5K Advice

May I ask why you want any but C25K? I'm just curious. I've had many friends have success with that program. I did it on my own with no knowledge and really no plan. The whole idea is to increase whatever your run intervals are every week. My first week I was so out of shape i was out of breath after 30 seconds. I would walk until I got my breath back (5 minutes) and then run another 30 seconds. I did this for 30 minutes. The next week out, I did a 1 minute run, 5 minute run, etc. Then 1:30, then 2. Once I got up to 5 I started shortening the walk breaks by 30 seconds.

If you are truly starting from scratch you don't want to over do. Be sure you're comfortable walking 3 miles before you start adding in jogging intervals. And I wouldn't worry so much about covering that distance during your training runs. I've found its better to base training on time, rather than distance. Keep each run to 30 minutes until you're running 10 minutes non-stop. At that point you can up it to 40 minutes.

One last thing - DO NOT RUN TOO FAST! Its is very common for new runners to go waaay too fast. You want to be able to breathe. You should never be so out of breath that you are panting or gasping for air. It's even better if you are able to carry on a conversation. Speed comes last. First it is building your base (endurance). After that you can bring up your speed.

Feel free to friend me if you like. I've been running for almost 6 years now and it is something I just love! Good luck!

My form of exercise before starting was walking anywhere from two to four miles almost daily.

I have friends who weighed similar to you and had done zero exercise and did the program.

Best advice:

If it feels too hard and you want to stop, trying slowing way down. There were times I felt my walking was faster than my jogging.

And, if you feel you need to repeat a day or a week, then do that until you can complete them. There is no shame in repeating days or weeks. There is no race to complete the program, if that makes sense.

The "C" stands for "Couch"
... Or "Cookie" actually

But really, it's a program that is designed for people who are literally coming off the couch into a running routine. You will do fine. If you don't think so, then spend a few weeks briskly walking for a mile or two a day. That would work you up to it very well.

I started with the C25K because I literally couldn't run for more than a minute without feeling like I was going to die. I soon fell off that wagon because I would have to repeat weeks and that was just fustrating. I found that for myself the best way was to find a good pace and go as far as I could, stop or walk when I need and keep going when I was ready but sometimes I had to push myself because I just didnt feel like it. In a months time I have gone from running slower than snot and only about half a mile if I was lucky to 2 miles at a pace of 12.33. Now I'm working on adding distance once I get to 12. Tho I hope to run my first 5k next month.... well technically it's a mud run but still sounds fun . Good luck.

I am new to this, and out of shape. The C25K seemed like a good plan, but I'm not sure I can quite do that yet.

Definitely start by walking. Walk at a good pace and do that 3x a week (minimum) until you are comfortable going 30 minutes non-stop. Then jump into C25K - it'll take you the rest of the way. You can do it!

Sounds like what I was about to say. You can even use c25k as a waking program to start with. There's also a book called 'the beginning runners handbook' which has a 0-10k plan with some simpler interval times. In the back of the book it shows it both as a running and walking plan.
You don't have to stick with any one program, the point it to get moving, but not overdo it (don't increase faster than the program, slower is ok), since your muscles and bones need to catch up to the change...