After spending some time on the forum. I notice a lot of people talk about Laura and the podcasts. I have never used the podcasts, I just keep track of the times using a stopwatch or by counting the seconds in my head.I was just wondering if anyone else did the program this way ?
I also don't listen to music when I run, so that I can focus on the time changes between walking and running but I imagine when I start doing running for 20 minutes straight I might start listening to music then.
What works is king.
I can't stand running with "stuff" either, so I have never heard Laura voice either. That being said I am hardly the greatest success on this site, but my life is full of noise and clutter as it is, so being out without iPod, Phone or other devices is lovely.
I would suggest what ever works for you is fine.
It's like you are describing the way I did C25K - got the plan off from the website and used a stopwatch. I still run with just a watch, no music, I prefer to listen to what's going on around me and inside me 
I just programmed the run/walk intervals into Runkeeper I had to abandon the Podcasts because the music was very off-putting to me !!
I dare say it depends whether you like listening to music whilst doing other things. I took the halfway house; NHS C25K app on my iPhone, so just Laura calling out the timings but no music. Then I bought a Garmin in week 7 and that's all I've used since. I know lots of runners who swear by their MP3 players but I prefer the sounds of nature and my very own knackered breathing!
Ooooh! I'm a Laura addict I'm afraid, only weened myself off post graduation and now use run keeper and music
I listen to Laura but own music off my iPhone also have run keeper on so know distance I've done
I started using just the app because I didn't know about the podcast, and also had a couple of runs where I ran out of data and had to sort of count the timings when my phone went silent. But I found the podcasts with Laura really informative. As well as giving me an idea of how far through a run I'd got, she would remind me not to bob up and down, to breathe in and out on the 4th steps, to stay slow, to try and go faster for the last minute, etc. Since graduating I eventually stopped wearing earphones but I still sort of pace myself using endomondo on my phone with the volume turned up so that it announces every km. I also have a little mantra in my head reminding myself to keep a good posture etc. But it's all starting to become intuitive too - feeling like I can judge how far I've run and predicting the lap announcements just before they come. Which feels like being a 'proper' runner for me. But like Rignold says, different strokes for different folks etc.
I listen to Laura
She is my rock 
I have always listened to her, I think I am someone that needs the extra support from her. But If I am runninh outside I might not have music, just the birds
However, now I am at the end of week 8 I need my power songs to keep me going. Pitch perfect remix does it
He heee
I guess whatever works for you is what you should stick to it sounds you have good discipline and you dont need Laura then good on you
Best of luck
I listen using the app but I hate Laura. Its not her fault its just she always says I'm doing great at the wrong time, Normally when I decided I cant run anymore and started walking lol The music isn't great and I'm thinking of changing to something where I get the prompts but can listen to my own thing as audio books I think will distract me more than music so I can run longer. I don't have an Iphone only a Samsung so I'm not sure what app to use that sticks to the same set up....
I feel there are a lot of merits to using the podcasts. I was resistant because I like listening to the birds and talking to my dog etc. But I only ever had one earphone in. There is a real liberation in not having to think at all, a real education in just doing as you are told. I see it as learning a skill... a bit like learning to drive even if you don't like having someone in the passenger seat. It's only 9 weeks (in theory) to build a foundation which doesn't have to define how you run after that. I rarely listen to music now - but sometimes I do, especially if I want to try going a bit faster, Gardener's Question Time podcasts don't facilitate that! What works for running is different to what I would usually choose to listen to so I have widened my tastes, caught up with a lot of radio I wanted to hear but also had some fabulous times with no audio input at all. Most of us will do a variety of types of running once we can - sometimes we might want to go back to intervals and it really is a lot easier (and ?safer) to do that if you are not looking down at a watch for those.
The way I see it, there are lots of ways into running, there are lots of C25K programmes (and loads of support/forums around) but there's really only one NHS C25K. I feel it gives you more than the ability to run for 30 minutes or 5k. And not just the very special shared experience that is the "Julie" song....
For me Laura is a bit of a security blanket and Im not sure how I will cope without her saying "only 10 more minutes" etc. However, the music, especially around weeks 6&7, became really annoying, the more so because I had to repeat some of these runs more than once.
I'm such a technophobe it took me a couple of weeks to get the podcasts onto my phone! The first few runs I did I had an app that bleeped when it was time to run or walk. I remember staring to run once when I heard a lorry reversing lol! Eventually I got Laura safely ensconced in my phone, and really found she made a difference. I graduated nearly a year ago, and shh, don't tell anyone, but I still listen to her when I feel I need a little extra support, she's like an old friend! I don't run/walk like she says, but I actually quite like the music! (I know, I'll get me coat!)
Does anybody listen to spoken word programmes rather than music when they run?
What to listen to whilst running 
Cycling instead of running C25K
Listening when running for amusement and distraction
Listening to audio books while running?
