5 km or 3.1 miles?

[Stuart66]

Just finished week 8. Feeling good but I thought I was doing much better. Then I mentioned to a neighbour, who was a good runner until recent ill health, that I had run 2. 9 miles in 25 minutes. He was careful to let me down gently, but thought I might be wrong based on his experience. I finally worked it out though. My watch odometer was measuring in Km, not miles as I thought. I know it's not about the speed or distance run, but I was a bit deflated. It was hard doing today's run, which was W7R3. Oh well my vision of running my first 5K in 27 minutes has now been scotched. Still I still hope I won't be last, but there again, someone has to be

[Saartjie Graduate]

Oh no! But as I'm sure you've read on here countless times by now...slow and steady wins the race. At least you found out before you entered a 5k race!

[Stuart66 in reply to Saartjie]

Yes, good point. That could have been a shock.

[Amoniz]

Don’t discourage urself. Just think to urself I’m here I have already this many miles if it wasn’t for couch to 5k u would probably be still in ur crouch with a pick of crisps watching tv.

Please don’t put urself down.

[Jhill66]

You did better than me! Only managed 2.5 k in 25 minutes! I’ll work on getting a bit faster in the winter when it’s not so hot!

[Stuart66 in reply to Jhill66]

Good choice of name. Thanks for the support.

[Millsie-J Graduate]

You will get to 5k but it will take a bit longer!

A friend of mine, new runner, was bragging a bit ( well, a lot) telling me he was running 4m is 29 minutes. I was pretty sure he wasnt but said, blimey you are going to be an elite runner! Weeks later he found out the treadmill was set to ks.

Just keep going, enjoy!

[Stuart66 in reply to Millsie-J]

He has my sympathy. Thanks for the encouragement.

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate in reply to Millsie-J]

Yes indeed, surprising how many people are getting mixed up between the two measurements.

[LeeU Graduate]

It's ages since I posted, don't worry about the distance, the fact that you are running for 25 minutes is the main thing.

When I started the program I had the target of running 5k in 30 minutes, I then found I couldn't maintain the same pace through out the program, I was very down hearted until Oldfloss gave me the advice of slow and steady.

I completed the last few weeks at 6kph, a shuffle really.

Thing is, I was shuffling for 30 minutes, none stop, I've had a few health issues since Christmas but have started jumping on the treadmill when I can, mainly alternating between run 1 and 2 of week 3, sometimes at 6kph, sometimes at 6.4kph, once at 7.5kph.

Keep plodding on, you will increase your speed.

[Stuart66 in reply to LeeU]

Thanks for the encouragement. I do my running along a promenade and haven't used a treadmill, so I tend to start very slow and allow my body to choose a comfortable rythym, which seems to work. I'm hoping that this pace will naturally increase with fitness. We'll see.

[Mrsjhw Graduate]

Thank goodness for this thread. I was thinking I was doing ok until I read a few online posts elsewhere which said 4mph was a standard walking pace. I’m only 5ft tall and at the moment 4mph is my running pace....

[Stuart66 in reply to Mrsjhw]

4mph is not a walking pace. It might be a very fast walk for a tall person. Perhaps you should measure how far you walk at your normal pace and work out your normal walking speed. That will give you some idea of how much faster you are when running. And, to repeat the mantra, it's all about just keeping running at any pace.

[Mrsjhw Graduate in reply to Stuart66]

Thank you.

[Razouski]

Who cares about speed and distance at this point..? You probably decided to start running to get fit, and that’s exactly what you’re doing. Running for 25 minutes is giving you a good cardio work out so it doesn’t matter if it’s kilometres or miles.

Happy running.

[Stuart66 in reply to Razouski]

Thanks for the reply. Yes I get that. I was just sharing my disappointment and hoping to cheer a few people up.

[GoGo_JoJo Graduate]

It is disheartening however you're still running more than you thought you could, you're still improving with every run (even though it doesn't always feel that way), and you're completing every run and making great progress.

Speed will come later... honest 👍😁

[Stuart66]

Thanks for that encouragement.

[Ang33333 Graduate]

The important thing is you are running! I'm not running 5k I'm 30 mins but I'm running 30 minutes! I will get to 5k eventually but slow and steady...!

[Ebee54 Graduate]

I get in a muddle between mins per km and km per hour!

[Nakimbugwe Graduate]

Thank you for this thread. I have just done a week 9 run and measured the distance for the first time. I was devastated to find I had run for 2.5 kms in 30 mins - means 5k will take me an hour!