Couch to 5k when you "can't run"

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Jovijovi86
Jovijovi86 Posts: 16 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi, has anyone on here used the couch to 5k app who really really couldn't run before?
I'm a terrible runner, can't run for 60seconds! But I started the couch to 5k app this week and I'm already noticing a vast improvement!
Just wondered if anyone else started this from being utterly useless and is now running "comfortably" or at least without being metaphorically dead after 5 minutes!

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  • 15822
    15822 Posts: 269 Member
    edited August 2022
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    I've also completed C25K three times before (repeat times took much less than 9 weeks to complete). When I started the first time, my running pace was slower than my normal walking pace - I had basically never run before in my life. I eventually progressed to running 10K twice a week. I've got back problems that stop me from exercising for months at a time and I eventually figured out I just don't enjoy running as much as cycling, but I fully endorse C25K.
  • MikePfirrman
    MikePfirrman Posts: 3,307 Member
    edited August 2022
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    As full disclosure, I don't run anymore, but when I began my running journey (which lasted around seven years and started with my weight loss journey), I literally was just walking. And had come off of a devastating knee injury where it took a full year to walk again and two to walk without a huge limp.

    Around 3 to 4 years post surgeries (I had two to try to put my knee back together as well as possible -- I had literally shredded the meniscus off the bone and my knee had dislocated), I was walking one day and just started jogging a few steps with my dog, who loved to bounce and hop ahead of me (he was a huge Golden/Chow mix -- he would bounce and jump around like an excited bunny when I'd take him to this local walking trail around a lake near Cincinnati). I found out those few jogging steps didn't hurt too much and started with 100 jogging steps at a time.

    Within a few months, I started C25K. Within a couple of years, I was jogging (albeit, very slowly) 5 miles a day. Got to the point where I started going trail races over the Summers in Cincinnati. The longest one was around 10 miles or so. But I was also able to do half marathons in training for these races.

    Never finished a race more than at the top of the bottom 3rd, but just being able to run again was incredible. There was a time I wasn't certain that, without a knee replacement, I'd even be able to walk.

    Just go very, very slow and don't push too hard. In my early 50s, I started having chronic runners knee -- ironically, in my "good knee" that wouldn't go away. I started rowing on a machine for rehab, and now, in my late 50s, I stick with that. I probably could run again, but for me, this is better. But anyone should be able to run a 5K if in decent health after slowly training for it.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    I didn't use the app but I used a very similar method.

    When I started running I literally couldn't run around the block with feeling like I was going to die. Started off with very short run (really more like shuffle) run intervals and added a minute or so each week until I could actually run 5KM / 3.1 miles. My first 5K race was still painfully slow, my goal was 40 minutes and I barely squeaked under that time. The following year at the same race it was just over 26 minutes. Since then I've gone on to half-marathons and Olympic distance triathlons.

    Be patient ( for some people the C25K progression may be a bit too aggressive - don't get discouraged if you have to repeat weeks), be consistent and have fun (my younger self would never have considered running "fun")
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Jovijovi86 wrote: »
    Hi, has anyone on here used the couch to 5k app who really really couldn't run before?
    I'm a terrible runner, can't run for 60seconds! But I started the couch to 5k app this week and I'm already noticing a vast improvement!
    Just wondered if anyone else started this from being utterly useless and is now running "comfortably" or at least without being metaphorically dead after 5 minutes!

    That's what the program is for...literally "couch" to 5K. It likely won't get you to a full 5K, but running the program you should be able to run/jog for 30 minutes without stopping. It is also somewhat common to have to repeat some weeks here and there, which isn't a big deal. The biggest thing right now is to not worry about speed, just endurance. It took me a bit longer to get to running an actual 5K in 30 minutes or less.
  • littlegreenparrot1
    littlegreenparrot1 Posts: 695 Member
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    Stick with it - after a few weeks you'll be bumbling along, the weather will be nice, the birds will be singing, and you'll suddenly realise you don't feel like your lungs are going to explode.

    That's a good day :)
  • Courtscan2
    Courtscan2 Posts: 498 Member
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    Absolutely! I couldn't run at all - all through school, etc, I was the slowest worst runner. Not helped by my mother who reassured me with "we just aren't built for that kind of thing" comments. Thanks mom. Anyway, when I was about 24, I started C25K and - miracle - I COULD run, and I loved it. Ended up doing half marathon's after a year or two. Ran for years. When my kids were little, had them in fun races with me. Now I REALLY can't run, as my hips and lower back have gone to pot (hello middle age!) and I get terrible bursitis/torn tendons/impingement from running. But man, I miss it, and I am so grateful for the years of running that I managed to fit in.
  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 889 Member
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    The C25K program is great --- but I would definitely tell someone who was actually a 'couch potato'...or really very sedentary in general that it's absolutely OK to repeat weeks or tweak the intervals if needed.

    Don't feel like because it's touted as being able to get you from being completely sedentary to running what it says you should be able to run -- means you HAVE to do it that way. Overuse injuries (injuries accrued from doing too much too quickly or without proper rest) are no joke and can affect your ability to run or be active for a long time! Listen to your body. If a running interval is coming up and you still feel like your heartrate is too high, just skip it and do the next one. If you feel you need to repeat a week...do it!

    I'm happy you're seeing results and getting better!
  • kdhaile
    kdhaile Posts: 26 Member
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    About 8 yrs ago I completed the couch to 5K with great success. I completed a couple of 10K's and then life happened and I reduced my run time and eventually stopped. In the last couple of years, I started back up using the C25K program. It is a great program for first time runners but as others have suggested you will likely need to repeat a couple of runs and that is fine.
  • JamesyPaylor
    JamesyPaylor Posts: 13 Member
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    Best advice I could give you is ditch couch to 5k and join your local Parkrun or running group. I tried couch to 5k so many times and failed, wasn't until I went to Parkrun that I was able to finish a 5k, before you know it you'll be joining 10k races.

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