Having completed week 6 with no real problems (apart from a pulled calf muscle, 3 days off then back on it, no drama) yesterday I went for a run in the woods. Piece of cake? I thought it should have been, except that I completed the first 6 weeks on a treadmill. Running outside is sooooo different. I had to stop/walk after 5 mins, and again after 10 mins. Given that I have run 25 mins on the treadmill without problems it felt like disaster. I usually jog at 8km/h on the treadmill, but with nothing to "pace" me outside I unwittingly completed 2 miles in 20 mins - 10km/h, 25% faster than usual. I know that's the 5k/30min pace but I just wasn't ready for it. I was gasping, my legs were heavy, it was awful.
So, friends, I have to conclude that a treadmill is not real life, and my hat is off to those of you (pretty much all, I think) that kept it real. Man. I feel like starting the programme again, but to be honest I don't know where to start. I'm going to take a couple of days off to recuperate and consider your advice.
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Lorcan
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Too fast too soon, no wonder you felt awful! Slow it down a bit and carry on from where you are would be my suggestion.
I agree, and we've discussed elsewhere, that roads and the treadmill are different animals, but not /that/ different. Take the pace nice and easy. It's about running for a set time at the moment, nothing more. Don't worry distance or speed. They're goals for after C25K.
Oh Lorcan, the treadmill is real life too. It must be difficult to get the pace right when you are in charge of it yourself but I'm sure now that you have gone too fast today you will know to slow the pace next time. There is usually pros and cons to everything in life. Maybe this is what will keep you running, finish the challenge on the treadmill then take it outside and keep going from there. It will be a fresh challenge. Good luck with however you decide to proceed, but never give up, after all, exercise is exercise.
2 weeks before I started this programme (which I started last week on a treadmill) I walk/ran outside as we were away and it was a good start to jogging. But I had my husband's heart rate monitor and GPS technology to monitor my speed, so I knew that my running speed was 7.8km, so I knew that was the speed to set the treadmill at.
I want to get my speed and distance up a bit before venturing outside as I'm looking forward to running in the fresh air again and don't want to get used to just one way of running.
So I'd say go outside again after you recuperate but just slow it down a bit and hopefully the next time will be much better
and if you were running trail as well that is different again I have found. At the moment I think I am a minute a KM slower on trail compared to road though I love it.
Pacing was always the hard bit and I took about 6543040 weeks to get it right!
Stick with its worth it and when you have to stop for a breather you can just pretend that its just to look at the view/wildlife.river etc
I did c25k this time last year on the treadmill, apart from 1 run when I didnt have time to get to the gym & didnt want to miss my run. I can now run for over an hour on the treadmill & have avoided running outside as I hated it & found it really difficult outside. I think it was about week 3 & my throat hurt from the cold weather.
2 of my children are doing the plan & I have insisted they do the first run of each week outside, which I have joined them for. I was fortunate enough to invest in a second hand treadmill so they do the other 2 runs on that. today we started week 5 & as it is 3 separate runs we will do all of them outside. I feel the same as you. it is soooooo hard & yes, hats off to those who run outside all the time.
I did manage all 3x 5min runs & am hoping that once we finish this week I will feel properly confident to run outside once Ive finished the program Im on at the moment.
dont fear the outdoors. if you stay on the treadmill to finish the plan but still wanna get outside, do what I did & go back to repeating c25k outside. perhaps you will only need 1 run of each week until you find your "pace".
by the way, I run outside far too quickly as well so burn out quickly ~ running with my 12 year old while we watch the 13 year old run off into the distance is fine. we all need to find our own comfy pace.
With DibDob on this one. Get outside, enjoy the view, it changes everyday.
I bigin at about 6am, and now in week 4 I can actually see everything around me. I have been running past a field for the pass 3 weeks, and I didn't even know there were horses in it.
Get outside and go wild. If you wrap up warm there's no reason to enjoy the wild.
But if you live in the town, take car of stupid car drivers!
I find I can run for a lot longer on the treadmill but I put this down to there not being any hills/outside elements. I defiantly recommend running outside it's so much more enjoyable. I did find it difficult to find my pace to start off with as I was setting out too fast, but after a few runs you learn what is comfortable for you.
Running outside is definitely different to running on a treadmill. I've just started week 2 and although I've done treadmill stuff in the past (a long time ago), this time I've been running outside from the beginning because I'm training for a race at a specific location and I'm fortunate enough to be able to train on the same course. My advice would be to not give up and to def not go back to the beginning!! Give yourself a day or two and try it again outside. A friend of mine that has completed a couch to 5K said that he had to go back once but only by one week, so maybe if running outside on week 6 is a struggle then just go back to week 5 and start from there.
Keep up the hard work, your doing an amazing job!! Just think where you were 6 weeks ago compare to where you are now - its an amazing accomplishment and although you've had one bad run, you most definitely shouldn't beat yourself up about it. KEEP GOING, YOU CAN DO IT!! You've got this far!
Thanks for all the kind comments and support :D. My lower legs are a mess so I won't be running til the weekend now. Tried a short jog tonight but they are just too painful. I'm disappointed but you learn and move on, so I'll continue with the treadmill and start phasing in outdoor runs, probably from around week 3 or 4 until I get used to them.
The C25K page makes no distinction between running on a treadmill and outside, but my advice to anyone starting out on a treadmill would be to think about it, and bear in mind that you might not be able to swap to outside running easily.
The one good thing, for me, is that I now know that I can run at 5K/30 min pace when I need to. I'll get there one day!
Oh this is so funny - I've just left a posting on another c2k forum about this very subject - to cut a long story short I started off running outside, and then a couple of weeks ago when it got icy, shifted to the treadmill rather than interrupt the program - did weeks 5 and 6 there, and convinced myself I was a running god!
I breezed through W6D3 without catching my breath, and practically skipped out of the gym, giving myself a 'get her!' pat on the back, but all the time knowing that this wasn't really 'real'!
I was keen to take my new-found god-like status back to the road-running, but at the same time petrified because I knew it was going to be a bit of a reality check, but this evening I went out and did W6D1. It *was* harder than the same run in the gym, but it was still better than I would have done on the road two weeks ago, so I know I *have* got fitter, so it's all good really!
From what you've said Lorcan you're pretty much in the same place as me, so don't worry about it, take yourself back a few days, and give yourself time to bed in. If there's one thing I can take from the treadmill runs, it's the pacing. On the road I just try to remember my treadmill pace, and (one run in!) found that as long as I kept it really slow and steady, eventually I hit a groove. It does seem comically slow when you're on the pavement, but that may just be what it takes, so join me in a comedy shuffle!
Just ran Wk6 Run2 as a recovery run, calves are still pretty tight but they'll be fine. That's 3 weeks I've spent on week 6 now, and I thought week 5 was supposed to be tough! Never mind, I'll just complete the programme in 12 weeks instead of 9... to finish first, first you have to finish!
Update: Tried the local parkrun route this afternoon and managed 1 mile (11 mins) without stopping/walking, then another half mile. On the treadmill I can do 2.3 miles continuous, so I now plan to alternate park runs and treadmill until they equalise more and my muscles (such as they are) get used to doing both. Still gasping for breath outside as I tend to run too fast. On the treadmill I can finely control the speed and therefore my breathing. Lovely sunny day so I wore my "I'm as good as it gets" t-shirt! lol.....
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