Couldn't help but compare today's run w8r2 with the day before yesterday's w8r1. Have been quite pleased with my slow & steady progress so far. After today's run though, I saw I had actually gone backwards. I did slow down a little bit as per the advice on my last post from all you lovely experienced runners, it was still a bit disappointing to see the huge difference. Last run was 4.19km, whereas today I only did 3.45km in the same time.
I know this is not about distance, it still feels like I have gone backwards by a huge margin.
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Me_time
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If you have slowed down you will cover less distance of course !What you need to focus on though is which will give you the best development and progress, an increased pace or a reduced pace ?
And the answer is by running at a conversational pace, (or reduced pace)
So if you feel you have gone backwards that's only in terms of distance
which as you have said yourself 'I know this is not about distance' 😁
This is probably one of the hardest concepts to grasp in these early days but it will be crucial for your longer term running once you have moved on from this program and maybe looking at longer runs !
Thank you I57, you are right. I am going to go back to looking at my progress from where I started, when even 3mins jog seemed to go on and on! And I can now do 28mins :)Atleast until I complete the 9weeks.
Everybody, and I mean everybody, has an off day from time to time. You completed the run, and that's what matters more than any stats. How did the slower run feel at the time?
Hey nowster , thank you for always finding time for your valuable input for us newbies.It was more effort than my previous runs. So i felt like I put extra effort and actually went backwards.
Oh and I will think about ur suggestion to give extra rest day. I have so far run every other day. But a couple of times due to various reason I had to give more than a day's gap and I observed I ran better. I do worry though if longer gap will negatively affect my capacity to run. And I really want to complete the c25k sooner rather than later 😁
You will not lose much fitness even if you have to take a break for a fortnight. An extra day or two now and then will not hurt and, as you say yourself, will possibly help.
Rather than running every other day, a more common pattern is literally 3 runs per calendar week with a 2 day rest between weeks, e.g.
running on Mon/Wed/Fri or Tue/Thu/Sat etc.
For a beginner, that 2 day break between weeks can be very helpful.
Again, WHY the rush to complete C25K? If you take that same mindset into the rest of your running future, then you're asking for trouble.
When you finish C25K will you be wanting to get 5k as quickly as possible? Then 10k? Then 15k? After that a half-marathon... as quickly as possible? What do you think the consequences of that will be?
As for feeling like you've gone "backwards by a huge margin" ... who said that every run has to feel and be than the last one? Running (in fact most exercise) doesn't work like that - there are all sorts of factors that will affect your runs.
Think about this: since completing C25K 7 years ago, I've run about 1000 times... was every run an improvement on the previous one?
Just take it easy, relax, enjoy and BE PATIENT! Good things come to those who wait.
Good questions, I didnt think that far ahead but you are right. I probably would have wanted to complete the 5k, 10k within the expected timeframe of fhe programme.I see your point.
In addition, you were advised to slow down - which you duly did. The reduction in distance really isn't 'huge' - about 17%. Maybe you went 17% slower which is a GOOD thing!
Everything going on in our lives can impact on our performance as a runner. Restedness, hydration and nutrition are at the top of my list of variables that need to be optimised to enable enjoyable running.
No runner that I know always runs further than their last run on every run. That is a totally unrealistic expectation, likely to end in burnout and injury.
Just accept that if you run slower, you will cover less distance.
If tracking your runs is causing disappointment, there is a very simple answer.
Hi IannodaTruffe , Yep, it was a bit earlier than my usual running time so I did feel I was a bit full while running. I had a big lunch and even gobbled a choc brownie after some time. But I did give about 4hrs gap before starting run. The other thing I did different was doing the dynamic stretches before running. That was the first time ever I did it! That should have made my run easier?
Hello! I’m sorry you’re disappointed with your run, but don’t be! You still ran for the allotted time, which is brill. It’s quite a learning curve this old running malarkey and every run is part of the process. Instructor57 ’s post is very wise. So don’t worry whatsoever about distance at the mo, it will come all in good time. You can also take more than one day’s rest between runs, it helped me no end. All the best! 😊
Please don’t even look at distance until you’ve finished the programme and consolidated. The programme is all about time. My theory, wk8 r1 was the first time you ran 28 minutes, this will have tired you, wk8 r2 your legs may have been tired after the last run so didn’t want to go quite as fast. You still ran 28 minutes so be proud
Hi SueAppleRun , I have not been concerned about distance at all. But, I peeked at it for the first time after w8r1 just out of curosity. And then felt disappointed when I didnt seem to match or do better for r2.I will stop checking it and just focus on completing the time for my nxt 4 runs of the programme.
I do sympathise Me_time , but in reality you won't increase distance every time you run. If progress were always that linear it'd be wonderful, and we'd all be sporting superstars, happily injury-free into the bargain!
The other thing that struck me was your comment I do want to finish the programme asap though. Dont want it to take longer than it needs to. That's exactly how I felt about C25K until about week 8, when it suddenly hit me that, just as Instructor57 says, week 9 run 3 wasn't the finish, but in fact the start.
