I am a late 40 something newbie to running who started C25k in the new year after a bit of a health wake up call and graduated in March.
I had never been a runner at any point in my life and honestly, I thought the programme would be a difficult chore. Certainly 5 k was an impossible fantasy. When I finished the programme, I thought I'd keep doing my regular 30 min runs and that would be OK.. I never thought I would want to run 10k.
3 months or so in, I am finding that it is good to find new ways of mixing it up and different goals to keep me motivated. My run lengths seem to be naturally drifting upwards (surprisingly, it was nearly 9k yesterday) and I wonder whether I should just go for it and get to the 10k distance (though part of me definitely wants to get faster too!)
What do you all like about the longer distance? Why did you step it up?
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Graduate10
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Well done on graduating and reaching nearly 9k. General guidance says after c25k increase runs by 10% a week to reach 10k and avoid injury. Look at the pinned post here for ju ju’s 10k plan. It mixes up run lengths 3 a week reaching 10k. I love running different distances setting myself monthly distance targets so that every run counts. April was my longest month at just over 140k in total although I’m doing loads of cycling now so aiming for about 100k in June. Happy running 🤗
I was so surprised I had managed 30 min, that i thought I shouldn't stop there and try 5k. Then I wanted to consolidate 5k and run a bit faster, and part of the training required running longer, so I thought, maybe I could get to 10k and that's it, then I can focus on faster, now I'm training for a half marathon, I managed to run the distance a couple if weeks ago but I want to continue with the training to be able to finish a bit more comfortably. The motivation had always been the surprise of being able to complete the previous distance. I'm close to 40 and hadn't run in my life before I started c25k one year ago, so I'm just continuously surprised that I can make it in terms of speed, I have improved and I'm much more comfortable doing 5 and 10k now, so I that also helps with the motivation
I think that may be on the path I am on (though not sure about half marathons!). But yes, it is that feeling of surprise and curiousity about what is possible!
Well done on completing C25K and reaching 9K. How long have you been consolidating after C25K? If it hasn't been long, I would take it easy trying to get to 10K. Maybe complete juju's 10K plan. The reason for the note of caution is to prevent injury, I speak from personal experience having injured myself numerous times.
The thing I love about running longer distances is mapping out my runs and trying new routes.
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in terms of speed, I have improved and I'm much more comfortable doing 5 and 10k now, so I that also helps with the motivation
Should I attempt a 10k race on a hot day?
Where do I go from here?
Managed my first 10k today, what time should I be doing it in?
That was strange but I do like a plan
Here we go! Chasing the 10k dream 
