Couch to 5k thread

Penfailed

The athletics club have just posted the race times on their website - 25:31

I came 59th out of 149

vitani

Penfailed wrote: »

The athletics club have just posted the race times on their website - 25:31

I came 59th out of 149

Fair play - that's a fantastic time.

MrStuffins

Penfailed wrote: »

It was fairly tough to be honest. I think it was partly due to the fact that I've been running in the evenings and this was my first morning run. Made it round in about 26 mins. I'm waiting for the official times to come out. Pleased with my first proper outing

Wow! I did 22 mins last week and only covered 3k. It'll take me forever to get to the point i can run 5k in that kind of time. fair play

Penfailed

vitani wrote: »

Fair play - that's a fantastic time.

MrStuffins wrote: »

Wow! I did 22 mins last week and only covered 3k. It'll take me forever to get to the point i can run 5k in that kind of time. fair play

Thanks guys

tenreds

Penfailed wrote: »

The athletics club have just posted the race times on their website - 25:31

I came 59th out of 149

Great time Penfailed,I did the c25k program last year and the race you done today was my first 5k last year.Last year I did it just over 23 min today I nearly taken a minute off that time.You just need to increase mileage every week now on one run nice and slow and in no time you'll be doing 10k.It was cold this morning and that's a steep hill at the end of 3k,on a flatter course and a warmer day you would have got your goal time.

Loughc

Restarting my C25K program tonight, really looking forward to it, need to get back exercising, haven't done a tap since August.

The main objective is to get fitter and to lose some weight. Still carrying far too much holiday weight and I want to start chipping away at losing it, diet is in effect and saw small losses over the last two weeks. I'm hoping the running will help with that.

Back at Week 1, Day 1 and hope to get out every second night.

Will post after the run and let ye all know how I get on.

Loughc

Just back and I'm just finished Week 1 Day 1 and I am really happy with how it went.

30 Min Workout 5 min walk to start followed by 1Min Jog/1.5min walk for 20mins and then 5 min cooldown.

I covered 4.02km, 2 of which I ran, my running pace was 5.08min per km and walking was 7.32min per km.

Obviously its the easiest week and I'm under no illusions, my breathing is out of whack and I am in bad shape overall but I'm just so proud of myself for even getting out there as its Monday, its freezing, I could have said ah not tonight and sat in home but I didn't!

Next run will be Wednesday night!

Penfailed

Starting is the hard part! Good work

voxangelorum

I have a few supporters but no one who really understands and to discuss this with, so I wanted to give it a try to discuss it here.

Maybe because I used to be very fit (ages/waist inches ago), as soon as I start throwing a morsel of fitness back at my body, it responds with extreme happiness - unbelievable highs, and something that I actually need your help with: a prodding to skip a week of the program and go straight to the big run stuff. It's like my body is chomping at the bit.

I'm on week 3, day 3.
First week, I was just figuring out how to calculate everything so I didn't rip myself off e.g. 3 running steps = roughly a second, corrected every 20 seconds with a counting skip, what does one lap of our track = walking? etc etc. So I just stuck to the program. It turns out that if I do the run/walk combo, 8 times = the 20 minute requirement.

2nd week, I upped the seconds but I kept the 8 times requirement, taking me a bit beyond the 20 minute mark, into 30ish territory. Then I started adding stuff to give myself a hand-up to the following week e.g. the aforementioned 8 times, and faster running toward the end of many (not all) the 90 sec counts, and the 3rd day of week 2 I did 90 sec run, then the next run was 100 sec, then 110, etc up to a final run of 160 seconds. On this week my body (esp. feet) asked me to take a second two-day rest but I did finish out the week nonetheless as described. So I went from 2.4kmrun/4km walk to about 3km run/ 6(?) km walk

3rd week I just skidded in passing the standards and thanked my lucky stars I didn't collapse. But 2nd day I did the routine twice.

Sounds like I'm trucking along, right? This is the thing. I have a tendency to jump the gun on other programs, with varying degrees of success. Is this just my problem sticking to a program or am I correctly listening to my body's urges to quit holding back like Neo in the kungfu practice session with Morpheus in Matrix I, and should I just let 'er rip and try a straight up 30 minute run? I'm in week 3 and I now did cumulative 18 minutes running and 12 minutes walking last session.

Should I stay or should I go now? This is what I would be very grateful to this board for helping me figure out.

The only thing that would suck would be to sprain a foot muscle and have to take a few days off.

Penfailed

voxangelorum wrote: »

I have a few supporters but no one who really understands and to discuss this with, so I wanted to give it a try to discuss it here.

Maybe because I used to be very fit (ages/waist inches ago), as soon as I start throwing a morsel of fitness back at my body, it responds with extreme happiness - unbelievable highs, and something that I actually need your help with: a prodding to skip a week of the program and go straight to the big run stuff. It's like my body is chomping at the bit.

