Should i have done this

[Stevieplink]

So yesterday, a day after finishing w3r3 i found myself in the gym and on a treadmill and decided to repeat w1r1 to see if how long it would take me to do 5k. I was really surprised how easy it was compared to when i actually did the w1r1 the first time and it took me 44 mins. That included 5 minute warm up followed by 1 min run 1.5 min walk 15 times. Was that ok to do, i was meant to do w4r1 today but decided to jave a rest day and start tomorrow

[Buddy34 Graduate]

On here we have always been told not to run one day after the other the rest days are so important , you could end up with an injury that will put you out of running. Go to the gym that's ok just don't do high impact exercise on your rest day . So now you know😊😊

[Stevieplink Graduate in reply to Buddy34]

Big oops then.

🤭 It wont happen again

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

In a word... no. You shouldn’t have. I can see 3 things wrong with it at least.

1) Running in consecutive days. When we run we cause tiny tears in the muscles and they heal when we are at rest, and also strengthen. While we are still building that muscle (1-2 years maybe) we need to be very careful with our running, and in the first 6 months to a year we should avoid back to back days completely. Without the rest day you are at best reducing the progression of the muscle build and at worst making the tears bigger... this can result in days, weeks, even months of no running.

2) You did too much. The plan is carefully designed to minimise injury risk... any changes to it change that risk... adding to the amount of running increases it dramatically. Sometimes this type of injury isn’t evident for a day or two, hopefully you’ll be ok when you next run.

3) You also pushed pace. This plan gives a recommendation of running at conversational pace... that’s true of all decent running plans on most runs. The time to see how long 5k will take (which I read is how fast it will be) is after you’ve run the distance (and preferably longer) at a slower pace. Part of the rules that were drilled into me as a young athlete was increase distance or increase pace, never both... when we go long we should always go slow.

So... the good news is the cardio fitness you added doing this will remain!

Stick to the plan and the “rest” days. There’s many more things to do in a gym that will help your running... if you “find yourself” on a treadmill, walk... and if you can’t don’t allow yourself to get on it 😂

Learn the mentality of being a runner as well as the physical side and you will be able to find out just how quickly you can run 5k, or just how far you can run... whatever floats your boat... but the mentality is a big part of it. No need to push daily, or even weekly.... then we get lots of happy, slow, sometimes even short, running... and that running changes your life and extends it.

[Stevieplink Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Thanks for the advice. I am indeed feeling it today, mainly due to a cramp last nighr

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to Stevieplink]

What’s really great here is you asked... and then you learned. Hopefully all is fine and you’ll love that next run.

[Stevieplink Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Im desperate to do the park run i guess it was just a way of seeing if i could do it where walking would not take up the majority of the course. Ive looked at the times of the slowest people to see if i could do it without being the last ine home

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to Stevieplink]

Ok... there’s one way you can go, get a good 5k’s worth of exercise, and not affect C25K... volunteer as tailwalker one week... then you can run Friday and Sunday too, and you also get to check the course out, learn the route etc.

[Couchpotato2 Graduate]

Same as Unfitnomore. Do rest an extra day before the next run and stick to the plan. You need time to build up the muscles. I know how tempting it is to run a little longer or a little more often but in the end I didn’t. I was injury free and pain free all of c25k

[Stevieplink Graduate in reply to Couchpotato2]

Many thanks for the reply, I desperately want to do the park run. I guess i just wanted to see if i could do 5k and not be really embarrased by being the last person home

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to Stevieplink]

I’ve been that last person home... it’s great! All the marshals are there ready to cheer... a bigger crowd than the first to finish gets! I’m very proud of that last place!

[Couchpotato2 Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Yeah it’s too early to worry about where you finish in a pr. I’ve done them following C25k with 5’ walk 20’ run and then walking, it’s still great.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Please read the guide to the plan healthunlocked.com/couchto5...