C25K
WickedWitchy13
Posts: 33 Member
Hi guys I have a 5K coming up in 13 weeks. I decided to try the C25K program. Anyone has good results ? How bad were you to start how well did you finish thank you
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I got a running program based on C25K with a club downtown; 3 days a week, one run with them, two on my own time before the next group run.
I'd never done distance running before, but my main cardio has been walking and when I signed up, I was walking an average of 10K daily. My logic went that if I was walking 10k every day, maybe just maybe I could run 5k one day. I ran my first 5K in 28:17; my second in 27:07. I've registered for a third one to be held end of August.6 -
That’s awesome !!! I am not a good runner. My goal is to jog most of it honestly because I’m just not good at it. I speed walk great :-D goal is just to be able to jog more than 2 mins without a break2
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I’m a 51 year old female - age and gender makes a big difference to running speed. When I started c25k I was overweight and out of shape and thought the first day was gonna kill me dead. But it didn’t. I was about halfway through (not yet to the part with the 20 minute run) when I ran/walked my first 5k at about 44 minutes. It would have been faster but it was August and 100 degree heat, hard even to walk fast in those temperatures.
The first time I finished running the whole distance was 38 minutes on trails, which are slower than roads. My first time on roads was about 32 minutes. Within about six months after that, I could do consistently under 30 minutes, and my current pr is just at 27 minutes. It really does work!
If you are having trouble finishing the intervals, try slowing down. Most new runners start out trying to run too fast. You are trying to get used to the gait of running, which is different from walking. If you usually speed walk your run may be slower than your walk at first, and that’s okay! It’s also okay if you walk your first 5k. No one will judge you.
@estherdragonbat I didn’t know you were running now! That’s a great time for a first 5k, it took me a year to get that fast!6 -
It's a fantastic progressive program and starting 13 weeks out is perfect as the program goes over 9 weeks so you'll have a month of running the full 5k before the event.
The C in C25k stands for couch potato for a reason. It's designed to be accessible and achievable for pretty much any level of fitness.
The thing to remember is that the program at all stages is self paced and you can go as 'hard' or as 'easy' as you are capable of.
Take week 1 for example. The first time I did it when I was a true C the 60 second 'runs' were no faster than the 90 second 'walks'. In fact the last few I probably slowed down while 'running'. It wasn't about going faster it was just about doing the 'running' action for those 60 seconds. That was as good as I could do. Other times when I've started the program with a better level of base fitness I was able to really push the pace during my 'runs'.
Both were very different experiences but both were successfully following the program.2 -
rheddmobile wrote: »@estherdragonbat I didn’t know you were running now! That’s a great time for a first 5k, it took me a year to get that fast!
Like I said, I'd been walking for a while. Between that and strength training... things happened.1 -
I started a C25K programme almost 5 years ago, off the back of losing around 80lb in the previous 18 months. My exercise had been almost all walking, with a little swimming thrown in towards the end. I'd tapped out of the weighloss at around 15lb overweight and I was fairly unfit. I wasn't quite a couch potato, but close.
The first week, it was awful, I couldn't do much joined up running at all. My breathing was all wrong and I didn't really know what to do with my feet or my arms. Nine weeks later I could run for 30 minutes straight. I completed my first 5K that June, running all the way in 33 minutes. I've kept the running up, although my preferred distance (when I'm not on the bench with an injury, like now) is 10K. I'm not fast, around 65 minutes for a 10K, but I'm pushing to get under 30 minutes for a 5K and 60 minutes for a 10K this year. So yeah, the programme worked marvellously!
Advice from me? Get good shoes to avoid injury and go slow. Slower. Slower even than that. Your speed will increase naturally once you get miles under your belt, but when you're just starting out you need to learn how to breathe and get your muscles - and especially joints - used to the motion and impact. Don't run back-to-back days either, follow the programme - you need your recovery time.
Good luck and enjoy yourself!
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A few years ago I signed up to a beginners running class. We did two days with an instructor and one on our own. Pace is absolutely the key - go slow, slower than you think is slow.
I tried c25k type programs on my own a few times and didnt complete them 😕 but only because I was going too fast too soon. Pace really is the key.
