time or distance??

[speedylol]

hi all. I'm almost finished week 2 of consolidation runs but I'm getting myself a bit confused. my total distance averages at 5.20km per run over 40 mins. what I'm confused about is how do I figure out my 30 minute run time? I use map my run and using the same route I can see where I walk to and from. should I start the map my run when I actually run but then I lose the total distance?? I know I'm worrying over nothing but I want to make sure I'm doing the 5k in 30 mins xx

[damienair Graduate]

Forget about 5K in 30 minutes. Don’t worry about distance and don’t worry about pace. Walk as fast as you can for the walking intervals and run at a nice comfortable pace which you could hold a conversation for the running intervals. Run when your told to run and walk when you are told to walk. That’s it. Forget about gizmos and apps. Just follow the plan.

It is designed to get you running for 30 minutes 3 times per week. You can concentrate on a 30 minute 5k when you have finished the plan.

P.S. Sounds like you are doing great.

Damien

[damienair Graduate]

Sorry I misread your original message. I thought you were on week 2 of the c25k plan but your on your consolidation runs. I would just walk to warm up and press start on your app when you start running. As soon as you stop running press stop. That’s the only way to truly track your running interval.

Damien

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate]

You can time yourself when you are running, only 10% of graduates of C25K run 5K on or by graduation run, so far you are doing very well indeed, onwards and upwards. 😊 🏃 You could try the 3 Stepping stones podcasts with Laura after you complete the consolidation runs, C25K + Pace, speed and stamina. 😊

[MarkyD Graduate]

You'll walk for 5 minutes, run for 30 minutes and walk for 5 minutes in your consolidation runs. If your care-about is to see how far you run then start MapMyRun when you start running. But if you want to know total distance travelled, then continue to do what you are doing. No doubt MapMyRun can help you work out your running distance on the computer when you get home if you record all 40 minutes.

BUT

You'll be walking about 450 metres in the warmup / warmdown, so your run is probably 4.3 km or thereabouts.

You are in a consolidation phase, and this (by definition) means running 30 minutes three times per week for a few weeks without setting yourself any goals. But it sounds like you have set two goals already - running 5km in 30 minutes. That is both a distance goal and a pace (speed) goal.

There are 2 reasons for recent graduates to stop running. One is that they get disheartened because they fail to meet (completely arbitrary) goals that they set themselves ("I must run 5km in 30 minutes") and the other is that they push too far too fast and get injured.

You might consider relaxing back to 30 minute runs with no immediate goal. After a few weeks when you find 30 minutes 'easy' then gradually extend the distance to 5 km. Build up some data for how many minutes the 5km run takes, and then set yourself an improvement goal to take one or two minutes off your time. This will require a training program with interval running, recovery runs and a 'long' run. parkrun is a perfect place to record your 5km times. But an arbitrary "5km in 30 minutes" goal doesn't make any sense: the goal needs to be aligned to your abilities.

So I'd say 'relax'. Take some time to enjoy your running, you are doing great. Find some new routes, run at different times of day, run in the rain if you've not yet done so, but just make running 30 minutes fun. You've got the rest of your running life ahead of you if you want to set achievable goals.

[speedylol Graduate in reply to MarkyD]

thank you that really helps make sense. I think that now I've graduated I'm thinking what am I supposed to do now lol. I love the new routes I've found due to being able to run for the 30 mins and am loving it. I wake up with butterflies on running days and can't wait to go. long may it continue x

[Scouser67 Graduate]

Some very good advice there from MarkyD. Thank you for that as I near the end of the programme I shall bear this in mind. 🏃‍♀️