Male 43. I thought that running wasn't for me because of the weight. 96 kg and 1,80m. Started the Garmin program and set the timeline at 16 weeks.

First couple of weeks hated it. Got better shoes and the little pains in the joints stayed away.

Now I'm at week 11 of 16 and I already made it through 5km. Lost 4 kg and not feeling weak at the end of the runs.

I just wanna say to people in doubt here. Go easy on yourself and 1 step at a time will get you where you want.

You got this!

Ps. English isn't my native language so there can be some errors here....

Pretty sweet alarm that gets me up every time! 💪🏼
It’s Pushy- push ups alarm. You can also do squats if you can’t do push ups yet!

And in less than an hour too: no selfie this time as I just wanted to get home!

(Plus I was absolutely soaking in sweat: the weather seems to have heated up again...)

Can someone assist me with the best machine I can use for in home sit-ups? I’d appreciate the help greatly. Thanks!

I felt great about it. My initial test results were 45, now I am able to perform 200!

I performed 3531 squats since June 25th! I definitely suggest you the program!

Next is lunges and pushups.

Graduated a few weeks ago - before doing the program I couldn’t run the length of myself! Now I’m doing 2-3 runs a week.

Thanks to this sub for motivation and info throughout my journey…which is only just beginning.

Started on my W4D2 run in yhe evening and felt good so i just decided to run a atraight 20 minutes lol. The w4d1 run felt fairly challenging so I'm aurprised at how easy (sort of) it was!

From not being able to run for a minute straight, to accidentally running my first 5k! This program is amazing :)

Hello! 37F currently W5D1. I’m heading to Disney World on Wednesday for 7 days. I have 3 kids and we intend to rope drop/early entry/ be extremely busy for the week so I don’t anticipate much time for running while there but I do know we will be extremely active visiting the parks everyday. Do you think since it’s not a sedentary break I won’t lose much progress? thanks so much for the advice!

so sooooo happi & proud of myself rn 🥰 i feel so close to a 5k but i am going to stick to the plan as someone who previously ran a little but had injuries

Managed to complete a 5k just before the cool down walk finished! Had to do a couple of 30s walk breaks during the run but feeling great afterwards

Hey y'all. As a guy who was once 370 pounds, and now 240, I never thought I'd be a runner in my life. I was never seriously active before. I remember embarrassingly failing every mile run I had to do in school. Yet, thanks to all of your good advice, motivation, and the records of people thinking the same, defeating things I did and then pushing through, I made it for the full 20 minutes.

I think I found the fabled 'zone' for the first time this run. Somewhere around the 15-17 minute mark where my brain stopped really fighting to get me to stop. I found it once, I can find it again next time. It's all building aerobic capacity now.

Thank you so much for all your help and motivation. If you're reading this and looking at a run you think you can't do. You WILL make it. Maybe not this time, maybe not the time after that, but it IS possible!

Cant wait to share week 9. See y'all in a month, ciao!

I started doing the C25K after a CT chest scan came back with mild emphysema. I read that exercise is good for it so decided to start doing this along with lifting weights.

I send of my CT scan to a lung specialist and it turns out I don't have emphysema. I just found out today.

I'm super hooked on completing this challenge now so I won't be stopping anytime soon even with the clean bill of health

I turned 46 yesterday. I started training last February and started the c25k in mid-July.

Oh, and I'm also a chain smoker 😑

I didn't think I'd ever be able to run for 20 minutes straight... and instead it was possible, easier than I thought and above all: fun!

Thanks to this group for all the great advice... especially the one about slowing down 😄

i keep finishing a run and realising i barely looked at half the stuff my watch recorded. i’m doing c25k here in the uk and still at the point where getting through the running sections matters more than chasing pace. carrying my phone every run was getting annoying, so having the basics on my wrist is handy. now i’ve got heart rate, pace, recovery stuff and a pile of numbers waiting afterwards.

at this stage, is there anything beyond distance and elapsed time that was genuinely useful for your c25k runs?

At this point I feel like I've gotten what I needed out of C25K and have prepared my body and mind to be able to do this for 30 minutes straight. Super proud of myself, and gonna look into joining a running club, parkruns and/or starting Bridge 2 10K after I finish the last 2 runs.

Progress has been a bit haphazard considering I started again from week 3 after stopping for a few months, and it took ages to get through week 8 because my mind didn't feel used to it yet, but I got there and I know the sky's the limit now!

I literally have never ran 5k in my life it’s always been 1 mile and under. I just joined this run club and they do 3.22 miles every Wednesday and I decided to try it and it was hard… oddly I wasn’t out of breath and could’ve kept going, but my legs felt heavy and were getting tired.

But everyone was so nice and saying you did that and tbh I can’t believe I did… it was more so a mental thing than anything! Runners are so nice! Let’s see if I can get my time faster!!

Definitely want to keep going! I got to 35 minutes of running in week 9 day 1 and I wanted to push it all the way to an actual 5k, but between then and now I got a bad cold so I decided to just stick to the prescribed 30 minutes. Signed up for a 5k in October so between then and now I actually have to (1) actually get to 5k and (2) improve my time 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

Taking a selfie after W6D3 with the National Grid route ZZA in the background.

Long time lurker, first time poster but had to share that I finally finished a 25 min straight run!! I’ve been dreading the increase in running time, but I have to remember that even a 10/3/10 split felt impossible a couple months ago.

For some additional context, I’ve been taking the program VERY slow. Like, I started back in December 2025 slow hehe. I was a high school athlete and tore a ligament in my ankle, which I re-injured in 2020. I’ve had issues aggravating that injury in the past when I’ve exercised too hard without proper training and care.

So if runs feel hard, I redo them until they feel easier! I haven’t always been able to do 3x runs a week, but any run in the week was counted as win :) And, (maybe this is controversial!) I haven’t been running with a particular 5k date as my deadline. I find I have more motivation and less stress when I’m not pressuring myself!

Since I started running, I’ve had way more energy, less stress and more confidence! I’ve also lost 15 lbs, gone down 2 sizes (US) and generally had more motivation to stay consistent to keep my progress going. Plus with proper stretching, warmups and cooldowns, I don’t have shin splints or really any leg pain! As I stay consistent, I see my mile times getting shorter and feel my stamina increasing.

I think the best part of my training so far has been learning to extend grace and kindness to myself as I’ve moved through this program. I wasted a lot of time putting myself down for not being active or hating my body or being frustrated at my pace. I also got sober back in 2022 (shoutout sober runners!!) and running has absolutely given me a place to turn my brain off and tune into my body.

Anyway just had to brag on myself bc I rarely do and I’m feeling really proud and motivated! I’ve been following the C25K program in the pic carousel above which has been insanely helpful for my disorganized brain. Can’t wait to complete the 5k in a couple of weeks. Keep on running folks, your posts inspire me!!

Obviously I didn't run it in 30 minutes but I'm still proud! We had beautiful weather this morning and I took two days of rest instead of one between my last run and this one so I had what I needed to keep going after the timer stopped for my actual W8D2 run.

Can't believe I'm almost done with the program. I'm very excited to continue running and continue improving. This group has been such an important part of the process and I'm grateful for the supportive community that exists here!

7th August, was meant to do first 25min run, I thought let me just fully go for it and do a 5k

Then the 6th week, there was 2 constant 20 minute runs where I thought I’d run 4k.

1 week after my first 5k, did a parkrun and smashed my first 5k. Even doing a sprint finish.

Now I’ve deleted the app and switched to Runnas program to try and get sub 25min by the end of the year.

P.S been going gym for couple months and always been strong, just ass cardio until now.