My first 5 K!!!!! Yay

[eosino]

I went out without Laura for the first time, listening to tracks selected for running ( Now That's What I Call Running was my graduation present to myself) I think the music helped as did the focus shifting from time to distance. Laura would say 10 minutes left and I'd visualise myself stopping soon. Now all I have is an app that tells my what distance I have run, in what time (Strava) and I thought I'd just carry on until I got to the magic number. It took me 38 minutes so I think it's doable to keep trying for 5K each time now.

[Hidden]

Perfect - isn't it great after graduation to just mix it up a bit. If you want to blast out a cheeky 20-30 minute run you know you can. If you want to aim for a specific distance then that's all good too... C25K gives you all the right tools and techniques to really build on post graduation... whether it's maintaining the 30 minutes 3 times a week or aiming for longer distances or faster times you really can look back fondly on Laura's advice that got you there!

Happy running (wherever it takes you!)

[eosino Graduate in reply to Hidden]

That's exactly it! I have learnt how to do it and can now do it however I please. It's really a great feeling because I kind of thought that post graduation runs would be a bit of a chore. It's absolutely fab to find that it's not the case. Happy running to you too x

[paul2014 Graduate]

Congratulations There's no stopping you now

[eosino Graduate]

Thank you. I really hope that I won't stop. It took me 13 weeks and a bit to graduate. Some of the extra time was injury related and some was just not having the time to go out 3 times a week due to childcare. I am worried that I will get a few days where I can't go out and then it will be harder to get back into it as I haven't got the drive of finishing the program anymore.

[paul2014 Graduate in reply to eosino]

Have you thought about a treadmill for the days/nights you can't get out running or if the weather is particularly bad? May be an option to keep your fitness levels up until you can get back outside

[runningnearbeirut Graduate in reply to eosino]

Some people need targets or the incentive of a parkrun to keep themselves going. As long as it's a realistic target and doesn't detract from your enjoyment of running, it's a good idea. Now you can run 5km it's great, don't obsess about getting the time down every run, but you will notice that it becomes easier to finish. Lots of ideas around for what to do if you need to set yourself a target to get yourself out of the door, but in the meantime just enjoy the freedom you have of being able to run, and go for a run when you can just because you can.

[PandaRunner Graduate]

Congratulations must feel like running but without the stabilisers on! I'm going to give parkrun a go to judge what distance I can do in what time. Something to focus on. Happy running xx

[GoogleMe Graduate]

101 running songs was my graduation present to myself. One of the unexpected bonuses of running was discovering the merits of more kinds of music. These days for distance I mostly listen to podcasts - the time flies by and my runs do double duty.

The thing about being able to sustain a faster run is that you can go more places, see more views in the time you have available. So 'speed' isn't all about being competitive (including with oneself).

[Bazza1234 Graduate in reply to GoogleMe]

What Podcasts do you listen to?? I have had little success finding music with a beat suitable to me for running - but have never tried a "talking" Podcast. I am not sure that I I could listen to something and concenrate on my running!!

[GoogleMe Graduate in reply to Bazza1234]

All sorts of stuff from BBC Radio 4. My favourites are the Ouch disability podcasts (which mysteriously are not actually on the radio), very funny and although I have a disability, it puts it into perspective. I don't concentrate on my running much! (I delegate that responsibility to the not-as-nice-as-Laura woman on Runkeeper) Sometimes I forget I am running altogether.

Otherwise - Gardeners' Question Time, The Infinite Monkey Cage (science), the Friday night topical comedy and so on. Tweet of the Day doesn't work so well as the tracks are too short.