I have had a couple of people say that the 15 minute run in the 'Time' version of the plan is a little too short - that they have barely warmed up before it is finished.
I feel that this is a good point! I would like to make sure that everyone has warmed up sufficiently, particularly if you are going to run faster intervals within the session.
With that in mind I would like to suggest that we increase the time of this run from 15 minutes to 25 minutes.
I'd love it if you could help me out by responding to these three questions in the comments below. No judgements will be made, I'm just interested to know what you think, and value your input into making this plan better for everyone πππ
Q1. Do you think 15 minutes is too short a time for a run?
Q2. Do you include (as with C25K) a 5 minute warm up walk before your run, and a 5 minute cool down walk after the run?
Q3. If you are doing the 5 minute walks, are they included within the planned run? So, for example for a 15 minute run you're walking for 5, running for 5, walking for 5? Or are they separate? So, again for the 15 minute example, you would be walking for 5, running for 15, walking for 5.
I'm thinking that even if some of you would prefer to keep the 15 minute runs, we can vary the walking intervals to accommodate either 15 minute or 25 minute runs.
So in the diagram I've put three suggestions:
β Top one has a 5 minute walk, followed by a gentle 15 minute run, then another 5 minute walk - total 25 minutes moving time, but with only 15 minutes running.
β Middle one is also 25 minutes in total, but has a 5 minute faster (not all-out fast though!) interval after a 10 minute gentle run.
β At the bottom we have the two 5 minute walks, and the 10 minute warm up gentle run, before going into the 30-20-10 intervals we discussed on Monday. These are followed by a cool-down walk, so the total moving time is actually 35 minutes, but with 25 minutes running.
There are other ways of organising these runs, but I hope you get my drift! With the combination of 5 minutes walking followed by 10 minutes gentle running, you should be warm enough to attempt the faster intervals.
Over to you π
roseabi xx
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roseabi
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I don't usually do timed runs so questions 1 and 2 don't apply to me. On question 3 you have answered a question I asked myself after my first interval attempt last week, namely a 10 minute jog before starting the intervals seems like a really good plan. Thanks.π
I do the 15 mins as a run and add the walking at the beginning and end over and above this time. I am challenge myself by doing it up a decent hill for half of the time. Is this an ok plan ?
Greetings Roseabi i don't use the timed runs either but i still do a 5 minute warm up and at least a 5 minute cool down, sometimes longer if i vary the route and end up 15 mins walk from my starting point . It's a habit from the C25K i did in November/December last year and it works for me so i stick with it. So it's stretching then the 5 min warm up then whatever the run is, my next one tomorrow is the 6k one, then the walk cool down depending where i end up followed by more stretching. Hope that helps a little,
I always do 5 min walk before and after..... but also do joints warm up pre the walk....and stretches and/or yoga post run.
I have a rule of at least a 3k run..... its a thing I have about things being tidy and planned π€ͺπ€ͺπ€ͺ. Time is irrelevant but its going to be at least 25 mins for me as Im slow.
If I am doing intervals I start the run section with a steady jog for 10mins, then intervals to complete a full 30 mins running......
Q1 - Iβve always run to distance nowadays, and I donβt often run less than 4k.
Q2 - I do a warm up walk of about 5 minutes as well as a cool down walk. The cool down can be quite a bit longer, depending on the weather and how much time I have!
Q3 - The walks donβt count towards the run distance/time. Itβs a habit from my C25K days last summer. π Iβm looking forward to revisiting C25K in some form for my runniversary in June. β€οΈ
After reading your post I went out for my run today and considered your questions.
I only wanted to do a a short run today as had not run for a week. (Mr first break since starting C25K) and only looked at the time when I got back.
It was 20 mins
I always still do a 5 min warm up walk, and finish with a cool down walk, but this is usually about 3 mins as my runs always finish at the base of my hill. I live about half way up a steep hill.
My warm up and cool down are in addition to the running time.
I graduated in March but still struggle to get past running for 30 mins which is why I am trying your timed plan.
My runs usually take me along the beach and up and down hills.
Today was glorious, but Is a there a graceful way to run along the beach? πππΌββοΈ
Hi! Thank you for the detailed response, very useful. Looks like the time plan works pretty well for you - the 15 minutes will become 20 later in the plan anyway.
And it sounds like you have a lovely place to run! I'm not sure about running gracefully on a beach... I live by a beach too, but it's shingle so any run on that is going to be far shorter than 15 minutes π
Thanks for this discussion, Roseabi. I am doing Magic 10 by time, so the 15 minutes is very relevant for me. I always do warm up & cool down walks outside the run time - at least 5 minutes each. And I found 15 minutes quite short as βjust a runβ. So this week I used it to try to pick up speed but found that hard to judge/implement. The coming week I was planning something like your middle option above, which would feel more structured (and therefore better) to me. If that feels ok, I would probably enjoy trying to build up to your option 3. I enjoy the slow runs, but always chuckle at how many folks on here think they are slow when they are a good bit less slow than I am. π
I bridged using distance rather than time, but looking at the time version now, the Run 3 times look very similar to my times for the various distances in the same weeks. So reading across to Run 1, I would have thought the times equivalent to 2.5k / 3k / 3.5k for the first 3 weeks might have been 15/18/21 mins, before settling on 25 mins for weeks 4-8. If you start at 25, you've nowhere to go subsequently.
