[Mrs Iyer]

I completed week 3 of C25K, and now in week 4. I have tried a few times, but I give up half way and do not get to complete the running plan for week 4.

Has anyone tried C25K before? Any suggestions on how to move past this roadblock?

[MariaMaria]

Many people have tried the C25K, and some of them have finished it. Generally-- slow down. A lot. As in, run slower. A lot slower. And take as many repetitions of a "week" as you need for it to feel okay. Or try shorter intervals-- it's not as if this is the one true way to learn to run or the one and only set of intervals that might work for you.


C25K progresses really, really quickly and especially for heavier people who weren't already engaging in high-impact weight-bearing exercises, is an efficient way to injure yourself.

[Mrs Iyer]

Thank you for the advise MariaMaria. I thought I was the only one who was doing repetitions of a "week", but from your advise, it seems common, and in fact preferable for heavier people. That does lift up my spirits

[MariaMaria]

You're welcome.

Take the time you need. Listen to your body. You'll be okay.

[shanhat81]

My personal C25K rule is this: I cannot move up to the next week until I can sustain the current week's pace for a full 5k without wanting to keel over.

So I've been going for 6 weeks and I'm just about to move up to Week 3. This might not be the best way to go about it, but it's helping me mentally as well as physically, since by the time I'm ready to advance, 20-30 minutes at the next level doesn't seem that daunting. (I am not what one would call enthusiastic or adventurous about exercising.)

[Mrs Iyer]

Hi Shanhat81
I am not sure I understand you, sorry.
When I completed week 3, I ran only 1 mile listening to the half an hour podcast.
How did you plan to run a full 5k in week 3?
Thanks

[philana]

I agree with Maria, you have to really pace yourself. Just keep at it untill you can make it. If not, maybe go back to week 3 for another week?

Is this to be the new c25k thread? I can't find another one anymore! Hihi.

I went up to week 5 last summer, but then I quit. But I am starting back up again, starting at week 2. I am at w2d2 now.

[shanhat81]

Originally Posted by Mrs Iyer

Hi Shanhat81
I am not sure I understand you, sorry.
When I completed week 3, I ran only 1 mile listening to the half an hour podcast.
How did you plan to run a full 5k in week 3?
Thanks

Yeah, I know it's confusing ... but this is the only way I stay mentally engaged.

I'm starting week 3 tomorrow. I'll run the intervals for as long as I can. For week 2, the first day, I got to 30 min doing the walk/run before I pooped out. The next time I did it, I made it 6 minutes longer, and the third time, I did it for 3.1 miles (this took way longer than half an hour, I am SLOW).

I do it every other day, so on Sunday, I'm going to try to do the week 3 intervals for the full 3.1 miles. If I can't, I can't.

But once I *can* do it, and do it in reasonable comfort, I'll move up to week 4. Et cetera.

It's not precisely C25K, but I find that my limit is pretty recognizable, and I'm careful not to push beyond what I can do.

I also have free Wifi in my gym, so I can watch Netflix on my iPhone while I run. It's way too cold to run outside!

[Mrs Iyer]

Got it, thanks shanhat1. Its a tough routine. My hope is that since every week, time of running increases, i should be able to cover a little more distance. (i guess as of now it would kill me to do 5k thrice a week, even if it was only walking )

Hi philana. Good luck with restarting c25k. After getting support from this thread, i paced myself, very slow but i did complete my first run of week 4 two days back! I am new to this forum, so not sure how a thread is considered official for a particular topic. Leave it upto you folks.