What is your top tip for first time runners? - Couch to 5K
What is your top tip for first time runners?
Please select one:
Focus on one run at a time, try not to keep thinking about the runs to come focus on the run you are doing
Have a plan and don't give up.
Enjoy it
slow and steady is my running mantra, but my tip will always be ensure you take a rest day in between runs, sometimes even to when you are starting, hell i even do it now, listen to your body it knows best when you should run although when i listen to mine it constantly says feed me with pizza ... damn you body 
Stick with the C25K programme, it's been carefully developed for first time runners and it works. The podcasts /APP are really helpful as it's as if you have your own personal coach running alongside you, encouraging you, as well as giving you some running tips.
And avoid comparing yourself with others. It's a personal journey, and you just want to see your own progress (it doesn't matter how anyone else is doing).
And you never know, in the end you may even come to love it. Be prepared for getting addicted, and make space in your wardrobe for all the additional running kit you may end up buying.
Don't beat yourself up if you can't manage a run, just keep plugging away at it and you'll get there. If you have to repeat a week until you've got it, so be it. It doesn't matter if it takes longer than 9 weeks. It takes as long as it takes.
Make a date with yourself and prioritise running.
You wouldn't let others down so don't let yourself down.
When you first start a run it seems a long road ahead and self doubt creeps in - keep at it for 10 minutes, slow and steady, and your body and breathing will have got into a rhythm and you will feel more comfortable. Also don’t check time and distance - just run!
Believe in yourself - you CAN actually do it!! no matter how unfit you are at the start - you will be amazed at how the programme actually works!!
Slow down! The running action is different from the walking action, so even if you think you are running slower than you walk, that's okay. If running slower means that you can run that little bit further, perhaps to the end of the second minute, then slow down 
Pace comes later. The programme teaches you how to run for 30 minutes.
S-l-o-w d-o-w-n!
As a walker I can fully agree with this. As a regular walker of mid distance walks up to 15 miles. 18 + getting into more long distance I thought when I took a job a relaxing 50 mins walk away I could just jog it. What Is a 45 min when you can walk all day. I will tell you what it is completely unlike walking in any way except you are moving forward. I have covered the same distance each day twice for a year and still managed to jog/run it. Running is not just fast walking. It is a completely different discipline using different muscles.
Great advice 😊
I would have 2, goal and don’t compare.
If you're injured take a appropriate amount of time out to properly heal before starting running again or you'll set yourself back even further.
It would very much depend on who the first time runner is.
I really would have liked to vote for two of equal importance, dont start too fast and take rest days 👍🏼🏃🏻🏃🏻♀️
C25K is an amazing programme - trust it and believe in yourself - you CAN do it!
Use the Android/iPhone Couch to 5K
By Public Health England. Get some bone conduction headphones & a metronome app or spotify running mode where you specify music to match your target steps per minute (e.g. 170 steps/min)
Become aware of the "Toxic 10" or"Toxic 20" rule. Until I found out about that, I thought I was the only person who felt I would never be able to run, given how I felt in the first few minutes of each run in the initial stages!
glasgowlife.org.uk/sport/gl...
Yes to this! I regularly run longer distances now and still never believe it'll feel effortless...but get those first 10 minutes out of the way and it really does!
I would also add to read this forum, it helped me massively, find a running partner if you can with someone who is more motivated than you! Really helpful when you think ‘I can’t do this’. Don’t think I can’t do this!!!! 😀 as you can!! especially if you Just follow the programme and for me I took the rest days and made sure I stretched out before and after! Listen to music it helps distract and it helped me not focus on breathing too much when I would otherwise be obsessed that I can’t breath!!! Lol!!!
I have not long graduated and still not completed 5k in 30 minutes but getting close with each time I venture out! Pace is increasing slowly but hey ho! I can run for 30 minutes now when 11/12 weeks ago I could NOT run 30 seconds!!! Really!!!!
Me too SarahMatt! I couldn't run 30 seconds either! And actually, before I started using the app I thought 3 minutes was going to literally kill me! Haha!
Wholeheartedly agree. I’ve only just completed week 1 but reading this forum is really helping me to believe I can do it. Tx everyone for sharing your thoughts and experiences 👍
I was at a 5K to support a friend a while back and I would say most were beyond 30 mins so that is s missnomer but not something I am going to get hung up on at this stage.
