When to do C25K again?

[Marygord]

I'm so slow after break from running, after unrelated injury, should I do C25K again? Any tips? I can do 5k still, but its really ploddy.

[nowster Graduate]

There's no reason why you couldn't.

You say you can do 5km slowly. Are you unhappy with doing it at that speed?

How often have you been running recently?

[Marygord in reply to nowster]

Yes, unhappy! I was doing it in 35 mins, now it takes 50 mins. I'm going 3 times a week. I'm 61, been running 3 years now.

[nowster Graduate in reply to Marygord]

Here's an idea. How about doing C25K from the start, but instead of doing walk/jog, do slow jog/fast jog?

So when the instructor says "run" you jog a bit faster, but when they say "walk" you slow down but keep jogging.

The warm up and cool down parts stay as walks.

[Marygord in reply to nowster]

Thanks. I like that, it makes sense and makes it not feel like starting again!

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Perhaps you could benefit from some more structure in your training and perhaps from a break if you have been doing too much.

A week of no running will refresh you rather than set you back.

Do you have a reason why you want to be faster?

You might benefit from browsing through the FAQ Posts healthunlocked.com/couchto5... in particular the ones about Getting Faster and Aging and Running, the first of which might give you some ideas about training regimes.

C25k is about building stamina, not speed, so I don't imagine that redoing the plan would speed you up significantly.

[Marygord in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Thanks for that, v.informative. I had a read, so, ok, I realize it doesn't matter if I feel slow. It certainly still feels good afterwards. As regards to your query about having a week off, I do that sometimes and go by basic feelings of how knackered I'm feeling. I'm trying Interval training, 1min run and 30 secs walk, I don't feel so wrecked afterwards!

[Bazza1234 Graduate]

I am doing C25k again - after completing it 8 years ago - and after I have also done a lot of Galloway run/walk style training to allow me to complete some half marathons and one full marathon. Added to now being 8 years older , I find that I have lost the ability to run continuously (at a fastish pace) for 5k at parkrun . I did get to be able to run a 5k in 30 minutes a couple of years after I finished C25k - but now I get around parkrun in about 40 minutes. So I am trying something different to see if it will get me back to my former Glory It is summer where I live - think hot, and humid sub-tropical - so I am training for 2 days on a treadmill inside and one day at parkrun - plus a slow jog social day with my running/walking club. On this day I actually jog alongside the fastest walkers for an hour - this way I get to chat while jogging and they can too. On the other three running days, I am redoing C25k. I do two of these days at a slowish pace on the treadmill, but I do the day twice over on each occasion - so my time on the treadmill is around that 60 minute mark. On the third C25k day, I will do the C25k "task" by running at 6 mins per k with the hope to get back to running a continuous 30 minute 5K parkruns. It will either work - or it won't