Alternating 30 min runs with starting c25k again - crazy?

[yatesco]

Hi all,

I graduate on Friday and I had a thought which might work really well for me, but I wanted to sanity it with you all first. 

First, the general advice (from reading and explicitly asking on here) is consolidation, consolidation, consolidation _and_ days of rest are important - lots of people posting their experience of overdoing it and joining the IC.

I get that, I really do, but my concern is that I am just not doing enough on the off days. I _could_ go for a walk, I _could_ go the gym, but to be honest, I haven't yet, and that isn't likely to change just because I "try harder".

What does work for me is going on a run.

Ideally, I would love to do a 30 minute run every day with a day of rest on Sunday, however, I don't think that would be sustainable, at least not now.

So, my cunning plan to run every day without being benched is to continue doing a 30 minute run every other day as normal - same pace, same location etc. and start the c25k program again on alternate days. On the new c25k days I will follow the program but focus entirely on improving form, technique and speed - maybe run on the road instead of the field for example.

In concrete terms, week 10 (i.e. next week):

 - Monday - 30 minute, 'easy' run (ha - easy, yeah right :-))

 - Tuesday - c25k week 1 day 1 but at a faster pace/higher cadence than I 'normally' do

 - Wednesday - 30 minute run

 - Thursday - c25k week 1 day 2 at the faster pace

 - Friday - 30 minute run

 - Saturday - c25k week 1 day 3 at the faster pace

 - Sunday - day of rest

Now, I won't be sprinting or anything silly like that on w1d1, but I would push the cadence for example - ideally I would start off at a pace which means 5K in 30 minutes (my current pace is 4.9K including both walks).

I do know about the other graduation plans (the plus and bridge etc.) but they all involve running every other day.

Crucially, this plan gets me out everyday doing something I enjoy. At the end of the next week 9 I will be running 30 minutes every day.

What do you all think - should I go shopping and find a new (injury) couch I enjoy sitting on or is this feasible?

[Rignold]

No, it is not a good plan at all.

C25k works because it teaches you and gets your body used to running for 30 minutes from doing zero running.

Your body does not need to 'learn how to go from zero to 30 minutes on rest days'. It needs to rest on rest days. If you want to build up to running for 30 minutes every day, you should find a plan that is designed to do that, and you should, again, look at this as something that might take a year to build up to.

[yatesco Graduate in reply to Rignold]

Thanks Rignold - I appreciate the honesty. This is all about being 'real' and sustainable, and the last thing I want to do (hence this post) is jeopardise the progress I have made so far.

Do you know of any plans you could recommend?

[Sivaram007 Graduate in reply to yatesco]

Hi... Though the plan sounds interesting to me, I m not sure if it would be OK to ignore the rest days. How about training for a 10k? There are some great apps like Nike running and Asics which provide custom plans for free. Max running days per week would be 4 for these which means u ll have adequate rest too. Check out if u r interested. Thanks

[Hidden]

Sorry but no not a good idea initially, that is very much  to much  to soon, the rest days are there to help your body recover 

I admire your ambition but in this case as Rignold has said better to look for an alternate plan , maybe in time you can look at running on consecutive  days .

[yatesco Graduate]

Thanks all - sincerely. The idea of running 4 days rather than 3 (so I guess every other day) is actually quite appealing - still get a rest day but with 33% more running....

Time to google 'post c25k running plans'

[GoogleMe Graduate]

So... you know that some consolidation is a good idea with the running, you know that rounding your overall fitness regime is a good idea... but going to the gym isn't happening.

And we are all screaming at you not to run every day, not for a long while, at least not on a regular basis.

But you clearly have a fondness for a progressive programme and for C25K specifically... sooooo.... ta da.... the NHS Strength and Flexibility podcast programme is your friend.  Yes, it's more Laura. A 5 week programme you can do on your non running days. And if you feel consolidated out the wazoo with the running before that, you can add in some Couch to 5K+, a suite of three post-gradate podcasts.