Hello all...I only discovered this forum recently so this is my first post. I've reached Week 8 of C25k, which has a 23 stone man has not been an easy task. I've really enjoyed running over these past couple of months and it's something I want to continue post-C25k. So far I've been doing laps around the cul de sacs where I live but as I'm doing longer runs now I measured out a new route which took me in a circle around part of the town in a circle. When I started this, though, it felt like a much bigger challenge than repeating a shorter circuit and I only managed about a third before giving up. I've decided to keep doing the circuits around my road until completing the app and then planning ways to build up the new route gradually in an attempt to break this psychological barrier.
Has anyone else had similar happen, and have any advice on how to tackle new routes?
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AndrewFoot84
Graduate
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Welcome to the community and congratulations on making fantastic progress with the programme.
I haven’t done circuits but I do find it much easier to run if I know the route, as I can chunk it down. I wonder if that’s the same for you with your cul de sac runs. Only this lap to consider and knowing there’s only two more to go, for example.
While I was on holiday, I was running new routes. To try not to think about how far I was going when I didn’t really know, I’d look for a landmark - for example: just to the gate, happy thoughts and a steady pace to there, then where next, that tree, same again. It made it feel manageable and a bit of an adventure to pick the next landmark. Maybe that would work for you?
I sometimes walk a route first too, which helps make it familiar. That can help too with a run if I know how to chunk it in advance. I try not to think about the whole thing as it makes it feel overwhelming.
Thanks Vespina - I think you've probably hit the nail on the head. I do find myself counting down the circuits I currently do so where a longer run doesn't have that. There are several points on that longer route which I could use as landmarks so I will try that, I think breaking it up a bit will help. I'll give it a go over the coming weeks and report back!
Well oddly, the section I started on was more downhill than my normal run but I wonder if that's part of the issue. I told myself as it started downhill it would be easier but actually wasn't, and probably meant I had my pacing all wrong. I don't think I'd mentally prepared myself for the fact that downhill running is still running, if that makes sense?!
Downhill running requires you to use your leg muscles slightly differently, especially if you're having to keep your speed in check. You're probably not used to that.
Do you have - or does anyone - have tips on running down fairly steep hills (this is a road so it's not a cliff face or anything, but is quite a long bit of hill)? I figure I should try to slow myself down to keep at a steady pace; should I be aiming to stay at the same sort of pace downhill as I do on the flat, or is it better to let your body and gravity carry you down a bit faster?
I'm glad it's not just me! I think my problem is, I don't really know what sort of pace I should have downhill and I let my posture go to pot, especially I'm tired. I kind of lean back a bit and let my feet plod down in front of me while letting gravity do the work. I probably shouldn't be surprise when I get back on to the flat and my body position is all over the place!
I find that I'm often running slower downhill than on the flat. Some of that is because it is off-road on stony ground, and I need to be careful where I put my feet not to go over on my ankle. But during C25k I hurt my shins by running downhill, I think similar to what Cmoi says I wasn't cushioning my landing enough. I think downhill is easier on the lungs but probably harder on the legs than uphill.
I guess that's partly the problem I was finding, because I was enjoying the fact I could get some breath back, I wasn't thinking enough about how I was running and just plodding down quite carelessly. I need to make sure I don't use downhill as a chance to switch off, partly to protect myself physically but also because I think it made it harder to adjust when I got back on the flat.
Pretty much exactly what Vespina said! I almost always walk a new route first so I know roughly where the quarter, halfway and three quarter points are, and also where any hills come up. You could look at where your first circuit would finish, your second circuit etc and break up that new route that way.
I’m really aware now of the toxic ten so I am mentally prepared for it to be more tricky at the start then get better as I settle into it. If you were a third of the way through, you would probably have been still in that toxic start phase.
The other thing that helps me is distraction so I’m focussed on listening to music or a podcast rather than just my own internal monologue.
Is there a way you could add a short bit of new route on to what you’re already doing as a halfway measure?
It sounds like you’ve been doing brilliantly and you just psyched yourself out a bit this time. Don’t let it knock you off course. We al have runs like that. Good luck for next time. Not long until that graduate badge goes next to your name!
Thanks, that's really good advice especially with the start being tricky. Every single run, a voice in my head says 'you can't do this' within the first few minutes. I often feel like a car that's starting up slowly, it takes a while for me to be running smoothly. Battling through that and getting to the point where I'm comfortable (if you can call looking like you're about to pass out comfortable!) is probably key.
I'll also try the walking around and thinking about distances, too. I think part of the problem is that a lot of it is around roads that I drive, and in a car it feels fairly flat and short but walking it would switch me on a bit to what it is like on foot and hopefully prepare me for running it.
I will try building up to it by incorporating it in to my current run and hopefully over the next weeks I will get there!
