Just graduated, what next?

[Headspace1st]

Just wanted to say hi, I just graduated this morning. I’m not sure where I want to go from C25K but as I haven’t actually run 5k yet, I think my first goal should be trying to do 5K, in fact my run today was just very shy of 4K so it is achievable. Should I just keep doing week 9 runs until i get a better distance or should I gradually increase the minutes run and achieve it that way? I suppose it is better to do what’s right for me and my circumstances. I run before work and find i’m up against time getting out and back in time to get ready, so maybe stick to 30 minutes and see how my distance improves over a week or two?

[DylanTheRabbit Graduate10]

Congratulations! The most sensible thing to do first is consolidate, which means doing your thirty minute run for a few weeks without pushing to go faster.

After that you can think about extending your time and distance (which is what I did) or trying to go faster.

There's usually a consolidating club post over on the C25K forum if that helps.

Happy running 👍🏼

[damienair Administrator]

First of all congratulations on graduating. My advice is the just get used to running for 30 minutes or for 5K for a couple of months to build up your running legs. Try a parkrun, they are amazing. Great way to kick off the weekend. Oh and most importantly, enjoy it.

[Rennur Graduate10]

I did 3 weeks of Consolidation in November last year. I think at least 4 or more would have been better. I am slower than you but got to 5K, then 5K, then 10K, then 15K ( over 6 or 7 months.) Then I did 10K fun run. Then I did too much and got injured. Back up to 6K again now on the comeback trail. Ju Ju's Magic Plan might be something to look at for sometime in the New Year after Consolidation. You do one short, one medium and one longer run (eventually) each week. You can do time ( to 60 minutes) then switch to the Plan to 10K. Or you can just do whatever you want ( just don't overtrain too soon.) You may start enjoying running more by slowing down. Don't go for PBs all the time - maybe just once a fortnight. Have fun.

[Never_too_old 60minGraduate]

Congratulations! Lots of advice on here. I'd just say once you've consolidated, don't push yourself too hard and enjoy.

[Hidden]

Congrats!

I myself consolidated on the 30 minutes for several weeks and only then started to increase on my distance for my weekend run. I added 5 minutes to my weekend run every other week until I reached 60 minutes. Then I kept increasing my long weekend runs until I reached 10K. Then I increased my week runs to 5K.

I recently kept increasing my weekend runs until only this past weekend I reached 10 miles. But that is a one timer, because now I am going back to 10K for my weekend runs. I might do another 10 miler one day, but not immediately. 10K is a nice distance for me to do in the weekend.

This all was done over the course of about 1 year. And just for your information, but even though I now ran a ten miler, my 5K time is about 43 minutes. I will never get to 30 minutes for 5K 😉

[Headspace1st in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for the info on the time, I didn’t think I was overly slow, just at a steady pace, so I won’t compare myself to others, just keep at what works for me 👍🏻

[Oldgirlruns Graduate10]

Welcome to the Bridge Headspace1st! There’s already loads of good advice in the responses to your post, as you’d expect on this amazing forum! And in some ways you’ve already answered your own question. I would suggest you simply decide what you’d like to do, longer time/further distance etc then go for it. For myself, I did 3 weeks of 3 x 30 minute runs as consolidation - for the first few of them I took my C25K coach with me but found after a while that I was confident enough to go it alone! I then extended my distance until I was able to run 5k without stopping to walk at all. I did that for a bit then started ju-ju’s magic plan which got me to 10k - you’ll find the link to that in the pinned posts here on the Bridge. Take a look at it because it could be just what you’re after. But whatever you do, keep posting because the support you’ll find here is amazing!

[Headspace1st in reply to Oldgirlruns]

Thank you, I feel like if I don’t have a plan I’ll lose my way a bit and I really want to build on what I’ve accomplished, I’ve already seen ju-ju’s magic plan, but I’ll follow advice and consolidate first for a few weeks, maybe until the new year, then start to push towards new goals

[Oldgirlruns Graduate10 in reply to Headspace1st]

That’s very true and exactly how I felt - I needed ju-ju’s plan because otherwise I would have drifted. Whatever you choose to do, enjoy yourself!

[nowster Graduate10]

The important thing to remember is not to push yourself harder at this stage.

Your muscles and metabolism have developed but the rest of your body has not. Pushing at this point would risk sprains, etc.

Get used to doing 30 minute runs for a few weeks. Explore new routes.

Then after a few weeks you can gradually extend your range. I would not recommend trying to pick up speed at this stage. Keep it relaxed.

[Headspace1st in reply to nowster]

👍 thank you, will do!