To complete 30 mins or 5K?

[Suercc]

Sooo have managed the first 25 minute run. So keen to complete each run that I tend to take it easy, speeding up towards the end when I am confident that I am going to complete. A lot of the advice on the forum seems to be about taking it steady too.

So my question is this; if I keep this steady pace I might not be covering 5K in 30 minutes. If the prog is called couch to 5K does this mean I won't have succeeded?

[MarkyD Graduate]

healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

Probably the most frequent question on this forum, and the answer is 'pinned' in the top right-hand corner

Laura says at the start of W1r1 that the aim is to run 5km or for 30 minutes, 3 times a week. You're in week 7 (25 minutes) and you should feel confident that you _will_ graduate in another 2 weeks. The distance that you run in week 9 is immaterial. Unfortunately "Couch to 30 minutes running 3 times a week" is not as catchy as C25K.

Keep up the good work. You are a runner.

[Suercc in reply to MarkyD]

That has clarified things perfectly. Thank you.

[ju-ju- Graduate]

Very few people reach the magical 5k... I certainly didn't, and it wasn't for a few months that I did! The aim for you is to get to running for 30 minutes without stopping. You can work on speed later

[pedmondson Graduate]

I absolutely concur with juicyju. It took me a little while to hit 5K. Even now, it still takes me about 33 mins! The other day, I pushed and did it in 29' 50". I won't do that again because my legs were so tired that I couldn't complete today's run. My experience suggests 'steady does it'!!

[SJN2K Graduate]

Concentrate on what you feel comfortable with. I enrolled on a 5k race which coincided with W9R3 so I must admit I pushed myself a bit in order to do 5k rather than 30 minutes.

I found that my first two were around the 32-34 minute mark, so not much over the 30m, however, my race saw me do 5k in 29:59 and I was over the moon to crack the sub 30 minute, even if only by a second.

The key here is to do what you're happy with, if you feel that you can do the 5k then go for it, if it takes you more than 30 minutes then that isn't a problem. If you want to call it a day at 30minutes then that's fine too. Eventually you will find that the 5k and 30 minutes become one and the same.