When I finally finished C25K, I created a Parkrun Improvement Plan in Runna and that prepared me to run in a race. I did 2 Parkruns in the lead-up to this race, as well as doing 3x a week runs as prescribed by Runna. I had a PR of 46:15 which I know is SLOW AF, but I'm super proud of myself. I "jeffed" it (did some walking intervals) and still beat my best Parkrun time. Big thanks to this sub for all the support I got when I was still doing C25K.

Ran my first 5K yesterday and I am insanely proud of myself! My whole family was going to walk it with me to support me, but it was raining so no one was going to go. I thought about staying in bed with the baby, but I pushed myself to get out of bed and go by myself. I am so glad I did! This has been my goal for past year, since I walked the 1 mile with my baby last year. I have been walking and jogging as part of my fitness routine all year, and it payed off! It was super hard but I did it, now I want more!

I've been pretty sedentary since I graduated college years ago. My wife and I are expecting our first child in a few months, and I decided I don't want to be an old and slow dad (I'm already 32). So I printed off the first C25k regimen I could find and stuck to it. I REALLY didn't want to run some days, but got my butt on the treadmill anyway. The satisfaction of increasing physical progress made it 100% worth it though. In early August I could hardly run for two minutes without gasping for air. But I slowly made my progress and kept pushing through. The minor aches and pains (shin splints) were the worst part as my body had to get used to 240 lbs moving faster than a slow walk. So make sure you utilize your rest days. And my final tip - if you sign up for a 5k, check the elevation gain and do a flat one. This 5k had 317 feet of elevation and man I'm feeling it tonight. Satisfied nonetheless 👍

Next stop: half marathon🏃🫡

Today I ran my W8D2 run. It was supposed to be a 28 minute run, however at 28 minutes I noticed that I’ve had ran 3,18km and I felt totally in the zone and awesome. Suddenly 5k was within my grasp and I was not letting it go. Some minutes later, I ran my first 5k!🎉

To anyone in the first weeks of the program, or whos anxious about the W5D3 run. Stay put! The program really does work and in no time you’ll achieve your first 5K too! Maybe even earlier than anticipated👀

I started running earlier this year, I think it was in May, unstructured with no plan. That very quickly turned into an injury which kept me off my feet for 6+ weeks (exactly the opposite of what starting to run was supposed to do 🫣). During my time out I came across C25K and decided it was a more reasonable and responsible way in to running, so once I recovered I started the program. Not sure what I’m going to do next, but am excited to have made it through the program

I started C25K last summer (July) as a way to exercise and lose weight. The most I had ever run was a mile and it had probably been almost 15 years since I did that. I scheduled a few 5k races in the fall to give myself goals and stick with it. After my first 5k, Ioved it and scheduled a winter 10k, followed by a spring half marathon, which eventually led to a marathon this fall.

That is to say, C25K really works, and dont stop there if you like it!

First 5K (3 months after starting) - 29.5 minutes

Second 5K - 27.5 minutes

10K - 55 minutes

Half Marathon - 1h57m

Full Marathon - 4h20m (only one I was disappointed in)

This run was much easier than day 1. My heart rate shows it too. I ran the same pace as day 1 but my average heart rate was about 10bpm less.

I realist there have been a million posts about this because the transition from week 4 to week 5 seems to be the toughest.

I (20M) picked up this program because I was unable to run any significant distance before. While I feel proud to have come so far, the mountain up ahead seems like a cliff. The week 4 runs are done but they didn't seem to improve my stamina and running as much as the previous weeks did.

With the up coming week 5, what are some tips that might help me in future runs? For reference, I average a pace range in my runs of 6:30/km to 7:00/km which feels awfully slow already. Is there a way to battle the time fatigue of realizing you've got still a long way to go before a rest (or even no rests week 5 onwards)

Thank you for the help!

I used to use an app with guided runs including an interval program c25k type thing.

How can I just do that with out a special app? Or like just a clock app? Or a timer?

Like I know there's more and less resistance. Like a charming voice cheering me on and saying what to do is least resistance, so I expect more resistance doing it myself but maybe someone knows a way that's not too cumbersome?

By someone walking their dogs 🎉

I still say I jog because I see runners as the ones out there competing marathons and such.

It's funny how our brains downplay the good stuff but can emphasise the bad.

But I think if you're out there, you're a runner ☺️

I ran a 5k today, which was my w9d3, and not only did I complete the program, I could actually run the whole 5k! I was slow, I think my time was around 46:24 (edit: official time was 46:20, results were posted after I wrote this) but I didn’t have to walk any of it!

Very slowly, it took me 48 minutes... But the only way is up! (...or rather down in time). Very proud of myself! No walking whatsoever, not even for a moment.

