Rookie runner!

[Miley0909]

Hi, just completed week 1. Looking forward to week 2 but I'm unsure how hard to 'push ' myself? Is it best to be shattered after every run ? So far I've just been trying to go that little bit further in distance every run. I'm brand new to 'running ' . Looking forward to any advice 😁 Cheers

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Welcome to the forum and well done on getting started.

This guide to the plan is essential reading healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

and includes advice on pacing. You are definitely not aiming to be shattered after every run.

Enjoy your journey.

[Sandraj39 Graduate]

Welcome to the forum Miley0909! 🙂

Best thing is to have a look at our pinned post on "How to run Couch to 5K" - it will answer a lot of your questions and is full of good advice and tips.

healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

It is not advised that you 'push' yourself too much at this stage of the game (although we all come to this with different levels of fitness, age and varying degrees of athletic ability! The program is designed to take you safely up to 5k or thirty minutes of running and our mantra here tends to be 'slow and steady', in order that folk finish their runs feeling good about themselves without risking injury (running legs can take a while to build! )

So, I would stick with the program as it's written - there is plenty of time to build on speed and distance once you have completed it and if you look at our sister forums, 'Bridge to 10k' and 'Marathon Runnning and Race Support', you will see that many do!

Enjoy and good luck!🙂👍

[Sandraj39 Graduate in reply to Sandraj39]

Oops! IannodaTruffe beat me too it!🙂

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate]

You don't need to "push yourself" when out running, I know that you might see runners on TV shattered after they finish a race, lying flat on the ground gasping for breath, that does NOT apply to you or anyone else doing C25K, just take all the runs slowly, at the end you will not be shattered.

[Hidden]

Try and be comfortable with your pace. It's a marathon not a sprint and you may find that as you progress you will need to slow down a bit anyway. Learn to run first and then worry about pushing yourself. Good luck!

[misswobble Graduate]

Slow is the only way to go No hurry at all. It’s just about completing each session.