Oh my goodness, you’ve absolutely nailed it with driving round a route leading to a total misunderstanding of what it’s like on the ground. Even when walking you don’t always notice the long, gentle uphill sections that can be killer when you’re running. There are also long sections of uneventful driving that I totally forget exist and feel like they go on forever. You can probably tell I’ve been caught out a lot like this!
I found that in the early stages of c25k, I didn’t really have any properly hard runs because of all the intervals but it was a big change switching over to “I have twenty five minutes still to go”. That’s always been the thing I’ve found hard over and above the physical part of the run. You’ll be amazed than once you’ve done those longer runs more and more after you’ve graduated, you’ll catch yourself near the end of your runs thinking “I can just add another ten minutes on” or “maybe I can go 2k further now”! It’s just practice and experience. You’ll get there.
I guess it's mind over matter at the end of the day, isn't it. I know I can do it, but sometimes I have to prove it to myself. Thanks so much for your advice, I will take it on board and report back in a few weeks!
There's a term for this feeling at the start of a run: Toxic Ten.
It takes about ten minutes for your body to realise that it's exercising and to adjust the metabolism accordingly. Similarly there's a tomato ten at the end of the run where your metabolism is still doing the run, causing you to get a red face and feel really hot.
Thanks, that'll be good to keep in mind when I think it's just my struggling at the start. I'm pretty sure I look like a tomato on my walk home from runs, when I typically bump in to everybody I know while sweating profusely!
Interestingly (although I am far behind you just having finished W2), I am finding chanting "I can do this, I can do this" in time with my breathing, helps. It counteracts the unconscious unhelpful babblings.
Welcome and great job so far… indeed it’s almost time for your victory lap. Thanks for posting the bit about your weight… lots of people fear that this may hold them back, so the more that post about it the better.
Most runners tend to prefer an out and back or a circuit to laps… but I think that most of us struggle with change. I like to scout out new routes when walking, and often I will run them in bits before linking them all together, though of course this may not be possible while on the plan as you need to complete the allotted time. Once you’ve graduated you can look at varying the runs up a little, so it then becomes possible to go run a mile of a new route by itself, which may then help, especially for the tougher or the end bits.
That's great advice, thanks. The weight thing was putting me off but I needed to lose some, and thought running would be a good way to do it. The weight is starting to go down but it's surprised me that I've not felt my size holding me back too much yet. I'm just hoping as the weight comes off, the benefit shows in my running.
I would like to find an out and back route, the circuits kind of happened by accident when I was building up through the first few weeks of the plan and have stuck. It'll be good to have another aim once the plan is finished, so I'll make tackling the route I had planned my goal beyond Week 9. There are a few ways I can break it up I think, so hopefully introducing sections slowly will help. As C25k has proven to me already, it's amazing what you can do with time and when you build things up gradually.
I ran a half marathon and was a few pounds over optimal weight (still am 🤣) but there was a guy around twice my size half a mile ahead of me (there were out and back legs around the circuit) within a couple of miles… I never did catch him! So pretty much anything is possible at most weights… of course as your weight comes down it will get easier. You may notice that your size changes more consistently than your weight, so use the tape measure as well as the scales. Running will tone you up and build muscle, good nutrition will gradually reduce the weight… the two together are formidable.
Thanks for the tips, I will measure as well as weigh to keep track on how things are going. I'm calorie counting as well so I'm hoping the weight will shift and the running will get better even if it takes a while. I'm currently just enjoying have some slightly more toned legs than I've had for a while, almost hoping I can get the shorts out this summer!
Well done for getting this far! I really struggle with a new route even though I know I'll enjoy it when I try. In my case I just get nervous going, but find if I sort of set the route in my head, then I will do it. I don't usually walk them first but do use plotaroute online to measure one (country lanes need planning or you could get stuck on a long route!) I think any new route feels harder to start, just because it's unfamiliar. I recall my first try at a canal run, and finding it much harder than my usual hilly route and wondering how when the canal is so flat!!! Just build up your confidence gradually by adding a bit extra each time if that helps. Good luck!
Thanks, I will try plotaroute as a guide. I'd been trying to measure on Google Maps but not sure how accurate it is. I know all about the country lanes and even now I've moved to a town, it'll be good to measure out the many lanes, cuttings and fields I could potentially use along my route. I think the gradual build up sounds like a good plan, I'll give it a go over a few weeks and see how it goes. As long as I stick with it, I know I can do it eventually!
Hi, I have run the same route from starting C25k up until I graduated yesterday. I find ease in familiarity and I like where I run. I have found some parkland that I walk to in the 5 mins warm up walk and then begin my run once I’m there. Is there somewhere like that near you? If you find somewhere you like to run, you might not feel the need to change routes, and it might help overcome your psychological barrier? Good luck. Happy running!
