5K in under 30 minutes! : Hi gang! Well I never... - Couch to 5K

Couch to 5K

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5K in under 30 minutes!

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate
β€’105 Replies

Hi gang! Well I never thought I'd manage this! 7 weeks after graduation I've broken the 30 minute barrier πŸ˜πŸ‘ I was hoping to get there by Christmas so I'm delighted with my progress.

My weekly running programme currently consists of a steady paced 5K for run 1, a slower paced longer run of around 6k for run 2 and a see what happens paced Parkrun for run 3. It seems to suit me at the moment, things can change but if it ain't broke then why fix it as they say! 😁

The pic shows my effort today, that's me in position 144 and representing NHS C25KπŸ‘

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lardofale profile image
lardofale
Graduate
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105 Replies
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Martin_Rose profile image
Martin_RoseGraduate

Brilliant mate, really well done, that looks like a good weekly running schedule. I might do similar. I did my first park run this morning 31.05.

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Martin_Rose

Thanks mate, works for me. That's a cracking time to kick off with too! πŸ‘

IannodaTruffe profile image
IannodaTruffeMentor

You have a plan and it is working.

A great big, smug making milestone.

Congratulations.

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to IannodaTruffe

Thanks for that! I've done 5 Parkruns now and, following advice from yourself to others, I set a beatable (though not snailpace!) time at the outset and have set pbs every week since. If there was a cult of IannodaTruffe & Old Floss I'd probably be chief of staff!

Oldfloss profile image
OldflossAdministratorGraduate in reply to lardofale

yeay.. I like the idea of being a CULT!!! :)

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Oldfloss

I'll let you two argue over what to call it! 😁

Mummycav profile image
MummycavAdministratorGraduate

Hey, I like it! You must be chuffed to bits? It’s def going in the right direction...well done Andrew Huggins πŸ˜‰

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Mummycav

Thanks Mrs Graduate 😁 my chuffedness is probably still a couple of notches behind you on the chuffed scale at the mo! πŸ˜‰

Mummycav profile image
MummycavAdministratorGraduate in reply to lardofale

Lol!!! I believe you’re probably right..nobody’s as chuffed as me right now!!!!

Decker profile image
Decker

Brilliant time! Congratulations! Thats a milestone πŸ‘πŸΌ

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Decker

Thanks chap, much appreciated. πŸ‘β˜Ί

mrrun profile image
mrrunGraduate

Respect! Always good to see magic 3-0 being dented. I once managed 5k just a shave under 26 minutes, and begged the Lord for sweet oxygen afterwards.

My plan is similar and works for me - easy pace 5k, give all you've got 5k (with either intervals or steady tempo) and slow and steady 10k. The beauty of it all is that it gives you a variety of options as your body gets stronger and more comfortable.

Unlike you though, I can't do Park runs, lone runner that's me ;)

Keep us posted, man, l like the way you go!

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to mrrun

Thanks mate! I was puffing somewhat when I crossed the line! Luckily it's a seafront run so the air was definitely very fresh so I revived pretty quickly!

GrannyO profile image
GrannyOGraduate

Wow! I'm so impressed! Mega congratulations! Something for us slower runners to aspire to... Thank you for posting πŸ€—

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to GrannyO

Thanks GrannyO! My Grandmother used to call me a Bluebottle because I zipped around everywhere at a pace so I guess that's been proven in my running. No need to go for it too soon but good luck for a future attempt ☺

Sweatyfaced profile image
SweatyfacedGraduate

Well done! Still not had the courage to try Parkrun; will one day...

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Sweatyfaced

Thanks! Parkrun is great fun and non competitive (for most!) so no need to be afraid, go for it and share your experience with your running family!

Oldfloss profile image
OldflossAdministratorGraduate

Very, very well done:) You have a plan.. enjoy the way your running is evolving :)

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Oldfloss

Thank you leader 😁 Despite what 'er indoors says I can be sensible sometimes hence my little programme πŸ‘

Brilliantly done you. Now I think I am going to change my plan that I'd so carefully worked out... you must be chuffed to buckets with that and only 7 weeks post graduation. That is so fab.

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to

Thank you Mrs JCR! Chuffed to buckets pretty much covers it! 😁

Kimchoc08 profile image
Kimchoc08Graduate

Well done sir!! You are an inspiration to others like myself who are so close to completing the C25K program!!

