Couch to 5k - any good?

[RickRolled]

Finally decided to give this a go, did my 2nd run of week 1 yesterday. Have also reduced my calories and cut out a lot of crap from my diet.

I'm hoping at the end of the program I'll able to just go for a run without stopping, which according to everyone else on this thread will be possible.

[egor110]

RickRolled said:

Finally decided to give this a go, did my 2nd run of week 1 yesterday. Have also reduced my calories and cut out a lot of crap from my diet.

I'm hoping at the end of the program I'll able to just go for a run without stopping, which according to everyone else on this thread will be possible.

You will.

Go along to your nearest park run and just have a chat with people and i bet 90% of them have got there via couch to 5k .

[RickRolled]

Still enough motivation to go out in this cold weather... did my run 1 of week 2 last night.

Seems to be going well enough at the moment.

[Brainpox]

Just finished my first run of week 3. A bit of a step up but I was pretty impressed with myself, didn't really get out of breath, just sitting here with mildly achy calves. I can see the progress now, wasn't so sure last week.

[sas62]

Im on week 4.

3 minutes, 2 lots of 5 minutes and finish with 3 minutes.

So far so good but can't say Im looking forward to the 20 minutes with no breaks looming at week 7.

[LordGrover]

Did day one yesterday on treadmill at gym. Enjoyed it more than I expected.
Surprised how much my legs ached later in the day when walking about. Never been a runner but started free weights again last October/November, so been pretty active for a few months now.

[sas62]

coyft said:

sas62 said:

Im on week 4.

3 minutes, 2 lots of 5 minutes and finish with 3 minutes.

So far so good but can't say Im looking forward to the 20 minutes with no breaks looming at week 7.

I wouldn't worry because you've got a 20 minute run next week (week 5) on day 3.!
I've just finished week 4, and week 5 looks a but of a jump!

I must be on a slightly different program. My W5D3 is 8 run, 5 walk, 8 run.

I am using an app from Fitness 22.

[RizzoTheRat]

coyft said:

sas62 said:

Im on week 4.

3 minutes, 2 lots of 5 minutes and finish with 3 minutes.

So far so good but can't say Im looking forward to the 20 minutes with no breaks looming at week 7.

I wouldn't worry because you've got a 20 minute run next week (week 5) on day 3.!
I've just finished week 4, and week 5 looks a but of a jump!

When I did it I found it to be more a psychological jump than a physical one. It turns out that if you can jog for 10 minutes your body is perfectly capable of jogging for 20, but your brain doesn't necessarily agree.

[RickRolled]

Came down with cold / fever for the last few days, so will be a minor set back. Currently on week 2 run 3.

[LordGrover]

How fast is too fast?

Decided it's easier to switch pace on a treadmill at gym, and progress to running outside once I've completed Couch25k.
I know this is going to sound daft, but experimenting with different paces for short 1 minute 'bursts' I've found 15kmh to be about right. I can't maintain it for long at the moment, but stride length, mid-foot landing and tempo feels pretty good.
Am I right thinking this is probably too fast for an old newbie to running?

[Flibble]

That's fairly brisk for a new runner. You'll be doing well if you can maintain that over distance (it's 4 min/km so a 20 min 5k, which is fast). I'd say probably aim for around 10 km/h (30 minute 5k)as a starting point.

[MOBB]

Generally I do the following speeds on the treadmill;

6kph - decent walk
10kph - longer runs, say 20-30 mins. I finish at around 12-13kph for the last km
14-15kph - HIIT training for about a minute each time

FYI I am not a decent runner, parkrun pb 26 mins, currently around 28-29 mins. 2-3 stone overweight

[RizzoTheRat]

If you use parkrun as an example, a lot of new runners are setting themselves the goal of working up to a sub 30min 5km, which will put you about 2/3 of the way down the field at most events. I reckon that's a pretty good target pace for a new runner, and equates to 6 min/km or 10 kph.
15kph is a 20 minute 5k, and would put you in the top 5-10% at most parkruns (or the top 1% at most events last week when it was snowy)

[LordGrover]

Not sure what to do now.
I've been reading the Running Technique ebook (partner website;
click), I can only get the glute and hamstring activation and avoid heelstrike by running fairly fast (for me).
Probably over thinking it. Will experiment more.

[Brainpox]

Onto week 4 now. The psychological challenge is bigger than the physical one I think. After the first 5 min run my legs hurt a bit and my brain was saying I should slow down, but when I kept going it didn't get any worse. I feel like I could do it again right now.

[johnwilliams77]

coyft said:

I just finished week 5 which culminated in a 20 minute run. I thought there must be a mistake in the app as it was quite a jump. Was quite daunted by it, but it wasn’t too bad at all.

It is correct and the fact that most people manage it shows it's right. It is quite a good feeling and the most major milestone, I remember (apart from your first actual 5km!)

[HarryFlatters]

Last week, I managed a 5k with a 3 minute walk in the middle, which is a bit of a cheat but I still feel pretty good about it.

Yesterday, with a bit of a cold, a fairly stressful time before hand because my wife and my mother can't write to each other in actual English, not enough stretching, my earphones running out of power after 700 metres and being hungry, I managed about 2.3k before I had to call it quits.

I know that I'm going to have crap runs from time to time, but that was the worst feeling.

[johnwilliams77]

LordGrover said:

Not sure what to do now.
I've been reading the Running Technique ebook (partner website;
click), I can only get the glute and hamstring activation and avoid heelstrike by running fairly fast (for me).
Probably over thinking it. Will experiment more.

There are a number of drills you can do to encourage this movement. One is heel flicks on an inclined treadmill followed by high heels on the flat. Do this for 45min or so a week and eventually it will become second nature.

[sas62]

sas62 said:

Im on week 4.

3 minutes, 2 lots of 5 minutes and finish with 3 minutes.

So far so good but can't say Im looking forward to the 20 minutes with no breaks looming at week 7.

Got to week 5 on the C25K program (week before last) and didn't stop when I reached the walking stage.

It felt good so I just carried on for 30 minutes (about 4.5k)

I've since done two 5Ks - one at 34:13 and one at 32:50. Must admit that after the first it took about 3 days to recover totally from the aches and pains .

Aim now is to try to get 3 runs in each week and target 30 mins then I may try a park run.

Whoever said on this thread that the longer runs are psychological was totally right. Although I'm out of breath at the end of 5k, I'm not totally shattered.

[Brainpox]

Just finished week 5 where Laura surprises you with a 20 minute run. I feel like her attitude has changed from "I'm here to support you" to "fking get on with it you moany bd"

It went well though. Up until she said there was 2 minutes left and my brain said I should stop, so the last 2 minutes was a bit of a sod but I kept up the pace and got to the end.

I need to train my mind to focus on something else. It's so much easier when I'm not paying attention to what I'm doing. I just struggle to keep that going for more than a couple of minutes at a time. I don't think it helps with Laura interrupting, or the terrible music (especially that "two feet on the ground" song!)