Well done on graduating! The familiarity of it is true, I think it helps knowing the route, the area, the little nuances of that particular bit of road or whatever. I use my 5 minute walk to go in to the woods behind my house, which is where I first started C25k, and I now go through the woods before doing a couple of laps around the road, extending that with each time increase on the programme. I think using that as a starting point but stretching it out more and more once I've completed C25k will be good, taking in a bit of the usual, familiar run but extending it rather than completely changing it. Thanks for the advice, and for the good luck (off to try and do 28 minutes for the first time shortly so all luck is appreciated!)
Welcome to the forum and well done on your progress.
For route planning I use the free versions of Maverick, which can give you free access to Ordnance Survey Landranger maps, which have all public footpaths and bridleways, plus Route You which links them up to form routes.
I have always found laps and circuits mindsappingly boring and prefer to cover ground and discover new places.
Ideal thanks very much. I've been Okay doing the circuits but I think the boredom of it is probably part of the reason I've considered changing route. Now I'm able to go a bit further, I want to go further if that makes sense. There's more of a sense of achievement to saying 'look how far I went', rather than 'look how many times I went round tat circle', even if it is all the same distance/time.
Well done on your progress! I ran one route for the whole of C25K (apart from the first couple of weeks running round the park which just didn't suit me at all). I loved the familiarity - this tree means I've run this far etc. I'd run out and back along the sea wall by the river and could measure my progress as I got a little further each week.Once I graduated I got a bit braver, running the route of the 'long walk' I used to do with my son when he was at school. After a while that seemed a bit tame so I tried a footpath I hadn't tried before and then another... . In the 10 months since I graduated I now have routes for different distances depending on my mood which is great.
The first time I try a completely new run it seems to last forever. I have no inbuilt perception of distance and every km seems to take way longer than on my familiar route. Maybe this is what's happening with your new route?
As I'm sure you've worked out by now, running is as much about what's going on with your head as with your legs. You need to psyche yourself up that 'today I am running the circuit, it's the same distance as my normal run/only x metres longer than my usual run and I am absolutely capable of running it.' After all, a few short weeks ago the thought of a 5 minute run was daunting, wasn't it? (or was that just me 😂?)
You most definitely will run your new circuit, you've come this far, haven't you?
Totally agree with the what's going in the head, I've realised a few times when I've felt close to giving up that physically I feel fine. I managed my first 28 minute run yesterday and it took in a little bit of the new route I'm planning to do so already have a little bit more belief that I can do it. I've just got to remember that I can't click my fingers and do it, but as you say I've come this far and there is plenty more I can, and will, build up to.
Well done on getting so far. I’m in week 7 so just behind you. I’m a little bit like you - I’ve been sticking more or less to what I know rather than adding new routes. I like to know where I’m going to end up and I suppose knowing how far I am from the end based on where I am on my route pushes me along a bit.
I have walked some potential routes for post c25k though just to get a feel for them. Would that be an option for you? What’s been your reason(s) for giving up? I find it helps to write down my reasons / excuses and then come up with a solution that eliminates it or at least makes it seem more doable. But that’s just me.
Thank you. I think it's psychological mainly. As someone who got knackered running up stairs 6 months ago, the thought of basically running round the town where I live seems like something I shouldn't even be thinking about doing. With a longer run like that stretched out in front of me, it seems a lot longer than one I can split in to chunks. I think the key is to split this in to chunks too, but just in a different way to literally doing circuits. I'm on to Week 8 now so going to complete C25k and then give it another crack. I'll get there eventually!
Another vote for walking the route first. Also, once you've finished c25k, although consolidation of 30 min runs is advised, there's no right or wrong way of planning your runs. Give yourself permission to do run-walk intervals on a new route to explore it. I bet you find that once you've passed the toxic ten, then you don't need the walking breaks as much as you thought you did, and subsequent runs there will be easier. I still give myself permission to walk sometimes - the hills around me can be hard going, but I find that over time I'm getting a bit further up each time. As much as I'd love to be able to run the route continuously, since running more hilly routes the number of routes available have really increased and it helps with the enjoyment.
Thanks for the advice, it's much appreciated. The idea of walking some parts, particularly hilly parts, to begin with is a good idea. My issue is that where I live is essentially a valley and as I live near the top of it, I have hills at some point in my run wherever I go. At the moment I do small hills on my run but the big uphill is my 5 minute warm down walk (a struggle in itself, but still...). I think if I ever want to run door to door after completing C25K I will have to build those hills up slowly by running a bit of it and gradually building that up. In a way it's quite nice that I've found I still have so many targets to work towards even once graduating C25K and while I know it will take some time, I'm excited by the challenge now rather than being intimidated by it.
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New route -- Phew
Route changes
New route & Hills....
New Route
Nothing too brave 
