What to do after week 9?: Can hardly believe I... - Couch to 5K

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What to do after week 9?

geezercdg profile image
geezercdgGraduate
10 Replies

Can hardly believe I have got here, today I finished week 9 run 3! My question is what do people recommend next. I have really been helped by Laura's voice and coaching and have felt a great sense of achievement week by week.

But how do you maintain that once you reach the end?

Do you still use Laura? Aim for a quicker time or try to get to 5k? Go for 10k?

What do you think?

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geezercdg profile image
geezercdg
Graduate
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10 Replies
misswobble profile image
misswobbleGraduate

Next job is to run the 3 post c25k podcasts which are still with laura and can be downloaded from this site

They are called Stepping STones, Speed and Stamina. They will take you on to Bridge to 10 k,podcasts for which can also be downloaded here

ChrisL profile image
ChrisLGraduate in reply tomisswobble

MissW - my new-found fount of all wisdom (why can you never find an emoticon of a little man genuflecting when you want one?). For those of us who don't listen to Laura, is there a write up somewhere of what sort of runs these 3 podcasts suggest?

Well done for graduating? There are some c25k+ graduate podcasts you could try? You could see if there is a park run in your local area and use those podcasts to help you train for that?

Legion profile image
LegionGraduate

It all depends on what you want to achieve with your running. Many people are happy to continue running 5K 3 times per week (or work towards running 5K if you haven't reached it yet). If you want to work on your speed or stamina you could try the c25k+ podcasts mentioned above. If you're looking to run further, then there are many 'Bridge to 10K' programmes on the internet. Just be careful not to push yourself to do too much too soon, which is very easy to do with the confidence of being newly graduated, as I know. ;-)

You might also be interested in Realfoodieclub's quests, which run for six weeks at a time (you can join at any time) and give you the opportunity to set your own goals to work towards (whether it be continuing running 3 times a week, running 5K in xx minutes, running 6K, enetring a race, etc). There is more info on the current quest here: healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

Good luck and happy running. :-)

Just to add that audio fuel have various programmes that can be downloaded to suit your goals.

IannodaTruffe profile image
IannodaTruffeMentor

To maintain the sense of achievement that C25k delivers so well, I recommend setting yourself some short and long term targets. I did this by setting 10 miles non stop as a target and for one run each week increased my distance until I got there. This automatically gives you a new record distance (and probably duration) each week. Use one of your other short runs to try intervals for speed training and you will find PBs come along quite frequently, at this stage. Find a geographical challenge, eg. run up a particular hill or round a lake or town. Running in different places, especially offroad keeps the challenge of running fresh. Parkrun is a must for any C25k graduate.

The world is your running track. Keep running, keep smiling.

carole01 profile image
carole01Graduate

Hi congratulations!! I was in the same position a couple of weeks ago. If you look at one of my previous posts titled One Hour Runner, I have found this quite useful - Oh and I still listen to Laura for the first 35 minutes!! Good Luck :)

Sarahsox profile image
SarahsoxGraduate

Congratulations you must be feeling great! Thank you for posting this as I've been wondering the same. I completed wk9 run 2 this morning and I'm not quite ready to let go of Laura yet! Some good advice posted here to keep us going. :)

littlehelen20 profile image
littlehelen20Graduate

i started of using the c25k+ podcasts but then decided that i wanted to work on building up to 10k. I'm currently using the bridge to 10k podcasts 2x week and doing a 5k parkrun. it depends wjat you decide you want to do but i'm trying to improve my 5k times and increase my distance.

Firstly, congratulations and welcome to the growing world of C25K grads!

I would recommend Parkruns, if you don't already do them. Also, just keep enjoying running as the weather improves. Try different routes and then start thinking about 10Ks or just increasing the time you are out.

Above all, I would say just to keep enjoying running.

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