I'm on week 3, day 3.
First week, I was just figuring out how to calculate everything so I didn't rip myself off e.g. 3 running steps = roughly a second, corrected every 20 seconds with a counting skip, what does one lap of our track = walking? etc etc. So I just stuck to the program. It turns out that if I do the run/walk combo, 8 times = the 20 minute requirement.

2nd week, I upped the seconds but I kept the 8 times requirement, taking me a bit beyond the 20 minute mark, into 30ish territory. Then I started adding stuff to give myself a hand-up to the following week e.g. the aforementioned 8 times, and faster running toward the end of many (not all) the 90 sec counts, and the 3rd day of week 2 I did 90 sec run, then the next run was 100 sec, then 110, etc up to a final run of 160 seconds. On this week my body (esp. feet) asked me to take a second two-day rest but I did finish out the week nonetheless as described. So I went from 2.4kmrun/4km walk to about 3km run/ 6(?) km walk

3rd week I just skidded in passing the standards and thanked my lucky stars I didn't collapse. But 2nd day I did the routine twice.

Sounds like I'm trucking along, right? This is the thing. I have a tendency to jump the gun on other programs, with varying degrees of success. Is this just my problem sticking to a program or am I correctly listening to my body's urges to quit holding back like Neo in the kungfu practice session with Morpheus in Matrix I, and should I just let 'er rip and try a straight up 30 minute run? I'm in week 3 and I now did cumulative 18 minutes running and 12 minutes walking last session.

Should I stay or should I go now? This is what I would be very grateful to this board for helping me figure out.

The only thing that would suck would be to sprain a foot muscle and have to take a few days off.

Personally, I would stick to the programme. It was designed in such a way to be a challenge but not too challenging to be off putting. Slow and steady does it.
I'll be doing Week 10 Day 2 tonight (on a 10K programme). It's Run10, Walk1, R10, W2, R10, W3, R10, W4, R10.

vitani

My (non-expert) instincts would be to say stick with the program as well. Running takes its toll on your body, especially when first starting out and the program is designed to ease you into it. It's not just about building up speed or distance, but doing it in such a way that keeps you injury-free.

That said, while I love the Couch to 5k program, it's not the only one out there. Have a google for other beginner 5k training plans. You might find one that suits you more.

~
~

Got up at 6am this morning to do W6D2. It was bloody freezing, but I warmed up quickly enough, and found myself really enjoying the session by the end of it. Pace was slower than Sunday's, so I didn't quite finish the full 5k, but felt much more comfortable this time.

So, that's intervals finished with! 25 minute + runs from now on.

I had planned on doing Bridge to 10k when I'd finished, but I'm now reconsidering and may take on the Hal Higdon 10k plan instead. I prefer his approach of one LSR a week. It seems much more in line with other race training plans I've seen, and will bring me up to the Great Ireland Run in April.

Penfailed

vitani wrote: »

I prefer his approach of one LSR a week. It seems much more in line with other race training plans I've seen

What's LSR?

Ososlo

Penfailed wrote: »

What's LSR?

Long slow run:)

Penfailed

Ososlo wrote: »

Long slow run:)

Ah! Cheers

MrStuffins

Got hit with some serious Man-Flu last week and am only really 100% for the first time tonight!

Haven't ran in 9 days now. Gonna go head first into Week 7 tomorrow evening! I'm hoping the break has actually given me a bit of rest rather than makes me lose a step!

Penfailed

Good luck!

kilburn

Week 3 Day 1 done and dusted. I was quite nervous about moving up from 90secs run to 3 mins, it was hard going but i did not give in.

On a side note think I am getting runners knee, have a pain in my left knee for a few days now.

Penfailed

Penfailed wrote: »

I'll be doing Week 10 Day 2 tonight (on a 10K programme). It's Run10, Walk1, R10, W2, R10, W3, R10, W4, R10.

I had to pull out after the second ten minute run last night. My shins were playing up so I erred on the side of caution and went straight to the five minute cool down walk...:(

Loughc

Penfailed wrote: »

I had to pull out after the second ten minute run last night. My shins were playing up so I erred on the side of caution and went straight to the five minute cool down walk...:(

Best not to risk injury, plenty of other nights to get back out there and go again, keep stretching to make sure you don't stiffen up the muscles on the front of your legs, if they're tight and stiff they will put strain on the shins.

I've my second run tonight, W1 D2, I'm not overly looking forward to it, have a dentist appointment this evening and have shopping to do after so it will be a late enough run. But I will keep going and hopefully it will show on the scales over time

Loughc

So not long back in from W1 D2, same as last day.

30 Min Workout 5 min walk to start followed by 1Min Jog/1.5min walk for 20mins and then 5 min cooldown.

Covered 5.31km tonight, walked 3.01km at 6.48min per km pace, ran 2.29km at 4.50min per km pace.

