C25k jogging pace vs walking pace

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MrsLannister
MrsLannister Posts: 347 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm about a month into the C25K program and I'm wondering what I should be aiming for as a jogging pace. Today I did the week 4 day 2 workout, which is jog 3 minutes, walk 1.5 minutes, jog 5 minutes, walk 2.5 minutes, jog 3 minutes, walk 1.5 minutes, jog 5 minutes. My average walking pace was 19'52" and my average jogging pace was 17'06". That doesn't seem like much of an increase for the jogging part, only half a mile per hour faster. Should I try to push harder during the jogging part?

Replies

  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,521 Member
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    Jogging presents lots of challenges (at least for me). Soreness, out-of-breath-ness, maxing my HR, you name it. It's hard! My recommendation is to go slow, keep to 3 days, do whatever pace you can, and don't worry about it. I started jogging less than 2 years ago, now I can go 6 miles at a moderate pace (9:30/mile). And I'm 50+!

    To boost cardo fitness, it's best to do cardio on more than just 3 days. You can add 2-3 days where you walk, cycle, ellipticate, swim, whatever. If you are really pushing yourself on the jogging days, make the non-jogging days easier and try to sustain for longer (e.g., a full hour, if you have the time).

    Best of luck!
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    MrsLannister wrote: »
    I'm about a month into the C25K program and I'm wondering what I should be aiming for as a jogging pace.

    Run at a pace that allows you to talk in complete sentences, no need to get any more sophisticated given where you are in the programme.

    The purpose is to get you to run for 30 minutes continuously. That approach means you can do that, rather than burn out early in the running intervals.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Slow enough that you can complete all intervals. For me, it was slow enough that at times I felt like "I can walk at the same pace I'm running."
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    My walking pace can be as fast as 13 minutes. My running pace for C25K is OFTEN slower than that in the first few weeks of conditioning.
  • H_Ock12
    H_Ock12 Posts: 1,152 Member
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    I did not use C25K, but when I first started running, I could walk at a faster clip than I ran. It just took time to build that speed up. My understanding of C25K is that the purpose is primarily distance...so work on the program, build up your distance and your speed will come with time.
  • flyawaybirdie23
    flyawaybirdie23 Posts: 10 Member
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    I am doing C25K as well right now and am on week 5. I have started and stopped C25K many times and did a bit of reading up before starting this time in the hopes that it would help me complete it. The main tip that I read was not to worry about pace/distance. The goal of C25K should be more about building up time and endurance. That is the mindset I have been trying to have. To be honest, I turned off the GPS tracker on my C25K app because I found myself slipping back into the habit of worrying about increasing my pace and distance. Now I just follow the interval prompts for the timing and go at whatever pace works for that day. Once I am done with C25K and can jog for around 30 minutes I plan on trying to work on increasing my pace.
  • MrsLannister
    MrsLannister Posts: 347 Member
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    Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »
    Jogging presents lots of challenges (at least for me). Soreness, out-of-breath-ness, maxing my HR, you name it. It's hard! My recommendation is to go slow, keep to 3 days, do whatever pace you can, and don't worry about it. I started jogging less than 2 years ago, now I can go 6 miles at a moderate pace (9:30/mile). And I'm 50+!

    To boost cardo fitness, it's best to do cardio on more than just 3 days. You can add 2-3 days where you walk, cycle, ellipticate, swim, whatever. If you are really pushing yourself on the jogging days, make the non-jogging days easier and try to sustain for longer (e.g., a full hour, if you have the time).

    Best of luck!

    Thanks. I do CrossFit (with a coach) three days a week and also walk or hike ~3 miles a day a few days a week when I feel like I have extra energy. I'm using the Active.com app for C25K and only do it the three days a week.
  • dewd2
    dewd2 Posts: 2,449 Member
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    MrsLannister wrote: »
    Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »
    Jogging presents lots of challenges (at least for me). Soreness, out-of-breath-ness, maxing my HR, you name it. It's hard! My recommendation is to go slow, keep to 3 days, do whatever pace you can, and don't worry about it. I started jogging less than 2 years ago, now I can go 6 miles at a moderate pace (9:30/mile). And I'm 50+!

    To boost cardo fitness, it's best to do cardio on more than just 3 days. You can add 2-3 days where you walk, cycle, ellipticate, swim, whatever. If you are really pushing yourself on the jogging days, make the non-jogging days easier and try to sustain for longer (e.g., a full hour, if you have the time).

    Best of luck!

    Thanks. I do CrossFit (with a coach) three days a week and also walk or hike ~3 miles a day a few days a week when I feel like I have extra energy. I'm using the Active.com app for C25K and only do it the three days a week.

    Be patient. It takes many months to build your body up for running. Do too much before your ready and you can get injured.

    Good luck and keep at it. At some point it may become fun. :D
  • Spiderpug
    Spiderpug Posts: 159 Member
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    Started C25K Wk 7 - my run pace is only fractionally quicker than my stomp around with the dog. Loads of people overtake me but 6 weeks ago I couldn't run at all, so I'm happy. Distance first, Speed can come later - got my first 5k fun run in 3 weeks and I wanna finish upright :D
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    flyawaybirdie23 wrote: »
    I am doing C25K as well right now and am on week 5. I have started and stopped C25K many times and did a bit of reading up before starting this time in the hopes that it would help me complete it. The main tip that I read was not to worry about pace/distance. The goal of C25K should be more about building up time and endurance. That is the mindset I have been trying to have. To be honest, I turned off the GPS tracker on my C25K app because I found myself slipping back into the habit of worrying about increasing my pace and distance. Now I just follow the interval prompts for the timing and go at whatever pace works for that day. Once I am done with C25K and can jog for around 30 minutes I plan on trying to work on increasing my pace.

    This is exactly it!! C25K is a capacity building program, easing you in to the impact of running

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