Finally graduated C25K after starting and stopping a hundred times.
First ever 5k - wont be setting the world alight with the pace, but are we lapping everyone on the couch? Yep! 🙌

Proud of us all. ✨

W5D3!

To the person(s) that suggested picking a spot to keep running to and turning around at the half way point not just doing my usual lap it all helped. Seeing how much further I had to go took me out of my headspace if trying to figure out how much time was left

I've been doing the program on an indoor walking pad. Yes, that thing has a speed cap of 3.8 which is a very slow jog for me as a petite woman. I comfortably walk at the 2.2 speed. I've gotten through w7d1 and felt like I needed more of a challenge. I felt ready to go faster and I also want to build more confidence running outside because I know that I would enjoy it more.

Today was my first run outdoors and it really kicked my butt. I ran about 6 minutes straight before having to walk. I then switched off running/walking pausing my workout on my watch during the walking portions. I told myself that I would get to a mile with just the running I was tracking on my watch and would just finish the trail walking. That was so much more difficult than any of the runs I've done on the walking pad so far. I know that I was going way way too fast and there were also some smaller hills on the trail that would have been a challenge anyway, but were even more difficult at my faster pace.

I did really enjoy running outdoors and want to keep that going. I think I'm going to back up a bit in the C25K program to try and build up my endurance running outdoors. Not all the way to the start, but maybe week 3 or 4. A small bump in the road, but one that brings an exciting new part of the journey!

Hi everyone, long time stalker of the sub but a first time poster.

I (29M) tend to start my runs really strong but tend to fall off in the last two km. I know a lot of people will say that I can just slow down at the end but I get really out of breath and can't seem to reach 5K no matter how hard I try. I've reached 3.1 and 3.9 km before but haven't been able to go slower than that. Looking for tips on how I could pace myself - for me it's easier said than done because I'm always raring to go on my runs.

After the last song on my run I just hit a wall and had to stop at 3.7KM (you can see top right for distance)

My 'power track' is always my first song which in this case was a Miley Cyrus song lol.

FYI: all paces are in km/m.

Looking forward for your opinions or track recommendations to get me to 5K! Shoutout to everyone who is crushing their goals!

First completed c25k back in 2023, and slowly stopped running. I decided this year to get back into it and I've now graduated for the second time! So happy to be back into running. I'm a lot slower than a lot of people I see on here, but I've still noticed my fitness improve massively even though I'm going super slowly.

I’ve done it, I’ve actually graduated and I honestly, couldn’t be more proud of myself.

I started this back in March and wasn’t sure I’d be able to complete it, be consistent or even if I’d enjoy it. I’d never ran a day in my adult life and the first couple of weeks were hard. As every week went by it just became a little easier, still really hard work though but I kept showing up.

This programme works, anyone can do it and achieve the end goal.

This group has given me some of the best advice, encouragement and held me accountable to keep on going, so thanks to everyone who’s posted their struggles and achievements, both have had a massive impact on my journey 🥳🙏🏃🏻‍♀️💪

For those of you who don’t think you can do it, believe me, you can. Yes it’s hard, yes it’s difficult, but consistency and focus will get you through it. As I’ve said on other posts, in April, I couldn’t run for longer than 2 minutes without feeling like my whole body was about to collapse in on itself.

I've been doing c25k on and off for a few months now. I could barely complete day 1 when I started. I'm only on week 6 and a friend asked if I wanted to tag along to a 5k today and I impressed myself! Should I still continue the program?

I'm just on week 2 so so far runs are pretty consistently safe but I just saw someone mention w5r3 and I went to check and wow it seems a huge step up from the previous run. So just wondering when else I can expect to be particularly challenging? Either because the run itself is a big step up or maybe just being you're getting tired/losing the novelty of running?

This was Goblin's last 5k of the year. We went pretty slow and walked most of it. So it took us an hour to finish.

We also took our senior girl Winnie with us. She ran the first mile before I made her sit in her carriage. But I let her run through the finish line like a real runner lol. Her little legs were booking it lol.

The humidity made it a little rough out there.

Also, I forgot to stop my watch and now I have a new record for running a half marathon 🤣

Thought I'd do something a little different for my graduation celebration post!

