Couch to 5k thread

Managed to get w2d3 down today, didn't think I was going to make it out, have a baby teething keeping us up at night but herself kept me honest so was thrilled that i went, ran the last 2 minute walk after the 1.5 minute run, was out of breath after it but was happy to do it. Covered 4 km in the time, happy enough with that, means for me I am running at the right pace.

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

I'm going to throw a spanner in the works and say I think it's fine to just leave one rest day between each run if you feel up to it and you're not suffering from any niggles or anything. It's what I did when I started out and it never caused me a problem, but obviously each person is different and I had been doing a bit of cycling and stuff beforehand so was not completely going from zero activity.

I think that's a very important distinction max , I firmly believe if you are going to run to plan you should stick by it. The couch to 5 k plan has turned millions of couch potatoes into runners , its a proven plan.

I wouldn't see any benefit in deviating from it, you would finish the plan a little earlier which IMO is not worth the increased risk of getting injured.

As you say the runners base fitness level on day 1 is a factor but anyone literally going from a low level of physical activity to running ie couch 2 5k would be best advised to stick to the plan.

Maximus Alexander

I'm going to throw a spanner in the works and say I think it's fine to just leave one rest day between each run if you feel up to it and you're not suffering from any niggles or anything. It's what I did when I started out and it never caused me a problem, but obviously each person is different and I had been doing a bit of cycling and stuff beforehand so was not completely going from zero activity.

messy tessy wrote: »

Oops I haven't been doing this either. I just take my normal rest day between weeks, is this bad?

If you ran to the plan and started each week on a monday you had your two rest days, Each week would look like this.

Monday Run 1
Tuesday Rest
Wednesday Run 2
Thursday Rest
Friday Run 3
Saturday Rest
Sunday Rest,

I'd think it is important to stick to the plan. The plan works so if you are going to deviate from it be very careful not to overdo it , the last thing needed in the early days is an injury which could make it very difficult to motivate yourself back into running.

That's my opinion on it as an injury was my greatest fear when I started.

muddypaws

I must admit, I never realised about the extra rest day, I just ran on the days I was always running.

FrancieBrady

sumsar wrote: »

Ohh I must have overlooked that two rest days between weeks suggestion.. thanks for the advice, I'd be a fool to ignore it. I'll be patient.

messy tessy wrote: »

Oops I haven't been doing this either. I just take my normal rest day between weeks, is this bad?

The longer the runs got the more important that extra day became for me. A world of difference if I made sure to take it.

The Muppet wrote: »

Great going Sumsar. You know your own body best be careful if you are not taking the prescribed 2 rest day between weeks . I've seen a few get silly injuries by accelerating things this way.

The best of luck whatever you decide to do.

Oops I haven't been doing this either. I just take my normal rest day between weeks, is this bad?

The Muppet wrote:

Great going Sumsar. You know your own body best be careful if you are not taking the prescribed 2 rest day between weeks . I've seen a few get silly injuries by accelerating things this way.

Ohh I must have overlooked that two rest days between weeks suggestion.. thanks for the advice, I'd be a fool to ignore it. I'll be patient.

sumsar wrote: »

I finished week 2 run 3 yesterday, might start week 3 tomorrow, a bit early but for now I'm enjoying it and want to keep improving, would be a long wait until Monday otherwise!
.

Great going Sumsar. You know your own body best be careful if you are not taking the prescribed 2 rest day between weeks . I've seen a few get silly injuries by accelerating things this way.

The best of luck whatever you decide to do.

Gremlin2011

Hesh's Umpire wrote: »

Graduated. At last. Week 9 in the bag!

Well done! I bet you'll find it easy enough getting that last 1-1.2km in.

Another disaster tonight for me. Got a stitch 3 minutes into the first 8 min run so it was mostly walking with a few 30-60 jogs. My legs felt so heavy too. I recently started a weight lifting programme and I'm really feeling it in the legs. My water intake is gone through the roof too. Just need to remember not to drink before heading out for c25k

Similarly, I've been experimenting with the time of days as well, I find I am more suited to evening runs than morning runs, they seem to be 'easier' for me so I'll be doing more of that.

I finished week 2 run 3 yesterday, might start week 3 tomorrow, a bit early but for now I'm enjoying it and want to keep improving, would be a long wait until Monday otherwise!

Regardless of whether I run tomorrow or Monday, I'll be keeping an eye on this thread as usual (finding this thread a great motivator!) so keep up the good work lads and lassies.

