Life after c25k!

[Njfarrell]

Just wanted to know what everyone does now on weekly basis run wise??

I've continued to run 30mins 3x a week( it's only been a week since I graduated )

But I still can't make 5k in 30 mins I normally do about 3.8k in 30mins!

I went out on Tuesday and ran 5k in about 36mins in total I had to have a little breather half way think i ran too fast the first 2k!

question! is it bad to stop for 2mins?? Should I really push myself to not stop at all? I don't stop on a normal 30min run but this was a different route with the aim to cover 5k!

[Tanethra Graduate]

Nothing wrong in having a breather if you feel you pushed too hard early on, its all about learning what your body can do and develops pacing your runs by feel rather than a watch. You will eventually be able to run a 5k non stop.

A 5k in 36 mins is pretty good going for a new graduate, oh btw where's your graduate badge?

I would keep on running 5k's 3 times a week, for a few weeks, and then progress onto the 5K Stepping Stones, Speed and Stamina podcasts here nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/...

From there there's many options like Parkruns, joining a running club maybe look to build to a 10k and run the odd event.

[Njfarrell in reply to Tanethra]

Sorry for the extremely late reply!

How do I get my graduate badge?? I noticed that others have graduate under there name but I can't work out how to do it lol

Thanks for the advice I tried one of the stepping stones podcasts I really enjoyed it!!

[Tanethra Graduate in reply to Njfarrell]

No problems. I think from memory that you contact one of the administrators and notify them that you've completed 5k and that should get your badge, (I think Ju-Ju and Realfoodieclub are on the admins team).

They usually put a post up each month for recent achievers so there should be one for August 2018.

Cheers

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

You do whatever you want to do and go wherever running will take you. It is important to maintain the three runs per week for a while after graduation to consolidate that duration as something you are comfortable with and to ingrain the habit. After that it depends what you want to do next and why you are running.

I do two 5ks and a long run (between 10k and occasionally 16k) each week, while my wife has settled to two 5k runs per week and she is doing fine on that.

Parkrun is definitely something I would recommend to any runner at whatever stage, simply because it is the real world equivalent of this forum......friendly, inclusive, hugely supportive and for many addictive.

Create some short, medium and long term aims for your running and these will help you sort your weekly schedule. You may have certain time or duration targets you want to hit. Be realistic and make your short term can be achieved fairly soon, to keep up the buzz of achievement that you get so used to on C25k.

You may want to run further 10k, Half marathon, marathon etc. so find a plan and your week will be sorted for you. Or you may be happy just to run for fun and if you want to stop in the middle of a run, nobody is going to think any less of you. Stop, admire the view, take a breather and a photo..........there are no rules, now you are a graduate, apart from don't do too much too soon.

[michele2907 Graduate]

I graduated c25k on the 1st July, like yourself i was not sure what to do afterwards, i have joined a local running club and we do anything from 3.5 - 4.5 miles every Thursday and it is for all abilities which is great, i have also done 3 parkruns which are fab then i run on my own on a Monday or Tuesday and try to do 5k, at the moment i am not sure if i would like to progress to 10k but might think about that later in the year, i would just like to try and improve my pace for now Happy Running !

[MrsShrek]

Another fan of Park Run here 👍🏼 I completed my 11th last week and improving steadily - it's a good challenge to try and beat your PB each week!

I try to do 3 x 5k although if one of them feels good I will try to stretch it to 6k. I have also found cycling to help improve my time too so I try to fit in at least 1 x 8 mile cycle route in the week.

Thinking about joining a running club in the autumn/winter to push myself a bit more as I'm a bit on the slow side.