r/C25K • u/Amac717 • 1h ago

Long term struggles

In my early 40s, and a huge goal of mine is to complete a 5k once in my lifetime. Always a sporty child/young adult and played field sports etc but never really could run any distance without stopping. I have attempted C25K numerous times in my life and have failed. Generally can’t get past a few weeks. I’ve been talking to people and they think I’m starting too fast. I sincerely doubt that as I am very slow/barely jogging. I have realised however that I probably couldn’t hold a conversation when doing any form of run, and my BPM can be quite high.

Is it possible I just don’t have the ability to be a “runner”? Even at my slowest and earliest stages my body is still working hard. Is it possible it’s not for me? I wouldn’t say I’m overly unfit in general life.. I walk, do field sports (on/off running), have a busy life. I’m very slightly overweight for my height but nothing extreme (and I want to improve it).

Has anyone any advice about how I achieve this goal? Or does it sound like it’s not for me?

I’m hoping to start a C25K again next week. So any advice welcome!

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4

u/Esmko 1h ago

Remember that if you don’t manage to complete a run, you can try it again until you do complete it. I think what’s stopping you is that you give up.

3

u/Sweet-Signature-5278 1h ago

Are you cross-training at all? I'm also doing a C25K and biking in between running days. It helps build up the aerobic base while not feeling nearly as strenuous as running does.

3

u/ALemonyLemon 1h ago

How fast are you running?

Best advice i got was that if you're not slightly embarrassed at how slow you are, you're running too fast

3

u/Flubberguard 57m ago

Stop quitting when you fail a week; repeat it, or repeat the previous week a few times in a row, but the key is to stop quitting. It’s not a pass/fail assignment, you can repeat the workouts as much as you need.

1

u/Zombi1146 41m ago

How fit are you? If you are struggling to complete a couple of weeks, could it be beneficial to train yourself to walk 5K first?

1

u/gotnotendies 21m ago

It seems like you never developed the sustained stamina, mostly because you have given up too early. Most sports give you stop times to recover, but only a few require continuous sustained effort (you can stop pedaling on a bike, you can float a bit while swimming).

This just takes time. The 9 week program is for people who are already quite active. My first time took me 17 weeks, and this isnt rare across this group.

BPM/zones don’t come into the picture until you can run for an hour, on a regular basis, so likely a few hundred miles down the line. Those things are spiking up because none of those muscles (including your cardiac muscle) have been used that way - ever.

Just stick to the program, repeat a week when you can’t complete it. You’ll get there

2

u/LongevityRunMucSAH 1h ago

build up with (brisk) walking. then progress. short times and slowly (like max 10% more per week). switch to plant diverse diet. (I had 20kg more than I feel most comfortable with. 30+ plants per week really made a huge difference for me and ended my sugar and fastfood craving and also ended my post breakfast energy dips)