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Kimchoc08

Thank you Kim! If I inspire my fellow C25Kers then I'm absolutely delighted! Good luck with your last few runs, looking forward to celebrating with you soon 😁

Cornet-Carolyn profile image
Cornet-CarolynGraduate

Total respect to you!

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Cornet-Carolyn

Thank you mam, very much appreciated! πŸ‘

ejvcruns profile image
ejvcrunsGraduate

Great job!!! I dream of the day... I'll be able to run 5k ha ha -- really well done on keeping up the running though!

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to ejvcruns

Thank you! 3 months ago I wouldn't run to the chip shop! This is a sea change for me, I reckon if I can do it then most can! Good luck to you β˜ΊπŸ‘

ejvcruns profile image
ejvcrunsGraduate in reply to lardofale

I do think i can build up the fitness but I'd age-and-gender scale my performance to 34 mins something. I'm not sure I'm the right build ever to be much faster than average -- I've been slow my whole life in any running situation, even as a kid and even when more or less in shape. But I like to go fast! So I will keep training! First goal -- 5k. Should take me about 45 mins at current speed, I can't run for that long yet though...

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to ejvcruns

Fair enough! I'm 47 and have never been a quick person, had to lose 4 stone to get to this point, but I know plenty of people who are in your position, good luck ☺

ejvcruns profile image
ejvcrunsGraduate in reply to lardofale

Congratulations again on your success!! It's really brilliant!!

rolysmate profile image
rolysmateGraduate

That is excellent mate well done and something I'd like to achieve

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to rolysmate

Thanks mate, good luck. I hope you get there πŸ‘

rolysmate profile image
rolysmateGraduate in reply to lardofale

I will be trying but if it doesn't happen then I won't beat myself up about it

Lottie_C profile image
Lottie_CGraduate

Bloody well done! Happy running.

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Lottie_C

Thank you Lottie! ☺

Maddee_6333 profile image
Maddee_6333Graduate

Well done!

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Maddee_6333

Thank you! ☺

Sandraj39 profile image
Sandraj39Graduate

Brilliant - well done on your first sub 30!πŸ™‚

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Sandraj39

Thanks for that! The person who came up with the c25k plan has so much to be thanked for. People have mentioned that what I have achieved has inspired them, people like you inspire me, no doubt you have people here who have inspired you. We're one big running family! 😁

Sandraj39 profile image
Sandraj39Graduate in reply to lardofale

...we are indeed! A fantastic programme and such great support on this forum. What's so exciting is that we complete the programme and step off in to a wonderful world of running options - faster, further, trail, road - endless possibilities! Love it!πŸ˜€

fayecheshire profile image
fayecheshire

Inspirational

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to fayecheshire

Cool! If I can inspire just one person then I'm delighted, thank you!

martinhermanus profile image
martinhermanus

Well done our parkrun is very tough here in Hermanus, South Africa. I am still at 30:44 for Hermanus parkrun but on the flat an 27:26.

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to martinhermanus

Thank you! I have an idea that I might flounder in the heat of South Africa!

martinhermanus profile image
martinhermanus in reply to lardofale

Yes in summer I am about 35 minutes anything above 20 degrees drains you completely. At present it's about 12 to 15 degrees which is perfect.

Sarahb18 profile image
Sarahb18Graduate

Well done !!

Brilliant time!

Your plan has definitely encouraged me 😊

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Sarahb18

Thank you! My plan has evolved since the structured course ended, it works for me but if other people think it's worth a shot then I'm very pleased!

Fishypieface profile image
FishypiefaceGraduate

Amazing, very well done to you Speedy Gonzales!!

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Fishypieface

Thank you mam! I believe that's the first time I've ever been called that!!

Lissyf profile image
LissyfGraduate

Well done! Wish I had the confidence to join Parkrun. ..one of these days! πŸƒβ€β™€οΈ

rammsteinqueen profile image
rammsteinqueenGraduate in reply to Lissyf

Ah go for it - lots of lone runners at our park run and everyone friendly :-)

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Lissyf

Thank you Lissy! Parkruns are great fun, you can be as anonymous as you want, it's not competitive (to most!) and everybody is there to help & encourage. Go for it, I'm sure you'll love it!

rammsteinqueen profile image
rammsteinqueenGraduate

Wow - well done! I did park run yesterday - 43 seconds off 30 minutes.. gutted! It is absolutely chaotic at ours.. so many people running with dogs and around 260 runners in all.. I have to say I don't enjoy all the people :-/

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to rammsteinqueen

Thank you! Great name!! I know what you mean about the chaos, there were over 200 running along a seafront course and with dogs in all directions too! Those 43 seconds will disappear soon I'm sure!

