needing advice. Im starting the c25k on monday but wondered how many days a week you do it , is it one day on one off so 4 times a week?

[roydh]

[nomoresloth Graduate]

Hey there,

each week has 3 runs and there should be one rest day between the runs. I, for example, run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Then I have two days off and start again on Tuesday (I did it that way during the program and still do it now after graduation).

I hope this helped you to answer your question If you still need to know more, feel free to ask. There are always nice community members around who like to help you.

Good luck for the start of your journey

[roydh in reply to nomoresloth]

Thankyou for the advice I did wonder about the 2 days off bit but if thats the plan I will go with it

[Beek Graduate]

Hi roydh! Welcome to this wonderful, friendly, comical community where you can drop in for all the advice and support you will need to get you through this fantastic programme! WELL DONE YOU for setting out on the journey, which will be life changing for you.

The best advice I took was to approach each and every run slow and steady so that you will not become over tired and disappoint your self with your performance.

You have to expect that there may be days when things do not turn out too well. We've all had rubbish runs. So what? Just put it behind you. Forget about it and move on - you never know, your next run may be perfect.

Listen to your body. If it is too much your body will complain and you may injure yourself.

Keep positive, a lot of this is mind over matter. You can do it!

You do 3 runs a week with a rest day in between. It is important to stretch as soon as you finish your run because this prevents painful muscles the following day. Do not look ahead in the programme or you may well scare yourself witless. As long as you trust in the programme, trust Laura and you will be fine.

Enjoy the journey and HAPPY RUNNING!

[roydh in reply to Beek]

Thankyou Beek I appreciate honest advice and feeling positive

[Honorsmum]

At the start of the programme, I ran every other day - so I was into week 3 before the end of my first 2 weeks.

Later on, as the runs got longer, I'd run Monday, Wednesday, Friday - with the weekend to rest.

Do whatever suits you Most importantly...enjoy!!

[KTBinkles Graduate in reply to Honorsmum]

I did that too. Then last week with term proper started (I'm a "part time" teacher) I've had to settle on Tuesday, Thursday and one weekend day. I did a shorter run on my second off day at the weekend which went fine. Starting week six at the weekend

[roydh in reply to KTBinkles]

Thanks for the reply I think I will do mon wed fri then see how I feel from there

[Narmour Graduate]

You'll not get a definitive answer to this because there isn't one!! the only answer is: do what your body tells you. If you need two rest days between runs then take them. If it takes you 9 months to complete the programme instead of 9 weeks, then so what. As long as you are making progress, no matter how slow, you are better off than you would be spending that time watching Eastenders. (Well, to be honest, you would be better off pulling your toenails out with pliers than watching Eastenders but you get my point!)

[roydh in reply to Narmour]

Lol thanks. I will be doing mon wed fri then see how I get on

[albionjen Graduate]

I usually did every other day and it seemed to work fine for me, no injuries and didn't have any problems with getting too tired or sore. I liked the every other day approach as it gave flexibility to have an extra day of rest whenever I needed rather than just at the end of the week. Of course, it also meant I finished the programme ahead of the 9 weeks schedule. (P.S. I'm not super fit or anything, I started c25k when I was about 2 stone overweight and had been doing very little exercise for a few weeks due to a broken hand).

During most of the c25k running was the only exercise I was doing. After graduating I started back at the gym for strength training since my hand had got better. So now I run on 3 time a week so I can have set days for the gym on Tues and Thurs.

Do whatever feels right to you. If you want to run alternate days I don't think it will harm your progress. But having a set 3 days to run each week might be easier to fit in.

Beek has given some excellent advice above! Especially about taking it slow and steady.

Good luck and enjoy

[roydh in reply to albionjen]

Thankyou for replying I will probably have a better idea of whats best for me after a few weeks but its good to hear what others have done