Awful, kind of hated it!
I had to stop and walk a few times during the 5 minute runs. I really tried not to but I just couldn’t sustain it. I’m still waiting for my knee supports, not an excuse though. I gave myself 3 rest days between run 2 and 3 as my knees still hurt.
I think I might have to do at least one more week 4 run before I tackle week 5.
Maybe this programme will have a rare failure as I just don’t feel that I am a runner.
Pity party x
Think this was the week I walked twice as well. Hated myself, but you just pick yourself up and I bet your next run will surprise you. Don't be hard on yourself, give yourself the same advice you'd give someone else, use a silly voice too !
Well done, you gave it a go.
If you want to succeed with this programme, you will, if you stay slow, prepare well and believe in yourself.
Don't move on to W5 until you have successfully completed all the W4 sessions.
Say this sentence out loud to yourself throughout the next run "Am I going slow enough to enable me to speak this sentence in one out breath?" If you cannot, you are going too fast.
If at any point you were not using a running motion - and that could be very slow and includes more or less running on the spot - in a running segment, then yes, doing that session again needs to happen. I find it useful to have a strategy that if I need to walk, then I walk the rest of the session rather than it being OK to stop and start... builds up those mental persistence muscles and develops the repertoire of tweaks to keep yourself going (mostly slowing down of course, but can be promising yourself you'll stop after the next tree... and the next... and the next)
But this is all part of what C25K offers - the difference between those who complete the programme and those who don't is not that some find it easy or are fitter or are 'runners' but who picks themselves up after a bad run and gets out there again. That said, sometimes a wee pity party first definitely does help and getting daftness such as "I don't feel like a runner" out of your head and onto the screen can be very freeing.
Enjoy next time!
Thank you, I will repeat another week 4 run and hopefully I will keep going.
I found weeks 4 and 5 very difficult and repeated them many times. It's easy reading the posts here to think that everyone breezes through the programme in 9 weeks, but I don't think that's the case. I kept going through the repeats by telling myself that any exercise was better than none, and eventually I found the right pace to get through the runs I was struggling with. Weeks 6 and 7 have gone well, and today I start week 8. Ultimately, I'm doing this for long term health reasons, so if it takes a bit longer to get to a purely arbitrary goal of either 30 mins and/or 5k running, then so be it.
Also, when I had knee problems, I stopped c25k altogether and did the Strength and Flex programme for 5 weeks before restarting c25k. It definitely helped.
I am also doing week 4. It’s horrible. I’m just going to keep repeating it until I can complete all 3 runs. I have done W4 R1 four times now and haven’t managed to do the last 5 min run without stopping. But I’m going to keep at it. I can see many positives - I can easily complete the first half of the session and there’s no way I could have attempted it a few weeks ago. Take your time and it doesn’t matter how many times you have to repeat runs. You will get there!!
Week 4 run 1 Done!!!!!!!!
Week 4 day 1 - done!!
First run of week 4 done...
Week 4 done and new shoes
Week 4, Take 2, Done! ✔ 