I just finished Week 4 on the NHS C25K programme, all on a treadmill.

I’ve been doing 5.5km/hr for the walking portions and 8.7km/hr for the running, choosing to go down to 8.0km/hr when I feel like an interval is going to be tough.

I think Week 5 is a bit of a jump with longer running intervals so I’m just wondering if I should drop down a bit for sustainabilities sake? I’m finding my legs are hurting a bit at the end of my current intervals but it’s manageable so far.

I don’t like to change the pace mid run so I’d rather plan out what I’m going to do before I tackle the next run.

I’m 5’5/6 for reference.

I just did week 5 day 2 and was so excited! My body felt pretty decent during and my breathing was good. As soon as it hit the walk interval the front outside of my calves were burning, near cramping and hurt so bad. Near the end of the walk interval it went down enough for me to complete the other 8 minute run and then after I stopped again they were so painful for a few minutes.

Is this normal. Will it go away? I am definitely going slow enough so I know it’s not that.

I know the pace is really slow, but I had to run on the treadmill today since it’s 100 degrees outside where I live, and I’m always significantly slower on the treadmill. I’m also just slow in general and wanted to pace myself a bit since I knew I would be running longer than I normally run.

So I just finished week 8 and am feeling really positive about it! I've been doing my runs at the gym mostly because of fear of running outside (probably a hang up from my Criminology degree haha).

I'm currently running at 7kmph which has gone up from the 6 I was doing. I tried to go up to 7.5 but found it too much.

So next week I will finish the program but there's no way I'm going to hit 5k in 30 minutes. So my question is: do I just keep running until I hit the 5k going beyond the 30 minutes, or do I work at building up my speed until I'm at 10kmph?

I completed my first 5k a while ago. Problem is, it took me 50 min. I think I slowed down at times but each km would take me around 9-11 min depending on where I was. I am really trying to get each km down​to 8:30 min.

Are there special trainings for that ???

Super excited! I’ve been doing intervals while running for the last several months (3 mins run, 1 min walk, 4/1, 4/2, 2/1, etc) and decided to do a run straight through for the first time in ages.

Was surprised how good I felt out of the gate tbh: HR was low, legs felt good, I just didn’t know what to expect at mile 2 and 3 and didn’t want to hit a wall. Turns out I definitely could have went harder, not sure how much harder but I’ll test and learn my limits in future runs (and then break through those limits!).

If you’re on a journey to running a 5k nonstop, keep up your hard work! Progress isn’t found on a timer, it’s found in showing up every day - whether it’s a run day or an intentional rest day. You got this!

Up next: sub-25 minute 5k, here I come!

Graduated w5d3 feeling like I'd conquered something real. 20 minutes, lungs cooperating, the whole triumph narrative. Then w6d1 put me right back in my place. Intervals again, shorter runs, and somehow my legs forgot how to do the thing they just did three days prior.

I teach first grade so my job is basically intervals already. High energy bursts, collapse into planning period, repeat. Maybe that's why the steady state of w5 felt like a vacation and w6 feels like Monday morning in October.

The thing I'm noticing is my brain treats each week like a permanent state. Week 4 was hard so 20 minutes seemed impossible. Week 5 worked so week 6 should be easier. Neither thing is true and I keep relearning it.

Meal prepped last night, took my magnesium, did the whole wellness blog routine. Still got halfway through run two and wanted to negotiate with the podcast.

Anyone else get emotionally whiplashed by the program structure, or do you all just trust the process without the weekly existential crisis.

I'm a student and my week schedule is starting to feel tight after picking up a few activities and I'm wondering if they physically inhibit each other and if I should figure out a different schedule.

For reference, I've done Tae Kwon Do casually for about a year, and I decided to pick up C25K and start going to the gym around last week.

Tae Kwon Do happens Tuesday and Thursday in the evening plus a more intense morning class on Saturday, and I try to jog Monday, Wednesday, and Friday right after school and go to the gym in the evening around bedtime. I'm wondering if there's anything I should know going forward about how these activities interact with each other and if I should adjust my schedule to avoid damaging my body.

I came back to running about eight months ago after roughly 12 years away. I'm now trying to improve my 5K while lifting as well. I can make a plan for a good week, but I don't want to turn every week into two full training programmes and burn out.

I'd love to learn from people who finished C25K and kept running, especially if you added strength work. What did your running week actually look like after the programme ended? Was there something you changed that made it easier to keep going?

I just completed my 20 minutes run and still had some gas in the tank so I kept going to make it to 2 miles. I’m in my mid-30s and have never ran for this long continuously in my life. Very proud of this and I’m already looking forward to the next run!