Hi, I've been reaping the benefits of this fantastic forum for a while now and it's high time I put something back into the community by finally contributing, so I thought I'd share how I've found C25k.
I have never self propelled myself at speed since school bar the few different unplanned instances in adult life where you have the need to run. I started C25k last summer not knowing anything of this forum or the ethos of C25k, with all my own naive ideas of how to follow the plan. I thought I would get better?fitter? quicker by trying to keep up a decent pace throughout the runs and at the end of the runs sprinting the last 20secs and generally pushing myself all the time. This is despite my wife who has done C25k telling me to slow down (I knew better). In week 3 on one of my warm up walks my left knee started to niggle and I ignored it and kept running and although it got really painful completed the run. When I got home and told my wife about my knee her reaction was "you did stop running straightaway didn't you?" Ooops! Told you I was naive, having never really done any sport in adult life I have never had any injuries other than a bad shoulder through work which I had no choice but to work through with a bit of physio. I didn't understand at all about listening to my body.
To cut a long story short which includes ending up on crutches to get about at work, Xrays, physios, tablets etc., I was advised not to run until at least Christmas. This injury was kind of a happy accident because it made me stop and read up about C25k and that's when I found this forum and started to educate myself and realise how foolish I had been about the whole way I had gone about the plan.
So in retrospect what did I learn?...
Read the forums guide to the plan
Get your gait analysis done and the right trainers
Listen to your body
Drink water
A more apt name for the programme would be Couch to 30mins, it's not about speed or distance it's duration. (But I get why it's not called that).
Keep it slow, try not to stop, just go slower.
If you do have to stop, don't beat yourself up, everything you have done on that run all still helps and at least you got out and active.
Week five run 3 is an unnecessary plot spoiler, you have kinda run it before.
Believe in the programme it's clever
Do the warm ups/downs and stretch
Take rest days
Appreciate and be grateful for the encouragement of Oldfloss, the sage like wisdom of the forums wise old owl IannodaTrufe and his links, the amount of quality posts by UnfitNoMore and not to mention all the other contributors that make this community.
I'm pleased to say following my bad knee recovering and starting back over Christmas, I was able to complete week nine run 3 on Wednesday and took part in my first Parkrun today. What a great and totally new experience that was. Everyone was really friendly and encouraging and has brought yet another fun dimension to running for me and hopefully a tool to help keep me interested in running post the structure of C25k.
Mad to think I thought "I can't run!"
W9R3 – I've only gone and done It!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Boom !!!! Only gone and Graduated :)
Just gone and done it
Only gone and done it!!
I’ve only gone and done it!!! 