rammsteinqueen profile image
rammsteinqueenGraduate in reply to lardofale

Fingers crossed for Saturday :-D

martinhermanus profile image
martinhermanus in reply to rammsteinqueen

Well done I am 30:44! So excited about breaking the 30 minutes! It's going to suddenly just happen!

rammsteinqueen profile image
rammsteinqueenGraduate in reply to martinhermanus

Ahh let's hope so - I am so impatient :-D

AlMorr profile image
AlMorrAmbassadorGraduate in reply to rammsteinqueen

Great time but really the organisers should not allow people with dogs to run along with them, absolutely ridiculous in my opinion

blue_cat profile image
blue_catGraduate

I started running in January with the 30 min target and finally smashed it 2 weeks ago. My training regime is 2 slow 5k in the week and then to push at Park Run. After reaching my target my thought was what next ? For me I really enjoy the running and I know I can think both 10k and breaking 29 mins. Simply enjoy and keep going.

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to blue_cat

Cool, well done to you! That's a good plan you have there too, I'm now starting along the path to 10k too but, as you say, i'll just enjoy it and keep going, no rush!

Vixen67 profile image
Vixen67Graduate

Awesome πŸŽ‰πŸ¦Š

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Vixen67

Thank you!

juliakburr profile image
juliakburr

In under 30 mins thats blooming fantastic

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to juliakburr

Thank you mam! I uttered a similar phrase when I crossed the line! ;0)

Theziggy profile image
TheziggyGraduate

Feels good doesn't it!

C E L E B R A T E !!!!!!!!!!!!

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Theziggy

It sure does and I sure did!!!!

GingerBohemian profile image
GingerBohemianGraduate

Congrats! Nice one.

janief profile image
janiefGraduate

Well done, great achievement!πŸŽ‰πŸŽ‰πŸŽ‰

I do the speed podcast once a week with to try to do a sprint finish. I was advised to try it when I was trying to get sub 30 at the Parkrun. It helps with a sprint finish for a few more seconds off your time.,,

I didn’t know you can represent Couch to 5K. I might need to change my Parkrun profile!

Well done again. Xx

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to janief

Thank you! I guess it depends on the terrain for the parkrun too when it comes to a sprint finish. The course I run is relatively flat but has a steep hill which needs to be climbed twice, that doesn't half sap the strength out of the legs!

I spotted a response to a fellow C25Ker from IannodaTruffe some time ago which mentioned that it was part of the running club menu. There are a few people who have attached it to their profiles, it would be great to see a few more!

janief profile image
janiefGraduate in reply to lardofale

Two hills sound nasty! My Parkrun is all flat apart from a small slope.

I’ve attached the tag to my Parkrun profile now, thanks. I wouldn’t have known about it with without your post.

Good luck for your next Parkrun. πŸƒπŸ»β€β™€οΈ

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to janief

Cool! Glad to be of service πŸ˜πŸ‘ Good luck to you too ☺

Hey πŸ‘‹ well done! I've slacked since graduation so lots of consolidation runs for me! Might revisit from week 6 and build up from there. Do you have anything to listen to as you run?

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Catherinel14secondtimearound

Thank you Catherine! Once I graduated I decided to just go for 5k runs and see what happened. The endurance and speed have built up bit by bit in the last 7 weeks. My music is just a random playlist which I initially set up to mask heavy breathing! Now it's just to help concentration though I did have a problem with my headphones recently which meant I had to run with no distraction, it was an interesting experience having to think for myself and not what Metallica told me to think!

Gillma profile image
GillmaGraduate

Well done - fabulous effort

Fiona_B profile image
Fiona_BGraduate

Very well done :-)

Downtwo profile image
Downtwo

Well done. What an achievement. I am sure you will keep getting better. As long as you are enjoying it and to keep off the weight, another incredible achievement of yours. I could do with some of that as my weight is probably slowing me down a bit. I really enjoy this programme and will be well happy if I can do a park run without collapsing at the end. Inspirational.xx

Limawhite profile image
LimawhiteGraduate

Congratulations - that's fantastic!

I did my first park run yesterday. I've only recently managed to step up from running for 30 minutes to running the full 5K distance, so was quite nervous about doing it. My time was 37:52 which meant I was second in my age category VW60-64 but as there were only two of us in that category, I was also last in the category! I was just pleased not to have been last over the finish line ...

in reply to Limawhite

oh we are in same age category and my one and only park run at full running 5k was 36:52, so we are very similar place. i have 2 more runs to complete week 9.

