Did they do it too quick or are they just better than us?

At the start of the new school year another group of mums from our children's school decided to follow our lead and commit themselves to the C25K plan. It was quite flattering that they had not only noticed our improvements but that they were that impressed as to want to do it themselves.

Today we leant that they completed run 3 of week 9 so congratulations to them. They managed to finish in just 8 weeks running every other day, so each C25K week only took them 6 days. (Our C25K week 1 took us 5 weeks to complete!! )

They all seem to be injury free so far but seem more competitive than our group, one saying that she ran every other day so that she didn't fall behind the others.

They did lose one member of their group on the first day as she struggled with the brisk walk and they recommended her to see her doctor. She tested negative for covid which was a relief as surprisingly nobody had even given that a thought. She is still having tests but luckily her doctor does not think there is anything seriously wrong with her as they have ruled out heart an lung issues. She is hoping to get the all clear and to start on a more gentle plan.

Is it common to do the nine C25K weeks in eight calendar weeks or even advisable?

I still think our approach was better as we have had a good laugh along the way as well as making sure we all kept together. We may have all taken slightly different paths since completing but can all now do at least 10K and when we can run as a group aging will do so. Our friendship is still more important than speed or distance.

[Hidden]

Oops "again", not "aging" !!!

[Whydothis Graduate]

IT sounds as though they are too competitive if they have made one person feel the need to run every day - that is not good for her. When I did C25K this summer I did sometimes run every other day, and get 7 runs in a fortnight, but then at other times I was ready for an extra rest day. I'm sure doing it like that right through will have meant some of them had to push themselves too hard.

I much prefer the sound of your supportive group!

[Irish-John Graduate]

I'm wondering how many of them will still be running in six months time Sounds like they enjoy a challenge, but maybe once they reach it interest might subside

[nowster Graduate]

I have been mostly running every other day. That's fine. The "weeks" are just convenient groups of three runs. It's also fine to have extra rest days if you need them: weather, other commitments, feeling drained, etc. I have had weeks where I've run every other day and weeks where I've had only two runs in total.

There are also other C25K schemes which only have 8 weeks in total, or go by distance not duration, requiring a 5km run at the end. The NHS scheme is less intensive than them.