W5R3 done but made harder by the C25K app!

[f-o-g]

What is it with the NHS C25K app!

Last year I got to week 8 before an injury and life got in the way of completing the whole program. So I know the week 5 run 3 run is hard and is a mental challenge, but the app made it even harder for me!

In week 4 I tried the NHS C25K app as I wanted to be able to listen to my own music rather than the dreadful music on the podcasts and still get Laura to prompt and encourage me. We'll it gave the wrong timings as others have indicated so I ended up running extra in the W4R1 run. So I deleted the app from my iPhone and reinstalled it. So yesterday I sat at my desk and checked that the timings were correct for W5R3 before I attempted the hardest run of the week. I ran it with a good playlist of music and runkeeper working as well. It worked perfectly, so I thought great I am all set.

So this morning out i went, started the app and runkeeper at the same time. At the end of the 5 mins warm up walk all was good and I made a note of the time on my watch and started running. As I had tested the app yesterday I knew Laura would tell me that I had run of 5 mins and I was doing great so I was looking forward to that. However, I got to the point on my run that is where I had got to on the first 8 min run on W5R2 and no message, so I checked my watch and it showed I had run for 9 mins. On checking the app it thought I had only done 4 and a bit minutes. Runkeeper agreed with my watch at 9.25 mins.

So I carried on just using my watch and runkeeper to the full 20 mins but without Laura's help and encouragement which I am sure made it harder by trying to manage my own time.

So the app is going to be deleted for good and I will have to go back to the podcast music. So much for trying to prepare myself correctly for the hardest run.

[Tomas Graduate]

I'm afraid it's not the c25k app you should blame, it's your phone. When you've got too many things happening at the same time on the phone, it struggles to give them all the attention they need. And this can sometimes impact the c25k app in a bad way.

Try using only the app and nothing else on the phone while you're running.

[f-o-g Graduate in reply to Tomas]

Given I had the same things running on the phone when I tested it at my desk to today on the run I am not so sure. Still I am sure I can cope with the podcast music for the next few weeks!

[runningnearbeirut Graduate in reply to Tomas]

Hi Tomas, you seem to know more tech stuff than me, but I do find this a bit odd.

Given that the point of the app is to be able to listen to your own music while you run, this doesn't seem very logical. I've not tried it myself as it only came out after I graduated, but are the developers aware of this defect and is there anything they could do about it?

Would it work if people just used the app and music but not a tracking app and gps at the same time?

[catkin69]

I had the same problem for the same run. I had nothing else running on my phone at the time.

It is pretty stressful when it happens.

From now on I will use my husbands garmin as back up!

[Hidden]

A lot of people have had problems with the app and several of them have bought an MP3 player to download the podcasts which are reliable. Good luck with week 6 - you will no doubt remember that it is tougher than it seems so please take it steady and very slow to get through okay. Best wishes.

[f-o-g Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for the best wishes. Yes I remember week 6 being hard with the intervals again after a continuous 20 min run.

[runningnearbeirut Graduate]

Sorry about lousy performance of the app, but well done for completing W5R3 again. Hope you stay injury free and you enjoy your running.

[spoonierunning Graduate]

Well done on getting though despite the app issues.

[MarkyD Graduate]

Well done on w5r3 f-o-g! Once you're running W5r3, Laura just pops up at 5,10 &15 minutes to say Hi. It's only at 18 minutes when she says anything important (IE... you're nearly there). Back to intervals with W6 when Laura is more useful.