Also, congrats Hesh's Umpire on the graduation run, you can definitely get the 5k done as Maximus Alexander said, if you stretch out an extra 1k at conversational pace for now that is better than nothing then next time work on improving the speed.

Maximus Alexander

Hesh's Umpire wrote: »

Graduated. At last. Week 9 in the bag!

So, now, what next? I'm only covering around 3.8 km to 4 km in the 30 minute runs.

How the hell do I get to 5 km?!!

Hoping to do a parkrun some time soon but not very confident in how I can increase my speed and/or distance. Any ideas?

Well done!

If you can do 4k, you can do 5. It might take you 40 minutes but you're well capable of it already. For now I'd probably recommend getting out and doing 30-35 minutes thrice a week for a couple of weeks. After that you can look at adding distance at a rate of around 10% per week.

At this point, just running more will make you faster. You don't need to do anything crazy. Just don't ramp it up too quickly or you'll probably get injured.

Hesh's Umpire

Graduated. At last. Week 9 in the bag!

So, now, what next? I'm only covering around 3.8 km to 4 km in the 30 minute runs.

How the hell do I get to 5 km?!!

Hoping to do a parkrun some time soon but not very confident in how I can increase my speed and/or distance. Any ideas?

Thanks very much all!

Hoping to do those park runs in February when I can (fingers crossed!) comfortably jog 5k and will work on picking up my pace. My ultimate aim is to jog the 10k mini marathon on June bank holiday weekend. Have roped a few friends into signing up for that so would be delighted if I managed to jog it all!

pcuser

[QUOTE=messy tessy;102163791 I actually got to week 6 the last time I did it (years ago) so am determined to see it through this time!

On a such a high now!

:D:D[/QUOTE]

Judging by your previous posts I reckon you will smash it, Well done

Ososlo

messy tessy wrote: »

I smashed through that wall!!

Jogged for 10 minutes and felt fine so decided to aim for 20 and then sure there was only 5 minutes left so I stayed going! I completed W7D1 woohoo!!

Thanks for all the encouragement and advice here. I actually got to week 6 the last time I did it (years ago) so am determined to see it through this time!

On a such a high now!

:D:D

That's fantastic! No better feeling!!! Keep the updates coming so we can keep an eye on you

Not long to go now... You should start thinking about taking part in a 5k race or Parkrun for when you're finished the programme. Good luck!

pcuser

Gremlin2011 wrote: »

Time will probably be pathetic but feck it!

No such thing a a pathetic time, A few weeks ago you would have taught it was impossible .

Well done

messy tessy wrote: »

I think I have hit the wall

Attempted week seven run one at lunch and it was a disaster. Stopped after 5 minutes, tried a few times to get started but just went back to week six run one and finished that.

Very disappointed especially since I have already jogged 20 minutes last week. Ahhhhh! Going to complete the rest of the runs in week six and hopefully next week will be ready to tackle it.

Hope ye all have a better week!!

I smashed through that wall!!

Jogged for 10 minutes and felt fine so decided to aim for 20 and then sure there was only 5 minutes left so I stayed going! I completed W7D1 woohoo!!

Thanks for all the encouragement and advice here. I actually got to week 6 the last time I did it (years ago) so am determined to see it through this time!

On a such a high now!

:D:D

Did W2 D2 today - again felt good, chose a different route near the business park where I worked it is much flatter than where I did my first run, I ran through 3 of the last 4 minutes where it is 1R/1W as i felt like pushing myself in advance of next week, finished off with 30 mins weight training in the gym doing light weights and some stretching, I am being careful not to overdo it so I dont pull something or get too stiff that I cant do my next run. Anyway hope to get out again Saturday morning and complete the week.

dobbs2210

Gremlin2011 wrote: »

W5D2 - first 8 min run was disastrous, had to take 2 Walk breaks for a few seconds. But the second 8 min run interval was fine. Will repeat as I think mentally I can't believe that I'm actually doing this lol and I know I won't be able for the 20 minute run if I'm like this. I know NOW I can do the 8, when I repeat I can keep telling myself that.

I've signed up for my first 5k race. Charity that's very close to my heart, 2nd April in cellbridge. Loads of time to finish C25K and get to running 5k. Time will probably be pathetic but feck it!

Go you...!! Fair play to you. Loads of time. Your fitness will have dramatically improved by April in time for the 5k. Keep the good work up...

Gremlin2011

W5D2 - first 8 min run was disastrous, had to take 2 Walk breaks for a few seconds. But the second 8 min run interval was fine. Will repeat as I think mentally I can't believe that I'm actually doing this lol and I know I won't be able for the 20 minute run if I'm like this. I know NOW I can do the 8, when I repeat I can keep telling myself that.