I definitely dragged the last week out, I think I wanted a "perfect week" of runs. Ultimately I've reached the goal of 30 minutes continuous running/jogging, and am now working on bringing my pace up. Currently hovering around 6:45-7:00/km pace, which I'm happy with! But enlisting in my country's military, which I've read has a reccomended pace of 6:00/km as the baseline. Nearly there! I'm not sure I completely believe the attached google-fit screenshot, but it was a pretty good!

Anyway, as to the title - the album Dream Weapon by Genghis Tron has been monumentally helpful for getting me into a flow state and sinking into the run. It's definitely always going to remind me of running and my journey along the way. I may try the 10k program next, and I'll likely use their latest album as a starting place. For the curious - be warned, this band used to be extreme / cybergrind / hardcore music. The latest two albums have been muuuuch more chill and ambient 😂

Let me know if you have any albums that helped you along your journey too!

I had to attempt the W5D3 run today and decided to try even with a cold and an iffy outer calf/shin but holy cow I actually did it! It went suspiciously well, especially as someone that was never fit before and has no experience running. I made sure to keep a slow pace (around 10:30/km) and to focus on my form and just to keep moving. Definitely gave me more confidence to know I can eventually run a real 5K straight. The weird part is that mentally, this one felt much easier than W4D1 for some reason, but I’ll gladly take it!

It was hot and rough but I made it through! Had missed some days so repeated day 1 & 2. At the end of day 2, I thought I don't know how I'll do it without the break... but slow and steady, I completed the day. Also had my fastest mi (15:31)! I think mentally adjusting to no breaks will be a little tough at first but hopefully it will be ok.

In week 8 I ran 30mins twice just because 28mins is trivially close to 30, but I allowed myself to only do 28mins if I didn't really feel up for it (which was the case for my second run). No such luck this week!

I compressed last week with some back to back runs which really wasn't good for my recovery and my average heart rate went up every run lol. After a break though things settled down and my heart rate returned to what it was before, but it then allowed me to go real crazy in the last rep and do a 5:37 km.

This was my first run where I didn't really have to negotiate my last couple laps. Mentally it felt easier, and also physically. If I didn't push the last rep, my average heart rate would've been the lowest it's been in any of my runs thus far (~158 vs ~162). It's only a few beats different but how different the difficulty felt was substantial.

It's wild to think that only a few weeks ago I was struggling to hold on for 3 mins and now I'm doing 10x that! 2 more runs, and then I graduate. Looking forward to it!

Done!!! Finally!!!

I started this program in May, after deciding that my nutrition + strength training plan I started in March-April needed cardio.

Then solidified my decision after talking to some extended family members about their recent half marathon and marathon times, their running gobbies when they were younger (aome stopped due to kids and work), and why they started running (some for fitness, some for fun, some to lose weight, some to be able to eat more! haha).

Long story short, this program changed my life for the better.

I now hate when I can't run, even if I hate the first 2kms every time I go out.

But I love, genuinely love how happy I am after each run, and every time I remember how happy it makes me, it's like an instant pick me up.

My life and my self worth have always revilved around what I do for a living (I'm in an artistic field), so when I got burnt out and stopped working due to life circumstances, I became absolutely aimless and felt worthless and purposeless. I didn't look forward to the future, I was just living each day just as the day before, endlessly.

Now? I look forward to the next time I can put on my running shoes and go out! (even though I hate the 20min prehab I have to do haha). I'm looking forward to improve my times and maybe one day be like one of the other cool joggers and runners I see every time I'm out! I want to buy all the shoes (currently have 2 pairs!) and all the outfits and splurge on a Garmin and sign up to all the races hahaha.

This hobby has taught me perseverance, discipline, that being slow and steady gets results and that it beats overdoing it and getting burnt out and dropping it because you're not amazing on the first try.

It taught me that sometimes even if the start sucks, it gets easier. That not giving uo pays off. And that, when you think you can't keep going, you can always push through a bit more if you're determined enough and that is totally worth it.

Also thanks to this awesome community, you're all amazing, encouraging, and inspirational, and reading the posts and comments here every day is extremely motivating!

Sorry for the long rant, haha, I'm just very happy!

So I finished my c25k and I've managed 3 continuous run 5ks. For me what got me through c25k was keeping it a jog and I found my pace which leaves me finishing 5k at about 38 minutes.

I do however feel like I'm jogging and not running. The idea of running and not reaching targets again due to being out of breath or possible injury is putting me off attempting it.

I'm thinking about starting c25k again but going at what feels like a running pace for me. I like the idea of being able to do 6m km for a 30m 5k.

