I started doing the C25K program a few months ago in preparation for my first 5K race today. It was a lung cancer race, which was really personal for me since my grandma, whom I was really close to, passed away from the disease earlier this year.

Unfortunately, I sort of fell off the program in the last few weeks, since I've been working about 80 hours a week for the past month or so. I thought about not going at all, but I figured what the heck - it's a beautiful day, so even if I can't run the whole way, at least I'll still be getting out and doing something good for myself.

I started with the runners, but got passed pretty quickly since I was trying to stick with my slow and steady pace. Then I got passed by the walkers, the woman with the stroller and a group of the actual lung cancer survivors who were there to walk... I jogged for the first two miles and then walked for about 10 minutes before picking it up again for the end of the race.

My total time was 52:45, which was slower than I'd hoped for (I think I was actually the last runner to finish), but I'm still pretty excited for myself for finishing at all. Plus, I jogged for 42 minutes total - how crazy is that?! Two months ago I could barely jog for 3 minutes at a time!

There's another race in the park across the street from my house coming up in November, so I'm thinking I might try to finish the C25K program in time for that one. Thanks all for listening - I'm so excited at how far I've come!

Great job! You should be proud that you actually went even though you had fallen off the wagon with your training - and I think it's great that you are thinking ahead to the November race - I say go for it!

thats fantastic!! well done !! good for you on finishing the 5k!!

Way to go! I cant wait to do that myself!

That is FANTASTIC! Think about this...every 5K you do you can now concentrate on improving your time! 52 min this one. Shoot for 50 min the next one... Then keep on shooting for lower times! Eventually you'll be doing them in 30 min!!

Congrats! That's great that you did the race! I hope to be able to do a 5k someday as well.

Bravo!

Awesome!! Way to go!! Be proud of yourself!!!!

CONGRATS!!! That is so awesome! You should def be proud of yourself!!! Keep us posted on how the next one goes.

Yay! That is a great accomplishment. Keep it up. We are proud of your hard work!

WHAT an amazing accomplishment! I WISH I could run for almost an hour. When i hit 5 minutes on my treadmill I find that an accomplishment. lol.

BRAVO to you!! Keep up the wonderful work.

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I wanted to check back in and let you all know how my 2nd 5K went

After my first race back in September, I kept up with my running, finishing the C25K program on 10/20, running a 5K every Sunday (except for one) and then restarting the C25K program focusing on getting my speed up.

I did my 2nd 5K race today and it started off really bad. I need to work on warming up better - I had definitely been standing around for about 10 minutes when the starting gun went off. Then, within the first 1/4 mile, the course went up - I kid you not - a 35+ degree hill that just about killed me.

I wound up walking more than I would have liked to recover, but I was still able to run most of it. I was mentally preparing myself for my times to be even slower than my first race, but as I came around the corner at the 3 mile mark, I heard the volunteers yelling that we were at 47 minutes! I sprinted to the end and finished in 48:18, nothing to write home about, I know, but still almost 5 minutes faster than a month ago

Other highlights -

1. I wasn't the last person to finish!
2. I passed the people with the stroller this time (granted, they were ahead of me for most of the race...)

Basically, I'm completely excited and can't wait to keep training to see what I'm really capable of. I'm thinking about doing a sprint triathlon next summer, but I've got a lot of work to do before then. For now, my mini goal is just to get down to 45 minutes by the end of November.

GREAT job! keep going and keep striving to do better and better each time! you must be really proud of yourself! I can't wait to hear about your NEXT 5K!!

That's fantastic! Keep up the great work. It is always inspiring to hear about the success stories here at 3FC!

Congrats! 5 minutes faster is a big accomplishment!

woooohoooo! I usually do a lap down a parking lot or something to warm up, it helps IMMENSELY! Keep moving before the race, jump up and down while you're standing there waiting, that's what I do.

Good luck reaching your mini-goal! Soon you'll be doing 10Ks!!!