I've signed up for my first 5k race. Charity that's very close to my heart, 2nd April in cellbridge. Loads of time to finish C25K and get to running 5k. Time will probably be pathetic but feck it!

sumsar wrote: »

Cookie_fan wrote: »

Going to keep a note of my runs here and hoping to get some motivation from reading others post, would be interested to see if anyone is starting out as a New Years resolution...

Mine is a new years resolution although I started a week early but my new years resolution is to get fit and stay fit, currently on week 2 (done run 2 last night) so I'm at the same stage as yourself.

I am doing the couch 2 5k rather than 10k but I fully plan on progressing to the 10k after I'm comfortable with 5k.

Similarly enough to yourself, in the past I use to be fit enough with a few 10k fun runs under my belt but my running phase didn't last any longer than 12 months.

My aim (new years resolution) is that in 12 months time I will still be jogging regularly, fingers crossed.

Again, we're at the same stage as each other (week 2) so I look forward to seeing our progress week in and out! Good luck and enjoy.

That is great that we are on the same stage hoping we can struggle through it together, keep sharing your experiences... Was a bit stiff tomorrow but that's to be expected with little or no exercise in the last few years but it was a good stiffness

I am out again tomorrow morning running so going to try and get into the office early and do the run in the business park here, I think its about figuring out works for me on certain days especially in the dark mornings. Will update you tomorrow on how I get on.

Cookie_fan wrote: »

Going to keep a note of my runs here and hoping to get some motivation from reading others post, would be interested to see if anyone is starting out as a New Years resolution...

Mine is a new years resolution although I started a week early but my new years resolution is to get fit and stay fit, currently on week 2 (done run 2 last night) so I'm at the same stage as yourself.

I am doing the couch 2 5k rather than 10k but I fully plan on progressing to the 10k after I'm comfortable with 5k.

Similarly enough to yourself, in the past I use to be fit enough with a few 10k fun runs under my belt but my running phase didn't last any longer than 12 months.

My aim (new years resolution) is that in 12 months time I will still be jogging regularly, fingers crossed.

Again, we're at the same stage as each other (week 2) so I look forward to seeing our progress week in and out! Good luck and enjoy.

The best of luck cookie fan. My guess is that thosé 50 mike weeks will stand to you . Good luck with the weight loss plans too .

pcuser

I sent you a PM Cookie.

I was in a very similar position to yours not too long ago.

Started today with the couch to 10k, have set myself a target of doing the 10k on the limerick run on April 30th.

Doing this with an aim of losing a half a stone a month need to lose 3 stone to get back into good shape, put on a lot of weight over the last number of years since we started a family so mainly want to be healthy for them, but also for myself to feel normal again, sick of looking at my beer gut in the mirror, I am a 36 year old male who hasn't trained in about 2 years and weight went up steadily since then. Used to run in my 20's and do on average of 50 miles a week over 4 runs, stopped running late 20's but was still fairly fit up until 4 years ago but then just stopped exercising when moved house and only did intermittent training to keep the weight somewhat under control.

Going to keep a note of my runs here and hoping to get some motivation from reading others post, would be interested to see if anyone is starting out as a New Years resolution...

Started with w2 d1... Reason being is there is a short window between finishing the program and the 10k run and reading some others post there might be a time where I need to redo a week if I struggle, happy to go slower but want to do the 10k in under an hour. So felt i could skip the first week and launch into week 2 (hope this isn't a bad idea)

Found the run okay, route I took is in a nearby forrest, coupe of hills the last of which I found tough, overall covered 3.11km in the 28 mins or so according to the app so will use that as a gauge of progression. Looking forward to next run already and venturing that bit further into the woods!!

messy tessy wrote:

Attempted week seven run one at lunch and it was a disaster. Stopped after 5 minutes, tried a few times to get started but just went back to week six run one and finished that.

messy tessy wrote:

Very disappointed especially since I have already jogged 20 minutes last week. Ahhhhh! Going to complete the rest of the runs in week six and hopefully next week will be ready to tackle it.

At least you went back to week 6 rather than give up, fair play.

Got Week 2 run 1 down last night. Baby stages now I know, looking forward to the real fun to begin!

Ososlo

messy tessy wrote: »

I'm convinced its my body's way of telling me it's not coping with the lack of chocolate!!

haha, yeah could be withdrawal symptoms alright!