Today I walked-jogged my overweight self round my garden to complete W3r3 (run 9). When I started this I was exhausted after run 1 but I could do this and I feel great. I want to do this each day and not skip...would it be ok to do this?
I've started simple walking on the off days but I like the feeling of success of running.
No, you will injure yourself for sure. Rest days are non-negotiable.
I sympathise, though, because the sense of achievement is highly addictive. I was “cheating” : walking on rest days with maybe just a light jog here and there. I found that I was just rolling those aches & pains up into one ominous deathball.
Instead of trying to complete the programme quickly, visualise that where you are headed is to run every other day for the next five or ten years. Once you do that you can see that getting a fast start on your new habit really doesn't achieve a whole lot in the scale of things.
Rest days between runs are non-negotiable. You need rest days to heal the micro-tears that appear in your muscles every time you run; if you fail to do this you risk injury and then you will really regret having not stuck to the sound advice in the plan. Being on the Injury Couch is not a happy place when all you want to do is run.
Why not try strengthening exercises on your rest days - Pilates, Yoga or exercises from Strength and Flex are all really compatible with C25k.
You're 9 weeks into what is hopefully many years of enjoyable running ahead of you. You're still a beginner and as such your body will take up to 2 years of regular running to fully adapt to it. At this stage, you absolutely need to take non-running rest days.
Consolidate for the next month or so. 3 runs a week, maybe extending a little bit each week.
Then re-assess your goals and see where you want to go with your running.
Maybe after 3 or 4 months, you can extend to 4 runs a week. Or even running every other day. In time, you'll be stronger enough to run every day but even then you'll need to be careful.
"Walk" before you can "Run" 
Congratulations on your progress. 👏
C25K isn't just about being able to run for 30 minutes; it's about giving your body time to make adaptations in a safe and sustainable way. Rest days are an integral part of the programme.
The way to think about it is this: on your running days you put stress on your body; on your rest days your body adapts to that stress and prepares you for the next run. You get fit on your rest days - not your running days! That doesn't mean do nothing on your rest days, just nothing high impact.
It's a great programme, and it's fantastic to be so enthusiastic, but you will have to practice patience if you don't want to risk ending up on the injury couch unable to do anything!
Good luck!👍
I think there's been a slight misunderstanding from a few posters above, in that I don't think Solodad has graduated just yet.
Perhaps run 9 has been mistaken for week 9.
Of course the main point of responses are still totally valid, rest days are non-negotiable.
Happy Running 👍👍
Welcome to the forum and well done on
This guide to the plan is essential reading healthunlocked.com/couchto5...
When you run, the impact creates microtears in your muscles, which repair and strengthen on your rest days, not while running. Without rest, repair and strengthening are compromised and injury risk increased.
If you want to be the best runner that you can be, then do non impact cross training on your rest days, which will be far more beneficial than running every day. It is not recommended for new runners to run on consecutive days until they have a minimum of six months regular running on their legs.
Enjoy your journey.
My suggestion is make that your long term goal... a great one to have. I am an everyday runner, but I didn't start running every day until 4 years in to my running. The body needs to build up to it gradually. And even then I did alot of one mile runs during the week. I am now on my third year of running everyday, and i absolutely love it! So- focus on your C25k on your run days, do some strength work on your non running days, and build your body up gradually... I love your attitude, it will get you a long way
Thanks everyone I will not run on my off days. Is it ok to walk for a couple of miles (again round the garden)?
Yup. Sounds great. How big is your garden? (You don't have to answer that, I'm just being nosy. I'd be sick with dizziness if I tried to walk a couple of miles round my garden😉)
On the bit I can run on I can do about 10 paces on the long sides and 5 maybe on the other. I have an obvious oval in the grass now.
RunStreak - running every day
Who runs every day?
strange freezing and shivering after every run
Run day!
Run Every Day January for Mind