Really happy with the times but I know once I progress past 60 seconds jogging reps my pace will come down. Really happy I went out tonight, I was at the dentist earlier and really didn't want to head out but I pushed myself to go.

Next run will be either tomorrow or Friday night depending on commitments.

vitani

W6D3 done this morning. I covered 2.35 miles in the 25 minutes, and just over 5k when I include the warmup and cooldown walks.

Tough going at the start, but I think that was mainly mental. The further I got, the more I believed I could do it and so it got easier, even though it was physically tougher. I probably could have done the 30 minutes today, although I was glad to hear the cooldown cue.

vitani

lockie1983 wrote: »

So not long back in from W1 D2, same as last day.

30 Min Workout 5 min walk to start followed by 1Min Jog/1.5min walk for 20mins and then 5 min cooldown.

Covered 5.31km tonight, walked 3.01km at 6.48min per km pace, ran 2.29km at 4.50min per km pace.

Really happy with the times but I know once I progress past 60 seconds jogging reps my pace will come down. Really happy I went out tonight, I was at the dentist earlier and really didn't want to head out but I pushed myself to go.

Next run will be either tomorrow or Friday night depending on commitments.

*looks at your walking pace*

*looks at my running pace*

*cries*

:pac:

Loughc

vitani wrote: »

*looks at your walking pace*

*looks at my running pace*

*cries*

:pac:

haha, don't worry the more I have to run the more both of my paces will get worse!

Fair play for getting to W6D3, there's some weeks I'm seriously dreading already! haha

deeksofdoom

Getting pains in my lower legs muscular and feet arches/upper foot while running.

Would a new pair of runners fix this, I don't bother with stretching because of the 5 min warm up walk - should I stretch before and after running?

Seems to get progressively worse am at W3D2 as of friday.

Loughc

So just finished W1D3.

30 Min Workout 5 min walk to start followed by 1Min Jog/1.5min walk for 20mins and then 5 min cooldown.

Covered 4.65km tonight, walked 2.75km at 7.10min per km pace, ran 1.9km at 5.00min per km pace.

Slower paces than last night, which was expected as I was feeling the pinch more for going out two nights in a row.

Taking a few days off rest now and then onto W2, dreading the 90sec jogs already haha!

scriba

deeksofdoom wrote: »

Getting pains in my lower legs muscular and feet arches/upper foot while running.

Would a new pair of runners fix this, I don't bother with stretching because of the 5 min warm up walk - should I stretch before and after running?

Seems to get progressively worse am at W3D2 as of friday.

While I'm far from an expert, I see that no-one's chimed in here yet with an answer to your question, so I'll give my two cents. People on here generally recommend getting your gait checked with a reputable running shop, so that you can get the best fit runners for your feet. So you should be doing that anyway. I started running last February, with a five year old pair of runners, and when I replaced them at start of April, I immediately noticed the difference.

With regard to stretching, I'm a big believer in it before and after, particularly my calf muscles. If I don't stretch these, and stretch them well, my muscles know about it the next day. So I'd think about doing a bit of stretching after your warm up jog.

Hopefully that might help you out. If you're in pain starting out, give it a rest day, and try again the next day. It's not meant to hurt (in that way!)

Very best of luck, you're doing great.

Ososlo

deeksofdoom wrote: »

Getting pains in my lower legs muscular and feet arches/upper foot while running.

Would a new pair of runners fix this, I don't bother with stretching because of the 5 min warm up walk - should I stretch before and after running?

Seems to get progressively worse am at W3D2 as of friday.

your runners could be causing you problems alright. Are they off-the-shelf or did you get your gait analysed and purchase running shoes from a reputable running store? Also, I wouldn't do any stretching prior to running. Stretching cold muscles is very bad for you. A very fast walk should be enough to get your muscles warm enough at the start and finish off your run with a very fast walk too.
Aches when you start running would be quite normal, however, pain is not normal. Don't do your running intervals too fast. Keep it at a nice slow jog.

scriba

lockie1983 wrote: »

Taking a few days off rest now and then onto W2, dreading the 90sec jogs already haha!

Well done on finishing week 1, you're flying. Almost literally.

scriba

Ososlo wrote: »

your runners could be causing you problems alright. Are they off-the-shelf or did you get your gait analysed and purchase running shoes from a reputable running store? Also, I wouldn't do any stretching prior to running. Stretching cold muscles is very bad for you. A very fast walk should be enough to get your muscles warm enough at the start and finish off your run with a very fast walk too.
Aches when you start running would be quite normal, however, pain is not normal. Don't do your running intervals too fast. Keep it at a nice slow jog.

Ha, like buses. None for ages, then two at once!

Ososlo

scriba wrote: »

Ha, like buses. None for ages, then two at once!

ha ha was just thinking the same thing

most of the advice we gave was the same, but the stretching thing is particular to each individual I suppose. I guess one needs to try a few different things to see what works for you.