I am feeling great, although very tired. I'm 52M and before starting C25K I hadn't done any 'proper' exercise for 20 years or so, other than walking the dog. Each week I look at what's to come and wonder how the hell I'm going to do this. Well, I've just finished week 5.

I decided to mix it up by doing the 20 minute run on an old railway line which is now a nature trail. Ten minutes out, then turned around at the midway prompt. I think mentally that helped. It also helped that I was having to concentrate on picking a path to avoid the worst of the mud and jumping over puddles where required. Stopped me thinking about how long I had left to go.

To all of you thinking that you can't get through this, you definitely can. Keep going 😃

I really enjoyed week 7 run 1 and felt fine afterwards

I see a lot about staying in zone 2 and 3 but my entire run was in 4 and 5.

Do I need to slow down here?

Thanks and keep going!

Week 4 has been a battle of the mind rather than of the body - which is awesome bc I needed some mental challenges if I want to take my running further once C25K is over!

Day 1 was awesome, but I was nervous as hell for it after a hard W3D3 run.

Day 2 was the best run, smiling the whole time.

Day 3 was today. Woken up at 2:00 by period, woke up again at 5:00 and didn't get back to sleep. Woke up to a stressful text from a client and felt anxious as hell and hormonal the entire morning. The entire time, the run was non negotiable, even when my wife told me to take a rest day, I said "no, I am going to go slow, just because my uterus hurts, doesn't mean my legs can't move". I went slow, it was hard. I sweated more, I felt more exhausted. But I didn't hurt myself and I didn't stop. Mental challenge complete! Still feel like shit, but proud of myself for what I did, even on an objectively shit mental health day! I needed this win so freaking bad.

Hey all!

I’ve started C25K multiple times over the past few years, and every time I had to stop for one reason or another (surgery, pregnancy, postpartum, life in general…) But this summer, I finally made it through the whole program. 🥹 Around the halfway point, I even signed up for my first ever 5K race, which is this Sunday.

I have a pretty demanding life, and I also deal with generalized anxiety and CPTSD. For what it’s worth, running (and just being in my body in general) has been incredibly helpful for my mental health. But this past week has been rough. Like, probably the roughest I’ve felt in the past year. My energy and motivation have been really low, and I can absolutely feel it in my runs.

On Monday, I somehow managed to run 35 minutes continuously for the first time ever, even though the run felt hard. Today was my last run before the race, and I only managed 17.5 minutes running, 5 minutes walking, then another 8 minutes running. I know logically that one bad run doesn’t erase all my progress… but emotionally, it’s hard not to feel discouraged when I’m still nowhere near actually running 5K continuously.

So… any advice, race-day tips, or words of encouragement for a very anxious first-time racer this Sunday? 😭 I think I mostly need someone to remind me that I haven’t completely lost all my progress in one week. 😂

I finally did the dreaded W4D1 after procrastinating for 2 days, and I feel sooooo good, I went at a lower pace, I usually run ~8/km but today I did 9.5/km and I feel so good, it was a little just a little bit of an effort but I still did it. Dare I say I'm looking forward to W4R2. Thank you all for your advice of going slower it turly helped a lot

My second post today, but I gotta ask this. WOOF.

During my PMS phase, I usually get what I affectionately call my braxton hix prior to my period as my warning cramps. Since starting C25K, my braxton hix have been more persistent, started earlier and were more noticable. Started my period this morning, first one since properly running (I had a period during W1 I think, but I was power walking daily at the time so the 1 min intervals didn't really feel much and they didn't trigger anything).

My periods aren't the WORST, but they're not the best either. Normally though, max dose of ibuprofen, heating pad and we're off to the races with almost no pain. Today though, I have been taking painkillers all day and am stuck to my heating pad and the pain is still strong enough to be distracting.

I have never had any issues looked into, nor has a doctor ever told me I should, but obviously I know period cramps being triggered or worsening during running can happen to women with PCOS and other conditions. I'm not asking for a diagnosis, but have any other seemingly healthy ladies dealt with this? I thought the cliche was that exercise makes period pain better rather than worse wahhhhhh

It took a couple of resets and some backtracking but I finally did it... when I started week 8 I thought it would take ages to get used to, but thanks to some free interval runs, week 8 and week 9 started to feel much easier.

