English or American?

[59er]

When I first started the C25K I could track my route and it told me how many calories I’d used etc but I found it hard work. Then my physio told me she was running with Sarah Millican. I was using the American version. I quickly swapped and ran with Sarah a couple of times but am now regularly running with Jo Whiley. I’m enjoying it so much more but I wish I could see my route map and times as well as how many calories I’ve burnt. Is everyone ‘singing from the same hymn sheet’? or are some people using the American version as well?

[Kiki1808]

I tend to use the couch to 5k along with Map my run which maps it all.. fiddly indeed would like an app that does it all.

[Tasha99 Graduate]

Set a running app off at the same time 👌🏽 Strava seems to be the app of choice these days. I used to use MapMyFitness but now everyone is on Strava.

[59er Graduate in reply to Tasha99]

Thanks, I’ll give that a try!

[telford_mike Graduate]

I never really worried about the stats during C25K, I just did as I was told, so the British version was fine for me. 3 weeks after graduation and it's a different story now - I want all the stats I can get 😂

[59er Graduate in reply to telford_mike]

It’s just that I’m reading other people saying how much they’ve run at certain stages and I’d just like to see how I’m doing. Hope I won’t be disappointed though!

[wyersmith Graduate]

Like Kiki I use mapmyrun on my phone . It works ok with the uk app and music playing. It Maps it, times it and gives me km splits while running. And it’s free.

[59er Graduate in reply to wyersmith]

Thanks wyersmith, I already have that in my phone but I’ll take a look at Strava too - see which is easiest to use.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

There are dozens of versions of C25K but this forum is primarily, though not exclusively, for those using the NHS and One You plans.

[limberlou Graduate]

I track my runs ( well.. walks while I’m on the IC) with my Garmin watch ( one of the older forerunner 30s) and then run the Garmin Connect App and Strava on my phone. The watch synchs to my phone and stats go to both Apps.

Personally I think Garmin Connect gives better stats and breakdown and strava sometimes cuts my distances short but both are fun to check stats in.

[Denovo]

Endomondo is another tracking app that in addition to the usual stats also uses your all-time totals for calories and distance to tell you how many burgers you've burned, and how far you are in going around the world and to the moon.

I use a Fitbit Charge 2, which in turn uses my phone's GPS for distance and to generate maps, and feeds in heart rate data as well. I link to both Strava and Endomondo to get those additional takes on data as well as what Fitbit gets me as well as to share runs with friends, who are mainly on Strava. I also track food on My Fitness Pal and have that integrated with Fitbbit too.

Perhaps it's because I was educated as a scientist, but personally I can never have too much data, because it helps to keep me realistic and provides motivation while at the same time protecting me from false optimism:

- Calorie data is helping me to manage what I eat and get out of the weight gain spiral I've been in. It's great knowing how many extra calories from running and other exercise I have in the bank each day if I want to go over the limit I've set.

- Sleep data will often explain why a given run felt more difficult than others, and that stops me from becoming discouraged.

- Distance data stops me from having false hopes. I know what I can expect to achieve by the end and was able to come to terms at an early stage in the programme with the knowledge that it certainly will not be 5K in 30 minutes.

- Pace and heart rate data provide encouragement that I am improving even when I feel otherwise. I can see how my resting HR has decreased and how I'm able to sustain a higher HR for longer periods while running. When I see a new fastest pace number come up, even if it only lasted a few seconds, I know I've broken through another barrier and have new goals to achieve.

I've only realised in the last few days that the original version of C25K lets you choose distance or time. If I'd known that from the start, I would have used that app or another that sets distance goals instead of time goals, but there is no point changing now I'm at the start of the last week! Again, it's a personal view, but for me distance is a far more meaningful end result. I'd rather know that I can run 5K in 40+ minutes than that I can run an unknown distance in 30 minutes, simply because events (apart from some ultras which are irrelevant for my low ability level) are distance-based. Even entry-level events like Race for Life and Parkrun involve running a distance not a time. Knowing the distance I am able to run again protects me from false expectations.

[59er Graduate in reply to Denovo]

Wow! Denovo so much info to take in. I’m going to try with MapMyrun this morning purely because I already have it on my phone. So much technology - downloading my playlist to my phone was a triumph for me. Usually I ask my children when they come home. I do agree with you though that running the 5k is priority, not the time I do it in. That’s my goal........for now 😉

[Denovo in reply to 59er]

My daughters are adult and live far away, so it's a constant battle against technology for me especially when the various apps decide to be mean and not play with each other!

[59er Graduate in reply to Denovo]

My adults only live an hour away and constantly groan when I ask them to show me how to do something technology related. It is then that I remind them that I taught them how to use a spoon!