What’s next?

[DeepiM]

I’ve got the last run for Week 9 coming up on Friday and was wondering - Where next? What have others moved on to and how is it working out ?

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate]

I wish you all the best for your graduation run on Friday DeepiM. Before you go on to B210K or other podcasts beyond C25K you should run 6 "consolidation" 30 minute runs

[DeepiM Graduate in reply to AlMorr]

Thanks AlMorr, definitely plan to carry on with the 30min runs - I’m quite slow atm and want to work on speed

[Razouski]

After graduating at Week 9 I then spent several weeks just enjoying running for half an hour. In fact I still used Week 9 podcast for a while as I couldn’t contemplate running without Laura. Then I started choosing my own music on my playlists and investigating different routes.

Once I felt really comfortable at 5k I decided to push on to reach 10k (there’s a sister forum to this one called Bridge to 10k).

Finally I ran my first half marathon race last Saturday!

Good luck with your graduation runs.

[DeepiM Graduate in reply to Razouski]

Thanks Razouski. Using the app and my own music at the moment. Congrats on the half marathon. I’m undecided on how far I want to take running but certainly inspired by what you have achieved.

[Razouski in reply to DeepiM]

I always said I didn't have any intention of running further than 5km, but I somehow got caught by the running bug and a very persuasive non-running friend.

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate in reply to Razouski]

Congratulations to you Razouski for completing your first half marathon race last Saturday, just shows you what can be done once you start running and especially with C25K and running several 30 minute runs as a gradual step to that HM. This morning I am going to run a 5K on a slightly different route as my previous two 5K runs, I do have a choice of about 4 or 5 routes, all off-road. I have even worked out by walking a 10K route I might run someday, however, that route does have a 1Kilometre loop which I would have to run around 3 times to make up the 10K. About 3 months ago I ran/walked that 10K route in 1 hour 28 minutes as a test.

[Razouski in reply to AlMorr]

That’s a good time for walking/running 10km. I reckon you’ll be doing it in sub 60minutes before too long!

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

Enjoy the graduation run.

After consolidation it’s all about goal setting. Do you want to go beyond 5k? Do you want to break a set time for 5? Do you just want to keep running for fitness? That’s the first thing to work out. I’m looking at a 5k time first, so I’m following a race plan... then my long term goal is a marathon, so I’ll probably follow a 10k race plan (not necessarily with an event) HM and obviously marathon plans will follow. After that I’m going to just run for fun and fitness, so I will either just go running a few times a week, or go back to 5k plans and hit parkruns regularly.

[DeepiM Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Thanks UnfitNoMore. That’s quite a bit to consider, getting to 5k is certainly the first step. At my current average it would take me about 45 min, so will be focussing on pace for a few more 30min runs. Please keep us posted on your progress against the plan

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

This was written to answer your question healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

[DeepiM Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Thanks IannodaTruffe. That’s a very comprehensive blog. 👍🏽

[SnailRunner71 Graduate]

I'm planning on repeating some of them for a few weeks to build up stamina.

[DeepiM Graduate]

Thanks SnailRunner71. I thinks that’s the best thing in the first instance. Keep me posted!