All of the choices were good advice. It does get easier, it's important to listen to your body and have rest days, but I found that having a goal (a charity 5k run) gave me the impetus to get started and keep going. Six months along, I can now run 10k without stopping. I'm so pleased I did this!
Don't compare yourself to others because there is only one you. You can learn from others but not compare. Keep plugging away! It's ok to be disappointed but never ever give up! YOU CAN DO IT! (Yes, I was shouting at the top of my lungs!). I never would have been able to learn how to run without this app. And now, I can say I am enjoying my runs. I am going to continue to run and try to get better at time. If my time doesn't get better, I am still happy that I am running! (and I am not running far so don't think that I am Ms. Marathon or anything like it!)
Perseverance is the key. Once you've completed the program make sure you get yourself to 12 weeks - so that's 9 of C25K then 3 more of your running as a graduate. Once you get past the 12 week mark, your brain accepts this as a habit - and you will find that going out for a run is now part of your routine and life - therefore EASIER!!!
Don't get fooled into thinking because you can run for longer time each week, that it automatically means you can run faster... I kept thinking I should have been faster. Doh!
Learn the difference between what you body tells you and what your doubts tell you - then, listen to your body and ignore your doubts.
Believe in yourself and in the program, it works.
Of course mine is don't start your runs too fast😆... but all are good tips.
Believe in the plan and yourself..You will be able to do it.
goals, goals and ultimate goal.
I find thinking about ultimate goals too stressful. I like to think mini goals such as can I get from 3 to 5 mins? I know sounds silly but for unfit so and so's like me that was mine and now I know I can run for 5 mins, I did this yesterday, can I run 5 mins twice? I think this is more manageable especially for newbies like me. Ultimate goal is like taking a beginner and playing them Rush and saying this is where we are heading. It will scare some. I taught an instrument in a past life so I have seen this in action.
well yea i should have really added that too because i also have my own mini goals and a couple of main goals an ultimate goal for me would be getting down to a certain weight and it has been from the start. the main reason i started really :). now i just love to run! i was the same with c25k. progressing through my days and ultimate goal being the 5k. amazing feeling when you do your first then looking back at your first day and thinking "wow i was unfit" 
I think you can be both fit and unfit. I lead walks and do that you have to have a reasonable fitness but I had got out of the habit of running and found it harder than expected but just completed week 4 so getting there. Is there a place to chart your progress?
i just track everything through strava.
Sounds good. I don't have android phones so count me out of that one
Trust the programme, you might need to repeat a day - or a week - but it will work if you persevere.
Find your comforts
Your heart rate is going to take a few months to come down. Aim to run for longer and slower than faster and shorter. You need time on the road. Run at a pace which is 180 bpm less your age for 80 percent of your training.
That sounds good. I have a naturally ridiculously high heart rate and blood pressure. We are talking trying to give me pills as a teen which I have always declined but hereditary so I am trying to what I can to improve it.
Just take it easy and a run at a time. Realise the 9 weeks/5K is an aspiration, not a hard and fast requirement. Enjoy the process
Dont try to go too fast, stick to the programme and enjoy the journey. Always make sure you take the rest days as you progress you may feel confident enough to run in between but don't your body needs the rest and it will make you stronger when you do run
That the psychology of running is really important on the physical journey of c25k. A positive mental attitude is really helpful and having faith in yourself and the tried and tested programme makes it easier.
Slow, slow, slow! ... at the start and during your run if you're flagging ... or all the way if you need to.
Every Saturday I'm overtaken during the first 500m by new runners and youngsters, inevitably I overtake some of them further along as they're walking and struggling to get their breath. I want to shout 'slow down, check out C25k'!
Thank you Oldfloss for first introducing the mantra to me early on in my running career last spring.
There are specific walking, not running groups, and I can safely say the over 40's are much fitter and quicker than any of the under 40's. They start off walking much quicker as younger but seriously flag by the half way point. One thing I have leant from walking, not talented enough to apply to running yet, is a nice even pace is key. I could put a metronome on my walks but whether I will ever be able to do that running I don't know.
That comes with time. My husband said once I am like a steam train chuffing along!!!!
Maybe, we'll see. I will now have that image in my head when I am running
Get a running buddy
Your legs and lungs adapt at their own rate. Don't try to rush the process - it won't make it happen any quicker but it will put you at risk of injury.
Also, look up Jeff Galloway. His run/walk/run method gets him through marathons - and at a good pace, too!
