Running sports on Run day

[rlongfield]

So I just started the Couch to 5K program 2 days ago and I realized today, on run day 2 of week 1, that I play soccer (football for everyone else) on Wednesdays (today).

Should I skip the run since I will be running for a good hour this evening? Do I count the game as my day 2 run or should I head out at lunch and still do my day 2 run?

[McFitty Graduate]

You're supposed to have at least one day's rest between each run but each c25k 'week' doesn't have to be done within an actual 7-day week. Why not do your second run on Friday and third on Sunday? You may have to jiggle days around in the coming weeks so that you get a day's rest in between all running activity. Good luck with the programme

[rammsteinqueen Graduate]

Your run days don't have to be set in stone - I would just run the day after. You can swap them about. I usually run Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays but this week doing Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. Not going out tomorrow - the weather forecast is terrible here first thing

All the best.

[rlongfield]

Thanks for the ideas, I headed out but cut it short today. I made it half way but the heat and humidity are through the roof and my tibialis anterior (muscle on the outside of my shins) are way more sore than I thought from my first run.

Very disappointing day, here's hoping for a better Friday!

[melly4012 Graduate in reply to rlongfield]

Don't be disappointed! You might not feel that you need a day between sports at the moment but as you runs get longer you will definitely need a proper rest day so it would probably be good to get into the habit now (I was taking two rest days between runs towards the end of the programme). I think more non impact activities are considered cross training for runners, such as cycling, swimming and strength/flex exercises so although these are fine to do on your rest days it's probably best not to count an evening playing football as a rest day.

Even if it takes you a little bit longer to complete the programme, you're still exercising and keeping healthy so don't feel disappointed at all.