Week 9, run 2...

[Secretwish]

Just finished my penultimate run in C25k! I was sort of expecting it would be a bit easier by now but I’m basically dying on my feet in the last 10 minutes...any thoughts? I don’t know that slowing down is an option, it already feels like I’m walking by that point! Will it feel easier with time? I’m running a full 5k in the 30 minutes run time!

[ClareO65 Graduate]

You could slow down. 5K I’m 30 minutes is fast at this stage. I recently went for a post grad run and thought I’m going as slow as I like. I really enjoyed the run. I also thought I couldn’t slow down but I did.

[tony_a Graduate]

You can slow down plenty from that pace 😀 I’ve only been graduated three weeks so hardly an expert (they’ll be along later I’m sure) but on my last run I tried starting out a minute per km slower than usual. I had loads left for the end of the run (chose distance and trotted happily to 7k but could have sped up too). I’m coming to understand that the ability to vary your pace is important.

[Secretwish in reply to tony_a]

Yeah I think I should try, I think I just kind of go at what comes naturally but I need to think more about it. It’s the same when I swim too, come to think about it, I’ve a tendency to start out and try and maintain at the same pace without considering that I might have a lot more work to do! I didn’t know whether my running pace was fast or slow tbh, it’s hard to gauge.

[tony_a Graduate in reply to Secretwish]

Hard to know isn’t it. We’re all different so your slow will be someone else’s fast. But generally not many do 5k in less than 30 minutes as beginner runners on this program so you’re fast in that respect. But I guess quite possible that in the future that could be your easy running pace 😀 One more run to go until you graduate - Congratulations and enjoy it

[AnnieW55]

As has been said you are one of the faster people here. There was a poll last year, forget the actual figures, but the majority of C25Kers graduate by running for 30 mins and don't complete the 5k until later, running longer than 30 mins. Graduating is running for 30mins non-stop. So you are an exception 😄. And you can run slower.

Enjoy your graduation run with no pressure. You know you can do the distance, you don't have to push yourself to do the distance.

When you've graduated, why not try consolidating your runs by varying your pace and distances?

Happy running.

[notoutofbreath Graduate]

As AnnieW55 has said, most on here don't manage the full 5K in 30 minutes (which would need a pace of 6:00). Now I'm not familiar with the app you're using, but the week 9 runs would total 30mins if you're not recording the walking sections, and 40mins if you are... Which means I'm confused about yours showing 36.05?!? If that 36.05 is including 6.05 minutes of the warmup/cool down walking then your running pace isn't the 6.20 it says, your running is in fact well under 6:00. Obviously your age, gender and starting fitness has a massive impact on what pace might be, but if you are running sub-6:00 I'm not surprised you're dying in the last 10 minutes! (Ignore me if I've misunderstood the 36.05!)

Your solution is to go slower at the start. See if you can get a breakdown of your splits, from what you've said to other folk I suspect you're starting super fast and then winding down more and more as you go along (hence feeling you can't slow down any more at the end). Nowt wrong with that, but it's a more pleasant experience to do the inverse, finish on a high, rather than a die! Good luck!

[Secretwish in reply to notoutofbreath]

It’s counting the 5 min walk to warm up at the start, which is normally about 500m, and then I tend to shut it off at the end of the running period - I worked it out to just slightly below 6:00. I’m going to get through the last run, then work on slowing down slightly to feel less like death at the end. Thanks for the advice!!