Laura has dumped me.....

[Sewnotfit]

I know I should feel happy because I completed the final run this morning, and enjoyed it (which I can hardly believe!) but now I feel sad because I feel as though my mate Laura has broken up with me

I feel the same as when I brought my first born home from the hospital - the sheer weight of responsibility to continue what I've started but panic that suddenly I have no professional to steer me through and I am now flying solo......

I have grown to really enjoy running, especially in these strange times - it feels good to be out in the lovely weather and fresh air, and allows me a bit of head space. I am so chuffed to have completed it and it felt fitting to do so on Mothers' Day - like a gift to myself! It also allowed me some quiet time to remember my mum and I even saw a white feather in my path just as I was thinking about how much she would have worried about all of us in the current climate. Seeing the feather, I smiled as I realised how she would have gone nuts at my soon-to-be 90 year old dad who seems to think self-isolating means he should only go to shops that aren't busy. (Don't worry I have now shown him how to use Skype and put him under house arrest).

Anyway my question is - how do I keep this going? All the things I thought I would do upon graduating (treat myself to some new kit and trainers, do a Parkrun) are now not possible for the foreseeable so any tips on keeping on track (no pun intended) would be gratefully received - thank you!

And lastly - sorry, I feel I have taken much more than I have given to this forum, especially a couple of weeks ago when I was struggling with it. I have had such great advice and been very cheered by others' posts. I might be quiet but I am very appreciative!

[Buddy34 Graduate]

Firstly , congratulations on completing c25k. What a few people did was kept Laura in their ear for a few more weeks if you like by just pressing repeat on a wk9 run.

While we can still get out on a run just try to enjoy it , if you can . With everything that's going on running can really give you some head space even for a short while .

Once again congratulations and you can get your graduate badge here

healthunlocked.com/couchto5....

🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

[Sewnotfit Graduate in reply to Buddy34]

Thank you! I had a bit of a slump in weeks 7-8 but I took a day or so extra between runs as I was getting some hip pain. However I got past that and can honestly say that the Week 9 runs felt just like I’d imagined being able to run would, so I’m really keen to keep going! Having battled the rubbish weather during the programme I’m keen to make the most of running in the bright sunshine!!

[Hidden]

🎉⭐️ Huge congratulations on completing your C25k! ⭐️🎉

This is a great achievement and you should be so proud of yourself.

Don’t fret - Laura’s still there if you want her company. Just keep pressing the week 9 runs again for your consolidation runs. Some folk switch their allegiance to another coach after graduation, just to see what they’ve been missing. I think I might do this too - my next run is my graduation run, so I’ll see you on the other side. 😊🏃‍♀️

[Sewnotfit Graduate in reply to Hidden]

All the best to you - I loved the Week 9 runs and felt sad today when I thought that was my last laura fix. Great idea to replay the runs! Thank you x

[SadlyBroke Graduate]

Many congratulations! 🍾. I graduated at the start of March and thought I'd be waving a quick farewell to the C25K app and Jo W, but no, I'm several runs post graduation and still repeating W9R3 because I like the time prompts and the gentle encouragement Jo provides. With each run I've been covering slightly more ground: with the 2x 5min walking periods included I'm up by abt 0.5-0.6km over the session, the time per km clearly improving. More recently I've been trying to run at a faster pace for the duration of one song every 10mins or so.

The C25K+ is on my radar but accidentally ran the stamina podcast. It will be a few more weeks before I try that one again 🥵. Also ran in the penultimate local Parkrun and got too carried away trying to match the pace of the seasoned runners 🥵🥵. Fun but hard!

All the best!

[Roxdog Graduate]

Oh well done! A lovely post too - quite moving, both about your mum and also the joy of running.

Keep running alone - park runs can come in the future. For now, I hope you can find some routes where there aren't a lot of people and keep finding that headspace. Do it for the love of just moving and the power it brings.

We're all going go need our runs now!

[Hidden]

It's not all bad news Laura is still available on repeat 🙂 but be brave, try just try lacing up and head out of the door, you've probably established a pace, you know your c25k routes so you could just fly alone and see if you like the freedom of being a runner!

Coz you are BTW a fully fledged runner well done 👍👍

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Congratulations on your graduation, fellow runner.

This guide to post C25k running may be helpful healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

Keep running, keep smiling.

[Speedy60 Graduate]

Congratulations. Well done you 👏👏👏🥳🥳🥳🥂🍾

Just consolidate for a few weeks and enjoy the freedom. Read all the pinned posts and links before you decide what to do next. You can keep repeating week 9, if that's what you want to do. For a bit of variety, you could try changing your route.

Yesterday I intended to walk along my local seafront until I realised how busy it was. I avoided it and went home. I went out early this morning for a run, same place - deserted. I've decided I'm an early morning runner from now on!

Think of what you have to look forward to when parkrun comes back. There will be dancing in the streets.💃🏃‍♀️🕺🏃‍♂️

And there's always online for the running gear 😉

Best wishes

[Astra5 Graduate]

Congratulations 🥳 - 1 year on and I still have Laura on for the 30 min run. Lost count how many week 9 repeat runs I have done. Have music playing too but it just feels good to have someone with you and is more so with current events. Have fun on your graduation runs.

[Noodle1991 Graduate]

I still take my Couch to 5k coach with me often, especially when I don’t really want to run. I play week 6 run 1 and when he says I can walk, I think to myself, yes I could but I don’t need to yet. Nike running club app is a great follow on if you want support whilst running. It’s free and sometimes, I have coach Johnson from C25K and coach Bennet from NRC running at the same time, and of course music. It doesn’t give me a chance to think about whether I want to run or not. Good Luck. You’ve done the hard part. X

[paulmeister Graduate]

I graduated last May and I still use Laura's last run as my warm up, There's a great psychological boost to getting a prompt every 5 minutes and at the end of the half hour I just keep going until I'm happy I've done enough.