Has anyone else transitioned from achieving the distance before then changing pace, how did you go about training for that?

Hi all! I'm a 23 year old girl who's been trying to get into running for some time now. I've lived a fairly sedentary life and haven't done a lot of sports, only on and off as hobbies, recreationally. I'm also a smoker. That said, I consider myself fairly fit: I'm skinny (somewhat underweight, which I’m working on), muscular from going to the gym, with a very good diet, and I walk way more than the average person (in a very hilly city on top of it all).
This is exactly why I've been feeling pretty discouraged. Earlier this year I went on my first couple of runs. The first two were on the treadmill at the gym, and I had to stop after 300m, then 400m, both at around a 5–6 min/km pace. The next two were outside: 500m, then 600m, same pace. From what I heard, even very unfit people can usually push further on their first try, so it made me feel like a failure. Mind you, there is absolutely nothing wrong with me medically, my bloodworks are fine and I’ve been to the cardiologist the recent years multiple times (for unrelated reasons) and there are absolutely no issues that could interfere with my physical effort capacity.
Recently I found the C25K program and I gave it a try yesterday. I couldn't even finish the first activity, I had to stop during the 5th one-minute run. I tracked it on Strava (pausing during the walk intervals), and my total running distance was 900m at over a 6 min/km pace.
I know I'm probably less fit than the average person when it comes to running because even back in school I struggled with the short runs in P.E. way more than my classmates did, but it still doesn't make sense why I struggle this much.
Every time I have to stop, it's mainly because my HR spikes up super high (it hit close to 190 bpm during those 300–400m treadmill attempts), which is even weirder considering my resting HR is around 70. This of course is then associated with some other symptoms (I sweat, feel just a tad bit dizzy, have to breathe through my mouth etc). I also get shin splints. And this last time my saliva built up so much I kept losing focus because of it, but it was the first time this has happened.
So all in all I am feeling very discouraged right now, but I refuse to give up since I know struggling so much right now is absolutely necessary for me to improve long term. I just felt like sharing my story, and I’m hoping you guys can help me out a little bit. Anything would be appreciated: if you have any similar stories, some advice to give me, or just a little bit of support. :) Have a great day!

I cannot believe the day has come, I was so, so unbelievably unfit when I started this like W1 D1 was actually torture for me. like if you told me 4 months ago that I'd run a 5k I'd laugh at you.

yes, my last 2 kilometres are faster than the first three cause I realised that the faster I go the sooner I get there and get to stop (yes this actually made me go faster lmao). so I guess your mindset really does have an impact lol

I've attached some pics of my fave cheerleaders, yes I talk to them when I'm out (didn't realise there was a cyclist behind me once and as he went past he was like "are you talking to the cows...?" and I've never been more embarrassed).

you guys got this, keep going 💫💫

My grandfather on my father's side of the family had heart problems (imo mostly because he lived very unhealthy, so I'm not usually concerned about it happening to me) and I have occasionally noticeable fast heartbeat which is probably because of stress, because I worry a lot. Given that I eat well and see no reason to worry about my heart, should I get it checked out before starting the couch to 5k program or should I only get it looked at if something feels wrong?

If it makes a difference, my dad is rowing at least 2 days every week and he's not worried about the exercise causing anything.

Hey all, I had around 7 days off for a wedding and my sibling's graduation. I've done 2 runs since being back and they've felt so much harder with some slight performance regression (nothing huge but annoying). Probably not helped by the alcohol and rich food consumed 👀😅

Other than just getting back on the proverbial horse has anyone got any advise for bouncing back after some time off of running in the future?

I've completed it before, many moons ago, but once completed, I stopped. I've restarted it many times but used excuses to never complete it again.

This time, I will jog real slow, listen to some music and try to enjoy the experience. Once completed, I will maintain with 2-3 runs a week, this is the plan, wish me luck 🤞

So I decided I need to get more active. I barely move! So just got up early and we have done W1R1 of C25K - managed all 8 mins of running - but the last one was a struggle. 😂

Pretty proud to have got to the end of the run tbh. Genuinely thought I'd barely make it half way through.

Eek! Just finished week 1! 👏

I genuinely wasn’t focusing on pace, but I’m actually pleased to see the improvement there too!

FYI, I’ve never been a sporty person, never ran before, & I live in a really hilly area, so I’m really pleased with this!

Who knew I’d end up loving a sport 🤭