Actual 5k

[Melayahm]

Yesterday I worked out on a Map My Route (Spark People's) how far 5k is, on my usual route, and on another going in the opposite direction. I'm nowhere near it yet, but it's good to have a definite end to aim for. I did w8r2 yesterday and also plotted that, and I'm at about 3.62k, in 29 minutes, so I'm not sure what has to happen during week 9, but I can't see me doing 5k yet! Still, I would never have believed back in September tha I would be running for 28 minutes non stop, so who knows

[hilbean Graduate]

Don't worry about 5k for week 9. You just have to run for 30 mins. It seems there are very few who achieve 5k in 30 mins so you'll be able to join us all in that goal once you graduate

[Melayahm in reply to hilbean]

so I just keep doing week 9, effectively, just getting faster and further until I reach 5k? Or I could work up to the 5k on my map and the time gets shorter. Ok, thanks for that

[hilbean Graduate in reply to Melayahm]

Basically, yes. If that's what you decide as your goal. There are other plans available such as the Stepping Stones and C25K+ if you want to use those but I couldn't tell you what they're like as I haven't used them. Not long since graduated myself so I'm just working on consolidating time and distance. The general advice I've seen here seems to be to only add 10% to either time/distance when you do your increases so as to avoid injury. Happy running and looking forward to seeing you graduate

[Irishprincess Graduate]

As hilbean says don't worry about doing the 5K in 30 minutes. You are so close to graduation now you can probably taste it! Well done.

[Melayahm in reply to Irishprincess]

I did wonder if graduating meant finishing week 9, or reaching 5k

[Hidden]

I graduated in August, I'd love to be able to do 5K in 30 mins! I've recently made a massive improvement down to 40 mins..sounds like you're doing just fine, and yes, to graduate you just need to do 3 x 30 min runs. I love the + podcasts personally, and there a re lots of other free plans you can download if you decide you want to follow a structured plan. Once you finish the course, the worlds your oyster!

[Melayahm in reply to Hidden]

Thanks, I'll look into the other plans once I've done the 5k thing. I'm definitely hooked, only terrible weather or illness/injury stops me now! (actually, even the weather hasn't, so far, but I'm not sure about running on snow)