into a running routine! When I first started, it was hard to keep up. Some times I repeated weeks. Just give it a try, repeat a week if you have to, and it'll definitely get you there!
  • tomsarno
    tomsarno Posts: 105 Member
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    I did it and it is not that bad. The day that said jog for 20min. scared me but I lived. I finished it and now I am doing the 10k trainer also by Zen Labs. I am trying to do it faster then the 5k trainer. Feel free to ask any question I may be able to help with.
  • Angelfire365
    Angelfire365 Posts: 803 Member
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    I started the couch to 5K program last year. I DEFINITELY could not jog for 60 seconds! I would play the podcast (I was using PodRunner at that time) and just did the best I could. I made myself stay on the track for the entire program, which meant that I jogged as best I could for the 60 seconds (or less) and then walked the rest of the program. When I could do the 60 seconds, I moved onto doing the first 2 rounds of 60 seconds. I did the first week over and over and over until I could actually do the entire 60 seconds 8 times! Which took me a year. You read that right, I was so out of shape it's taken me a year to move onto the second week of the program. As embarrassing as that is.

    It's one of the main reasons I loved the C25K, though. You don't actually have to do it in 9 weeks. You just do what you can do and move on when you're ready. Just my experience. :-)
  • jnv7594
    jnv7594 Posts: 983 Member
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    Angelfire365 wrote: »
    I started the couch to 5K program last year. I DEFINITELY could not jog for 60 seconds! I would play the podcast (I was using PodRunner at that time) and just did the best I could. I made myself stay on the track for the entire program, which meant that I jogged as best I could for the 60 seconds (or less) and then walked the rest of the program. When I could do the 60 seconds, I moved onto doing the first 2 rounds of 60 seconds. I did the first week over and over and over until I could actually do the entire 60 seconds 8 times! Which took me a year. You read that right, I was so out of shape it's taken me a year to move onto the second week of the program. As embarrassing as that is.

    It's one of the main reasons I loved the C25K, though. You don't actually have to do it in 9 weeks. You just do what you can do and move on when you're ready. Just my experience. :-)

    Okay, this will probably be me too. Bravo to you for sticking with it. Lots of determination to run the program for a year. I think I may try your technique. I did try running in my house earlier just to see if I could run for a full 60 seconds, and I was able to do it. But it will be different running outside I know. I think the main thing will be getting over the embarrassment of running in front of other people, lol. That's going to be a tough one for me. Thanks for the advice. :)
  • jnv7594
    jnv7594 Posts: 983 Member
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    kaetmarie wrote: »
    I'll answer here :smile: I did the C25K program a few years ago -- then stopped when I got pregnant with my son. I'm doing it again to get back into running now that he's one (yikes!). It's a great program and really helps you get into a running routine! When I first started, it was hard to keep up. Some times I repeated weeks. Just give it a try, repeat a week if you have to, and it'll definitely get you there!

    Thank you. I likely will be repeating weeks considering I'm a running newbie. I'm determined to do it though. I'll get there...eventually. :)

  • jnv7594
    jnv7594 Posts: 983 Member
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    tomsarno wrote: »
    I did it and it is not that bad. The day that said jog for 20min. scared me but I lived. I finished it and now I am doing the 10k trainer also by Zen Labs. I am trying to do it faster then the 5k trainer. Feel free to ask any question I may be able to help with.

    I can't even imagine jogging 20 minutes at this point. I didn't know there was a 10k trainer also. I'll have to check it out just for curiosity. Thanks for the offer to answer questions. :) I don't have any more right now, but I might think of some.

  • besaro
    besaro Posts: 1,858 Member
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    i loved it! zombie was the one i really enjoyed. hated running before, now run about an hour every other day. Well, thats not true now, took a break for some indoor exercise since november. :)
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
    edited February 2015
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    Did it a couple of years ago, and it got me into running, and later into triathlons. It's a great program. Just jump in and do what you can. If you can't complete sixty seconds, just slow to a walk until the next run interval. Then rather than moving to week 2, repeat week 1. Once you can do week 1, move on to week 2. Repeat until program is finished. No shame in repeating weeks, most people have to repeat at least 1.

    I'm currently doing the program again with my daughter (it helps motivate her to have me running with her). She's on week 5, and today she is scheduled for the dreaded Week 5, Day 3 (first non-stop 20 minute run). She struggled a lot with W5D2, so we're going to to instead repeat W5D1 twice, then W5D2, and then try W5D3 next Thursday.
  • Jojomotivated
    Jojomotivated Posts: 141 Member
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    I tried it, but I ended at week 3. I'm terrible with scheduled runs. It feels like I was "forced" to do it (but I actually wasn't). I didn't enjoy myself. Got bored. Quit. HOWEVER, I began jogging on my own time and I started to like running so much that it's a routine thing now =) C25k is good, but probably not for everyone.
  • toscarthearmada
    toscarthearmada Posts: 382 Member
    edited February 2015
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    I did the C25K by zen labs last year all the way up to completing the 10k training. I LOVED it and highly recommend it for new runners.

    I got sick a few months after I completed the 10k trainer and didn't run for almost 6 months. I got into the Zombie 5k trainer and really enjoyed it because I could alter it to my current physical fitness. I didn't like the Zombie 5k as much as the C25k because it made you do a lot of unnecessary things. Not to mention by the last week it really didn't have to running a full 30 minutes. Plus, the app is really buggy.

    I've even done the Zen Labs 5k app with my dog and she's currently running a 5k.

    I personally just completed the 10k trainer by Zen labs and will be picking up the half marathon trainer once the weather improves.
  • jeansuza
    jeansuza Posts: 148 Member
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    I read that the dreaded 20 min. is more mental than physical. Maybe the same for 60 sec. Just try to do it.
  • jnv7594
    jnv7594 Posts: 983 Member
    edited February 2015
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    jeansuza wrote: »
    I read that the dreaded 20 min. is more mental than physical. Maybe the same for 60 sec. Just try to do it.

    I'm thinking the same thing. Like I said, I was able to jog around my house for 60 seconds...just testing to see if I could do for any length of time. I was fine, but it may be different when I'm out doing it on the trail in front of actual people, lol. We have a lot of biking/walking trails around here, and they are always pretty busy, especially when the weather is nice. This will be the vision in my head of what I look like to everyone else...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_0Ta_DIWuU

  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
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    jnv7594 wrote: »
    jeansuza wrote: »
    I read that the dreaded 20 min. is more mental than physical. Maybe the same for 60 sec. Just try to do it.

    I'm thinking the same thing. Like I said, I was able to jog around my house for 60 seconds...just testing to see if I could do for any length of time. I was fine, but it may be different when I'm out doing it on the trail in front of actual people, lol. We have a lot of biking/walking trails around here, and they are always pretty busy, especially when the weather is nice. This will be the vision in my head of what I look like to everyone else...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_0Ta_DIWuU

    No one looks sexy and athletic when they first start running.

    I was 60 pounds overweight when I started, and frankly I was a freaking mess. I'm pretty sure ambulances were called and on standby.
  • lizardrn95
    lizardrn95 Posts: 14 Member
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    I did the C25k last year, and it was great! I have always HATED running, but I really wanted to run a 5k. I did the treadmill version, and repeated days, or even weeks, but 12 weeks after starting, I ran my first 5k, and did it in a respectable time. You can do it!

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