I'm starting a beginners program on my own again this week after about 12 months of not running. Perhaps we keep each other on track and motivated with this thread.3 -
I'm so glad to see other people saying "go slowly." You cannot go too slowly at first--seriously. And as an insider tip, breathe out fully as your left foot strikes the ground (each time it strikes, every other time, whatever you need). Years ago I discovered that breathing out fully prevents/relieves side stitches, and breathing on the left foot strike helps too. If you don't have time between breaths to breathe out fully, you are trying to go too fast for your level of fitness.3
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i just started using a C25K app and wow im outta shape lol3
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Thank you for all of these comments. Particularly, the slow speed and full exhale advice. I just downloaded c25k. Any advice on how to space the 3 days of week 1? I walk a lot, never run.0
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curwhibbles wrote: »Thank you for all of these comments. Particularly, the slow speed and full exhale advice. I just downloaded c25k. Any advice on how to space the 3 days of week 1? I walk a lot, never run.
Try not to run two days back-to-back, especially when your run intervals are around 10 minutes or so. The one time I did it, it was at least more like 36 hours apart; I'd been planning to run on, say, Sunday evening before going downtown for the group run on Tuesday evening. BUT Sunday was a torrential downpour. So I ran Monday morning around 6:30AM, then Tuesday at 7PM. I was okay. But in general, running on back-to-back days could increase the risk of cramping or worse, especially when you're getting started.3 -
I loved C25K so much that when I finished, I downloaded the 10K version! I started out super slow, gasping for air (LOL), and at the end of it I was running 10 minute miles (which is good for me, I started at 18 minute miles). Keep at it, you'll be there in no time!2
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curwhibbles wrote: »Thank you for all of these comments. Particularly, the slow speed and full exhale advice. I just downloaded c25k. Any advice on how to space the 3 days of week 1? I walk a lot, never run.
Try running Mon-Wed-Fri as your 3 days!1 -
I love C25k. Last fall, having not run at all in the past 39 YEARS, I decided to do C25K on my own using Active's C25K app...
By Dec I was running a 5K race. I finished at 9:30/mile. Not too bad first time out. Then I did Zen Labs' b210K app and ran my first 10K (in under an hour) in early March--right before coronavirus shut everything down.
I had about 42 lbs to lose, and lost it all before I started running by using MFP to track CICO. Since then, running has helped keep me in maintenance. I feel better than I have in decades.2 -
Bottom line - it works.
I'm one of those people who simply can't run, never have been able to.
I did the C25K program a few years back and at the end, I was running 5K. Believe me, if I can do it, anybody can!
I actually kept it up for a while afterwards as well. I had visions of me bounding gracefully through woodlands in the early morning mist, nodding to the rabbits and squirrels as I floated effortlessly past.
Reality was, I never progressed through the gasping-to-stay-alive in a wringing ball of sweat and pain stage and it never got any easier or any closer to being fun so I went back to cycling for my cardio.
But, yes, it works!6 -
Love this comment !!! I naturally cannot run either. Even all my years of being “fit and thin”Bottom line - it works.
I'm one of those people who simply can't run, never have been able to.
I did the C25K program a few years back and at the end, I was running 5K. Believe me, if I can do it, anybody can!
I actually kept it up for a while afterwards as well. I had visions of me bounding gracefully through woodlands in the early morning mist, nodding to the rabbits and squirrels as I floated effortlessly past.
Reality was, I never progressed through the gasping-to-stay-alive in a wringing ball of sweat and pain stage and it never got any easier or any closer to being fun so I went back to cycling for my cardio.
But, yes, it works!
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I’ve tried it multiple times and every time I reach the same conclusion: my knees do not appreciate the attempt to become a runner.
Hearing everyone’s feedback here makes me want to try again though. 😊2 -
I'm also someone who could never run, and did manage it. For me the big learning was to go slow, super slow and then start to build endurance from there. A bit more speed just happened. I still can't 'run' according to some, but at least I can run.2
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I had started it only to find my chronic diseases made it harder to do c25k as the app said. Sometimes moving on took longer. Since then, I moved on to doing more weightlifting. Getting my legs overall stronger has helped me A LOT. Bottom line, if you find it moves to quickly for you - adapt it to yourself.
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