[xxkaleidoscopic]

I'm thinking of starting C25K, and I'm looking for advice. I'm not a very good runner, as I am severely out of practice; I do a mile in just under twelve minutes, or maybe a bit more. It's been awhile.

Thing is, I'm planning to do this on the treadmill, using the treadmill plan. I know it says to run and walk for certain amounts of time, but on a treadmill, what speeds do you run and walk at? Did anyone else do this on the treadmill?

[josey]

I just finished C25K and I am bridging to 10k now. I have never been a runner in my life!
I am on the treadmill too and used the normal plan/iphone app. I only recently saw there is a treadmill plan :-)

Speed totally depends on what you feel comfortable with. They say a brisk walk and run at a speed where you can still talk. For me it is 5.5km/h walking and 7km/h running. But that is personal preference. I just tried it out. If the first workout is hard but not impossible I would say go for it! You can increase speed later. I never thought it is important so I am going for distance (10k now) rather than higher speed now.

Just go for it and you will be fine. I thought the program is very well laid out. It was always challenging but not even close to impossible.

One tip I found incredible helpful: "Focus on your breathing, your legs can run on their own" It helped me so much and I still follow it. Relax, breathe, run!

[xxkaleidoscopic]

Thanks for the advice! I will work on my breathing. I am asthmatic (though I haven't had a serious attack in almost two years), so that's a challenge for me, but that's what inhalers are for, haha.

[brillmama2]

Do whatever speed you can maintqin if you push to fast you may not be able to complete the workout....
I walk at 3.8mp
I change my run .. my begining few intervals are 6mph then I go up to around 7.5 in the middle of the workout then fall back down to around 6 for my last few intervals.... hopefully as I do more my speed increases...

[kariatari]

I've done it on a treadmill once. I just went with whatever speed felt comfortable. I didn't usually keep it at a certain speed the entire time. If I felt I was getting tired, I would bump the speed down to whatever I thought I needed to ensure that I could finish the intervals. If it was too easy, I'd bump it up a little. At this point, there's no need to push yourself to run fast because the the important thing right now is just building time. You can work on running faster once you're comfortable with running for longer periods of time.

Another piece of advice for you is to make sure that you're running at at least a 1.0-1.5 incline. That will help mimic the feel of running on pavement more closely because running outside has more resistance than running on a treadmill because the treadmill actually helps propel you along. Adding an incline will help you exert the same effort as running on pavement.

One last thing to keep in mind is that if you plan on running any 5k road races, you should probably try to get out on the pavement to do some runs to get a feel for it. Don't be surprised if it feels like it's harder to get through runs on pavement than it is on a treadmill.

Good luck with the program - it's a great one!

[twinmommaplusone]

I started running on the treadmill as it was Winter in 2010 and I could barely run 1 minute....then just three minutes and so on and so forth!

Then 4hrs and 50min for a Marathon!

Keep going and Super Happy for you!

I think the tready is a great way to learn too cause it does offer some cushion to your step. a little bit harder when you hit the road cause push off is different but for cardiovascular endurance that little bit makes no difference!

I remember my pace about 5.3-5.7 on the treadmill depending on how I felt.