Next steps…

[FirstFifty]

Hello, I am looking for a little help. I made it to 10k and ran it twice with the second one on 31st October 2024. Having not run since then the I am now looking to start again and wanted to know what is a good way to do this? Should I go to a certain week in the Couch to 5K and start back from there? Any tips much appreciated.

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10]

Welcome back to the running. I suppose that where you starts from will depend on what you've been doing since your last run, your general fitness etc.

If you've been keeping active, doing lots of walking and fitness related stuff in the last 3 months you'll be starting in a different place to if you spent the winter hibernating, on the sofa, with a handy bowl of soup and a box of chocs (no judgment, it's been grim and we do what we can).

Have a look at the C25K app or similar and have a think about what the runs would feel like. Does a 20 minute run sound too daunting? Or 10 minutes? Or 5 minutes? If even 5 minutes sounds like it'd be a lot start back at the beginning. You can always skip a week or two if it's not challenging enough.

Lots of people on here have completed the whole of C25K more than once. CBDB has done several different programs to get to 5k so you will probably find her posts really helpful.

Looking at your previous posts you found Week 5 difficult so if you don't feel you need to do the whole thing maybe start at week 4? The runs are only 3 or 5 minutes and you can see how you feel. From Week 5 onwards the longest runs increase in bigger steps so, provided that Week 4 went OK you should be able to work through these and get back to 30 minute runs within a month or so.

The main thing is to get back to regular running without injuring yourself so allow yourself to take as long as it takes. Good luck

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to Yesletsgo]

Hello FirstFifty and thx to Yesletsgo for tagging me.

Well done for starting again. I actually have to admit I like it when I have to go back to the C25k journey, as every time I have a set back due to injury or illness, I realise that going back to C25k is still moving forward. And it’s been quite a journey exploring all sorts of alternative plans! See my post at healthunlocked.com/bridgeto... and in the replies I keep up to date how I have found each plan.

I’m currently doing the 6-week Runners World plan, which works well for me but it probably works better for returning runners and fit people, and not complete beginners.

But it sounds like it might be a good option for you.

I do record these runs as audio and music shows (kind of like a music-playlist-podcast), so if you are interested, let me know and I’ll message you directly. It’s completely free to access but might need good streaming reception.

[FirstFifty in reply to CBDB]

Thank you very much for the reply, I think the Runners World Plan could work for me so will start there, really appreciate the support and guidance 🏃‍♀️ if you would be ok to share the accompanying audio and music that would be brilliant.

[FirstFifty in reply to Yesletsgo]

Thank you so much for the help and recommendations really appreciate it 🏃‍♀️

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10]

Thanks CBDB 😁