I've only been running 21 months myself, so still have much to learn. One thing I have realised though is that it's oh so easy to be disappointed when the stats don't say what you hoped. My own solution has been to make sure that I don't only measure the success of a run by what Mr Garmin says, but by what else I got out of it. I'd struggle to quote you any of my PBs. I could wang on for hours about the views, music, people, animals and so much more that make up my running experience.
Hopefully you'll have many years ahead of you to explore running. Enjoy!
Thank you Cmoi . I really appreciate how you have explained. You are so right about how we will all be sporting superstars if we could continously beat our last run stats! I will remind myself of that if/when I feel a bit disappointed by my stats. Being a professional athelete is not why I decided to give running a go.Thank you 🤗
You're welcome Me_time . You might turn out to be someone who is motivated by training, stats and PBs, and if so, that's great. Personally I'm happy to challenge myself, but I'm simply not interested in making myself miserable for hours just to shave a fraction off my time for a particular distance. Happy running!
It took me 12-13 weeks to complete the programme. I had extra rest days to make sure my knees recovered rach time while I got used to running. It's not unusual to find the later runs in the programme variable in terms of how tough they feel. You're still getting used to running continuously.Each run is different. You're doing brilliantly! Try not to batter yourself.
Thank you Roxdog . I guess its just a bit of a habit due to us being in deadline driven environments most of our lives. Thank you for sharing ur exoerience, I am learning, the timeframe is just a guideline.
Me_time Im very close to you . I understand what you mean. After a year I'm stacked in 9 weeks distance, 3,5 km and I'm running only once per week😪. I feel my knees heavy and with some small pains when I push myself to run faster or every 2 days. I'm a little bit disappointed but I'm enjoying it very much results---I made a huge try to reach this goal all the covid period, and I decided to stay in this pattern. Once a week and not to push too much . What is your opinion? Did you have the same experience in some period? Should I push myself harder? My target was to reach 5k but it seems that is not for my body. Im 1.60m in height and 70kg weight and I am 53years old.
Hi chrisoula , I m too new to running to have an opinion..I am only 8weeks into runnimg & still learning. I find this forum very helpful when I have questions. I understand how you feel being "stuck' at 3.5km. This forum is a great place to ask how, if u want to improve on the distance. All the best!
I think what your doing is fantastic and so positive for your health! If you are having knee pain regularly one thing you could try is weights, specifically something like squats to strengthen this area of your body. The NHS recommends everyone does strength based exercise and it's even more important the older you get. Your GP should be able to give you some advice on things appropriate for your health and fitness level to improve knee strength. This might help you overcome this barrier to your running and possibly become another type of exercise you really enjoy in and of itself. Your local leisure centre could give you some tips as well and they do affordable PT to help you with a weights routine to strengthen your muscles
I'm saying something really similar to other people on here but I wanted to challenge the expectation that we will run as well or better (whatever that means!) every time we run. It's unrealistic and it can be harmful to our health and our psychology around exercise. Your body has so many factors impacting it, you will have off days, you may even have off weeks or months! But you will be so much healthier for getting out and running regularly. You must try and get out of this mindset that if you aren't as 'good' as a previous run time you've somehow failed. I'm saying this from my own personal experience - I'm quite goal oriented and love learning new skills and seeing myself improve and I know how hard I can be on myself when the numbers aren't moving in the direction I want them to. I think if you're in these thought patterns then it can be helpful to drop monitoring of distance or speed for a while and just enjoy the activity without the measuring stick, you'll get the health and wellbeing benefits whether you know your distance and speed or not and it might help to let go of some of these concerns and listen more closely to your body. Best of luck with your running journey!
Thank you, yes even Im running once a week, I have seen a huge improvement in my body especially in my legs and in my emotional situation! Thank you for your advice!
Hi Me time, I do so understand you! The first time I did C25K I was desperate to reach that W9R3 as quickly as possible and did begin to look at distances. I then tried to speed up too soon and ended up injured and had 12 weeks off. When I re-started someone advised me to run according to my heart rate and not even look at pace or distance. I began to do that and for the first time really understood what all these experienced people meant. By slowing down I really began to enjoy running, it wasn’t a race, it was exactly what your ‘tag’ says it was time out for me. My favourite run so far this time was when I intended to repeat a run and forgot to select the right ‘run’ so thought ‘I’ll just run on my heart rate’ and before I knew it I had completed my 25 minutes and felt really good. Listen to your body. Until I broke my wrist and then lost Craig I was regularly running 7-10k, so, it took around 90 minutes to run 10k but I kept going and enjoyed it!! It is that that jeeps me going this time as by the Summer I want to be doing those sort of runs again.
Sorry to hear about ur loss Phdgranny . Your post makes sense. Thank you for sharing your experience, appreciate it specially as it is coming from someone who felt the same. I would defo keep it in mind, injury is something I want to avoid as much as I can.
Will ignore the stats and just do what I was doing before, just complete the run at my conversational pace.
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I will need to think about it. 
only 4 runs to go!!
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