Couch-2-30-minutes

[Maxi80]

To whom it may concern:

I hope this letter finds you well.

Having just walked a 5K route, I can concur that’s it’s pretty far.

And thus, in conclusion I’m now reframing this game of madness from C25K to C230M.

I bid you good day.

[Speedy60 Graduate]

Very sensible 👍

[John_W Graduate Ambassador]

Have a look at this poll - 90% of C25K graduates don't get anywhere near 5k in Week 9:

healthunlocked.com/couchto5....

In case you hadn't cottoned on... that's basically what the program is telling you to do. Apart from the title, the app is telling you to run for a specific amount of time NOT distance.

The main objective is to run (jog!) for 30 minutes, 3 times in Week 9. That's it. Nothing else.

'Couch to 5k' just works best from a marketing point of view - but it frustrates many of us, cos it sets expectations for a lot of folks who won't necessarily reach 5k. It's one of the most frequently posted about subjects here.

So... crack on. 30 minutes will do you just fine, regardless of distance.

[Vanuua2 Graduate in reply to John_W]

I’m so happy to see this because I’ve been beating myself up for not achieving 5k every run and slightly losing the reason why I started this whole thing.

[Maxi80 in reply to John_W]

3.5K is the majority concensus. Good to see!

[Couchphoenix Graduate]

Couch to 5k is more catchy and having graduated you’ll probably hit 5k eventually so in a way it does get you from couch to 5k albeit following graduation. I take your point though 👍

[FurtherFaster]

It is annoying - I felt the same way when I did the programme, I'd look at my watch afterwards and be like how will I ever run 5K?!

Two things I found helpful - once you stop doing intervals of walking/running you start covering a lot more ground rapidly (the 5 minute additions in W6-W9 made a huge difference to my total distance each week).

Second - you'll hit that 5K soon after graduating - either in the 30 mins by getting quicker with the consolidation runs, or just by being able to keep running for longer!

[Jools2020 Graduate]

Yep, that’s what most of us do 😀

Also, I’ve just done my 20th run since graduation and I can happily say that I can run 4K in 30 minutes, not 5K 👍

[Maxi80 in reply to Jools2020]

Still very impressive, Jools 👏🏻👏🏻

[Run_Matty_Run Graduate]

You make a valid argument. I’ve done the math and at my current pace will potential fall short of the 5k by the end of week nine. But once I get passed the 30 minute mark on run three, all bets are off. I’m going to go for it! 🦾

[Frizzbomb67 Graduate]

Yep. It took me quite a few consolidation runs (lost count now) to reach 5k and now take 38 mins to run the distance.

But I CAN !

[Magellan Graduate]

I finished C25k in March, have recently run 10k and I'm training for a Half Marathon.

I STILL haven't run a 5k in under 30 minutes. My record is 33 minutes. It's fine. Now I'm off to do a run-walk-run.

Keep your chin up, you're doing fine too .

[tiggs1 Graduate]

If you include you walk at the start and end with your 30 min run you won’t be far off the 5km. I still can’t run 5km in 30 mins and I graduated almost a year ago. I do however still love running

[Roxdog Graduate]

Yes, that's what it's all about!

[Cmoi Graduate]

Checking out possible new running routes yesterday, I was driving along unfamiliar, narrow, hilly and winding countryside roads when I arrived at a junction and thought, "Aha, I recognise this. It's the short, flat section after the uphill path."

Drove further, now along my usual running route, and doubt crept in. "This is taking longer than I expected. Can't be where I run. I'm sure the village is nearer than this. I can't be running this far, I'm not capable."

Arrived in village, exactly where I thought I was. Apparently I can run that far, and regularly do!

I'm no expert, I've not even been running four months yet, and no further than 10k. But I suspect you'll find that 5k mysteriously shrinks as you run more

Happy running!

[Maxi80 in reply to Cmoi]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[RWgirl Graduate]

Yip - I graduated back in July and it takes me 37 mins to run 5k and I'm happy enough with that!

[BradC Graduate]

C25K is brilliant, but yes, I think the title is misleading, especially if 90% don’t achieve it. Because of the title, I carried on to 5k for W9R1 - it took me over 44 minutes - once I had got to 30 minutes, I felt I could carry on OK. Then I got some stick for exceeding the 10% “rule”, which I didn’t know about anyway. Point is, I only tried it because of the implication that 5K is the target.