This afternoon I did 'Stamina'. This started with the usual 5 minute warm-up walk before running for 10 minutes at 158 beats per minute, 20 mins at 160 bpm, finishing with 5 minutes at 165 bpm. So a total of 35 minutes running. Lastly a 5min walk.
Again, I crossly ignored the walking beat, found the run at 158 bpm a bit too slow and the 165 bpm better. This is not to say that I have fast times........no, far from it, but it just felt a bit awkward.
So, I would agree with others who have commented on these podcasts that they are quite useful if you don't listen too hard to them and just use Laura to tell you when to speed up and when to stop etc.
I would do 'Stamina' again but sort of ignore the bpm thing and definitely do 'Speed' again as it gives you a real blast of exercise in a shorter time. I won't bother with 'Stepping Stones' again but I'm glad that I tried it.
I'm going to keep going but next time will try running without music and see how that compares!
Happy trotting!
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flossieflyblow
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I quite liked the Stepping Stones one, simply as a way to keep me running for 30 minutes. I've not tried the others yet, but might give Stamina a go tonight, it sounds quite similar to the SS one, but I think that's 150-155-165 bpm, and the speed of that suits me a lot better
I'm glad that you enjoyed Stepping Stones as it just shows how well thought out this programme is as it takes into account that we're all different be it in mindset, length of leg, height stamina etc etc. I hope that you enjoy 'Stamina'. It has only occured to me that it was 35 minutes. Hurrah! I can run for 35 minutes!
I tried stepping stones for the first time yesterday, and ended up taking longer to run my 5k than usual. No idea how that was because Laura says at the beginning most folk who do the c25k will be able to run 5k in 30 minutes by the end of it (not me by a long chalk) and that stepping stones is to build up your speed. I have taken 36.5 to 37 minutes for 5k but it was almost 39 with stepping stones
Looking on the bright side I increased my time so must be building up stamina!
It's not been my impression that most people can do 5K in 30 mins by the end of c25k. There's a wide range of people doing the program from overweight, to obese, to retired, to busy parents, to those who have a reasonable level of fitness to begin with. Of all the posts I've read, there's been very few who have done 5K in 30 mins in week 9. I think Laura is being a bit over-ambitious here.
Thanks for that Legion. I agree with the overambitious bit. I am chuffed to have achieved the speed I have - being new to running and 56
It's just how she introduced the stepping stones programme (or how I heard it) led me to believe it was about speeding up a bit. I have no ambition to do 5k in 30 minutes but I am aiming for 34... Maybe another podcast will help with that.
I haven't actually tried the c25k+ podcasts yet. I'm just re-doing c25k at the moment (on week 4) so will give them a go when I get to the end again. It sounds to me like you're doing brilliantly. I know I can't run that fast. I do have the ambition to do 5K in 30 mins now I've started over running slightly faster than I used to. I won't be able to do it in 5 weeks time, but I'm starting to feel like I might be able to do it eventually.
I had exactly the same experience as Lizziebeth 57 in that I was still covering quite a bit less than 5K in 30 minutes when I graduated, and yet found that my distance went down even further when I tried the stepping stones, even though I ran at the 'correct' speeds.
The only explanation I can think of is to do with stride length - that I'm running at an OK speed but not covering as much ground because of a short stride.
Like Legion, I think that Laura is a bit over-ambitious in suggesting that by Week 9 you will be covering about 5K. I found it a bit off-putting to hear that when I did Week 9, as it was the first time that she'd suggested that. OK, so the clue is in the name - C25K! - but it was still a bit startling to hear it. I am happy enough with where I've got to though and it's nice to have a target to aim at.
I haven't made it to 5K yet and have found that with Stepping Stones I ran a shorter distance, but I tell you what....my calves really ached more than they've ever done for the next two days. So it must have done something!
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