For me it has been breathing and sorry to harp on about this but I was running 3 mins approx, as that was my limit, walk more and repeat for about 35 mins until I was at my desk shattered. I never tried to do more than 3 mins but after having a few chats in here over the last few weeks I have decided to start taking this seriously and you know when I downloaded the podcasts as mentioned it in here as I am useless with technology. Since this I have now completed weeks 1 to 3 on coach to 5K and at the end of yesterday I timed myself and ran for 5 mins, after a good long break, so this week I am going to try and complete week 4 and see how that goes. I am not trying to do this for a race but just to get to my desk not necessarily quicker but definitely in a smoother less ruffled more elegant manner. There is a much older chap who works in the same building and runs a similar distance and when he stops running you can't even tell he has been running/jogging whatever the correct term is. That is my goal. Also I have thrown out out all the 2:2, 3:3 stuff which gives me a headache and I am just doing my own thing but must be working as 5 mins was definitely a milestone as stupid as I know that sounds especially when I walked 7 miles at the weekend for fun. Being able to breathe in a more relaxed manner has been key but whether that will work in the longer term I don't know so I shall just have to see.
Great advice in here and I have included some serious stuff but something I tell people learning an instrument, and I see similarities:
To quote the philosophers Perry, Cain and Schon "Don't stop believin'
"Toughen up, Princess."
You do not need to quit because your shins ache. If there is something fundamentally wrong with your body, there is a fairly high certainty you would have noticed before now and if there isn't anything fundamentally wrong with you, C25k is not going to cause there to be unless you run into a wall or over a cliff.
Your muscles/bones/knees hurt because you have not done any exercise for so long. Suck it up.
Don’t compare yourself to others. This was the biggest hurdle preventing me from getting out there and ‘trying’ to run before I started this programme. Even down to what I looked like and who I passed. Being able to switch this off and realise that this was MY journey, doing this for me and nobody else was the key to sticking with it. Some people are naturally fast, slim, slower, etc. You’ll never know what you can do if you don’t focus on your journey
On top of the things mentioned in the graph
Slow down.
Chew gum.
You only need to do the run you are doing right now.
Chew gum? Love it!!!!
Gum was the biggest factor in me becoming a runner. Stops your mouth from drying out I also find it's something that helps me meditate while I run. I just focus on keeping the rhythm of my chewing with the rhythm of my little pumping fists and my feet.
The longest journey starts but with one step...
This was tough for me . But having a goal meant I had something to aim for. I knew i didnt have to race , i knew i didnt have to compare to others. But having targets promotes motivation.
Ask yourself do I want to run for 30 mins , do I want to call myself a runner? Just like diets for this to work it has to be a life/ mindset change for always not for 9 weeks . The added bonuses of fitness and feel good factor are well worth the efforts.
I remember walking my usual route to town when I had the most bizarre thought that I felt I wanted to run!! My father was a gymnast and he told me once that for him the best feeling he ever got was knowing that if he felt like it he could show his euphoria by cartwheel down the road or walk on his hands on the beach just because he could. I can’t do that...... BUT now if I wanted to I could run along the beach .
Don’t compare yourself to others, do this because it is for you.
Persevere. The programme pays dividends very early on in terms of fitness and weight loss (if eating healthily and a little less) and your progress is dramatic in a very short period.
Hi,
As a Newbie on the C25k , I have now concluded that my top tip is to engross yourself in all of the information available in the community/forum , Posts , replies, everything, and from that select the vital gems you need for your journey.
It is a continuous learning, building and trialling process.
Put simply and for each stage of your development and from run1, if you can take some gem with you on each run , to try it, and reject it or endorse it, and feed back to the forum,maintain being active,and keep repeating that , you are building your running brain as well as your physical running body.
Lengthy explanation which with more time could be more concise,
but this process and tool is my top tip.👍👏👏
Really glad I have found this community.🌟
Talk to your self and if you cant slowdown you running to fast
The mistake I made was not stretching after first runs. Once I started doing that the aches and pains eased right off. Now i look forward to my next run as soon as I'm finished - W3, R2
Don't be nervous, go out there and do it. Stick your earphones on, zone out and enjoy the run. It's always a satisfying feeling to reach the end of a run.
And BELIEVE in yourself
It may sound like management speak but...embrace the process and the results will come
The answer to almost every struggle/challenge is "slow down".
