So I have done the couch to 5K for three months and I’ve gone from jogging for a minute and being so out of breath I was embarrassed, to jogging for 30 minutes and not feeling out of breath. I am shocked at this, any reason for this or am I not pushing hard enough to go faster?
Either way I can’t believe I used to breath like an 80 year old woman going up the stairs to now smashing 5K.
I’d like to add I do jog at a slower pace and get slightly faster so I am not running it’s more of a simple to faster jog.
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Katierayray
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I am assuming that you have actually completed the C25k plan, in which case congratulations.
This guide to post C25k running may be helpful healthunlocked.com/couchto5... which explains that if you want to get faster you still need to spend 75-80% of your time at an easy conversational pace and only push in the remainder.
It all depends on what you hope to gain from your running.
If you just want to maintain your fitness, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with staying at a very steady pace. The study cited in this article suggests that slow runners live longer than the general population and fast runners womensrunning.com/culture/s...
Jogging is running... you’re running... you’re a runner... sorry to break that to you 🤣🤣
You’re doing great, and running the right way to get faster over time. The secret to getting faster? Lots of comfortable conversational paced running... you now know what an “easy 5k run is” which is a paradox when we first start C25K.
Your comfortable pace should be the one you see getting faster first... partly because all runners should be using that pace at least 75% of the time. There’s nothing wrong (and lots right) with using this pace 100% of the time either. If you want to get faster over 5k and push, try some intervals maybe once every 6 runs, or a tempo run (shorter and a little faster than normal) and a longer run once every week/fortnight (this needs to be progressive as per C25K). There’s a good plan on Bridge to 10 k for this.
It’s all up to you where you go from here... what’s important is that you’re getting many physical and mental health benefits, and of course that you’re now seeing just what you can do, and how awesome you are.
It's your journey, take it where you want to go. In 'normal' times, I'd suggest a parkrun or a running club, but it sounds like you're enjoying yourself anyway!
Hey well done you!! You don't need to justify yourself! You are a runner. What do you want from your running?? That's the hard part. I have decided I'm not built for speed so I'm trying to increase distance. Im running 30 minutes but just falling short of 5k so that's my new goal, time and distance not pace. Good luck moving forward whichever path you choose, just keep running 🏃🏃👍
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Running, more like shuffling??
Does 25 minutes seem more like 25 hours?
How fast should I run?
Me jogging?!! - unthinkable? ..or is it?
I wonder if I am a masochist!
