Happy New Year! And beyond graduation...

[staceypek]

HNY fellow C25kers! Hope you all had a fantastic time. Pleased to say I kept up the running over the festive period after graduating (with a parkrun) on the 22nd. I went out for an "easy" 30 mins on Christmas eve, did around 4.5k on the 27th and then another half hour consolidation on the 29th. I also did 5k total today (including 10 mins of warm up/down walking) so I'm feeling pretty good compared to how I usually do after the Christmas break (although I must say the one on the 29th was tough!)

Now I've been thinking about what to do after consolidation. I've done a bit of research and I know there are quite a few different options including the Bridge to 10k. I wanted to ask what ones other graduates are going/have gone for, or are you doing your own thing? Part of me is keen to build on my progress and I'd be intrigued to see if I can go for the 10, but would be keen to hear different opinions and experiences. 2 of my best friends are keen to sign us all up for a 10k in early April but I just don't know if that's too ambitious at this stage.

I'm also getting married in November so the vain part of me wants to push myself a bit further as the difference this is starting to make on my body shape is something I'd like to exploit for wedding dress shopping 😃 - as well as all the other benefits of course!

Keen to hear any thoughts, plans and advice.

Thanks!

Stacey

[Ditzyjack Graduate]

Hi Stacey. Glad to hear that you are doing so well. Like you I graduated around the same time and I got to be honest i no longer have a clue what I'm doing is right or wrong. I now run 5k 3 times a week. I'm going for distance instead of time. I don't start my clock until I start running so I don't include the warm up or cool down. Sometimes I run it faster, sometimes slower. I decided on distance over time because I was finding I could run for 30 mins relatively comfortably but I felt like I wasn't achieving anything. Some days 5k feels like a marathon other days it feels like 5k. I had life left in my legs the other day (I was running slower than normal cos I took my dog and i swear she was trying to kill me) so I continued to run for a further 1k.

I think I'd like to join the 10k program but I don't know whether I have enough time to cover that distance. Time as in - I've got lots of things I have to do (work full time and a house with kids etc). We'll see how it goes.

Keep up the great work. you've got a brilliant motivator with the wedding coming along. What a wonderful 2019 you are going to have.

[staceypek Graduate in reply to Ditzyjack]

Hi Ditzyjack! Congrats on graduating too, I know what you mean about feeling a bit clueless now. I've read about increasing 10% on one long run each week so that's an idea - think it was the measurable progress that got me addicted to c25k so would love that to continue. I know it's inevitably going to slow up though, the fitter I get! For now I think I'm going to do 2 30-40 min runs during the week and then a 5k each weekend and see if I can improve my pace. Then I might naturally (hopefully) start covering more distance in my weeklys? Keep posting - keen to see how you get on! And thank you, it's exciting for sure!

[Achy4days Graduate]

Hi Stacey. Whilst you definitely have a great foundation to work towards 10k with your wedding as a motivator, you have lots of wonderful and exciting options waiting for you now that you have graduated. It all depends on what you may want to prioritise.

Personally, I started C25k because I needed to be fitter and healthier and this remains the longterm goal I will need to keep at. I graduated at the beginning of Dec and consolidated the 30min runs a few more times until I managed to run 5k (which takes me about 34-37mins) until it felt comfortable. And then, I realised that without the reassurance of a tried & tested program like C25k I wasn't too sure of what to do after that. My priority became then to keep going and I realised that whatever I do will need to be varied, structured and enjoyable. I am currently doing a mix of hill training, fartlek, long runs and recovery/maintenance runs. I have also set myself some little motivating targets, like rewarding myself with a pair of compression tights after completing a Parkrun, or a new pair of trainers when I can run 5k in 30mins, etc