Question for C25K Finishers (Read 1055 times)

I've been running just over a year now, I did c25k in the designated 9 weeks, but my 5k time was 38min the first time around. i havent done once since, but i know i'm a LITTLE bit faster now. but i still like to stay at an 11min/,ile pace usually. i just wanted to finish it without stopping, which i did however, now when i go out, i usually always walk for about 3 minutes evey time i hit a mile (or sometimes a little less). i'm not so concerned about the not walking thing anymore...it used to bother me, but its not a big deal - please dont feel likeyou HAVE to conform to something everyone else does. thats how you get hurt and that will definitely slow any of your progress down dramatically! so maybe you should drop the marathon thoughts for a very long time - you will be no where near ready for quite a while.

Uh, Slaptear, if you can already run 5k in 27 to 28 minutes, I think you're ready right now for the race, lol! Some of us will never be that fast.

It makes to of us, I think you're pretty fast for a newbie I finished C25K in March, I didn't feel the need to repeat any of the sessions. In the end I wasn't able to go as far as 5K in 30 mins. The fastest I have done 5K is 34 mins, I think...I am getting faster bit by bit, however I really enjoy my slow pace. The beauty is in the journey, for me

Hi! I'm another Canadian 'Meg' (born in Ottawa, raised in Montreal) though I've been living in the states for several years. I finished C25K in March of 2006. It took me 10 weeks because I repeated week 5 (the 20 minute run on W5D3 got me). At the end of the program, I could run the full 30 minutes without walking, but I didnt get quite 3 miles. My first 3-mile times were in the 36 minute range. In the two years between then and now, I've built up my running to about 30-35 mpw, although I've been somewhat inconsistent with my training. I don't enter a lot of races (trying to change that) and I've never run a chip-timed 5K, but at a 4-mile race I ran a couple weeks ago, my 5k split was about 28:55.

I began the C25K program in mid-December of 2007 and finished it at the end of February 2008, if I remember correctly. I did not repeat any weeks and I actually considered week 9 to sort of be the first week that I was on my own, rather than the last week of the program. I did start the program after taking aerobics classes 3x per week for the previous 6 months, so I had somewhat of an aerobic base. I ran my first 5K in mid-February during week 8 of C25K and finished in 32:03. I ran my second 5K on March 16th (not quite a month after finishing the program) and finished in 28:19. I haven't run another 5K since (they sort of seem to be out of season down here); however, I did compete in a triathlon in May and my run time split was similar to my March race pace... and this is after a swim and a bike portion... so I'm sure I've improved even more. I include fartlek runs in my training now as well as long runs. Mileage per run varies from 2 miles all the way up to 8 miles. I try my best to get in 15 to 20 miles per week. I can't wait to run another 5K this fall! Keep up the great work everyone! I spread the C25K word to everyone I know who is interested in running. ETA: There is one thing that I wanted to highlight that I learned after completing C25K as the result of doing more running research: I desperately needed to slow my pace down in order to continue to build an endurance base. When I was doing C25K, I was trying to maintain between a 9:30 and 10 min/mile pace all the time. When I started building mileage and tried to maintain that same pace, I ended up with a hip injury that sidelined me to using only the elliptical for 2 weeks. When I was able to return to running, I slowed MOST of my runs down to an 11 to 12 min/mile pace (except for fartlek work) and THAT's when I dropped the nearly 4 minutes off of my 5K time! I still do most of my runs at an easy pace (which these days means between 10 min/mile and 11 min/mile) and only speed-up during fartlek or tempo runs. Just some food for thought.

I just finished Week 6 Day 3 of the C2K5 today. I started in Mid April. I started very very out of shape, and found even the 90 second runs challenging initially. However, I was willing to do the program as written, going for time, not distance, and I never had to repeat a single day--in fact, since I've been running 4-5 days a week lately, I got ahead in the program. I've been consistently amazed as each week is accomplished, that it's actually possible. This program is practically flawless in its ability to build endurance and confidence--perfect for new runners. I was terrified I wouldn't be able to do that 20 minute run at the end of Week 5, but I did because I took it slow. Having said that, I finally met my maker in week 6 when I noticed my slow pace and decided to try going for distance instead. Week 6 Day 2 was flawless and comfortable (2 miles separated by .25 miles walking.) I got overexcited and cocky. I ran 3 days in a row over Memorial Day weekend, and on Week 6, Day 3, which was supposed to be 2.25 miles, I completely lost all steam and ended up stumbling in at 1.7 miles, well below my distance goal. I could not go on. I wasn't even jogging at the end, I was staggering and limping. (I pushed myself to do at least the time goal of 25 minutes, but I was going for distance, not time.) I learned a huge lesson about pacing and about burnout, and took a day off to rest and do some strength training exercises. I went on the track today quite discouraged but willing to attempt Week 6, Day 3 a second time. Went very, very slow, and it was intense... but I made the 2.25 miles distance goal (and blew past the time goal by 9 minutes.) I could have gone on a bit. The next week is supposed to be 2.5 miles every day. I think from here on out I'll probably be able to continue as long as I keep my pace slow. The program is definitely intended to be time OR distance, not both. I'm getting a lot more of a challenge going for distance vs. time. I personally think the program is completely doable and very well designed as long as you don't push yourself ahead too far. I encountered no problems whatsoever until the program stopped the walking/running intervals and jumped right into the running nonstop. I'm keeping up with the program but running 15 minute miles. It still feels like a victory though.

I'm 2 weeks away from being done with the C25K program and have repeated only Week 7. The leap from 8 minutes of running to 20 minutes killed me, and I took my time the next week building up to the no walking requirement. Even when I walked, though, I kept a pretty quick pace, though it was comfortable for me. Now, I'm running 25-28 minutes straight at around a 10 min/mile pace.

Hallo, I started my C25K in January 2007, I was running on time, so I'm not so sure whether I did the 5 km on 30 min. What I do remember is how hard the first weeks were (afterwards I realized that I was just running far too fast). Then after finishing it, I kept adding 10% volume every second week, did a few 10k-15k races, in autumn 2007 did my first HM, in March 2008 my second one, and right now I'm running 80km/week while finishing the preparation for my first marathon in 3 weeks from now And yes, following the C25K was one of my best decisions in the last years. Running just makes me feel soooo goood