First run completed - how did I do?

[JohnDop]

Hey all!

Just did my first run in my adult life at 29, using C25K - it went better than expected (I was worried I wouldn’t be able to run for a full minute), I used a third party app to track my distance and came it at 2.5km for the distance in the work out (not including the walk at the end) does anyone know if this is good / bad? I like having data points - my stats are 182cm (6ft) 29 year old male at 107 kg (235 lbs)

Thanks!!

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Welcome to the forum and well done on getting started.

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

Comparison is a rather futile exercise as we are such a disparate range of individuals here, of all ages, weights, fitness levels, abilities and disabilities.

There is only one person that you need to compare yourself too and that is the pre C25k you.

Enjoy your journey.

[Magellan Graduate]

So you ran for 8mins and walked for 12. Your average pace for the walk/run was 8mins per km. My guess is that you probably did something like either: walked at 9mins per km and ran at about 6mins50 per km... or walked at 10mins per km and then ran at 6mins20.

Either way that looks good to me. My running pace is nowhere near that but I’m a dumpy middle aged woman. I can do 5k up and down a hill with a steady 8min40 pace for 4km and 8min for the last km. My sons are 19 and 18. They can sustain 6min per km up hills and under 4min per km on flat for 5km. Oddly though, they are always too tired to load the dishwasher.

If you are aiming for a fast 5k pace, that’s great, but don’t force it. You’re already faster than most beginners. Just run at a comfortable pace. You will get faster automatically week by week.

When the runs start getting longer, and particularly in weeks 4-6, some people (me!) find they have to get slower, but over weeks 7-9 that gradually improves automatically. That might not apply to you, since from the sound of things you’re probably pretty fit compared to many of the people doing C25k. I was definitely a ‘couch’ person.

Ninety percent of people who do this programme have not run a 5k at the point they finish successfully. I certainly didn’t. What the programme did for me was what it said in the plan: to run for 30mins without a break. But I ran a full 5k two weeks later, no problem. You might be one of the ten percent who get to 5k within the programme itself. If you are, that’s great. If you aren’t, don’t feel it matters. Get the 30mins of non-stop running done in week nine, then do a 5k run when you feel ready, and a weekly 5k will see you getting personal bests fairly regularly until you reach your ideal pace.

I use a Garmin vivoactive. I needed a new watch anyway and I got a model that stores my music. It’s pretty good for data, you get graphs and endless lists of numbers and I love it. There are other watches that are cheaper and do the same thing but without music. There are paid-for apps for smartphones that are supposed to be pretty good too. If you like data and like seeing how your data changes from run to run and week to week it’s worth considering.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy running. Treat the data as something to enjoy and never use data to beat yourself up or push yourself beyond what feels healthy.

[JohnDop in reply to Magellan]

Thank you for the lovely reply! I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I’ll check out the garmin too, I like seeing the numbers to track progress