Hi
I have completed the 9 week programme. It took about 16 weeks! I can run for 30 minutes without too much trouble. If I attempt more I end uwobbling along as though I've had a heavy drinking session. The problem is, I only run apporx 3.25km in that half hour. On non running days I interval train my calf, knees, and glutes. As an OAP should I be content with my current performance, which I cant seem to improve, or is there anything else I might try?
Many thanks
Hello and well done !Your title says 'Not Quite There'
What do you mean ?
If you have completed the 3x 30 minute runs of week 9 then you ARE there and you can claim your Graduate badge here .
healthunlocked.com/couchto5....
It's not necessary to run 5k in 30 minutes for Graduation
Then have a look at this for what's next .
healthunlocked.com/couchto5...
Happy running
Well, the programme is called C25K. Thats what the title is referring to. Thanks for the further info.
Ahh, that's just the programme name !
This might help
Huge congratulations on graduating from the programme. Woohoo 🎉. Hope you have a wonderful celebration planned because you’ve completed week 9.
I’m on my second week of consolidation and I don’t run 5k in 30 minutes yet. That’s fine. Being able to run for 30 minutes is its own reward and as you say you’re doing this comfortably, you’re doing a brilliant job.
Lots of people have recommended consolidating those 30 minute runs before you start adding distance or upping the pace. And then the 5k can come later - if you want it to. Some people are happy to be getting out there and running the same distance as they did at the end of the programme. Each to their own. It’s your choice.
But you’re still pretty new to running so I wouldn’t worry and just enjoy it.
I am the same , not making the distance, but I do think age and height might be factors. At 5ft my stride will be a lot shorter than a six footer, so running at the same number of steps per minute will cover less distance for the same effort. I can live with it, as the coach says " the aim is to run 5k or for 30 minutes".
Well yes and no to the height thing. I'm also 5ft, but I have a naturally high cadence, which goes some way towards balancing out my short stride. Apparently taller runners are more likely to have a lower cadence.
Just over two years after starting C25K I can run 5k in under 30 minutes, but rarely do so. It requires me to push myself in a way that I don't particularly enjoy. I prefer to challenge myself by running hills and more technical terrain, preferably over longer distances, though I'm out of practice with that at the moment!
I'm a smidgen under 6ft but I have an untypical high cadence (about 170spm nowadays). I do take shorter strides (about 1 metre) than my leg length would suggest.
It took me over a year to naturally speed up such that I could run 5km in 30 minutes without injuring myself.
Well done for completing the C25K. I recognise feeling wobbly if trying to run longer and I completed the C25K a few weeks ago. I am aiming to be able to do 5km continuous running and at the moment can do 4.5km continuously. It is about building up stamina for running and does not happen overnight. I certainly cannot do 5km in 30 minutes but I guess that my average speed may be increasing very slowly.
The age thing isn’t an issue, although I believed it was when I started aged 66. I decided to forget pace and focus on building up distance with first objective being to actually run 5k. Back to the C25k formula really….conversational pace. Eventually I fell into a pattern of two shorter slightly quicker runs each week followed by a longer slow one. I still follow that pattern. Over a period of 6 months post C25k 3.5k became 5k and 5k became 10k. Then 10k became 10 miles, and finally 10k became HM. In the middle of all that my pace increased so that I ran some sub 30 minute 5ks in my second year of running. So varying the length and pace and 2 shorter runs and one long each week worked for me. Just don’t push yourself too much and try to avoid getting bored through just repeating the same run every time. Enjoy your second youth 🙂
I like your running schemes, something to think about.
Hi. Just take you time and work through consolidation and you stamina and distance will increase. I graduated in April and have just run my first 5k this week in 41.50. Keep on running!
Brilliant work achieving the 5k! 😀
Only 16 weeks? I took 23.🤣 I don't think I'll ever run 5k in half an hour. But I can run a 10k after a long time of regular slow half hour runs and gradually increasing the time on some runs. Every time someone says something good about my running, I go into the story of the couch to 5k- I run really slowly, so I can tell them quite a lot as I pass 😂
23? Well now I dont feel so bad 😀, but amazing that you can do 10k runs. I can only dream!
Week 6 Run 3 Not quite there yet
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W5R3 nearly but not quite 
