W7R1 again. Back on track!

[yaskas]

Hello everyone! I'm feeling so much better today, so this morning Off I went to start w7 all over again. I went with the idea of taking it easy and not being too hard on myself, slow and steady I managed to do the 25 minutes. I changed my usual route today and I think that played a part as well, giving me other things to focus on during the run.

I have one question, when do you start counting the 5k? At the beginning of the 5 min walk or straight after you start running? I usually turn my Fitbit on at the very beginning, and with the 5 min walk at the beginning I cover around 4K, so if I'm doing 4k in 25 minutes there is no way I can do 5k in 30 min...

[JoolieB1 Graduate]

I have never counted either the warm up walk or the cool down walk in my distance. Doing 5k in under 30 minutes is practically impossible for most humans doing C25K. I just did the run time and graduated. Kept running 3 x 30 mins for a couple of weeks and then on a good day, kept going and did 5k in 43 minutes. So I think the programme makes it more than possible that you are ready for 5k on or just after graduation but not in 30 minutes! Remaining injury free, enjoying (or surviving) the run and graduating are pretty impressive goals. Other stuff can come later. I now run four times a week, a year after graduation, 3 x 6k and a 10k and my fastest 5k is still 34 minutes

[yaskas Graduate in reply to JoolieB1]

I was curious, as I don't have anyone to compare. The thing is today a friend was telling me she did 5k on the treadmill in 39 minutes, and she is not the "fittest" person, meaning she is the kind of person that goes occasionally to the gym. I thought it was pretty impressive, and started to think thatIf I do roughly 3k in 25 min I must be terribly slow!

Anyway, the turtle ended up beating the hare, am I right?

[JoolieB1 Graduate in reply to yaskas]

I am 53, so for me it is about improving my fitness and stamina and enjoyment. I don't enjoy running fast because I like to mooch around being nosey - sometimes in the town and other times out and about in the countryside. Being out of breath, red in the face, sweating buckets, hating every run, tripping over a tree root and being so obsessed with my time I can't stop to take a photo of a great view just does not appeal. Being injury free means I can run four times a week, running slowly means I can now comfortably run 28 km per week. However, everyone has their own goals and for me it is about keeping it fun

[Now-runner_NeedsAttn Graduate in reply to yaskas]

Factor in that running on a treadmill is easier and she may be doing 5k with 0% gradient which is even easier. Anyway, the target is to run for 30 minutes, you can think about going faster after you graduate.

[RainbowC Graduate]

I set my Runkeeper going as I leave the house, so all my stats include the walks at start and end. I do think it would be nicer and tidier not to, but can't be bothered to faff with my phone once I'm out and going. (I get spoken updates every 5 mins so usually do some mental arithmetic while I'm going to subtract the initial walk and see how far I've run. But that's just me!)

Don't worry about comparisons with other people - the important thing is that you are doing what's right for you. You ran 25 mins. Outdoors. Without stopping. That's fantastic!

[Now-runner_NeedsAttn Graduate]

A mathematical response is that 4k in 25 minutes with 5 minutes walking means you're running something like 3.5k in 20 minutes, at that pace you'll run over 5k in 30 minutes. Easy... according to maths anyway

(Someone better double-check my maths as I'm jet-lagged!)