As the title says I started the program yesterday and it went surprisingly alright. Then again after looking around on some forums, I'm pretty sure I didn't do it properly!
I was walking at 2kmph and running at 6kmph, and my legs felt really heavy at this pace so I kinda took very "small" steps if that makes sense! The proper pase is apparently a 6kmph walk and a 9kmph run. Theres no way I could manage that at this point!
Should I re-do day 1 upping my speed until I can do it at the specified pace? Or should I just accept my current capabilities and stick to my current speeds.
As it is I felt that the front of my lower leg (what is that area called lol) was hurting a bit and I had some twinges from my knee, nothing serious though! I am overweight (5"2 and 194lbs) so the added weight is probably just making things harder.
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Cerianna
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Speed is irrelevant at the moment and will come with time. If you are finding the speed of the run hard work then just slow down some more. You have completed run 1 - well done and congratulations- basque in the glory! Good luck and enjoy run 2.
Forget Speed.. and forget distance and just do the run
At this stage it is all about taking it steady and slow and hopefully getting to Week 9 injury free, able to run for 30 minutes and having had fun
The only wrong way, is to go too fast and too soon.. many folk try and end up on the IC... or disappear altogether. There is no proper pace, or wrong pace.. only your pace and that should be, within this programme slow and steady
This is your journey and you take it at your own steady pace maybe check out a healthy eating regime.. ( I don't do diets!) and some extra strength and flex exercises on your rest days
The name of this program has been chosen because it catchy but, sorry to burst a bubble,
its intent is to get you from not being able to run at all, to running continuously for 30 mins. A recent poll of graduates showed that only 10% were covering 5 km in the thirty minutes. At this point it is not about speed, it's the running action. i am guessing you are on a treadmill from the numbers you quoted. I " run" outside at whatever speed I can given the terrain, my tiredness etc. I'm in week 5 and I wear a Fitbit which is measuring distance not by gps but stride length so maybe not that accurate and it says I'm covering 3.6 km in thirty mins ( this still includes some walking segments). My guess is that when it's all running it may be 4km but I don't know and to be honest it's not important to me, I can work on speeding up after I graduate.
Not sure where you found these " proper paces" but I'd say yours is the only proper pace for you!
Don't stress about speed and enjoy your running.👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼🏃🏼♀️
Read around this forum and you will find that early speed leads to injury.
I have never seen nor heard mention of a "proper pace" in any writings or podcasts relating to the NHS C25K training plan. It is purely duration based, run at a pace that suits you, so you can't go wrong.
Shin pain is very common for beginners and most people get over it by changing their shoes to something more supportive.
Well done for starting and go as slow as you need to.
IannodaTruffe hits the nail on the head - this is the NHS C25K programme. It is designed to get you running continuously for 30 minutes on a regular basis (ie including without injury or other harm)
Are you doing this on a treadmill so that you have to set some sort of a pace? (a major disadvantage but people in special circumstances have successfully completed the programme on a treadmill and if this applies to you, I hope one or two of them will be along with some experienced input) If not, you can cheerfully dump all the additional waffle (and any other forums) and just enjoy it.
Clever you to suss the smaller steps strategy to keep going on your first time out!
Hi guys and thanks for your helpful comments! The C25K program I was looking at was the one posted on myfitnesspal but to be honest, hearing that I don't have to reach any specific speeds on the NHS one is great! I'm about to go do my second run today but I do have one quick question. During the last run I had some minor pain in my shins and that pain has kind of stayed with me a bit since I do quite a lot of walking anyway (dog etc). I still want to do my run today as I feel that if i get derailed of the program so soon I will just give up, but at the same time I'm not sure if I should be running through any pain. Right now its minor but if it escalates during the run what should I do?
I need to go have a gait analysis and get proper running shoes but that probably won't be for another week or so...
Just completed my W1R2. It was both harder and easier than R1. Easier because I knew I could do it since I already had, and harder because both my legs started to have shin pain and calve pain. I ran through it but i'm not sure if I should stop until i get some proper running shoes and a gait analysis.
Well done Cerianna. 😊Running on a treadmill should be kinder on your legs than outside on pavement. Try and use shorter, lighter, strides. Run slowly and steadily with your head up, shoulders down.
Keep hydrated after your run and do some gentie leg stretches after your cool down walk while your musles are still warm.
You may need a more supportive running shoe so gait analysis would be good, but I think it would be your knees complaining if this was the case.
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