What next after C25K? Advice please!

[JulietB]

Hello ! I graduated a couple of weeks ago and have started off again after a gap for Cambridge Folk Festival! So far I've repeated wk9r3 and then tried the stepping stones podcast as I like Laura! I thought I'd like running to a beat as I'm a musician, but found it a bit slow - and overall my pace was slower than the 5Ks I've already done ( when I've repeated wk9r3 I've kept going until 5K with mapmyrun going in my ear!) should I keep going with this to improve my technique ( whatever that is) or should I try something else? All suggestions welcome! Thank you 😊

[Hidden]

Really depends on what direction you want to take with your running, the usual premise is consolidate after graduating then decide

Some want to go on to 10K and HM's etc there are lots of plans out there if you decide that option ....

if you are doing 3 runs a week then mix them up to keep them interesting , try some speed intervals. hills reps , try making 1 of the runs a longer run, remember not to increase your mileage/km's or time by more than 10% .. some have also joined running clubs which are getting very positive reviews here from the peeps who have and of course there is always a parkrun if you have one fairly local

[JulietB Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Thanks - I'm planning to do a local parkrun next Sat ( I was working yesterday or I'd have gone then!) - I'm a bit nervous about it as I've only run on pavements so far and expect I'll be slower on grass and tracks! Anyway I'll give it a go! I don't think I'll be particularly quick but as long as I get round....😊

[rmnsuk Graduate in reply to JulietB]

parkrun is fabulous. You'll love it.

[rmnsuk Graduate]

Consolidating 5k running is a good start. Run 5k 3 time a week for a few weeks till you are happy doing it on a bad day as well as a good day. Options people normally choose after that are increasing pace or increasing distance. I guess most people try to increase pace a bit first, but switch to increasing distance as that's a bit easier. 5k to 10k is very doable and several people have gone on from there. One or two are now doing astounding distances only months after graduating.

[JulietB Graduate in reply to rmnsuk]

Thanks! Great advice 😊

[gary_bart]

If the cadence of the songs is wrong for you, you'll probably have to get other music, and pick something that goes at a more comfortable foot speed. From what I've read, it helps if you can pick up your cadence to about 180 bpm? (I forget; I think the other day I claimed to have downloaded 200 bpm music, which would be crazy for me).

There are apparently ways of hacking this, so you can have both Laura and your music, but you'll have to look for those posts to see how.

[Coddfish Graduate]

I think it's common to flounder around a bit after graduating, as you lose the structure of the programme. As others have said, decide what your next aim is, then you can build a plan around it. It sounds like you are already running 5k - I wasn't at graduation, and that became my obvious target.

[JulietB Graduate]

Thanks everyone - I did my first parkrun on Saturday and it was fine ( apart from a hill near the end which I just had to walk part of - so did lots of people which made it even harder to keep running! Now I know it's there I will try and pace myself next time!

Meanwhile I've been out running for the first time with a friend, who also came to parkrun for the first time - I was amazed that we could run for 5 K and also hold a conversation! It was great!

My previous run had been rather ridiculous - I got my podcasts in a twist and ended up accidentally doing the speed one by mistake ( at least I think that was it...lots of intervals!) I couldn't face starting again so just did it, and then made myself keep going to 5 K at the end which was completely mad...far too much; I staggered home wondering what had hit me. Now I know it was just too much too soon - I won't make that mistake again...next run ( tonight) I'm looking forward to another go at the first post - C25K podcast and after that, to trying to improve my 5K speed. I never thought I'd be bothered about all the speed stuff, but especially since I got my post - parkrun email crammed with stats I'm really keen to improve my PB!