Pace: Hiya, would any of you lovely people mind... - Couch to 5K

Couch to 5K

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Pace

LPW21 profile image
7 Replies

Hiya, would any of you lovely people mind putting a screenshot on of your average pace,calories etc for any weeks please?

I'm on week 6 and I'm just curious to see if I'm about average or really slow.

I know it's not about speed but when they say go slower if your tired I'd be walking!!!

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LPW21 profile image
LPW21
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7 Replies
ArthurJG profile image
ArthurJGGraduate

No, you wouldn’t be walking because that’s about gait not speed. Some people on here (not me) do actually run slower than they walk and that’s still OK. The key is to run for the required time without stopping, walking or getting injured. Whatever speed achieves that for you is a suitable speed. If you want to get faster, work on that AFTER GRADUATION. You need to build the endurance first.

AlMorr profile image
AlMorrAmbassadorGraduate in reply to ArthurJG

I am not sure if those pacer walking or running apps are accurate, I installed Mapmyrun for running and a pacer app for walking. This morning I ran 5K, now here is where there is a difference in the number of calories I used, Mapmyrun said I used 421 calories just for the 5K run, the new pacer app said I used 10,946 steps and 346 calories, that includes the 9 minute walk to where I started the run, the run itself and a 15 minutes walk back home when I switched the app off, perhaps the walking app did not work during the run, at least regarding the calorie count.

steviej99 profile image
steviej99Graduate

ArthurJG is of course correct but it's human nature to compare. Of course pace is relative, my little legs struggle to maintain 10kph for anything more than 30 seconds, but I see long limbed youngsters jogging at well above that speed. I'm on week 7 and my comfortable speed is about 7.8kph but yesterday my body didn't fancy it and I was struggling at 7.3kph! Anyway the key is get the time done slow and steady, pace comes after graduation when you have built stamina

sHAYM4N profile image
sHAYM4NGraduate

I've put screenshots on all my runs, but like everyone said it doesn't really matter at the moment, so wouldn't let it prey on your mind. Your pace may increase rapidly anyway as the walking intervals become less and less, the most important thing is to find the pace you are comfortable at, no matter what it is.

If you have some left in the tank towards the end of a run, try upping the pace a bit then perhaps for the feel good factor (or as I do on the later downhill bits sometimes). That will help you more than anything because the runs don't get easier because the durations get longer. Trying to both up your pace and run the longer durations can be way too much and cause nasty fatigue and more importantly increase the chances of failing that run and future runs.

Running longer durations at your steady pace will help build stamina. The aim is to get to 30 minutes running and after doing that 3 times in week 9 you will have graduated. If you think about the 1 minute runs from week 1, if you can run for 30 minutes by the end of the program, that increased stamina should enable you to run those 1 minute sections quite a bit quicker than you did at the start of the program. This is why many then I believe consolidate the runs and try the Bridge to 10K program too, but there are plenty of wiser people here who will be able to advise better on that when the time comes

Hope that helps & best of luck on your next run!

sHAYM4N profile image
sHAYM4NGraduate

Oh and one other thing, there will always be someone faster! So just be happy that you're out running. Any run is better than no run, and will contribute to your pace & stamina. I was pretty chuffed with my run today, then saw someone else on my strava feed that had just run at double my pace 😂 I laughed when I realised he would have done my route twice by the time we met at the finish line

ArthurJG profile image
ArthurJGGraduate in reply to sHAYM4N

Also, there will always be someone slower. Not to mention thousands absolutely stationary on the couch :)

IannodaTruffe profile image
IannodaTruffeMentor

Okay, it is human nature to want to compare, but who are you going to compare yourself with?

We had an 83 year old graduate last year and today we had a 21 year old graduate...........we have runners here with all sorts of health conditions, disabilities and motivation. Unless you know that someone is broadly similar to you in age, weight, stature, fitness and ability, the comparison is pretty pointless.

Your pace is your pace, so be proud of it.

There are plenty of running sites where runners habitually leave their stats............many of those would possibly leave you feeling very disspirited.

If you are running at an easy conversational pace, as described in the guide to the plan ,healthunlocked.com/couchto5... then you are building stamina and strength, and speed can follow when you have the ability.

As for calories............the apps are making a calculated guess and you need to know the motivation of the creators of the app before you take them seriously.

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