Wrt the specific questions:
Q1 - At the start of the magic programme, 15 mins fits with the "not more than 10% increase per week" rule (which works, so stick with it). At any other time, it's probably a bit short relative to the faffing/recovery time required before and after a run. But that said, I sometimes used to do "once round the block" in about 9 minutes when running used to be an occasional kneejerk reaction to feeling unfit, i.e. in the days before Dexy5 got off the couch and we started running regularly together. And if 15 mins includes a couple of hard sets of 30-20-10 reps, it can be more than enough!
Q2 - Before yes, the said Dexy insists we do it due to her C25K conditioning. Afterwards, usually only by dint of walking home after the obligatory coffee and cake .
Q3 - No, I wouldn't count warming up or cooling down as counting towards a time or distance target.
Thanks! Regarding the 10% rule, I'll answer you and Dexy5 both in this comment. If the plan starts with 25 min, 30 min, 35 min runs and then in Week 2 has 25 min, 30 min, 39 min, the increase in running time from Week 1 to Week 2 is actually a little less than it is in the current plan with the 15 minute runs. People finish the C25K programme by running for 30 minutes three times a week, so having the shortest run of the Magic Plan at 25 minutes would only mean that the Magic Runners are running for the same amount of time per week as they were as C25K graduates.
I run by time, I am using the nhs speed podcast for the short run. I think running time on that is about 16 minutes of intervals. I also do the 5 min warm up and cool down walks taking the total to 26 minutes. The walks shouldn't count, only the run time. This works well for me.
Hi Roseabi , when doing the magic plan I loved stepping back to a 2.5k. It reminded me how far Iβd come since I ran a minute in c25k. It also allowed the increase in the long run to stay in the 10% rule. The short run also reminds you that a run doesnβt have to get in the way of life. Even a run around the block is a run..
Hi there, having gone through C25k I treated 15 mins as the run part, for building up speed, plus added a 5 min warm up and warm down at each end. So yes 25mins if you count it that way. Just tell people all run times are running times and you should add 5 minutes at each wand for warm up and warm down. That emphasises the separateness and the importance of the WU and WD.
Itβs a great plan! Please donβt complicate it!
I have no wish to complicate the plan, but I would like to place more emphasis on the importance of warming up well before attempting speed intervals. I expected to find that most people are doing the warm up walk before they run, but I would like to see a decent amount of jogging before the fast runs. I suspect the way to go will be to make sure people are aware of this, and suggest the intervals should be run during the longer runs rather than the shortest one π
Hi again, I just read something else here about the 15 mins being good because it also βgives permissionβ for shorter runs. Agree entirely, well said whoever, lost it now, esp when on C25k we were often told that we had to keep going and not give up before 30. Excellent Roseabi, thanks for that too, I needed that permission!!
Surely not intervals (working on speed) as part of the long run (working on endurance)?
When I did intervals for one of the 4k runs on my bridge, I did a 1k jog, 2 sets of 5 30:20:10s with a 500m jog between the sets, and 500m to take me to 4k in 25 mins total (not counting the warmup walk). After that, it was about all I could do to crawl home . No way I could have done that as part of a long run while I was building distance.
I'd say it's OK to push the last k or 2 of the long run if you're feeling good, but would definitely not suggest intervals. Sorry β¦...
Hi roseabi, I think having a 15 minutes run gives people permission to do a short run! If people want to add a few minutes there's nothing to stop them, but if someone needs to run less after a longer run, then they don't have to feel guilty if you see what I mean?
I usually run by distance, but I don't include the warm-up and down walks as part of the running time
Anyway, q1 No,
q2 yes,
Q3 no, warmups are separate. (And timing for cool down walk varies enormously, but always do stretches)
Iβm with plodplod on this. We are talking about one week on an 8 week plan not a regular run and I think juju got it right when she set the times for this timed plan. By the time people start this they should have done 3 weeks running on their own, and not be including walking time time in their running plan , even though they are doing a warm up.
My query is whether the timed plan to suit those who thought they couldnβt reach 5k is bringing people in too early, instead of having a gap between c25k and b210k where you become more confident and less reliant on a plan with detailed instructions. π€
I am going by distance so is slightly longer but even at 15 minutes running itβs still 25 minutes of exercise and it is after all a recovery run following the long run. I like the fact that itβs short as it feels like a reward after the long run 2 days before. If I want to stretch myself I will try and up the pace a bit (but overall, not intervals as I hate intervals they play havoc with my breathing).
Q1. Not really. If you add the 5 minutes for warm up and cool down it's ok.
Q2. Yes. It's important for me. To warm up and prepare for running after a long sitting work day ... and cooling down and not just stopping.
Q3. The 5 minute walks are always separate.
Just a note: For the 15 minutes runs I sometimes do the C25K+ SPEED. It brings some variety to the 15 minutes runs every second week or so. Depends how I'm feeling on that day.
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