Limawhite profile image
LimawhiteGraduate in reply to

You have done very well to get to 5k so quickly. I completed week 9 back in June but was still not running 5k until a couple of weeks ago. I floundered a lot without the structure, was away on holiday, skipped runs etc. I kept repeating week 9, also tried using Stepping Stones but found I wasn't enjoying my running very much. I decided I was going to give up the 5k aspiration and just do nice, easy 30 minutes runs 3x week. I've gradually increased them to 40 minutes, giving me the 5k distance, but I now want to improve my speed.

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Limawhite

Thank you mam! Well done to you for doing your first parkrun. I was last in my age group (out of 25) on my first parkrun but some of those chaps are just superfast, probably never seen a couch let alone got off one to do the C25K!

Bluebirdrunner profile image
BluebirdrunnerGraduate

Wow Lardofale 😊... you are doing brilliantly ....man or machine πŸ˜„πŸ˜‰

Still acheiving...and loving it by the sound of it.

Great stuff.xx

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Bluebirdrunner

Thank you Jan! I think I needed a machine at the end!

Florisu profile image
FlorisuGraduate

Congratulations! Hope to be able the same in November.

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Florisu

Thank you and good luck!! :0)

SaskAlliecat profile image
SaskAlliecatGraduate

Nicely done! You have a great plan that's working well for you. Another goal reached πŸŽ‰

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to SaskAlliecat

Thank you! It's a plan that has evolved since I lost the encouraging tones of Michael Johnson telling me what to do via the app. Lots of advice on this fantastic forum too so other things to try at some point.

Irish-John profile image
Irish-JohnGraduate

Well done Sir! Well done indeed :)

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Irish-John

Thank you sir!

That's amazing! A sub 30 is what I want more than anything. I'm in Week 6 of C25K so I know I have a long way to go. The best time I've got so far is 32:55. I ran two 1K runs below below 6 /km but I can't go any further than 1K at that pace. Good luck with your next parkrun!

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to

Thanks mate. That first sub 30 minute came a little bit out of the blue, I was hoping to get there by Christmas, but I seem to have hit upon a decent little weekly programme which has got me concentrating on just getting a decent pace & rhythm. The time will sort itself out! Good luck , hope to see that shiny G badge next to your name soon!

skysue16 profile image
skysue16Graduate

Wow, fantastic very well done! πŸ‘

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to skysue16

Thank you! ;0)

HeleneCorsa profile image
HeleneCorsaGraduate

Brilliant, well done! Your plan sounds like a great one and it certainly seems to be working for you.

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to HeleneCorsa

Thank you very much!

Kazzybe profile image
KazzybeGraduate

Well done, I'm just starting so all this to look forward to.

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Kazzybe

Thank you! It's great that you're on the C25K roller coaster too πŸ‘ I started in June with no running experience at all, 47 years old, overweight etc

Now I run 5K+ 3 times a week. The advice and encouragement on this forum is invaluable, stick with it and post regularly, you'll get there πŸ‘ Good luck ☺

TJMazz profile image
TJMazzGraduate

That's brilliant. Well done πŸ‘

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to TJMazz

Thank you! Good luck with your running, I'm an early morning runner too, so you're not alone!! ;0)

AlMorr profile image
AlMorrAmbassadorGraduate

Congratulations to you for breaking that magic 30 minutes, we all must feel a bit sorry for Anna who ran it in 1 second over 30 minutes, better luck for her the next time

TJMazz profile image
TJMazzGraduate

Wow, very impressive. You really are loving running. πŸ‘

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to TJMazz

Thank you! It was quite a feeling, I've managed to improve a couple of times recently too so the grin is still pretty wide!

Kippinsimpson profile image
Kippinsimpson

Whoop whoop !!! πŸ‘ well done to you. 😊

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Kippinsimpson

Thank you, whoop whoop indeed!!

Fenellawny profile image
FenellawnyGraduate

Lowestoft run sounds nice on seafront. where does it start from?

Well done btw. Ive only just come across your post. chuffedness is still exuding from the page!

lardofale profile image
lardofaleGraduate in reply to Fenellawny

Thank you! I've broken 30 minutes a couple of times since then and the chuffedness has increased!! The run starts from the South Pier and heads past the Claremont Pier and down the beach promenade towards Pakefield then back via the upper promenade. It's very nice until the sea wind hits you!!

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