I've been doing this all on a treadmill at 1% incline so I'm writing down my next goals to keep myself accountable:

• Bump incline up to 2% on my 30 minute sessions to better simulate outdoor runs
• Complete some outdoor runs either on my own or with the local running club
• Do a parkrun
• Try and complete Bridge to 10K if time permits, might be slow but totally worth it to increase my 5K pace!
• Try and keep my monthly mileage to AT LEAST 1km a day, so roughly 30km a month. Ideally I want to try and smash 42km (a full marathon!) every month

Thanks to everyone here who helped keep me motivated and gave advice, and good luck to anyone who is just starting out or is in the middle of the program. You're all legends.

First run of week 5 completed. Calling it a mental battle is an understatement! Please tell me it gets easier by the 3rd run, otherwise I may not be able to progress past this point🥹

Hardest run by far and the first time getting a stitch (any advice on avoiding future ones?)

Shocked that I was able to run 5 minutes without stopping twice

Today I completed w3d3. I’m excited and a bit intimidated getting to the longer runs, but am also so proud of what I’ve accomplished so far. I had zero running experience pre c25k, and honestly thought I would never run, but always wanted to.

I have to say that finding, and joining, this group has been such a crucial piece of the puzzle for me! I so appreciate the encouragement and kind words this community has to offer. It’s so motivating to read about the journeys and experiences of others. And the advice has been super helpful.

So… thanks everyone! Keep going!

Before the summer I had been following a coach to 5k programm. I was almost at the end, in fact I just checked and my last run was 4,7km, I was doing good and enjoying it but unfortunately I had to stop (not related to injury). I am able to start running again and I’m wondering if I should start where I left off, should I start over? It’s been almost 3 months and I have been somewhat active but nothing regular… what do you guys think? Thanks!

Result of a breakup: Couch to 10k 😁

So the thing is I have never been able to push through 2k in one go run, generally I run 200 meters then some walk and so on for 5k. Can It still be called 5k??

insights

Howdy!

I’m in central Texas, and it’s HOT out here. It was 95 when I ran today at 5pm. Not ideal to run at that time but I had no other option. I usually try to run early in the AM or in the evening for this reason. Even during those “cooler” times it’s still about 85-90ish degrees. Anyways, what would be the best way to carry water? I don’t wanna get a vest when I’m only running in such short intervals. Up to this point I’ve just been carrying a water bottle while I run.

I just completed w5d1, and I’m pretty sure I have the physical ability to do d3 this week. However, I know my mind is my biggest enemy, so what are your best mental tips/hacks for the first 20 min run?

I started couch to 5k 3 weeks ago and I was loving it. I usually strength strain and do a mix of Pilates and yoga so was completely new to running, but I was really enjoying it.

On my week 2 run 1, I did something to my knee and it’s been sore for over a week now. I’ve been told by my GP that I have runners knee and to rest it until the pain is gone as it’s quite bad when I’m walking and going up and down stairs. I’ve then been advised to work on strengthening my muscles alongside running and to basically take it easy.

I feel so disheartened and upset because I feel like everytime I try and improve my physical fitness, I have some form of set back.

Has anyone else had this issue? How long did it take before you were back running, and how did you avoid injuries in the future?

I feel absolutely gutted that I’m 2 weeks in and already injured!

I have been extremely busy the last 4-5 months. Was working from home. Have reached my highest weight till date but now I have the next 4 months comparatively free. I’m planning to train hard, take better care of myself and start running for real this time. I am manifesting me running a 5k by the end of this year. Giving myself 16 weeks to do it. Hope this keeps me motivated and I come back to it when I complete my 5k.

Last February I (46F) started exercising again after... at least 10 years? A colleague of mine convinced me to try "metabolic walking": 1 hour of power walking with 2 or 3 intervals of running (3 or 4 minutes each) and 3 intervals of exercises like squats, abs, upper body, or lunges, and of course an initial warm-up and final stretching. It was very challenging at first, but now I'm mastering it with commitment but without struggling. We have a great trainer, and I love walking to crappy dance music 😂

Around mid-July, I started c25k because I knew the classes would stop in August and I didn't want to stop training completely, but next week the metabolic walking classes will start again. I usually train like this 2 or 3 times a week (if there are two, I add a full-body strength workout).

I'm on week 7 of the c25k plan, and it's going pretty well, with no injuries so far, and I'll definitely switch to a 10k plan in the future. Discovering that I love running was the best surprise this year!

So... I'd really like to continue both activities: could metabolic walking be my workout on non-running days?

TIA and sorry for possible errors, English is not my first language

I'm pretty sure I walk faster than I can run. I rarely see anyone this slow even on this subreddit. I have just completed W8D1 and my pace was 11-12 min / km and avg heart rate 156. I'm worried I am doing something wrong to be this slow so late in the program. Should I push myself to go faster?